Pros: Very funny..with combination of hilarious slapstick and thoughtful satire
Cons: Future counter-espionage can get a little convoluted and difficult to follow!
The Bottom Line: Read this book for hilarious slapstick and gentle satire of the military and espionage, and thoughtful treatment of nanotechnology and its place in warfare
snpmurray's Full Review: Stanisaw Lem - Peace on Earth
Ijon Tichy, interplanetary spy, tells us the story of his mission to the moon, to spy on the secret arms race there. Mankind has exiled all weapons of war, bringing about peace on earth. The worlds governments are themselves completely ignorant of how their own weapons may have developed, such is the nature of the treaty which moved the arms race. If no side knows its’ own strength, who can dare war? The people of Earth have become paranoid in the ensuing silence, and now fear the moonbots may be planning an invasion. It is Tichys task to see if this is so.
Unfortunately, in the course of his visit to the moon, Tichy is himself attacked. His corpus callosum (the bridge between the two hemispheres of the brain) is severed by one of the moon weapons. When he returns to Earth, Tichy cannot remember the most important parts of his visit, the memories being buried in the right side of his brain. He can only type his story with his right hand (controlled by the left side of his brain), whilst the left hand, quite beyond his command, vigorously attempts to interfere, with hilarious consequences. He must tie it down as he types, and bear the consequences when it pinches womens’ bottoms, a treachery he usually discovers when his face is slapped. He does battle with himself, whilst attempting to dodge the skullduggery of the many agencies on Earth who are urgently interested in finding out what lies in his seemingly inaccessible memory.
This book is full of quality satire. This is the third book featuring Tichy as the protagonist (previously known to us as the hero of the “futurological congress“), and he has not lost his legendary ability to face stupendous, and often side-splittingly funny circumstances with a level head. Marvel, as Tichy calmly recounts the tale of eating Italian with long-dead Marilyn Monroe, how he simply observes as the meal deteriorates around him into a deadly slapstick battle between spy and counter spy! Stanislav Lem uses the story to poke fun at the politics of cold war, arms races, and the poly-faced nature of the spy culture, and espionage in general.
Lems’ concept of the “upside down evolution “ of warfare expands on themes he touched on in his previous essay work, “one human minute”….since nanotechnology represents massively reduced detectability, the future of warfare, Lem predicts, will consist of clouds of intelligent robots the size of viruses. Such weapons could reach their targets as a vaporous cloud, and coalesce upon arrival into thermonuclear bombs, or other terrors. Conventional large weapons like tanks are obsolete in their world. As such technology indeed becomes feasible, it must be banished to the moon. But evolution, even when upside down, is unpredictable!!
This book is funny. And extremely clever. Really there are three parts…the hilarious tale of Tichy versus left hand, of slapstick humor… the story of the mission to the moon itself, in a hard science fiction style, tinged with military satires… and the long run-around back on earth, an increasingly preposterous spy-versus-spy tale. The parts are well stitched together, and it is a fast read. I enjoyed the ideas enclosed, and it is relevant to remember that this in-depth discussion of nanotechnology and virtuality was written by Lem long before such concepts became the commonalities of scifi they are today.
This book is gentle humor and satire. Reminiscent to me of catch 22, and having that flavor about it of Douglas Adams, a commentary on the essential stupidity of the ways of men.
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