''The Investigation'' (original title ''Śledztwo'') is a science fiction/

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

novel by the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

writer Stanisław Lem. The novel incorporates a philosophical discourse on explanation of unknown phenomena. It was first published in 1958 in ''

Przekrój ''Przekrój'' (; ''Cross-section'') was the oldest Polish weekly newsmagazine in operation, established in 1945 in Kraków. After temporary closure in 2013, it was bought by photographer Tomasz Niewiadomski and subsequently relaunched in December ...

'' magazine (issues 698-711) and in 1959 as a book by the Publishing House of the Ministry of National Defense (Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej).

Plot

The novel is set in London. A young

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

lieutenant Gregory investigates the mysterious disappearances of corpses from London morgues to reappear somewhere else. The only "explanation" is an abstruse statistical theory that correlates the body snatching with local cancer rates. The detective suspects the statistician Sciss who came up with the theory of being the perpetrator. In reality it appears as if the corpses "

resurrect Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

". Gregory suggests that the corpses are being infested by certain microorganisms, which have some kind of collective intelligence. Sciss ponders upon this and thinks that this phenomenon existed for a long time and may explain the belief in resurrection in many religions. Eventually all was explained as a highly unlikely coincidence of several factors. However it turns out that some cases do not fit...

Discussion

In ''The Investigation'' the classic procedural police mystery is turned into a metaphysical puzzle, with Kafkaesque themes. As in almost all Lem's production, philosophical and

epistemological Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...

questions are presented under the simple surface of the plot: what is the role of scientific inquiry? What does the existence of competing explanations mean for that goal? The novel also introduces a theme that will later be present in Lem's works, in particular, in his major essay, ''

The Philosophy of Chance ''The Philosophy of Chance'', with subtitle ''"Literature in the Light of Empiricism"'' ( pl, Filozofia przypadku. Literatura w świetle empirii) is an essay by Polish author Stanisław Lem on the literary theory and the influence of literature ...

'': that observations are formed by the properties of the observer's mind, rather than by any properties of the observed. Lem wrote that he received many angry letters from readers who demanded an explanation how corpses can move.

Adaptations

In 1970s the novel was put on screen in Poland twice.Krzysztof Walecki
"ŚLEDZTWO (1973 & 1997). Groza według Lema"
''film.org.pl, August 31, 2018 *1973: TV film (director ) (production: 1973, premiere: 1974) *:Lem was unhappy with the work, but he wrote he was aware of the extremely low budget and appreciated the director's dedication, who sometimes used dirty tricks to make shots (e.g., he pretended to be a crazy man and burst into

with a camera to make some valuable shots for free) .Łukasz Maciejewsk
"Święty spokój", an interview with Lem
/ref> *1997 TV play (director

Waldemar Krzystek Waldemar Krzystek (born 23 November 1953) is a Polish film director and screenwriter. His film '' Ostatni prom'' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. His 2008 cold war romance ''Little Moscow'' (''Ma� ...

).ŚLEDZTWO Spektakl telewizyjny
/ref>

References

20th-century Polish novels 1958 science fiction novels Mystery novels Novels by Stanisław Lem Novels set in London Polish science fiction novels Polish novels {{1950s-sf-novel-stub

Plot

Discussion

Adaptations

See also

References