weblogs : azul : solaris

I enjoyed Solaris. After having seen both of the movies based on it, I had to read the book.

While I did enjoy the story, there were some things I did not like. I did not like, for example, all the long descriptions of all the different formations in the Solaris' ocean. I also got the feeling that the book begins clearly as a science fiction story but then, almost accidentally, turns into a love story; I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had remained entirely science fiction or if it had started explicitly with the purpose of becoming a love story. As it is, I get the feeling that it doesn't entirely succeed in being as good as it could be as neither: as a science fiction book, I found the ending a bit disappointing —I think it could have done a much better job at exploring the idea of the impossiblity of understanding an alien intelligence—, while as an unusual love story —an area in which I think it had a lot of potential— I think it had way too many unnecessary elements that distracted you from the point, specially in the first half.

I liked Tarkowsky's movie which, while not an easy film to watch, did, in my opinion, a very good job of building on it. It has some beautiful scenes.

That said, I'd recommend the book. It is, all things considered, a very fine story.

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