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The Cyberiad (Paperback)

by Stanislaw Lem (Author) "When the Universe was not so out of whack as it is today, and all the stars were lined up in their proper places, so..." (more)
4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
Price: £13.00 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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The Cyberiad + Mortal Engines + Fiasco
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Product details

  • Paperback: 312 pages
  • Publisher: Mariner Books (4 Feb 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0156027593
  • ISBN-13: 978-0156027595
  • Product Dimensions: 20.2 x 13.6 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 15,299 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > L > Lem, Stanislaw
    #4 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > High Tech
    #19 in  Books > Fiction > Short Stories > Science Fiction

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Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
When the Universe was not so out of whack as it is today, and all the stars were lined up in their proper places, so you could easily count them from left to right, or top to bottom, and the larger and bluer ones were set apart, and the smaller, yellowing types pushed off to the corners as bodies of a lower grade, when there was not a speck of dust to be found in outer space, nor any nebular debris-in those good old days it was the custom for constructors, once they had received their Diploma of Perpetual Omnipotence with distinction, to sally forth ofttimes and bring to distant lands the benefit of their expertise. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

25 Reviews
5 star:
 (22)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (25 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Whacky-Philosophic. Grimm with robots., 24 Feb 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: The Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age (Mass Market Paperback)
Cyberiad is not for the faint-hearted. Below the inventive, charming, slapstick veneer deep philosophical problems are reworked.
As you delve into the hilarious and frighteningly
intelligent world of Lem, you realise that you are being educated in the arcanery of metaphysical philosophy too. But it`s not stuffy-
in fact Reason is completely OUT TO LUNCH!
The tome is actually illustrated with unique drawings- shades of `Alice`!
Be warned:- Arts graduates and others who are not versed in the refined arts of cybernetics might find it hard to understand.
However those who DO are in for a real treat!
This is the reviewers favourite book.
An unsung modern classic. Unsung because it`s does not pander to the Lowest Common Denominator.

you will be blown away by the wit and perceptivness of an author who should be acknowleged as one of, if not THE best, Sci-Fi authors of all time.
It`s so good you`ll be changed by it!
"One day Trurl the constructor put together a machine that could create anything starting with the letter `n`", begins the book. As this first story progresses, the universe itself is endangered (for Nothingness, my friend, also starts with `n`).
Cyberiad is a compendium of very short stories `for the cybernetic age`, all linked by the metallic-but-exceedingly-human characters of Trurl and Klapaucius. And, as you read, it just
gets better and better.
The story `Trurl`s electronic bard` is my favourite. Trurl constructs
a poem-generating machine (not without effort!), with truly hilarious repercussions.

Cyberiad is a Gem.

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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The best stories by the best SF author ever, 23 Sep 1996
By A Customer
This review is from: The Cyberiad: Fables for the Cybernetic Age (Mass Market Paperback)

More than anyone else, Stanislaw Lem understands the unique potential of the Science Fiction genre. His depictions of non-human intelligences, whether alien or artificial, are consistently compelling. His insight into humanity and our role in the Cosmos is unmatched (at least among SF authors). As far as I can tell, Lem has never written a bad book, and his reservoir of fresh ideas is limitless.

However, this is a review of a book, not an author :-), so...

I have read and enjoyed most of Lem's work, but I still go back and re-read The Cyberiad every year or so. I always hope to find something new, and I am never disappointed. It amazes me to see how many of the deepest ideas from Lem's other books are echoed somewhere in these stories. And their style is Lem's best: The futuristic "fable", mixing intellectual slapstick, brilliant wordplay, and deep philosophy as only Lem can.

I guarantee The Cyberiad will make you laugh hard and think harder. What more could you want from your reading?

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A book you can always dip into, again and again, 26 Nov 2004
By R. Farr - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Like 'Mortal Engines', this collection of short stories is lovely. If you want to classify the genre, they're... bed-time stories for androids. The Cyberiad is probably the better of the two collections, but it's a close-run thing. The collection starts with the tale of an inventor who creates a machine which can make anything that starts with an 'n'. Everything goes well until a rival tells the machine to do 'nothing' and it starts deleting bits of reality... Futurist fairy tales, every one. Translation from the original Polish has been handled very well. Even the occasional poems still rhyme, and still feature clever puns.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining robot stories, both tongue-in-cheek and polemical
A great book by Lem, with his usual, fascinating word-play; reading some of the stories is like having 'jewels in the mouth' (to quote Frank McCourt). Read more
Published on 9 Jul 2007 by S. OBYRNE

5.0 out of 5 stars Slightly mad
What an introduction to Stanislaw Lem, I think anybody's first reaction will be "What the hell is this? Read more
Published on 14 Jun 2005

5.0 out of 5 stars The work of a genius.
This is the first of Lem's books I have read, it is compulsively readable, you cannot get bored of it. Read more
Published on 8 May 2004 by at_a_glance666

2.0 out of 5 stars Records the antics of two cosmic constructors
I would almost say it's a collection of sci-fi childrens stories.

It's surreal, it's hard to read, it has no plot. Read more

Published on 28 Sep 2003

3.0 out of 5 stars Unusual but interesting
First thing that strikes you is the very unusual style reminiscent of Mervyn Peaks' Gormonghast (it feels like the author just loves the sound of words) with a little bit of Kurt... Read more
Published on 11 Jun 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars This really is a book that everyone should own
Although classified as sci-fi, this book would be a delight to readers of all genres - it transcends. Lem is in a class of his own. Read more
Published on 31 Aug 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant...unlike anything else I've ever read
More like Kipling's "Just So" fables than a SF novel, the Cyberiad is a series of related short stories which entertain, bemuse and elevate the reader's imagination... Read more
Published on 8 Jun 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Please don't call it science fiction ...
... it's much, much too good for that. Lem transcends SF the way Douglas Adams does -- he parodies it, toys with it, and vastly surpasses it. Read more
Published on 7 Jun 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Quirky, thought provoking and very funny!
I first read this wonderful book many years ago but reread it recently and enjoyed it even more. It's a collection of short stories set in a distant future (or possibly a distant... Read more
Published on 5 Jun 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite book ...
Get this book and give a copy to all of your friends. Period. It's that good. At times it leaves you breathlessly enlightened. Read more
Published on 5 Jun 1999

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