Select Format
Select Condition 
Book Overview
An early realist novel by Stanislaw Lem, taking place in a Polish psychiatric hospital during World War II.Taking place within the confines of a psychiatric hospital, Stanislaw Lem's The Hospital of... This description may be from another edition of this product.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0151421862
ISBN13:9780151421862
Release Date:January 1988
Publisher:Houghton Mifflin Harcourt P
Length:207 Pages
Weight:1.00 lbs.
Dimensions:0.9" x 5.8" x 8.5"
Related Subjects
Contemporary Fiction Literature & Fiction Science Fiction Science Fiction & FantasyCustomer Reviews
3 ratings
A trip into the surreal
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
The symbolism and philosophical insight in this book is astounding. The setting is Poland, following the Nazi invasion, but it seems that by starting a new job in an insane asylum, the protagonist escapes the outside world and his "lost motherland" only to join an alien landscape where deranged and yet fascinating people live. You can almost see that even in his first book Lem was already thinking science fiction by reading some of the case histories of the patients. The story almost carries you to another world and until the last chapter you seem to forget the reality of the precarious situation that mental patients faced during Nazi occupation. While I truly enjoyed the story and the dialogues between Stefan and Sekulowski, this book lacks a coherent plot, and suffers from detailed focus into inconsequential details, such as the appearance of a graveyard in the winter and the rays of sunlight shining through the window of a room.
I don't know what the other reviewers read, but...
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
I loved this book. Lem's partially auto-biographical Transfiguration is set in a WWII era insane asylum in Poland. He tells a compelling story of a time and place when you had to look hard to tell the difference between the doctors and the patients.
one of lem's best
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
Though some of it is a little fluffy, over all i found this book to be intresting and spellbinding.
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
