Roadside Picnic by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky; book review
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- Translated by Olena Bormashenko for the 2012 edition. That would not fit in the title but I really think the translator deserves a lot of credit here.
Great book! It is really a prize when the book is as good as they hype.
#classicsciencefiction
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Always happy to see more people finding out about this book. I just read it for the first time last year and I liked it so, so much. Deep down I like to believe that the authors wanted to return to this universe since there were 6 zones around the globe and it would have been so cool to have different characters, different environments, different artifacts, different effects, and so on all across the globe. Very nice video, glad you liked the book!
Loved this book! Agree, this never felt like North America to me. I wonder where Le Guin got that idea?
Yeah, it is really odd! It is the sort of comment that makes you wonder if the person has actually read the book and I don't like to think that about Le Guin. Actually, I would not be surprised if it is a translation thing. Is yours a masterworks edition?
What is the bird's name? Did he get what he wanted? Was it attention?
The bird is called Reepicheap I don't think I ever figured out exactly what he wanted that time. Sometimes it is attention, other times he just wants to go to another room. Often he is reacting to outside sounds -bird calls or otherwise - that I can't even hear. Birds are a learning experience. He is 22 and we are still learning...
My favorite Soviet SF is Legends of Stellar Captains
.my favoriite fantasy is Scarlet Sails
My favorite YA is not translated as far as I know, but number two is Two Captains by Kaveerin
Scarlet Sails
Scarlet Sails by Alexander Grin and Legends of Stellar Captains by G. Altov ? They both sound interesting and I will keep an eye out for them.
I really enjoyed this one too. I read the intro by Le Guin and was scratching my head too, from the video game and movie I just assumed this took place in Russia. I loved the tone and alien feel of the novel, as well as the plot.
I read this in 2023 and it made my top 10, loved it. Very Russian feeling SF. I really liked the Masterworks edition because the Le Guin intro and Strugatsky afterword are great, but yeah I read them after. I am not sure why it took so long to be published in Russia because I think it is a pretty brutal view of capitalism, there are mentions in the book that the Russians fenced off their zone, whereas the American zone turns into a business that relies on the downtrodden. The film adaptation Stalker is excellent but very different, especially the end, and worth a re-watch.
These days I am more into reading than watching, but I will bear it mind. The afterword, about how long it took to publish was brutal but really interesting, I especially respect how he has moved on from it all. Great book! And thanks for commenting.
PS - did you do a review? I just went looking but could not see one?
@@OmnivorousReader Yeah i'm the same, I watch about 5 films a year now and they are usually old ones. My review is here, not sure if links work in comments ruclips.net/video/IPoou1OaLmk/видео.htmlsi=j9ImXLBKwPIBToWj
@@AaronReadABook It does, thank you. I kind of think that Stalker is a movie I might like to look into.
It wasnt this translation I read a long time ago but I would still rate it 5/5. It would be interesting to read this newer translation to see if it is very different. Some much older translations of older books have had a tendency to read a bit more academic like rather than flowed. I do think styles and the importance of what emphasis a translation gives priority to can make the world of difference. Whether it's been Russian, French, Japanese or any other language I've read if i can find if there is more than one transalation available I will try to find out which is the preferred one and why if I can. As for Le Guin's foreword, it should be at the end of the book. As for the rest of her remarks I wonder if there was a very heavily Americanised edited translation? Certainly what I read made it plain it was set somewhere in the Soviet Union. I've read a few more Strugatsky novels since and they've all been very good but nothing so far I've loved as much as this one.
This one has made me want to read more Strugatsky for sure. Interestingly, I was watching another, recent booktube review where the reader also assumed that it was set in North America. Making me think it really is a translation issue. I really hope I don't get obsessed and seek out other translations to find out.... It could happen though.
@OmnivorousReader it's very odd, it definitely sounds like there's an edited translation out there.
Towards the end of the novel, the protagonist was willing to sacrifice another person’s life. He changed from the man he was.
Jeff VandeMeer was asked if this novel influenced his Area X.
Hmm... I mean we do change as we grow older. But are you making the point that by that action we get character development for Red? Because I am not sure about that, it seems to me that Red's core character is pretty consistent. He was willing to sacrifice another's life when it meant enough to him.
And, what did Jeff VanderMeer say when asked that - I don't think I said anything in the review, but I wondered about Area X several times while reading this?
this is by far my fav scifi novel of all time. the prose is outstanding, even in an older translation i read. just to chime in on the side point i never thought of it as north america either, although north america is mentioned as having a site or two. it clearly seemed like ukraine or russia.
You could do worse for a favourite SF book for sure. This location think is really intriguing.