Note: The novel was finished in 1948 but suppressed as bearing not enough socialist realism. To address censors' concerns, Lem expanded the novel into a triptych which also dealt with post-war reconstruction. The expanded version was published as "Czas nieutracony" ('Time Not Wasted'). The addtional parts 2 & 3 were dropped for the later publications under the initially planned title "Szpital przemienienia".

Synopsis: A somewhat autobiographical novel about a young doctor working in a provincial Polish mental hospital during WWII.