Inspection at the Scene of the Crime

"Inspection at the Scene of the Crime" is one of the most original of Lem's novels.  At first glance a political satire, best understood by the witnesses of the cold war, "Inspection..." is  a serious intellectual attempt at creating a model of a future civilization.  How to secure an equilibrium, safety and – for individuals – a meaning of existence?  What technology should replace Nature or God? How to address the emptiness and suffering that even this protective, but "cold" and impersonal technology cannot remove from the life of planet's inhabitants?  Ijon Tichy, getting to know the remote Encja, seeks answer to these questions – and many others.

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