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袧袠袠效袗袙袨 #1
醿濁儬醿ㄡ儛醿戓儛醿椺儤 醿樶儸醿п償醿戓儛 醿ㄡ儛醿戓儛醿椺儭
醿♂償醿犪儤醿� 鈥溼儰醿愥儨醿⑨儛醿♂儮醿樶儥醿ａ儬醿� 醿戓儤醿戓儦醿樶儩醿椺償醿欋儛鈥�
醿め儛醿溼儮醿愥儭醿⑨儤 醿儧醿斸儜醿樶儭 醿曖儬醿償醿氠儤 醿戓儤醿戓儦醿樶儩醿掅儬醿愥儰醿樶儤醿撫儛醿� 醿♂儛醿ａ儥醿斸儣醿斸儭醿濁儭 醿ㄡ償醿犪儵醿斸儠醿� 醿掅儛醿儨醿斸儦醿撫償醿戓儛 醿撫儛, 醿愥儦醿戓儛醿�, 醿愥儬醿� 醿愥儬醿樶儭 醿♂儛醿儤醿犪儩 - 醿掅償醿涐儩醿曖儨醿斸儜醿愥儢醿�, 醿涐儩醿掅償醿儭醿斸儨醿斸儜醿愥儣, 醿愥儬 醿撫儛醿曖儩醿戓償醿�, 醿涐儛醿掅儬醿愥儧 鈥炨儩醿犪儴醿愥儜醿愥儣醿� 醿樶儸醿п償醿戓儛 醿ㄡ儛醿戓儛醿椺儭鈥� 醿濁儣醿�-醿儯醿�, 醿掅儛醿溼儭醿愥儥醿ａ儣醿犪償醿戓儤醿� 醿儛醿犪儧醿愥儮醿斸儜醿ａ儦, 醿溼儛醿儛醿犪儧醿濁償醿戓儭 醿ㄡ儩醿犪儤醿♂儛醿� 醿撫儛 醿め儛醿溼儮醿愥儭醿⑨儤醿欋儤醿� 醿溼償醿戓儤醿♂儧醿樶償醿� 醿愥儨醿椺儩醿氠儩醿掅儤醿愥儭 醿撫儛醿愥儧醿ㄡ儠醿斸儨醿斸儜醿� - 醿愥儧醿愥儭 醿椺儛醿曖儝醿愥儞醿愥儥醿氠儯醿氠儤 醿♂儥醿斸優醿⑨儤醿欋儩醿♂償醿戓儤醿� 醿欋儤 醿曖償醿� 醿ａ儛醿犪儳醿濁儰醿斸儨. 醿儛醿氠儤醿愥儨 醿欋償醿椺儤醿氠儤 醿撫儛 醿♂儛醿♂儛醿儤醿氠儩 醿栣儲醿愥優醿愥儬醿� - 醿氠償醿掅償醿溼儞醿愥儬醿ａ儦醿� ,,袧袠袠效袗袙袨鈥�-醿� - 醿儛醿撫儩醿メ儬醿濁儜醿樶儭醿� 醿撫儛 醿涐儤醿♂儨醿濁儜醿樶儭 醿♂儛醿涐償醿儨醿樶償醿犪儩-醿欋儠醿氠償醿曖儤醿椺儤 醿樶儨醿♂儮醿樶儮醿ａ儮醿樶儭 醿栣儲醿愥優醿犪儯醿氠儤 醿п儩醿曖償醿氠儞醿︶儤醿ａ儬醿濁儜醿�, 醿♂儤醿儩醿儺醿氠儤醿� 醿♂儛醿曖儭醿� 醿愥儺醿愥儦醿掅儛醿栣儬醿撫儛 醿掅儧醿樶儬醿斸儜醿�, 醿め償醿樶償醿犪儠醿斸儬醿欋儯醿氠儤 醿樶儯醿涐儩醿犪儤, 醿撫儤醿溼儛醿涐儤醿欋儯醿犪儤 醿♂儤醿ａ儫醿斸儮醿�, 醿掅儛醿♂儯醿氠儤 醿♂儛醿ａ儥醿ａ儨醿樶儭 醿♂儛醿涐儩醿儤醿愥儨醿� 醿儦醿斸儜醿樶儭 醿ㄡ儯醿愥儝醿ａ儦醿ㄡ儤 醿撫儛醿償醿犪儤醿氠儤 醿曖儬醿償醿氠儤 醿涐儩醿椺儺醿犪儩醿戓儛 醿斸儬醿椺儤 醿愥儧醿濁儭醿ａ儨醿椺儱醿曖儤醿� 醿樶儥醿樶儣醿償醿戓儛 醿撫儛 醿愥儬醿� 醿樶儧醿撫儬醿濁儤醿溼儞醿斸儦 醿♂儩醿儤醿愥儦醿ａ儬 醿♂儛醿⑨儤醿犪儛醿� 醿撫儛醿ａ儥醿愥儬醿掅儛醿曖儭 醿♂儤醿涐儸醿曖儛醿曖償 - 醿撫儲醿斸儭醿愥儶 醿愥儱醿⑨儯醿愥儦醿ａ儬醿樶儛. 醿濁儬醿樶儝醿樶儨醿愥儦醿� 醿欋儛醿犪儝醿愥儞 醿涐儤醿掅儨醿斸儜醿ａ儦醿�, 醿涐儛醿儠醿樶儦醿掅儩醿溼儤醿曖儬醿ａ儦醿� 醿愥儦醿ａ儢醿樶償醿戓儤醿椺儛 醿撫儛 醿欋儛醿氠儛醿涐儜醿ａ儬醿斸儜醿樶儣醿愥儛 醿撫儛醿儯醿溼儷醿氠儯醿氠儤.
