Solaris by Stansilaw Lem (1961)

Finished: 6/4/21

Grade: A

Space faring psychologist Kris Kelvin, arrives on the planet Solaris, a world completely dominated by a mysterious living ocean, to find that the station’s crew have been seeing strange visions of personages from their past. When Kris’ own past comes back to haunt him in the flesh, he strives to determine the purpose of these psychic intrusions and wrestles with the very nature of reality itself.

Most planets in science fiction tend to be some variation of “Earth but purple” with aliens that are “Humans but with more arms.” In Solaris, however, the alien aspects are alien to the point that any earthly reference feels impossible. Lem presents this cosmic mystery with a realism that could trick you into thinking you are reading a genuine anthropological study (complete with long tracts of self-referential academia).

This one is A CLAZZIG and it’s really fun.

The Grateful Dead: Origins by Chris Miskiewicz and Noah Van Scriver (2020)

Finished: 5/21/21

Grade: B

A bio-graphic novel detailing the origins of the Grateful Dead in San Fransisco, from their early shows, to playing as the house band for the acid tests, and culminating with their performance at Woodstock. Hang out with Jerry and the gang as they reinvent their sound, take LSD, and scuffle with the police.

I don’t care about the Grateful Dead. I have tried to get into their music twice before and it just doesn’t click. As my friend Nick says: “I bet if we were high, and watching them live, then we would get it.” Maybe. The truth is that I only read this book because I am drawn to Noah Van Sciver’s art style for some reason I don’t understand. I went to Secret Headquarters twice and both times this was the only book that stood out to me, so I bought it.

And It’s Fun! Like a good old fashioned bio-pic. I don’t think I’m walking away with a new understanding of what made The Grateful Dead so special, but the ground level perspective of the narrative puts you right in the swirling epicenter of the hippie movement and it was fun to live in that world for a while.

The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño (1998)

Finished: 5/12/21

Grade: A

Savage Detectives is the tale of two misanthropic young poets, and their avant-garde literary movement in Mexico City, told entirely through anecdotes from other characters. Friends, rivals, and random acquaintances weave a conflicted narrative that spans decades and continents where our protagonists are painted at times as comic idiots, delusional criminals, or heroic paragons of artistic truth.

This book reads more like a series of vaguely connected short stories, rather than one contiguous novel, and as such it has its ups and downs. Some of the sections are fascinating/funny/mesmerizing/beautiful and others feel like reading an encyclopedia of Latin American poets. When you’re in the thick of it, it can seem tedious and confusing, but once you finish the novel and step back to take in the whole, the beauty of its structure reveals itself and it all seems to click into place.

Big ups to my Dad for giving me this bad boy!