SOURCE: “Two Meditations on Stanislaw Lem,” in Science-Fiction Studies, Vol. 13, Pt. 3, November, 1986, pp. 374–81.

In the following essay, Kandel discusses the evolution of Lem's philosophical outlook and various literary approaches, from satire to cross-genre philosophy to science fiction. Kandel concludes that Fiasco evinces an unsettling bleakness and total lack of redemption not found in Lem's previous works.

1. The Enlightened Lem. An enormous calculating machine insists that two plus two equals seven. A machine to satisfy a Faustian desire for knowledge produces truths in the form of an overwhelming flood of trivia. A tiny machine inserted in the ear to provide advice and companionship becomes an insufferable bore and an advocate of suicide when its owner is shipwrecked on a desert island. A time-travel project to improve the past results, through mismanagement, incompetence, and infighting among the staff, is a fiasco—that is, history as we know it. A drug...