醿め儛醿溼儮醿愥儭醿⑨儤 醿儧醿斸儜醿樶儭 醿曖儬醿償醿氠儤 醿戓儤醿戓儦醿樶儩醿掅儬醿愥儰醿樶儤醿撫儛醿� 醿♂儛醿ａ儥醿斸儣醿斸儭醿濁儭 醿ㄡ償醿犪儵醿斸儠醿� 醿掅儛醿儨醿斸儦醿撫償醿戓儛 醿撫儛, 醿愥儦醿戓儛醿�, 醿愥儬醿� 醿愥儬醿樶儭 醿♂儛醿儤醿犪儩 - 醿掅償醿涐儩醿曖儨醿斸儜醿愥儢醿�, 醿涐儩醿掅償醿儭醿斸儨醿斸儜醿愥儣, 醿愥儬 醿撫儛醿曖儩醿戓償醿�, 醿涐儛醿掅儬醿愥儧 鈥炨儩醿犪儴醿愥儜醿愥儣醿� 醿樶儸醿п償醿戓儛 醿ㄡ儛醿戓儛醿椺儭鈥� 醿濁儣醿�-醿儯醿�, 醿掅儛醿溼儭醿愥儥醿ａ儣醿犪償醿戓儤醿� 醿儛醿犪儧醿愥儮醿斸儜醿ａ儦, 醿溼儛醿儛醿犪儧醿濁償醿戓儭 醿ㄡ儩醿犪儤醿♂儛醿� 醿撫儛 醿め儛醿溼儮醿愥儭醿⑨儤醿欋儤醿� 醿溼償醿戓儤醿♂儧醿樶償醿� 醿愥儨醿椺儩醿氠儩醿掅儤醿愥儭 醿撫儛醿愥儧醿ㄡ儠醿斸儨醿斸儜醿� - 醿愥儧醿愥儭 醿椺儛醿曖儝醿愥儞醿愥儥醿氠儯醿氠儤 醿♂儥醿斸優醿⑨儤醿欋儩醿♂償醿戓儤醿� 醿欋儤 醿曖償醿� 醿ａ儛醿犪儳醿濁儰醿斸儨. 醿儛醿氠儤醿愥儨 醿欋償醿椺儤醿氠儤 醿撫儛 醿♂儛醿♂儛醿儤醿氠儩 醿栣儲醿愥優醿愥儬醿� - 醿氠償醿掅償醿溼儞醿愥儬醿ａ儦醿� ,,袧袠袠效袗袙袨鈥�-醿� - 醿儛醿撫儩醿メ儬醿濁儜醿樶儭醿� 醿撫儛 醿涐儤醿♂儨醿濁儜醿樶儭 醿♂儛醿涐償醿儨醿樶償醿犪儩-醿欋儠醿氠償醿曖儤醿椺儤 醿樶儨醿♂儮醿樶儮醿ａ儮醿樶儭 醿栣儲醿愥優醿犪儯醿氠儤 醿п儩醿曖償醿氠儞醿︶儤醿ａ儬醿濁儜醿�, 醿♂儤醿儩醿儺醿氠儤醿� 醿♂儛醿曖儭醿� 醿愥儺醿愥儦醿掅儛醿栣儬醿撫儛 醿掅儧醿樶儬醿斸儜醿�, 醿め償醿樶償醿犪儠醿斸儬醿欋儯醿氠儤 醿樶儯醿涐儩醿犪儤, 醿撫儤醿溼儛醿涐儤醿欋儯醿犪儤 醿♂儤醿ａ儫醿斸儮醿�, 醿掅儛醿♂儯醿氠儤 醿♂儛醿ａ儥醿ａ儨醿樶儭 醿♂儛醿涐儩醿儤醿愥儨醿� 醿儦醿斸儜醿樶儭 醿ㄡ儯醿愥儝醿ａ儦醿ㄡ儤 醿撫儛醿償醿犪儤醿氠儤 醿曖儬醿償醿氠儤 醿涐儩醿椺儺醿犪儩醿戓儛 醿斸儬醿椺儤 醿愥儧醿濁儭醿ａ儨醿椺儱醿曖儤醿� 醿樶儥醿樶儣醿償醿戓儛 醿撫儛 醿愥儬醿� 醿樶儧醿撫儬醿濁儤醿溼儞醿斸儦 醿♂儩醿儤醿愥儦醿ａ儬 醿♂儛醿⑨儤醿犪儛醿� 醿撫儛醿ａ儥醿愥儬醿掅儛醿曖儭 醿♂儤醿涐儸醿曖儛醿曖償 - 醿撫儲醿斸儭醿愥儶 醿愥儱醿⑨儯醿愥儦醿ａ儬醿樶儛. 醿濁儬醿樶儝醿樶儨醿愥儦醿� 醿欋儛醿犪儝醿愥儞 醿涐儤醿掅儨醿斸儜醿ａ儦醿�, 醿涐儛醿儠醿樶儦醿掅儩醿溼儤醿曖儬醿ａ儦醿� 醿愥儦醿ａ儢醿樶償醿戓儤醿椺儛 醿撫儛 醿欋儛醿氠儛醿涐儜醿ａ儬醿斸儜醿樶儣醿愥儛 醿撫儛醿儯醿溼儷醿氠儯醿氠儤.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
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About the author
Arkady Strugatsky
491听books1,813听followersThe brothers Arkady Strugatsky [Russian: 袗褉泻邪写懈泄 小褌褉褍谐邪褑泻懈泄] and Boris Strugatsky [Russian: 袘芯褉懈褋 小褌褉褍谐邪褑泻懈泄] were Soviet-Russian science fiction authors who collaborated through most of their careers.
Arkady Strugatsky was born 25 August 1925 in Batumi; the family later moved to Leningrad. In January 1942, Arkady and his father were evacuated from the Siege of Leningrad, but Arkady was the only survivor in his train car; his father died upon reaching Vologda. Arkady was drafted into the Soviet army in 1943. He trained first at the artillery school in Aktyubinsk and later at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow, from which he graduated in 1949 as an interpreter of English and Japanese. He worked as a teacher and interpreter for the military until 1955. In 1955, he began working as an editor and writer.
