I loved how genuinely excited you were for Cody to read this one, Brent - I’m actually surprised that you didn’t also rate it five stars simply based on your exuberance. We read this for our book club October 2022 and people generally enjoyed it. Cody, I hate that you keep adding things to my TBR, but given that it is a scifi staple, I really should get to Rendezvous with Rama. Fun episode, gentlemen. Looking forward to both the book club discussion along with the Martian.
I liked this book, but the translation for the edition I have was difficult for me to get through. It might be a general Russian -> English grammar issue since I had some trouble with Metro 2033 as well. I'll have to give both another read sometime soon. Just to elaborate further on the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games if anyone is interested, there are three existing games in "Shadow of Chernobyl" (2007), "Clear Sky" (2008), and "Call of Pripyat" (2009), with the fourth (Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl) slated for release toward the end of 2024. Clear Sky is a mess, but Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat are generally well received. All three have their share of bugs that can be frustrating to deal with at times. However, there are a number of standalone mods, which means you don't need to purchase the original game(s), available that combine aspects of all three games into one with added features and bug fixes. You can still get the original games for cheap during Steam or GOG sales. The atmosphere of these games is amazing and I would highly recommend giving them a try. Hopefully Stalker 2 will live up to the previous games and exceed expectations.
Thanks for the intel on STALKER! Haha our confusion on how many games there are makes more sense now. Sorry to hear about your translation! Our metro 2033 has translation problems too, but we’ve read lots of other Russian translated work that was done well, so I think it’s just a bad edition.
3:38 Agree 100%! Stories seem padded out and long nowadays. Maybe because publishers make more money from a 400 page book than a 250 page book? So much of stories just feels like filler. Great job as always on the vid!
Glad you loved Roadside Picnic. I'd say I appreciate things about the book and quite like some sections, but don't love it. I really enjoyed the prologue and the third chapter, which is good because without those sections there is no world for Red's story to exist within. I'm not sure why the book would strike someone as "competence porn" because the three chapters Red is featured in all seem to start with an interesting scenario in which Red could be successful but then ultimately he isn't. I find the concept of the Zones interesting, but not the reality of them because, while the laws of physics are being warped, everything is going to still look boringly normal. Final thought, I've read and watched a number of reviews and discussions of the book and I think people are misunderstanding the "roadside picnic" metaphor. The prologue compares the arrival of the material in the zones to shooting a bullet at a ball. That dispersion pattern is how scientists were able to track the path backwards to its source. That sounds to me like something shot towards earth, broke up, and crashed. Nobody landed and then left. In chapter 3, the idea of a "roadside picnic" seems intended as not a literal description of what might have happened but just a way of putting us in our place by saying, "If aliens came here, they wouldn't even be interested in us. But, we're so primitive we even think their junk was amazing."
Glad you enjoyed, but Roadside Picnic was a 1/5 for me :( However, I'm curious as to which translation you read. I read the sci-fi masterworks version, but I've been told there is a more modern translation that make the book far more readable (though obviously you found it very readable anyway ;)).
Oh sorry to hear your translation was bad! Ya we read the most recent, translated by Olena Bormashenko, and it was really well done, totally seamless. Having your experience with Metro 2033 though, the translation I’ve got (this is Brent) is such crap and totally ruining the book. It’s such a bootleg edition it doesn’t even say who did the translation
@@hugonautspod I think I need to re-read it with that translation. I have a couple of friends who didn't like Roadside Picnic, but we are in the minority. Not tried Metro 2033 yet. On a more positive note, I always enjoy your reviews (even when I disagree ;)). Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much for letting us know! Fixed now. All downloads going forward will get the right file, but not 100% sure what happens if you had already downloaded the earlier version - if its still weird for you, try deleting the download and pulling it fresh. Sorry about that, and thanks again for helping us fix it!
We didn't have the concept of racism here in Europe. We've learned about it from the US, form you guys. So I don't blame the Strugatskys for it as I'm sure they didn't have that concept either. I see the goons scene as a stereotype, not something racist!
