Just reading that now. Interesting book. Why is it that Russian authors always read like they were drunk while writing? This is the earliest instance I've found of a genre I call bureaucratic occult, more recent examples are the atrocity archives by Stross and the SCP foundation stories.
My favorite Soviet sf writer is Stanislaw Lem, his master's voice is the best first contact book I've read, and a great treatment of scientists trying to get to the bottom off a mystery.
I really enjoy soviet fiction... but it definitely reads differently from a western book. Sometimes chapters will cover hours of time, and sometimes years. They're there to discuss ideas under the guise of a story rather than tell a story under the guise of ideas.
Glad you're enjoying the texts. I need to do The Doomed City or Roadside Picnic sometime.
From people I've talked to, NITWITT captured the atmosphere of Eastbloc academia well. I think western academia was rather different. I recommend Inherit the Stars by James Hogan for his treatment of scientists trying to get to the bottom of a mystery. Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman and That Hideos Strength are about the previous generation, but they're good too.
That's fair... at the same time, large swaths of High academia are so well represented by Monday Starts on Saturday that I feel it's more universal. Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman isn't bad, but it paints a pictures of the 'heroes' of academia rather than its more 'normal' faculty you'll find on most campuses.
I love the new English translations of the Strugatskies because they have these great afterwords by Boris Strugatsky about what it was like to publish scifi in the USSR. Lots of echos in my own experience trying to publish scifi in the 2010s. “Q: What do you call a telephone pole? A: A well-edited pine tree.”
lmao! I agree. The process in the modern managerial West has become concerningly similar to that of the late Soviet Union... the potential for a similar type of trans-national political collapse also seems to exist.
Yes that's a source of hope. An even better one that what I told myself during the pandemic: " if these guys could navigate the oppressive system, then so could I!"
The cat is a reference to the Learned Cat who narrates Pushkin's fairy tails. The first story in the book is about the magic of the past, and how it's broken and no longer works. So the Cat is Out of Order.
I have 2 copies each of Roadside Picnic and Metro 2033 because I love to introduce people to them but I'm not risking them losing my only copy again.
Have you read the Strugatskys' "The Second Invasion from Mars"? Feels very pertinent today.
I have not read that one yet. I'll add it to my (increasingly unweildy) list.
Just reading that now. Interesting book. Why is it that Russian authors always read like they were drunk while writing? This is the earliest instance I've found of a genre I call bureaucratic occult, more recent examples are the atrocity archives by Stross and the SCP foundation stories.
My favorite Soviet sf writer is Stanislaw Lem, his master's voice is the best first contact book I've read, and a great treatment of scientists trying to get to the bottom off a mystery.
Stanislaw Lem is brilliant. I have a review of one of his books already on my substack: Return from the Stars. I'd like to get your opinion on it: https://alwaysthehorizon.substack.com/p/book-review-return-from-the-stars?r=43z8s4
I really enjoy soviet fiction... but it definitely reads differently from a western book. Sometimes chapters will cover hours of time, and sometimes years. They're there to discuss ideas under the guise of a story rather than tell a story under the guise of ideas.
Glad you're enjoying the texts. I need to do The Doomed City or Roadside Picnic sometime.
From people I've talked to, NITWITT captured the atmosphere of Eastbloc academia well. I think western academia was rather different. I recommend Inherit the Stars by James Hogan for his treatment of scientists trying to get to the bottom of a mystery. Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman and That Hideos Strength are about the previous generation, but they're good too.
That's fair... at the same time, large swaths of High academia are so well represented by Monday Starts on Saturday that I feel it's more universal. Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman isn't bad, but it paints a pictures of the 'heroes' of academia rather than its more 'normal' faculty you'll find on most campuses.
The Strugatski Brothers! The Inhabited Island blew me away. There's your Soviet save-the-world story.
Thanks!
Do you have a list of your favorite Soviet scifi? Or post-Soviet? I loved Nightwatch and Daywatch.
I just call it 'soviet fiction' and mostly it's just the Strugatsky material right now, but I'm open to expanding my bibliography
I love the new English translations of the Strugatskies because they have these great afterwords by Boris Strugatsky about what it was like to publish scifi in the USSR. Lots of echos in my own experience trying to publish scifi in the 2010s. “Q: What do you call a telephone pole? A: A well-edited pine tree.”
lmao! I agree. The process in the modern managerial West has become concerningly similar to that of the late Soviet Union... the potential for a similar type of trans-national political collapse also seems to exist.
Yes that's a source of hope. An even better one that what I told myself during the pandemic: " if these guys could navigate the oppressive system, then so could I!"
The cat is a reference to the Learned Cat who narrates Pushkin's fairy tails. The first story in the book is about the magic of the past, and how it's broken and no longer works. So the Cat is Out of Order.