In 1958, he began collaborating with his brother Boris, a collaboration that lasted until Arkady's death on 12 October 1991. Arkady Strugatsky became a member of the Union of Soviet Writers in 1964. In addition to his own writing, he translated Japanese language short stories and novels, as well as some English works with his brother.
Source: Wikipedia
Arkady Strugatsky was born 25 August 1925 in Batumi; the family later moved to Leningrad. In January 1942, Arkady and his father were evacuated from the Siege of Leningrad, but Arkady was the only survivor in his train car; his father died upon reaching Vologda. Arkady was drafted into the Soviet army in 1943. He trained first at the artillery school in Aktyubinsk and later at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow, from which he graduated in 1949 as an interpreter of English and Japanese. He worked as a teacher and interpreter for the military until 1955. In 1955, he began working as an editor and writer.
In 1958, he began collaborating with his brother Boris, a collaboration that lasted until Arkady's death on 12 October 1991. Arkady Strugatsky became a member of the Union of Soviet Writers in 1964. In addition to his own writing, he translated Japanese language short stories and novels, as well as some English works with his brother.
Source: Wikipedia
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July 26, 2022
Many people outside Russia are familiar with Stalker, Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 film loosely based on the novel Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky. But, let me tell you comrades, the brothers Strugatsky's Monday Starts on Saturday is one of the most imaginative, off-the-wall hilarious SF novels ever written, a work that should be better known than it is.
Science fiction held a special place within the Soviet Union back in 1964 when this novel was first published, with issues revolving around censorship and maintaining the party line. If writers wanted to express their personal creativity or share independent ideas rather than serve the cause of communism and the state, they stood a better chance of having their books published if they wrote about future, distant worlds and impossible happenings and events - in other words, if they wrote science fiction.
And we find just such a distant, impossible world in Monday Starts on Saturday. It all begins when young computer programmer Alexander Ivanovich Privalov from Leningrad headed north to meet up with some friends, picks up two hitchhikers who convince him to drive to their destination to spend the night. As Alexander Ivanovich quickly discovers upon arrival where there's a sign reading: "N I T W I T - The Log Hut on Chicken Legs," he has crossed over into a universe where magic, myth and mayhem intersect with science and technology, a universe where, among many other extraordinary occurrences, a talking pike pops out of the water and the mirror in his room refuses to reflect his image. Alexander Ivanovich must admit, all of what he encounters "seemed to me even more interesting than modelling a reflex arc." Thus our computer programmer stays on for much longer than one night.
Working within such a preposterous literary canvas, the Strugatsky brothers throw every conceivable objects and animal and plant, not to mention gentlemanly ghost, mad researcher and buffoonish bureaucrat at programmer Alexander and, indirectly, at the reader. Powerful images and ideas are all tangled together - I can imagine Soviet men and women pouring over this novel in private gatherings, relishing every glorious sentence, coming up with associations galore taken from history and current events as well as their own knowledge of fairy tales, myths and legions.
To share a taste of the treats a reader is in store for, I've included my own comments linked to a mere handful of the hundreds of bizarre happenings generously served up in the novel's 240 pages:
Modern Soviet State's Fairy Tale Grandma: Alexander is greeted by old Nina Kievna, the prototypical ancient granny from fairy tales and folk legions; she's well over 100-years-old and wears not only the predictable black shawl knotted under her chin but "her head was covered by a cheerful nylon scarf with brightly colored pictures of the Atomium and an inscription in several languages: 'Brussels International Exhibition'."
What a scream, comrades! The traditional forms of magic usually associated with the fairy tale grandma, such things as magic pebbles or golden apples, are replaced by a symbol of the "rational" magic of physics and chemistry -as tall as a 33-story building, the Atomium (pictured below) is built of stainless steel in the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times - and not only does each sphere contain an exhibition hall connected by escalators but there's a restaurant on the top sphere. Whoa! An undeniable feat of engineering and scientific know-how amounting to nothing less than the magic of the modern world.
The crossover between sorcery, wizardry and magic on the one hand and modern science, technology and engineering on the other is a key theme running throughout the entire tale. In many important ways, particularly in the general public's eye, scientists and technicians have taken the place of wizards.
Computer Programmer's Dreamscape: Alexander's very first night at N I T W I T proves memorable: he moves his pillow and sheets from the floor to a couch (a magical couch, as it turns out) and is woken out of his sleep in the middle of the night by voices. He tries to go back to sleep but realizes he's hungry not sleepy. The programmer gets up and picks up a book from the windowsill - Alexei Tolstoy's Overcast Morning. He flips to a random page and reads of a character opening cans of pineapple. Then a pungent smell of food fills the room - granny Nina Kievna enters and serves him a plateful of delicious hot potatoes smeared with butter.
Thereafter Alexander lies down once again and this time hears a quiet voice speak of an elephant in scientific terms then references to Carl Jung and the Upanishads. This is followed by Vasily the cat under the oak tree outside walking like university professor Dubino-Knyazhitsky giving a lecture, referencing, among other topics, a vile monster and a snow-white swan. Meanwhile, the book by Alexei Tolstoy transforms into other works by other authors. When Alexander peers out the window again he observes a wet, silver-green shark's tail hanging from the lowest branch of the oak tree. Equally astonishing (perhaps the influence of the couch?), our computer programmer takes it all in stride.
Law and Order: The following day Alexander is in the town square and is surprised to find the five kopecks in his pocket mysteriously reappearing after he hands over his coins to a merchant. According to a young lieutenant on duty at the time such behavior is completely unacceptable. The programmer is interrogated and the lieutenant informs him that he will have to draw up a report.
Alexander reflects: "What is the essential point here? The essential thing is whether or not a person thinks of himself as guilty." Readers back when Russia was the Soviet Union must have hooted when reading this brothers Straugatsky scene. During those Soviet years, millions of honest men and women were sent off to forced labor camps for trifles. To judge oneself as guilty was nothing short of laughable.
