The Cyberiad [Review]
(A quick note: I read the English translation of this book since I can't read Polish so some details may have been lost of translation. Nevertheless, this book is still a great read.)
Brought up in conversation at PAIR, this book by Stanisław Lem is interesting in that there's no clear story line. And while I haven't read Kafka, some portions of the book feel Kafkaesque to me. In particular, in the world that Lem creates, the language used in the retelling of the 'theoretical' part of stories is a mishmash of technical jargon that comes off as obtuse, abstract, absurd, and yet somehow perfectly sensible. Take this snippet for example:
"And then there were the imaginary dragons, the a-, anti- and minus-dragons (coloquially termed nots, noughts and oughtn'ts by the experts), the minuses being the most interesting on account of the well-known dracological paradox: when two minuses hypercontiguate (an operation in the algebra of dragons corresponding roughly to simple multiplication), the product is 0.6 dragon, a real nonplusser" (page 85).
This sentence is just a mish-mash of words that plays no real significance in the chapter from which it comes from. Yet for some reason, this sentence is sensible and sensical in the story; it demonstrates the complexity that underlays these weird, abstract, more mathematical than physical dragons that Trurl (a main character) eventually fights. As such, while the writing itself is bulky, it is also non-essential and can easily skipped. That being said, reading the mismatch of theoretical language that somehow makes sense, for me at least, is fun.
As such, on the whole, I like this book a lot. The 'fables' (short stories) in this book are a fun read, and while the moral of many of the stories are unclear, the way they are resolved and the resolution itself is humorous and enjoyable to think about. This book is also subtitled fables for the cybernetic age, which really cohesively summarizes the book; just a few short stories set in some sci-fi world of some strange happenings and how things all went down. With that being said, just go read the book; each tale was whimsical and intriguing and I don't want to spoil any more (although some chapter fable summaries that might be slightly inaccurate are presented below). It'll be a delightful read :)
Morals from each of the short stories:
How the World Was Saved: Don't make your computer calculate 773920474839**4579819305732761262163 for fun.
Trurl's Machine: 0.1 + 0.2 ≠0.3.
A Good Shellacking: I (the writer that you assume is a person) could just be 3 foxes in a suit.
First Sally: If machines get too powerful, they might just link up and pick flowers all day.
First Sally (a): Don't build AGI.
Second Sally: When planning, remember to plan out what happens after the work is complete.
Third Sally: Maybe the thing you're fighting is you.
Fourth Sally: If you can't win a war, then just mass send them refugees. (Or: Make the goal attainable rather than the action easier.)
Fifth Sally: Bureaucracy devours. Planets even.
Sixth Sally: Empty, useless knowledge is a curse.
Seventh Sally: Don't make artificial reality.
Tale of the Three Storytelling Machines: ?????? (I have no clue on this one)
Alturizine: The universe is chaotic and random.
Prince Ferrix and the Princess Crystal: What is truth? This book is also only worth reading if you think the stories are good.