Well – time for another slightly odd pairing… Sci fi fables written under a Communist regime and Irish poetry really *don’t* have much in common – apart from the fact that I enjoyed both, I suppose!
Penguin Modern 9 – The Three Electro-Knights by Stanislaw Lem
Polish author Stanislaw Lem is someone whose books I’ve read and loved before (as a quick search on the blog will show!) And in fact I’ve read all of the four stories featured in PM9, as they come from the collection Mortal Engines which I read and reviewed for Shiny New Books back in 2016. At the time, I commented on the collection had been put together by translator Michael Kandel to showcase Lem’s stories of robots, and the four tales featured here certainly do that.
What’s intriguing about Lem’s robot tales is how they take human emotions and events, then twist them with the robotic perspective. The stories are the title one,The White Death, King Globares and the Sages, and The Tale of King Gnuff. All could be tales of derring-do with knights in armour, but they’re robots on far-flung planets and worlds – just goes to show that not much changes the universe over…
Science explains the world, but only Art can reconcile us to it. What do we really know about the origin of the Universe? A blank so wide can be filled with myths and legends. I wished, in my mythologizing, to reach the limits of improbability, and I believe that I came close. You know this already, therefore what you really wanted to ask was if the Universe is indeed ludicrous. But that question each much answer for himself.
Underlying these witty and entertaining tales is of course a serious point; for example, The White Death could be an allegory of any kind of colonial invasion humans have undertaken. And King Globares… parodies the trope of a king wanting to be entertained by his wise men which turns up in no end of ancient literature. King Gnuff is a little more surreal, with the monarch mutating into his actual realm and losing grip of reality as he sinks deeper into layer upon layer of dreams.
As I said in my original review, the stories present a chance to explore “the possibility of relations between humans and robots that speaks about our ability to reconcile ourselves to living in the world alongside other species and races, and learning to get along with them.” Lem was a great writer, and this Penguin Modern is an excellent introduction to his witty, clever, almost Steampunk stories.
Penguin Modern 10 – The Great Hunger by Patrick Kavanagh
Book 10 is the second poetic entry into the list of Penguin Moderns, an a poet new to me! Irish author Kavanagh wrote both verse and novel, and is recognised for his realistic portrayal of Irish rural life. This selection is drawn from his Collected Poems, and spans his life’s work.
It’s obvious from the poems featured here that Kavanagh was very much rooted in his landscape. The poems are powerful and lyrical, and central to the book is his long work The Great Hunger, from which the collection takes its title. It’s a gritty and realistic work, taking a long hard look at the truth of life in rural communities against the background of famine, and is moving and memorable.
I do not know what age I am,
I am not mortal age;
I know nothing of women,
Nothing of cities,
I cannot die
Unless I walk outside these whitethorn hedges.(from Innocence)
The rest of the poems are equally striking – often full of beautiful imagery, they have a streak of harshness and a refusal to lapse into saccharine descriptions of nature. In many ways, Kavanagh reminds me of that other great poet of the country, R.S. Thomas, and I can imagine them stalking their relative landscapes, glaring at the sky and composing as they went.
So an introduction into a new and excellent poet who I probably wouldn’t have read without the Penguin Modern box set – and whose work I’m now keen to read more of!
*****
Strangely, I now find myself one fifth (or 20%…) of the way through the Penguin Moderns box set, having created a series of posts on the books – something I was a bit reluctant to start as I don’t do well with challenges or commitments. But I’m enjoying this whole reading process so much, I think I might just carry on…. 🙂
Jun 08, 2018 @ 07:36:23
Sci-fi is such a great medium for exploring so many aspects of human interaction and our societies. Those stories sound great, making me wish I got on better with Sci-fi. Patrick Kavanagh is not a poet I am familiar with. It sounds like I would like his work though. Those poets rooted in landscape tend to be those I like. Very much enjoying your penguin modern posts. 🙂
Jun 08, 2018 @ 09:17:39
Thank you! I’m certainly enjoying reading them! Some sci fi is really thought-provoking and has a depth you don’t expect. I like it when I find the right kind for me!
Jun 08, 2018 @ 08:07:36
Yes, like Ali, I’m a bit hesitant about SciFi because everything I read in my formative years was so lacking in character development. And they were all about men, though I don’t think that bothered me as much then as it would now. Still, a PM is so inexpensive and so short, it’s not a disaster if I turn out not to like them.
But I’m yet to find a bookshop that has them all nicely lined up in order to make the ones I want easy to locate!
Jun 08, 2018 @ 09:10:44
I find there’s sci fi and sci fi. I hate the stuff that’s just cowboys in space or complicated space operas. But the stuff that stretches the genre, makes you think and explores the bigger issues can be just wonderful. And yes – PMs are a good way to try an author, although having said that, these are not necessarily the best places to begin with Lem, despite my liking them!
Jun 09, 2018 @ 22:33:22
I don’t know Kavanagh as a poet, although I’ve enjoyed some of his other writing. Number 10 looks like something I should explore.
Jun 10, 2018 @ 12:06:12
I’d never read him at all, so this was completely new to me. I like being guided to new authors…. 🙂
Jun 10, 2018 @ 11:38:49
These Penguin moderns are a great collection and quite diverse as your posts are demonstrating! I don’t know Patrick Kavanagh but I’ll seek out more of his work.
Jun 10, 2018 @ 12:05:34
They certainly are! I think I had heard of Kavanagh, but certainly not read him – so these books are a really voyage of discovery!
Jun 10, 2018 @ 16:17:35
Look at you with a challenge underway you didn’t mean to do! I love these pairings, though and it’s really fun to work our way through the books with you.
Jun 10, 2018 @ 17:21:09
I know! It kind of snuck up on me and I’m really enjoying them so I suspect I’ll carry on. Penguin Modern Classics is possibly my favourite imprint, if I had to choose – over the years they’ve brought me some of the Books of My Life – so it’s an ideal series for me.
Jun 11, 2018 @ 13:41:37
I’m enjoying this impromptu series and trip around the twentieth century too – long may it last! And now I want to read some Stanislaw Lem, though I don’t yet know what.