SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
This topic is about
Roadside Picnic
What Else Are You Reading?
>
Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky (BR) - starts August 14
date
newest »
newest »
Mod
I recently read this brilliant novel, so I will be lurking in the threads!
I have had this on my TBR forever so I plan to join.
This has been on my TBR for a long time so I'm in too!
I'll be reading it, since it was my nomination that spawned it. :DCan the author's name be edited though please? There's a typo and it should be "Strugatsky". Thanks!
I'm planning to join.
I just started it this morning!! So far, I like it. They smoke like chimneys!!
I will start this soon. I just need to finish a couple library loans first. I don't know if my copy has the foreword by Le Guin--I should check.
I am listening to an audiobook version (excellently read by Cory Thomas Hutchinson) translated by “Maria K.”, who publishes Independently in the public domain. It’s probably derived from the original censored version from 1972. What translation are you all reading? The modern one by Olanna Boraschenko?
I'm reading the 2012 Boraschenko translation. It's the one with the intro by Ursula Le Guin. The first English translation (Antonia Bouis translation) has an intro by Theodore Sturgeon.
I have the Boraschenko translation as well, the ebook and audiobook (narrated by Robert Foster).
My husband found me an ebook copy of the first English translation, with the Theodore Sturgeon intro, but the library edition came available just in time, and that's the 2012 edition, and the one I'll be reading. (I might compare a little though.) Mine says translated by "Olena Bormashenko" though - I'm assuming that's the same person, just a variation of the spelling of her name. Mine has the intro by UKLG, but I won't be reading it. I might come back to it after I finish the story, but I don't like having someone else tell me what a story is before I read it myself.
Yeah. It's Bormashenko. I first read the Bouis translation with the Sturgeon intro in HS, but I don't remember enough about it to compare the two. A long time ago, but I can still count the 10-year reunions I've skipped on one hand. 🖖
My bad, it's definitely spelled Olena Bormashenko in the credits of the 2012 edition. I've never read it, but it's one of those books that I've picked up so much general knowledge about from its cultural impact that it feels like I have once read it. Looking forward to it.
@DivaDiane - I just finished Steppe by Russian author and poet Oskana Vasyakina, which I read for Women in Translation month with another GR group, and there was so much cigarette smoking in that book, lol.
I've been noticing a lot more cigarette smoking in books again recently. I know that this book is older, and likely also has a cultural smoking aspect, but even in more modern fiction I've noticed it. For example The Mercy of Gods there was quite a bit!
I read the Le Guin intro last night, which if you want to go into this completely fresh, you probably ought to skip reading it until afterwards. But I already know so much about this book, despite never having read it before, from its cultural impact, so I went ahead and read it.
This one of my favorite novels; though I've read it twice before. It was like reading it for the first time. I don't know if that's because I saw something new in it or if I'm just getting old and didn't remember much about it. 🤣
Of course. The question is (view spoiler)And that's just the ending, there's 4 other parts to the book. So much to unpack in this exceptional novel.
I skipped the intro as I like going in completely blind. I'm on about p50, and really enjoying it so far!
I technically officially started this, but I'm super confused, and I'm kind of annoyed with and also amused by the main character/narrator. He gets called into his superior's office, hardly anything is actually said, but apparently our MC understands and gets huffy about it, and then takes it out on poor Kirill - but in a really childish "I'm not going to tell you what's wrong. You should just know!" *angry smoking* way. LOLI'm sure it will all come clear soon, but considering this is like page 5, it's like... what?
CJ wrote: "I read the Le Guin intro last night, which if you want to go into this completely fresh, you probably ought to skip reading it until afterwards. But I already know so much about this book, despite ..."This is interesting to me, because until we decided to read this book together, I had never even heard of it, I don't think. I have no idea what its cultural impact is, was, or should be and why my cultural influences (Midwest, growing up in the 70s - 90's ) didn't include this at all. Honestly, it may have to more to do with my deep-dive into classical music, with little outside reading or TV for fun, when I was in college in the late 80's to early 90's and subsequent move to Germany than anything else before that.