Wizards Go Bonkers: Turns out, N I T W I T stands for National Institute for the Technology of Witchcraft and Thaumaturgy. Alexander enters the main building and is put to work in a laboratory where he comes in contact with a string of remarkable departments and offices - to list several: Department of Linear Happiness, Department of the Meaning of Life, Department of Predictions and Prophecies, Children's Laughter Distillation Unit, Department of Defensive Magic, Department of Absolute Knowledge.
As I'm sure any reader will appreciate, with such a list the tale's social and cultural satire kicks into even higher gear. What are the consequences when technicians attempt to calculate society's highest happiness using mathematical formulas? How effective and efficient can such departments become? Are research projects and experiments being conducted here at all practical or useful?
Such questions fan out to even larger questions: What value is there in academic and scientific institutes around the world when subjects addressed have nearly zero relevance to the general population? What if researchers become so specialized they lose sight of what is beyond their specialty? In this way, the novel speaks to our modern world well beyond 1960s Soviet Russia.
There is even consideration at the institute of the ways to use vampires and magic carpets in modern warfare. And how will future research be done when such important components are added to the equation? I've just touched the surface here. Many more astonishing discoveries and ideas and memorable scenes await a reader opening the pages of Monday Starts on Saturday.
One can only wonder if old Nina Kievna has to travel to Moscow and stand in line on a mile-long queue to receive her Atomium scarf made from that modern synthetic fabric - nylon. Incidentally, the Soviet Union participated in the Brussels International Exhibition with its major contribution: a replica of Sputnik.
Authors Boris and Arkady Strugatsky
"I was woken by the flapping of wings and an unpleasant screeching. The room was filled with a strange, bluish half-light. The vulture on the stove was rustling its feathers, screaming repulsively and ganging its wings against the ceiling. I sat up and looked around. Floating in the air at the centre of the room was a big tough-looking bozo in tracksuit trousers and a striped Hawaiian shirt." - Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Monday Starts on Saturday
May 31, 2022
Is such a thing as science fiction fairy tale possible? It is possible if a thing is Monday Begins on Saturday.
If you manage to get some job in The Scientific Research Institute for Thaumaturgy and Spellcraft then you鈥檒l be the luckiest of humans鈥� But then you鈥檒l bump into the most strange things, meet the most weird creatures and be surrounded with the most bizarre phenomena鈥�
But even in the locus of supernatural enigmas and mysterious arcana there is a special mystery which must be solved鈥� And there is such a mystery of a little parrot and its master鈥�
Some realities are more magical than other realities.
The sofa, I thought. What has the sofa to do with it? I had never heard any fairy tale about a sofa. There was a flying carpet; there was the magical tablecloth. There was the invisibility hat, the seven-league boots, the playing harp. There was the magic mirror. But there was no magic sofa. Sofas were for sitting or lying on; there was something respectable and ordinary about them鈥� In fact, what fantasy could be inspired by a sofa?
Returning to my room, I was at once aware of The Small Man. He was sitting on top of the stove, up against the ceiling, twisted into an uncomfortable pose. He had a puckered unshaved face and hairy gray ears.
If you manage to get some job in The Scientific Research Institute for Thaumaturgy and Spellcraft then you鈥檒l be the luckiest of humans鈥� But then you鈥檒l bump into the most strange things, meet the most weird creatures and be surrounded with the most bizarre phenomena鈥�
But, in spite of all these petty interruptions, in spite of the fact that the animated Alden sometimes printed out, 鈥淚 am thinking, please don鈥檛 interrupt,鈥� in spite of the insufficiency of spare subassemblies, and the feeling of helplessness that took hold of me when it was required to conduct a logical analysis of the 鈥渋ncongruent transgression in the psi-field of incubal transformation,鈥� in spite of all that, it was devilishly interesting to work here, and I was proud of being so obviously needed. I carried out all the calculation in Oira-Oira鈥檚 work on the heredity mechanisms of hi-polar homunculi. I constructed tables of the M-field potential around the sofa-translator in the ninth dimension.
But even in the locus of supernatural enigmas and mysterious arcana there is a special mystery which must be solved鈥� And there is such a mystery of a little parrot and its master鈥�
Janus saw the parrot and again said, 鈥淪o.鈥� He took the small bird in his hands, very gently and tenderly, stroked its bright red crest, and said softly, 鈥淲hat happened, little Photon?鈥�
He wanted to say something more, but glanced at us and remained silent. We stood together and watched him, walking with an old man鈥檚 gait, slowly go to the far corner of the room, open the door of the electric furnace, and drop the little green corpse in.
Some realities are more magical than other realities.
December 6, 2015
This is one of the most fun and enjoyable books I've read in a very long time and it totally came of out of left field for me.
There is a great documentary on YouTube titled about how the Soviet Union attempted to use mathematical and scientific principles to bring about the greatest amount of happiness and comfort to the Russian people. Through pure logic and reason the Soviet scientists hoped to control an illogical and irrational population. This was a real thing and it went on for decades. And it was a total failure.
This book was published in the late 1960's during the beginning of a period of Soviet economic downturn. The (relatively) prosperous days of the 1950's and early 1960's of the Soviet Union were coming to an end and the reality of grossly inefficient Soviet rule was apparent to everyone - though not many people said anything publicly. The authors, one of whom was actually an astronomer, would have had a front row seat to many of the societal events of their day from a very unique perspective.
And that's what this book is about.
But it's not just about making fun of the Soviet Union - it's about how all institutions are a bungled mess of competing egos and endless bureaucratic quicksands. But unlike Kafka, they take a much more lighthearted approach to the joke of all human society.
Years ago I was friends with a lady who, like Boris Natanovich Strugatsky, was a scientist. She was one of those wiz-kid PhD's by her mid twenties and had done so in the field of astrophysics. At the time I was working with a friend making hand built telescopes for the (rich) amateur enthusiasts and so she was always coming by our shop and hanging around.
