Oh, I read good books, too, but only Earthside. Why that is, I don't really know. Never stopped to analyze it. Good books tell the truth, even when they're about things that never have been and never will be. They're truthful in a different way. When they talk about outer space, they make you feel the silence, so unlike the Earthly kind - and the lifelessness. Whatever the adventures, the message is always the same: humans will never feel at home out there.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Good books convey truth and emotional realities like space isolation, even when depicting non-real events.
- In plain terms
- Books tell the truth about feelings and isolation even in made up stories.
- What can you take from it?
- Fiction reveals emotional truths beyond factual accuracy.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What makes a story truthful?
- Is emotional truth more important than factual truth?
Another view
Non-fiction can also convey these truths effectively.
More from Stanislaw Lem
The whole plan hinged upon the natural curiosity of potatoes
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