Comments on: REVIEW: Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

By: bryant

bryant — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 15:34:38 +0000

A friend of mine who is big into the Scandinavian LARP scene bought it and demoed it for us. (He’s one of the editors of this book on roleplaying games: http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-6834-8 )

I’m not sure how widely available it is in the US (I see it is available as a PDF through DriveThru RPG), though it apparently has quite a following in its native Finland.

It’s interesting… we only played a 3 hour demo of the game, so I can’t attest to how well it holds up over time, but it was certainly enjoyable. (It was also my first game with diceless mechanics. Again, I’m not sure how that would play over time.)

By: Jerry H.

Jerry H. — Sat, 07 Jul 2012 22:17:56 +0000

I’ve just finished reading the latest translation, and have been looking for this adaption. Wonderful and amazing novel, and I’m hoping the movie is in the same class. Oh — and my thanks for the link!

By: Voidman

Voidman — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 09:46:13 +0000

This is an excellent story and possibly their most palatable piece for the western reader. Like many of their contemporary Russian SF writers the style can feel convoluted, almost grotesque. No doubt to elude the censors as very often the writings are deeply allegorical and provide very moving insight when contextualized in the reality of the Soviet state. This is Social SF with human condition at its core. I hope that some semblance of the above is not lost in the new translation.

My recommended reading would be:
Beetle in the Anthill
Snail on the Slope
Tale of the Troika
Monday Begins on Saturday

As a side note if you like the above have a look at Kir Bulychev – especially his Gusliar stories.

Sadly the English translations may be hard to come by.

By: X2Eliah

X2Eliah — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 04:43:25 +0000

I wonder how much of the recent (last few years) upsurge in interest aroudn this book is due to the stalker videogame series.. I’ve no clue where any actual stats might be gotten from, butthis could be a neat case for inter-media mingling and cross-beneficiality.

By: Cube_64

Cube_64 — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 02:34:56 +0000

I think further translations are in the works, although I don’t believe the ones you mention are next in line.

By: Fred Kiesche

Fred Kiesche — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 02:18:55 +0000

I’m hoping this one does well enough so that other books by the Brothers S. get retranslated and republished.

I’d like to try to re-read Snail on the Slope and Tale of the Troika.

By: Matte Lozenge

Matte Lozenge — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 01:33:49 +0000

I tried reading the old translation a few years ago & I didn’t make it past 20 pages. The new translation is like night and day. You can understand what’s happening. The slang is comprehensible. Tone, atmosphere and characterization come through, like cleaning the grime off a clouded lens.

As for the story itself, it is mostly a lot of existential bitching about the general lousiness of life. Very understandable coming from 1971 Soviet Russia. And it works pretty well as a science fiction setting and it is pretty convincing. Even though it is a little wearing and repetitive.

The structure of the novel is flawed. It hops from action sequences, to existential reflection, to “outsider” perspectives, to nostalgia. But there isn’t much justification for the hopping; it doesn’t really serve the story. It’s pretty random and a little frustrating to plow through.

But the book is worth reading, for all the reasons Andrew said. Maybe it’s not a classic as some people claim, but it is memorable and unique.

By: Cube_64

Cube_64 — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 00:34:52 +0000

This one’s a new translation, I believe

By: Paul Weimer

Paul Weimer — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 20:33:54 +0000

I’ve never heard of this. Weird, extremely weird.

By: tam

tam — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 17:40:57 +0000

I still don’t understand the movie adaption, ‘Stalker’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2GL4UoL4o0

By: John DeNardo

John DeNardo — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 16:27:48 +0000

Hi Michael, not intuitive, I know, but you can click on the book image or click on the newly-added link above.

By: michel

michel — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:23:42 +0000

Please give credit to the translator? How about a link to buy it?

By: bryant

bryant — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 13:39:20 +0000

This is probably a comment better suited for Roll Perception Plus Awareness, but there’s an avant-garde Finnish role-playing game based upon this book (and the movie adaptation) that was just released in English.

http://nitessine.wordpress.com/2012/03/10/stalker-rpg-released-in-english/

After playing it, it had me trolling local bookshops for a copy of Roadside Picnic; I’m glad to see a new edition!

By: Paul (@princejvstin)

Paul (@princejvstin) — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 10:25:38 +0000

I was extremely confused, years ago, trying to read this book. I might do better with it today, but at the time I might not have had the depth of experience to really appreciate the themes.

It’s also possible this was a translation thing.