Księga Schulza, Księga Lema

Abstract

The Book is not only a crucial element of the fictional world of Schulz and Lem, but also a metaphor of creation. The poetic imagination of both writers is rooted in the mythical image of the ur-Book, the Authentic Scroll which makes the axis mundi of reality. The artistic task of Schulz was to reconstruct that lost idea, while Lem decided to abandon it in favor of a vision of enormous, overwhelming libraries. At any rate, the attitude toward the myth of the Book turns out to be a common element, if not a symbol characteristic of both Schulz’s and Lem’s fiction.