Lem wrote "Highcastle" at a time of greatest literary triumphs as an author of science fiction, but the book does not belong to this genre. This is a self-portrait of a writer from the times of his childhood, inquisitive, full of humor, a story about the birth and development of a personality, intelligence and imagination. With the pre-war Lvow as background Lem tell the story about adolescence - as attractive and full of surprises as his fictitious tales. Why does one go back to one's childhood? Initially, for sentimental reasons and for the reconstruction of the past world. Later, in order to understand oneself better at a mature age and, at the center of this panorama, to raise a High Castle - of meaning, a memorial of covenant between the past and the present.