What I quickly learned, however, was that a genius PhD in astrophysics is not nearly as interesting or romantic as it sounds. Her job was (if I remember this right) the study of the gravitational effect between two incredibly distant galaxies and just those two galaxies. She didn't study anything else about those galaxies or any other structures in the universe, she only studied how gravity worked on a pair of multi-billion year old galaxies in a constellation I had never even heard of.
And her knowledge of general astronomy was laughable in many regards. Current news and discoveries were things she was totally unaware of and was probably why she hung around us so that she wouldn't totally lose touch with the greater scope of the field she was working in.
This book deals with pretty much the same idea: scientists have become so hyper-specialized (and, honestly, everyone in higher academia suffers this fate) as to be nearly useless. Here, the scientists are all magus (magicians and wizards - even Merlin himself) who work at an institute devoted to discovering and perfecting human happiness. Their tools include a couch that interperts dreams, a sort of motorcycle that you can drive into the invented future realities of science fiction books. In town there is a mermaid in a tree and a wish fulfilling pike in a well. There are coins that always show back up in your pocket when you spend them and a man who is two men, one who at midnight instead of living into the next day like the rest of us time linear folks, reappears 24 hours earlier and lives that day instead.
It's a totally bonkers idea, but that's the whole point, too because in a way it mirrors not only what was going on in the Soviet Union at the time, but also what still goes on in the Ivory Towers of higher-learning around the world.
But there's a larger theme at work here, too, and that's of how the general public sees science. For many people the work of the scientists is not much different than that of a magician because it's nearly impossible to explain what scientists actually do. Academic papers might as well be fairy tales for all the good they do a regular person who has to go to work all day.
The authors then go on to make parallels to the media and the 'rock star' scientist who does no real science but the public loves them because they do a lot of neat tricks (like a magician).
Even economics is explored where they take their egotistical, rock star scientist, and task him with trying to create the perfect man but who only turns out to be so incredibly gluttonous because he has everything he wants and can be given everything he wants as to literally explode after gorging on nearly 3 tons of rotting fish heads.
Not bad that they could expose the failings of both Capitalism and Communism with only one metaphor!
And there is so much more here, too. That's what I love about this book - it's great fun and wildly imaginative, but it also gets you to really think about a great many concepts and ideas without hitting you over the head with them.
The book is outrageous, the characters are thinner than the pages, there is no dramatic tension at all, but none of that stuff matters because the ideas rule here. And there are also some wonderfully powerful images that will linger : the ride into the future where we meet the soldier near the Iron Curtain thousands of years into the future, or the bird, or my favorite: the giant, lazy mosquito the size of a dog that he shoos out the window into a driving blizzard in the middle of the night where it immediately disappears in the storm and cold.
Strange and brilliant.
There is a great documentary on YouTube titled about how the Soviet Union attempted to use mathematical and scientific principles to bring about the greatest amount of happiness and comfort to the Russian people. Through pure logic and reason the Soviet scientists hoped to control an illogical and irrational population. This was a real thing and it went on for decades. And it was a total failure.
This book was published in the late 1960's during the beginning of a period of Soviet economic downturn. The (relatively) prosperous days of the 1950's and early 1960's of the Soviet Union were coming to an end and the reality of grossly inefficient Soviet rule was apparent to everyone - though not many people said anything publicly. The authors, one of whom was actually an astronomer, would have had a front row seat to many of the societal events of their day from a very unique perspective.
And that's what this book is about.
But it's not just about making fun of the Soviet Union - it's about how all institutions are a bungled mess of competing egos and endless bureaucratic quicksands. But unlike Kafka, they take a much more lighthearted approach to the joke of all human society.
Years ago I was friends with a lady who, like Boris Natanovich Strugatsky, was a scientist. She was one of those wiz-kid PhD's by her mid twenties and had done so in the field of astrophysics. At the time I was working with a friend making hand built telescopes for the (rich) amateur enthusiasts and so she was always coming by our shop and hanging around.
What I quickly learned, however, was that a genius PhD in astrophysics is not nearly as interesting or romantic as it sounds. Her job was (if I remember this right) the study of the gravitational effect between two incredibly distant galaxies and just those two galaxies. She didn't study anything else about those galaxies or any other structures in the universe, she only studied how gravity worked on a pair of multi-billion year old galaxies in a constellation I had never even heard of.
And her knowledge of general astronomy was laughable in many regards. Current news and discoveries were things she was totally unaware of and was probably why she hung around us so that she wouldn't totally lose touch with the greater scope of the field she was working in.
This book deals with pretty much the same idea: scientists have become so hyper-specialized (and, honestly, everyone in higher academia suffers this fate) as to be nearly useless. Here, the scientists are all magus (magicians and wizards - even Merlin himself) who work at an institute devoted to discovering and perfecting human happiness. Their tools include a couch that interperts dreams, a sort of motorcycle that you can drive into the invented future realities of science fiction books. In town there is a mermaid in a tree and a wish fulfilling pike in a well. There are coins that always show back up in your pocket when you spend them and a man who is two men, one who at midnight instead of living into the next day like the rest of us time linear folks, reappears 24 hours earlier and lives that day instead.
It's a totally bonkers idea, but that's the whole point, too because in a way it mirrors not only what was going on in the Soviet Union at the time, but also what still goes on in the Ivory Towers of higher-learning around the world.
But there's a larger theme at work here, too, and that's of how the general public sees science. For many people the work of the scientists is not much different than that of a magician because it's nearly impossible to explain what scientists actually do. Academic papers might as well be fairy tales for all the good they do a regular person who has to go to work all day.
The authors then go on to make parallels to the media and the 'rock star' scientist who does no real science but the public loves them because they do a lot of neat tricks (like a magician).
Even economics is explored where they take their egotistical, rock star scientist, and task him with trying to create the perfect man but who only turns out to be so incredibly gluttonous because he has everything he wants and can be given everything he wants as to literally explode after gorging on nearly 3 tons of rotting fish heads.
