Plus que Strougatskis

[Dave Monroe]

... have never NOT ssen Roadside Picnic (typically, though not always, c/w
Troika) at used bookstores ... Definitely Maybe seems a bit more rare, and
felt lucky to find Noon: 22nd Century.  Have heard complaints about the
translations (a friend of mine ran an hilarious nigh-unto-monologue on odd
turns of phrase and insertions of American slang in Definitely Maybe, and
Fredric Jameson called the title trans. itself "idiotic"), but, well, hell if
I'd know the difference.   But those Strugatsky novels were in a whole series
of translations of Soviet SF novels, under the general editorship of Theodore
Sturgeon.  Still hunting down other titles in the series, anyone have any
recommendations?  But what I think was esp. interesting, esp. in the case of
those Strugatsky novels, was that, in the way that mainstream US SF seems to
be largely in a sort of "detective" vein--something weird happens, somebody
ingeniously deduces what caused it--the Soviets seem precisely to leave the
mysterious as such (and cf. Polish SF writer Stanislaw Lem's Solaris, not to
mention, say, Thomas Pynchon's own particular brand of fabulation).  Any
comments?  Any decent critical works?  Do recall a title or two devoted to,
not only Soviet SF, but to the Brothers Strugatsky in particular, but I guess
I just never tracked them down ... but the Anglo-American SF "New Wave" does
indeed perhaps share a similar approach, and, if he hasn't been mentioned yet,
well, Philip K. Dick certainly ought to have been by now.  I guess I'd esp.
recommend The Man in the High Castle and Ubik, but I can't say I've read all
too much more of PKD ...

"Derek C. Maus" wrote:

> Nicole Stagter wrote:
>
> > Heartfelt thanks to the P-lister (I think it was Derek Maus) who,
> > quite some time ago, mentioned that Tarkovsky's Stalker was
> > based on a novel by the Strugatskii brothers. Being a big fan of
> > Stalker (unlike some on this list, I seem to remember), I've been
> > on the lookout for the book ever since. And I finally found it!
> > Read it every bit as avidly as the happy HP4 owners.
>
> Dave Monroe, recently, and someone else in the more distant past (was it
> you calbert?) have also extolled the virtues of Roadside Picnic.
> Unfortunately, the archives are a little squiffy right now and I can't
> find the original conversation.
>
> Macmillan published a number of good translations of Strugatskii brothers'
> works in the 1907s and 1980s that are still fairly readily available on
> the used book market (www.abebooks.com or www.bibliofind.com or
> www.alibris.com or...). I'd recommend _The Ugly Swans_, _Hard to Be a God_
> and _Noon: 22nd Century_ along with _Roadside Picnic/Tale of a Troika_
> (which Nicole has apparently already purchased...the second story is as
> good, albeit very different, as the first) and _Definitely Maybe_.
>
> To play the Amazon.com game for a moment more, if you like Harlan Ellison,
> you'll like Boris and Arkady Strugatskii. They're in my dissertation along
> with TRP, so I guess you could make a direct connection, as well (we shall
> see...).
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Derek C. Maus               |   "Heck, I reckon you wouldn't even be
> dmaus at email.unc.edu         |   human beings if you didn't have some
> UNC-CH, Dept. of English    |   pretty strong feelings about nuclear
> http://www.unc.edu/~dmaus/  |   combat."  --Major Kong, DR. STRANGELOVE
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------