I'm trying to track down a story by Stanislaw Lem for my father. He thought it was titled "Citizen O", but there appears to be no such story. It's about a world in which the more distinguished you are, the shorter is your name. That's all I know, unfortunately.
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No such story appears on the Internet Scifi database; isfdb.org/cgi-bin/se.cgi?arg=citizen&type=Fiction+Titles– ValorumJun 8, 2016 at 13:44
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Citizen O was a Russian serial killer: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoly_Onoprienko– TGnatJun 8, 2016 at 14:22
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1There's a story in which two officials compete for the favor of the heir to the throne by making themselves smaller and smaller; perhaps your father is thinking about that one?– KreiriJun 8, 2016 at 14:50
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2In case of misremembering: In the 1965 novel 'Epp' by Axel Jensen, the opposite is the case. You earn extra letters to your name.– AbulafiaJun 8, 2016 at 19:25
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2In The Space Merchants an important part of the story turns on the fact that the less important you are, the longer your Social Security Number (tattoed on your arm) is.– SpencerJun 9, 2016 at 1:57
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1 Answer
This is from Lem's 'The Star Diaries, right at the beginning of the Thirteenth Voyage. It was "Master Oh", not "Citizen O".
[...] one of the most distinguished individuals in our Universe, Master Oh. [...] Children born on Fatamiasma recieve an enormous number of titles and distinctions as well as a name that is, by our standards, inordinately long.
The day Master Oh came into the world he was called Hridipidagnittusuoayomojorfnagrolliskipwikabeccopyxlbepurz. And duly dubbed Golden Buttress of Being, Doctor of Quintessential Benignity, Most Possibilistive Universatilitude, etc, etc. From year to year, as he studied and matured, the titles and syllables of his name were one by one removed, and since he gave evidence of uncommon abilities, by the thirty-third year of his life he was relieved of his last distinction, and two years later carried no title whatever, while his name was designated in the Fatamiasman alphabet by a single and - morover - voiceless letter, signifying "celestial aspirate" - this is a kind of stifled gasp which one gives from a surfeit of awe and rapture.
answered Jun 9, 2016 at 5:23