Not bad that they could expose the failings of both Capitalism and Communism with only one metaphor!
And there is so much more here, too. That's what I love about this book - it's great fun and wildly imaginative, but it also gets you to really think about a great many concepts and ideas without hitting you over the head with them.
The book is outrageous, the characters are thinner than the pages, there is no dramatic tension at all, but none of that stuff matters because the ideas rule here. And there are also some wonderfully powerful images that will linger : the ride into the future where we meet the soldier near the Iron Curtain thousands of years into the future, or the bird, or my favorite: the giant, lazy mosquito the size of a dog that he shoos out the window into a driving blizzard in the middle of the night where it immediately disappears in the storm and cold.
Strange and brilliant.
November 1, 2023
SF Masterworks (2010 relaunch series) #79: A satirical look a soviet research and development as seen through the tale of an outsider who is drawn in to the fictionalised mysterious world of the National Institute for the Technology of Witchcraft and Thaumaturgy where research into magic is a real thing! As ever with a Strugatsky brothers' book I just couldn't get into it, and found it aimless and repetitive.
2 out of 12, Two Star read.
2023 read
2 out of 12, Two Star read.
2023 read
March 2, 2025
馃 Most Frolicsome Soviet Wizards R Us Buddy Read (MFSWRUBR鈩�) with Evgeny (aka He Who Forces Me To Read All This Russian Stuff Against My Nefarious Will) 馃
Actual rating: 8.568426 stars
鈿狅笍 This crappy non-review is a disgraceful disgrace, and a revolting insult to the Greatness that is this book. Thou hast been warned and stuff.
There鈥檚 really just one thing you need to know about this Slightly Very Good Book (SVGB鈩�): the characters in it work at a place called NITWITT. Don鈥檛 believe me? Check this out:
Ha! Now if that isn鈥檛 the best incentive to read a story ever, I don鈥檛 know what is. And for those of you whoshow spectacular lack of judgement think this frolicsome NITWITT business isn鈥檛 reason enough to pick this SVGB鈩� up, here are a few things that better might entice you to read it post haste:
鈶� Evgeny might unleash his Villainously Villainous Minions (VVM鈩�) on you if you don鈥檛. (Given that I am one of said minions, expect a friendly visit from the murderous crustaceans pronto and stuff.) But hey, no pressure and stuff.
鈶� NITWITT stands for National Institute for the Technology of Witchcraft and Thaumaturgy. I want to work there when I grow up. Because it is 鈥�gloriously, colorfully and perfectly believably dysfunctional.鈥� Meaning complete, utter, delicious wackiness abounds, and the place is packed with complete loonies (aka one of the mostest gloriousest cast of characters ever). In other words, the perfect work environment for my nefarious little self and stuff.
Yeah, more or less. Only that NITWIIT has magic tablecloths, flying carpets, people who can spell 鈥榞houl鈥� properly (don鈥檛 ask), mermaids that clamber around in trees, pseudo-monkeys in white coats, a Department of Linear Happiness, truckloads of herring heads, a Department of Militant Atheism, caps of darkness, working models of gravitational seven-league boots, breeches of darkness, and self-playing psalteries. But no magic divan, I鈥檓 afraid. Anyway, moving on and stuff.
鈶� There鈥檚 a slightly unbalanced cat who suffers from memory loss, a condition that drives him slightly a little nuts sometimes. Also, he sings and tells the most fascinating stories. Well the parts he remembers, anyway.
鈶� Baba Yaga FTW! Okay, so my favorite grandma isn鈥檛 at her best here, what with her broomstick being in a museum and her flying mortar not getting repaired, but she鈥檚 still the coolest, most fun-loving gram ever, if you ask me.
See what I mean?
鈶� Evgeny read this booktoo many as many times as I鈥檝e read . This should tell you something. Yes, it should.
鈶� There鈥檚 a pike that has rheumatism and speaks in a strong northern Russian accent. (Which I am told is a teensy little bit unusual for a pike.) So QED and stuff.
鈶� Merlin (yes, Merlin) is head of the Department of Predictions and Prophecies. And has lots of interesting stuff to say about his fight against Yankee imperialism back in the Middle Ages *waves at Mark Twain* Also, he has a miracle cure for radiculitis. I kid you not.
鈶� Scrumptiously Scrumptious Stuff (S鲁) galore: service personnel imps + flying-broom squadrons and the Hundred Years鈥� War + ifrits trained as flame-throwing anti-elephant pursuit battalions by King Solomon Himself and In The Flesh + printers that, um, you know, print stuff like 鈥�I鈥檓 thinking. Please do not disturb鈥� + macrodemons called Entrance and Exit who play roulette + parrots that were cremated tomorrow and no longer exist but come back asking for sugar + cadavers whose total scientific value is 鈥渜uite clearly zero鈥� + cumbersome copper aquavitometers =
Get it? Good.
鉃� Nefarious Last Words (NLW鈩�): this book in a nutshell? meets meets the Marx Brothers鈥� cabin. I restin my case and stuff.
P.S. I have to say thatmy Evil Russian Translator of a Nemesis Andrew Bromfield managed not to mess the translation up this time did a pretty good job with this translation. Color me slightly discombobulated and stuff. So kudos to him and stuff.
[Pre-review nonsense]
So much original originality, so much hilarious hilarity.
So much delicious nonsense, so much scrumptious absurdity.
So much brilliant wit, so much scintillating cleverness.
How dare some puny humans compare this Slightly Very Wondrous Book (SVWB鈩�) to Harry Potter and Discworld?! (I have nothing against Little Harry, but DISCWORLD?! *starts convulsing a little*) This is most outrageously outrageous indeed, and calls for immediate, ruthless retaliation, if you ask me.
鉃� Full review to come. Someday. When pigs have wings, chickens have teeth, and crayfish whistle on the mountain. Maybe.
Actual rating: 8.568426 stars
鈿狅笍 This crappy non-review is a disgraceful disgrace, and a revolting insult to the Greatness that is this book. Thou hast been warned and stuff.
