The Investigation

The Investigation (1959/1974) Stanislaw Lem translated by Adele Milch

This is a good book, however, it’s not what I was expecting or wanting when I started reading, so I didn’t like it.

Let me explain.

It’s supposed to be a British detective story (written in 1959, so it was modern when it was written, but isn’t modern any more), but although it was set in London, it was a very different London than the one I am used to reading about, and although it is a mystery, it’s not the police detective mystery I was expecting.

It’s, I suppose, a fantastic mystery, but it’s very much contained in the lead character’s head, and there was never really a resolution to the mystery.

All of those things don’t make it a bad story in any way, however, it was bad for me, because it wasn’t what I was wanting / needing to read when I picked it up.

Another problem for me, was that there were foreign terms used that weren’t obvious or easily determined/guessed.

jolie à deux – I found the translation in google books: “two persons being exposed to the same causes and having similar attacks of insanity” (French) pretty two
ad acta – (Latin) shelved, no longer in existence
duplicitas causum – (Latin) probably should be duplicitas causarum. Doubleness of causes.
Entia non sunt multipli-canda – should actually be “Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem” : “Entities should not be multiplied more than necessary” which is Occam’s Razor
finis mundi ambilateralis – This gives me nothing except references to this book. finis mundi (German) finished, that’s it; ambilateralis gives me a Eukaryote

There were also tons and tons of typos, which made it even more frustrating for me to read.

Which is too bad, because there were passages that I really liked:

He’s an exasperating man, an egomaniac made of razor blades and glass, arrogant in every possible way, absolutely devoid of tact, or perhaps completely unaware that civilized people use good manners not so much out of politeness but for the sake of simple, comfortable coexistence.

So, perhaps I’ll read this again later, when I’m in the mood for a challenging read, not escapism.
Rating: Not rated

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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