DivaDiane wrote: "This is interesting to me, because until we decided to read this book together, I had never even heard of it, I don't think. I have no idea what its cultural impact is, was, or should be and why my cultural influences (Midwest, growing up in the 70s - 90's ) didn't include this at all. "I was referring mostly to 1) the 1979 Andrei Tarkovsky film, Stalker, which probably isn't well-known outside of fandoms of foreign films or SF films, but has been very influential, 2) the video game series, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., of which I'm played the first, and also has been very influential in video games and 3) its influence on the genre of SF lit, which may not be something people notice if they aren't aware of the book and it's not been pointed to them (or in the case of Adrian Tchaikovsky, overtly referred to in some books).
It's one of the things that was never really mainstream itself--the book, the movie, and the video games--but has had a lot of influence on more mainstream things.
CJ wrote: "DivaDiane wrote: "This is interesting to me, because until we decided to read this book together, I had never even heard of it, I don't think. I have no idea what its cultural impact is, was, or sh..."Ah, thanks for clarifying. I haven't seen the Tarkovsky film, although now I want to) and I am not a gamer, so I didn't know about the games. I've read several of Adrian Tchaikovsky's books, but I can't keep up with his prolific writing, but if there was a reference in the ones I *have* read, I missed it.
The one overt reference I can distinctly remember is in Saturation Point. I think he mentions the authors by name, if I remember correctly, which is more fitting now that I'm reading Roadside Picnic. Of all the Tchaikovsky I've read so far, it's one most like this book. I've read the first 2 parts. It's intriguing so far although I didn't care for (view spoiler) Thankfully it was a very minor part of Part 2. I have taken on a lot of reading at the moment, so it might be a few more days before I finish this one. I don't want to rush through it.
I checked and the 1979 Andrei Tarkovsky film is streaming on HBO Max. Added it to my to watch list. I was pretty confused with the first 2 chapters but got a better handle on it the second half. (view spoiler) for the most part I liked it a lot.
I reread Le Guin's foreward after I finished along with the afterword by Boris Strugatsky. I really liked learning the publication history and the struggles the Strugatsky's had getting it published .
I finished it and I'll give it 3 1/2 stars, rounded up to 4 for GR's star system. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't enjoy more, given how long I've been meaning to read it and it many ways it feels fairly dated. Nonetheless I have at last read it!The afterward was interesting, given it confirmed my personal interpretation (view spoiler)
I first read RP in the 1977 translation, but never saw Stalker until the mid 9Os when I found a VHS copy at my local video store . (I have seen the movie many times since and own it on DVD.)I don't remember much about the original English translation I read, but internet sources speak of a 30/13 translation error in the intro part of the story.
Apparently, the 1977 translation talks about discoveries Dr. Pillman has made in the past 30 years since the visitation. The 2012 translation corrects this to 13 years.
If Schuhart was 10 yrs old when the visitation occurred, then the interview with Pillman would taken place when Schuart was 40 (if Schuhart lived that long) according to the original translation. By correcting the translation to 13 years, the interview took place when Schuhart was 23, which corresponds with the progression of the book.
There are other minor differences between translations, but the 30/13 difference is the most discussed online.
I’ve finished it and really enjoyed it. I couldn’t help but feel an anxious dread every time we entered the Zone. The translation wasn’t that great, but it somehow added to the feeling of 'what the hell is this zone about' and 'what on earth just happened?!' in a good way. It left me perplexed and confused, but wanting more. The concept of humanity being a 'nothing' to aliens having a picnic… wow. That ought to put some people in their places, but life just goes on and man just wants to make money from it.
I was much more interested in the atmosphere than the characters and plan to read it again at some point because I have to try and understand what was happening in that Zone. I ?think there's several translated versions where I am, so I might try a different one.
SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Saturation Point (other topics)The Mercy of Gods (other topics)
The Tartar Steppe (other topics)
Roadside Picnic (other topics)
Please use spoiler tag and chapter, page labels when posting.
How to use spoiler tags:
(view spoiler)[
Click on "(some html is ok)" in the top right corner of the text box (on desktop version) as you're typing your post to copy/paste the code. Or go to this help page if you're not on the desktop version.