Hospital of the Transfiguration
It is 1939; the Nazis have occupied Poland. A young doctor disturbed by the fate of Poland joins the staff of an insane asylum only to find a world of pain and absurdity to match that outside.
From Publishers Weekly
This first novel by the prolific science fiction author and essayist was completed in 1948, but wasn’t published in Poland until 1975, after Lem’s reputation was well established. Appearing in English for the first time, this is very much the work of a brash writer finding his way.
As Poland falls to the Nazis during WW II in 1939, Stefan Trzyniecki, a young doctor, finds employment at a provincial insane asylum. He has been lured there by a fellow medical student who promises, “It’s like being outside the Occupation, in fact it’s even like being outside the world!” Stefan hopes that the asylum will be “a kind of extraterrestrial observatory” with “a delicious solitude in which a man naturally endowed with a fine intellect could develop in peace.” B...
ISBN: 156421763
Year of publication:
1991
Translator: Brand William
Number of pages: 203
Reading time: 3 h. 23 min.
Formats: FB2, EPUB, PDF