There鈥檚 really just one thing you need to know about this Slightly Very Good Book (SVGB鈩�): the characters in it work at a place called NITWITT. Don鈥檛 believe me? Check this out:
Ha! Now if that isn鈥檛 the best incentive to read a story ever, I don鈥檛 know what is. And for those of you who
鈶� Evgeny might unleash his Villainously Villainous Minions (VVM鈩�) on you if you don鈥檛. (Given that I am one of said minions, expect a friendly visit from the murderous crustaceans pronto and stuff.) But hey, no pressure and stuff.
鈶� NITWITT stands for National Institute for the Technology of Witchcraft and Thaumaturgy. I want to work there when I grow up. Because it is 鈥�gloriously, colorfully and perfectly believably dysfunctional.鈥� Meaning complete, utter, delicious wackiness abounds, and the place is packed with complete loonies (aka one of the mostest gloriousest cast of characters ever). In other words, the perfect work environment for my nefarious little self and stuff.
Yeah, more or less. Only that NITWIIT has magic tablecloths, flying carpets, people who can spell 鈥榞houl鈥� properly (don鈥檛 ask), mermaids that clamber around in trees, pseudo-monkeys in white coats, a Department of Linear Happiness, truckloads of herring heads, a Department of Militant Atheism, caps of darkness, working models of gravitational seven-league boots, breeches of darkness, and self-playing psalteries. But no magic divan, I鈥檓 afraid. Anyway, moving on and stuff.
鈶� There鈥檚 a slightly unbalanced cat who suffers from memory loss, a condition that drives him slightly a little nuts sometimes. Also, he sings and tells the most fascinating stories. Well the parts he remembers, anyway.
鈥楢nd in the field, the fiaowld,鈥� he sang, 鈥榯he pliaow runs of itself, and mmm-eh 鈥� mmmiaow, and following that pliaow 鈥� mmiaow 鈥� Our Lord himself does walk 鈥� or stalk?鈥�鈶� Hahahahahahahaha. Hahahahahaha. Ha. Hahaha. Hahahahaha 鈫� I think this kinda sorta means this book made me laugh some. Not much though. Just a little bit and stuff.
鈶� Baba Yaga FTW! Okay, so my favorite grandma isn鈥檛 at her best here, what with her broomstick being in a museum and her flying mortar not getting repaired, but she鈥檚 still the coolest, most fun-loving gram ever, if you ask me.
See what I mean?
鈶� Evgeny read this book
鈶� There鈥檚 a pike that has rheumatism and speaks in a strong northern Russian accent. (Which I am told is a teensy little bit unusual for a pike.) So QED and stuff.
鈶� Merlin (yes, Merlin) is head of the Department of Predictions and Prophecies. And has lots of interesting stuff to say about his fight against Yankee imperialism back in the Middle Ages *waves at Mark Twain* Also, he has a miracle cure for radiculitis. I kid you not.
鈶� Scrumptiously Scrumptious Stuff (S鲁) galore: service personnel imps + flying-broom squadrons and the Hundred Years鈥� War + ifrits trained as flame-throwing anti-elephant pursuit battalions by King Solomon Himself and In The Flesh + printers that, um, you know, print stuff like 鈥�I鈥檓 thinking. Please do not disturb鈥� + macrodemons called Entrance and Exit who play roulette + parrots that were cremated tomorrow and no longer exist but come back asking for sugar + cadavers whose total scientific value is 鈥渜uite clearly zero鈥� + cumbersome copper aquavitometers =
Get it? Good.
鉃� Nefarious Last Words (NLW鈩�): this book in a nutshell? meets meets the Marx Brothers鈥� cabin. I rest
P.S. I have to say that
[Pre-review nonsense]
So much original originality, so much hilarious hilarity.
So much delicious nonsense, so much scrumptious absurdity.
So much brilliant wit, so much scintillating cleverness.
How dare some puny humans compare this Slightly Very Wondrous Book (SVWB鈩�) to Harry Potter and Discworld?! (I have nothing against Little Harry, but DISCWORLD?! *starts convulsing a little*) This is most outrageously outrageous indeed, and calls for immediate, ruthless retaliation, if you ask me.
鉃� Full review to come. Someday. When pigs have wings, chickens have teeth, and crayfish whistle on the mountain. Maybe.
Read
November 9, 2019First published in 1965, Monday Starts on Sunday has an unusual feel. Written by a pair of Russian brothers, it applies elements of folklore and fantasy to social commentary on institutions and politics, with a solid dollop of humor on top. I was drawn to it for the above reasons, along with the comparison to Zelazny, and found it enjoyable, as long as I was in the exact right reading mood.
This is not one of those books that can cajole me into enjoying regardless of attention and mood. No doubt, some of this is due to cultural and temporal barriers--here I am, a female American, reading this almost 55 years later--but much is owed to the actual whole of the stories themselves. There's the barest of characterizations--though I think we are likely to sympathize with the 'straight' man narrator who is recruited into the craziness--but that's really beside the point, because some of the people exist to present ridiculous situations. This can work--think of oft-compared work, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy--
--boy, am I ever interrupting myself today. Excuse me while I drink more coffee--but what ended up killing it for me was that the situations were interrupted by somewhat didactic narrative about what was happening. Essentially, tone down the absurdity of Hitchhikers, fail to apply even its loosest semblance of plotting, and then interpret said absurd situations for the reader.
All this is to explain why it took me a ridiculous amount of time (by my own standard) to read it, having started and re-started in fits. All that said, once I found my reading groove, it was amusing in spots, and Strugatsky's commentary does seem on point.
Structurally, it's really three novellas, loosely linked. The first includes a number of folklore references, so if you have read fairly-standard Russian folklore, it's particularly fun. The second is more research institution commentary, and while it is occasionally biting, it's also a bit fond as well. The whole reason Monday starts on Saturday, you see, is because these people love what they do.
