Solaris (1961)

Lem makes an encounter with a living ocean turn back towards the people trying to understand it, mixing scientific speculation with grief and uncertainty. Read for a first-contact novel that refuses to make the unknown a puzzle humans are entitled to solve. Bill Johnston translates directly from Polish; the earlier Joanna Kilmartin and Steve Cox version came through French. Johnston’s version also received a fine-press print edition in 2024, so check the translator rather than assuming all English editions are the same.