At one point in this fascinating, alarming and occasionally frustrating novel, a scientist involved in a Pentagon-sponsored attempt to decode what may of may not be a "letter from the stars" begins reading great swatches of popular science-fiction stories in hope of generating new ideas.  "Indeed a mistake," remarks the aging mathematician who narrates His Master's Voice.  "He had not read such books before; he was annoyed - indignant, even -expecting variety, finding monotony (...).

  However accurate this generalization may be - and it has been a running complaint of Stanislaw Lem for years - it could never be taken to apply to his own work.

The New York Times Review of Books

Francisco Alves Editora,
Rio de Janeiro 1991

 

 

 Human beings should accept some humility. Sometimes we face phenomena the essence of which we are unable to understand. Even if we are equipped with the most modern scientific apparatus and knowledge we are incapable of resolving whether they are accidental or intentional. Newton once said that with respect to nature we are just children playing with shells on the seashore.

 

His Master's Voice

 
  What would happen to us if we could truly sympathize with others, feel with them, suffer for them?  The fact that human anguish, fear, and suffering melt away with the death of the individual, that nothing remains of the ascents, the declines, the orgasms, and the agonies, is a praiseworthy gift of evolution, which made us like the animals.  If from of his feelings, if thus grew the inheritance of the generations, if even a spark could pass from man to man, the world would be full of raw, bowel-torn howling.

 

Translated by Michael Kandel, Harcourt Brace 

Bibliography

• Czytelnik, Warszawa 1968, 1970
• Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 1973, 1978
• Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków-Wrocław 1984
• Interart, Warszawa 1996

  English Editions:

• Harcourt Brace, New York, San Diego 1983
• Harcourt Brace, New York, San Diego 1984
• Mandarin, London 1990
• Harvest Books, San Diego 1990