Return from the Stars

Hal Bregg is an astronaut who returns from a space mission in which only 10 biological years have passed for him, while 127 years have elapsed on earth. He finds that the earth has changed beyond recognition, filled with human beings who have been medically neutralized. How does an astronaut join a civilization that shuns risk? "Originally published in 1961, Return from the Stars recounts the experiences of Hal Bregg, an astronaut who returns from an exploratory mission of ten years. Due to time dilation 127 years have passed on Earth. Bregg returns to a society that he hardly recognizes, one where danger has been eradicated. Children are 'betrizated' to remove all aggression and violence, but this also removes all impluse to take risks and explore. Bregg has serious difficulty in navigating the new social mores, and fails to adapt. While Lem's depiction of a risk-free society is bleak, he avoids heroizing Bregg and his fellow astronauts -- faced with no opposition to his aggression, Bregg behaves abominably. The middle of the book recounts the space mission, in which several of their collagues died horribly and very little of any scientific magnitude was discovered. As usual with Lem's books, there is no simple answer, and Lem's dissection has multiple targets"-- Provided by publisher By Stanisław Lem ; Translated By Barbara Marszal And Frank Simpson. Translation Of Powrót Z Gwiazd. A Helen And Kurt Wolff Book.