Endless Myth and A Perfect Vacuum

— The Omniverse as Narrative vs. the Universe of Nonexistent Books —

The novel Endless Myth and A Perfect Vacuum by Stanisław Lem may seem completely different at first glance.

One is an ever-expanding omniversal mythology, while the other is a collection of reviews of books that do not exist.

Yet both are deeply connected through a shared idea: the possibility that narrative itself becomes a universe.

This article compares them from the perspective of the omniverse.

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1. Form of Myth: Existing Narrative vs. Nonexistent Narrative

Endless Myth is a narrative that actually unfolds.
It expands through multiverses, omniverses, and even beyond.

A Perfect Vacuum consists of reviews of books that were never written.
The stories themselves do not exist—only their descriptions do.

In short:

Endless Myth: an unfolding omniverse
A Perfect Vacuum: an omniverse of nonexistent narratives

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2. Worldview: Constructed Universe vs. Imagined Universe

In Endless Myth, the universe is explicitly constructed.
The reader experiences its structure directly.

In A Perfect Vacuum, the universe is never directly shown.
Through reviews, countless possible worlds emerge in the reader’s imagination.

Thus:

Endless Myth: presented universe
A Perfect Vacuum: imagined universe

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3. Characters: Conceptual Entities vs. Absent Beings

Characters in Endless Myth embody elements of cosmic structure.

In A Perfect Vacuum, characters may not appear at all.
They exist only as references within nonexistent works.

This absence paradoxically generates infinite possibilities.

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4. The Omniverse Concept: Reality vs. Potential

In Endless Myth, the omniverse is a structured reality.
Infinite layers of existence are actively constructed.

In A Perfect Vacuum, the omniverse exists as potential.
Every unwritten story becomes a possible universe.

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5. Meta Structure: Beyond the Narrative

A Perfect Vacuum is fundamentally meta.
Its format—reviews of nonexistent books—is itself the subject.

Endless Myth also enters a meta dimension,
as the narrative itself becomes part of the cosmic structure it describes.

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6. Essence of Myth: Presence vs. Absence

Endless Myth presents myth as presence—
a constructed, existing system.

A Perfect Vacuum presents myth as absence—
where what is not told creates infinite space for imagination.

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Conclusion: Must a Story Exist to Be Infinite?

Endless Myth and A Perfect Vacuum offer two radically different approaches to the omniverse:

Endless Myth: infinity through existence
A Perfect Vacuum: infinity through nonexistence

The former builds an actual universe.
The latter allows infinite universes to emerge through absence.

And this comparison leads to a fundamental question:

Does a story need to exist to become infinite—
or does true infinity lie in the stories that are never told?

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