IMO, Solaris (along with "Fiasco," "The Invincible" and "Eden") is still the definitive story for expressing the futility of any meaningful contact with a truly alien mind. I think Lem's 'no final outcome' approach to SciFi writing is unsurpassed and holds up very nicely to this day, though Arkady and Boris Strugatsky come close in "Roadside Picnic," as does Vladimir Savchenko in "Self Discovery."
Of course, none of those amateurs can compete with Joe Menosky's "no comprende, senor - we only speak English in cultural metaphors" masterwork "Darmok."
"We lived for days on nothing but food and water." W.C. Fields