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I loved how genuinely excited you were for Cody to read this one, Brent - I’m actually surprised that you didn’t also rate it five stars simply based on your exuberance. We read this for our book club October 2022 and people generally enjoyed it. Cody, I hate that you keep adding things to my TBR, but given that it is a scifi staple, I really should get to Rendezvous with Rama. Fun episode, gentlemen. Looking forward to both the book club discussion along with the Martian.
I liked this book, but the translation for the edition I have was difficult for me to get through. It might be a general Russian -> English grammar issue since I had some trouble with Metro 2033 as well. I'll have to give both another read sometime soon.
Just to elaborate further on the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games if anyone is interested, there are three existing games in "Shadow of Chernobyl" (2007), "Clear Sky" (2008), and "Call of Pripyat" (2009), with the fourth (Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl) slated for release toward the end of 2024.
Clear Sky is a mess, but Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat are generally well received. All three have their share of bugs that can be frustrating to deal with at times. However, there are a number of standalone mods, which means you don't need to purchase the original game(s), available that combine aspects of all three games into one with added features and bug fixes. You can still get the original games for cheap during Steam or GOG sales.
The atmosphere of these games is amazing and I would highly recommend giving them a try. Hopefully Stalker 2 will live up to the previous games and exceed expectations.
Thanks for the intel on STALKER! Haha our confusion on how many games there are makes more sense now. Sorry to hear about your translation! Our metro 2033 has translation problems too, but we’ve read lots of other Russian translated work that was done well, so I think it’s just a bad edition.
wow, always loved the Stalker and Metro video games. Definitely going to check this one out!
Hope you like!
3:38 Agree 100%! Stories seem padded out and long nowadays. Maybe because publishers make more money from a 400 page book than a 250 page book? So much of stories just feels like filler. Great job as always on the vid!
We recently saw an 85 page novella with a sticker price of $35, so who the hell knows what publishers are thinking these days.
@@hugonautspod OMG that's crazy!!!
Glad you loved Roadside Picnic. I'd say I appreciate things about the book and quite like some sections, but don't love it. I really enjoyed the prologue and the third chapter, which is good because without those sections there is no world for Red's story to exist within. I'm not sure why the book would strike someone as "competence porn" because the three chapters Red is featured in all seem to start with an interesting scenario in which Red could be successful but then ultimately he isn't. I find the concept of the Zones interesting, but not the reality of them because, while the laws of physics are being warped, everything is going to still look boringly normal.
Final thought, I've read and watched a number of reviews and discussions of the book and I think people are misunderstanding the "roadside picnic" metaphor. The prologue compares the arrival of the material in the zones to shooting a bullet at a ball. That dispersion pattern is how scientists were able to track the path backwards to its source. That sounds to me like something shot towards earth, broke up, and crashed. Nobody landed and then left. In chapter 3, the idea of a "roadside picnic" seems intended as not a literal description of what might have happened but just a way of putting us in our place by saying, "If aliens came here, they wouldn't even be interested in us. But, we're so primitive we even think their junk was amazing."
Glad you enjoyed, but Roadside Picnic was a 1/5 for me :( However, I'm curious as to which translation you read. I read the sci-fi masterworks version, but I've been told there is a more modern translation that make the book far more readable (though obviously you found it very readable anyway ;)).
Oh sorry to hear your translation was bad! Ya we read the most recent, translated by Olena Bormashenko, and it was really well done, totally seamless. Having your experience with Metro 2033 though, the translation I’ve got (this is Brent) is such crap and totally ruining the book. It’s such a bootleg edition it doesn’t even say who did the translation
@@hugonautspod I think I need to re-read it with that translation. I have a couple of friends who didn't like Roadside Picnic, but we are in the minority. Not tried Metro 2033 yet. On a more positive note, I always enjoy your reviews (even when I disagree ;)). Keep up the good work!
Looks like you have uploaded the wrong file to the audio podcast.
Thank you so much for letting us know! Fixed now. All downloads going forward will get the right file, but not 100% sure what happens if you had already downloaded the earlier version - if its still weird for you, try deleting the download and pulling it fresh.
Sorry about that, and thanks again for helping us fix it!
We didn't have the concept of racism here in Europe. We've learned about it from the US, form you guys. So I don't blame the Strugatskys for it as I'm sure they didn't have that concept either. I see the goons scene as a stereotype, not something racist!
lol