Every time I finish a book written by Lem, I ask myself why isn't he more popular. I think Lem is one of the best and most interesting contemporary authors. Why do you think he is not so popular? I speak for my experience (I'm Mexican and for many years I've been living in Italy).

My first answer is that it might be too complex for some people to understand, what do you think?

Lem was/is an absolute titan in the field of SF and in literature generally. His essays, his JLB-esque manipulation of form; the way the limits of human comprehension are tested in pretty much all of his novels. Why this oversight? Why the clickbait do we crave the clickbait fandom of Black Mirror without the philosophical and metaphysical conundra that could be explored (and suffuse Lem's serious yet playful prose).

Apologies for the rant. Not all great works of fiction can be turned into movies. The Congress, though visually stunning and adherent to the main theme of Lem's novella, suffers, I think, from "audience testing". Solaris (both of them) are great, but there is much more to Lem than the ghosts of a sentient planet.

Rant over. Just wish there was more love and awareness for this amazing mind.

And no, he wasn't a commie invention, no matter how much you might like PKD.

I have only read Solaris, and loved it for the feeling of coming into contact with an immense, overwhelming, and incomprehensible power. And that immensely powerful entity trying to communicate accidentally causes destruction (a similar theme in Philip K Dick’s Valis or the game Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture).

From Lem fans, what is the next of his books I should read?

So far I have read Solaris, The Futurological Congress, and The Cyberiad. Does anyone else find sometimes his books are mostly stream of conscious gibberish?

Honestly the only thing I have found more terrifyingly nonsensical is Naked Lunch. This is not to say they are not enjoyable to read, but perhaps just that I have trouble following them and often up continuing to read them on the the basis of interesting streams of words.

Mine is Invincible - I loved that from beginning till the end. Everything he wrote was great but Invincible stands out for me.