The Pirx stories, esp. Ananke and The Haunt are among my favourite short stories of all time. I've always seen them as parables rather than Sci Fi novels, because in the end the "problem" is always human nature, not technology per se. The're also parables in the sense that Lem wrote about political things he couldn't address directly in the political climate at the time.

I love Pirx and having a Polish connection in my life I think gave me a richer appreciation even of a translation. Definitely going to check out more Lem after reading this thread. And can't agree more on Lem's prescience - the lovely thing is that my enjoyment whilst reading was never broken by picking holes in the descriptions around technology. Thank you Lem.