I can appreciate that, and I can also appreciate some of the institutional and political commentary, if only there wasn't so much of it. The man from the first story is now a member of the Institute, and is charged with maintaining order on the eve of the new year, when everyone should be out celebrating. Only as he makes his rounds, people keep trickling back in. They end up watching the research of the Happiness Department as his latest project is decanted: the Happiest Man, who is non-coincidentally, a literal consumer. It's obvious to everyone that the researcher is a bit of an ass and the experiment will be a disaster, but like a Saturday Night Live skit gone on for ten minutes instead of three, it turns into variations on a theme.
I never got past this story because I kept falling asleep. I felt like I had to restart to get the rhythm of the text and the story, but then would get sleepier and sleepier. It didn't help that there were a number of extremely chaotic happenings in my personal life during the time I had the book checked out. I kept hoping for a more opportune time, but instead Life kept throwing up challenges. I finally surrendered, and paid my library fine.
Honestly, I don't know that I can recommend it to most readers. Because it is so much about the subtext, the actual plotting didn't seem to be enough to drive the story. It would help a great deal if one was familiar with socioeconomic theories as well as the general political state of the major world powers prior to 1965 to appreciate the subtext. And clearly, knowledge of Russian culture and history would be particularly helpful. None of these are needed, persay, but I think all of these are probably what makes it a more standout text, much in the same way pulls in so many references beyond the simple (but bananas!) plot.
This is not one of those books that can cajole me into enjoying regardless of attention and mood. No doubt, some of this is due to cultural and temporal barriers--here I am, a female American, reading this almost 55 years later--but much is owed to the actual whole of the stories themselves. There's the barest of characterizations--though I think we are likely to sympathize with the 'straight' man narrator who is recruited into the craziness--but that's really beside the point, because some of the people exist to present ridiculous situations. This can work--think of oft-compared work, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy--
--boy, am I ever interrupting myself today. Excuse me while I drink more coffee--but what ended up killing it for me was that the situations were interrupted by somewhat didactic narrative about what was happening. Essentially, tone down the absurdity of Hitchhikers, fail to apply even its loosest semblance of plotting, and then interpret said absurd situations for the reader.
All this is to explain why it took me a ridiculous amount of time (by my own standard) to read it, having started and re-started in fits. All that said, once I found my reading groove, it was amusing in spots, and Strugatsky's commentary does seem on point.
Structurally, it's really three novellas, loosely linked. The first includes a number of folklore references, so if you have read fairly-standard Russian folklore, it's particularly fun. The second is more research institution commentary, and while it is occasionally biting, it's also a bit fond as well. The whole reason Monday starts on Saturday, you see, is because these people love what they do.
I can appreciate that, and I can also appreciate some of the institutional and political commentary, if only there wasn't so much of it. The man from the first story is now a member of the Institute, and is charged with maintaining order on the eve of the new year, when everyone should be out celebrating. Only as he makes his rounds, people keep trickling back in. They end up watching the research of the Happiness Department as his latest project is decanted: the Happiest Man, who is non-coincidentally, a literal consumer. It's obvious to everyone that the researcher is a bit of an ass and the experiment will be a disaster, but like a Saturday Night Live skit gone on for ten minutes instead of three, it turns into variations on a theme.
I never got past this story because I kept falling asleep. I felt like I had to restart to get the rhythm of the text and the story, but then would get sleepier and sleepier. It didn't help that there were a number of extremely chaotic happenings in my personal life during the time I had the book checked out. I kept hoping for a more opportune time, but instead Life kept throwing up challenges. I finally surrendered, and paid my library fine.
Honestly, I don't know that I can recommend it to most readers. Because it is so much about the subtext, the actual plotting didn't seem to be enough to drive the story. It would help a great deal if one was familiar with socioeconomic theories as well as the general political state of the major world powers prior to 1965 to appreciate the subtext. And clearly, knowledge of Russian culture and history would be particularly helpful. None of these are needed, persay, but I think all of these are probably what makes it a more standout text, much in the same way pulls in so many references beyond the simple (but bananas!) plot.
July 23, 2022
What a fun read. Now How the hell am I going to get my hands on the rest of the books from this series in English... Younger Me You Fool, Why didn't you pay attention in Russian classes back in high school!?
Anyway, regrets aside, to the review. The book comprises three humorous short stories featuring Soviet Scientists/Wizards working at NITWITT (National Institute for the Technology of Witchcraft and Thaumaturgy) and their daily troubles. By the style it's like the wizards from The Unseen University but written almost 20 years before Pratchett's Discworld series and dealing with typical Soviet (and basically any variation of a socialist regime) bureaucracy, inept administration, a dishonest, show-horse professor, and equipment failures. Not to mention fairy tales gone wrong: Baba Yagas property belonging to the state and waiting for compensation, the wish granting Gold Fish died from a depth charge in WWII, the wish granting trout exhausted from giving televisions and radios to the people, the all knowing cat suffering from dementia and many many more.
The characters are almost all scientists working at the institute trying to figure out happiness, meaning of life and solve mathematically proven unsolvable problems, while arguing, debating and trying to survive their other colleagues. And who knew that Merlin was a staunch Communist before Karl Marx.
And finally the brilliant title Monday Starts on a Saturday that reflects the authors ideal of a proper scientist.
Anyway, regrets aside, to the review. The book comprises three humorous short stories featuring Soviet Scientists/Wizards working at NITWITT (National Institute for the Technology of Witchcraft and Thaumaturgy) and their daily troubles. By the style it's like the wizards from The Unseen University but written almost 20 years before Pratchett's Discworld series and dealing with typical Soviet (and basically any variation of a socialist regime) bureaucracy, inept administration, a dishonest, show-horse professor, and equipment failures. Not to mention fairy tales gone wrong: Baba Yagas property belonging to the state and waiting for compensation, the wish granting Gold Fish died from a depth charge in WWII, the wish granting trout exhausted from giving televisions and radios to the people, the all knowing cat suffering from dementia and many many more.
The characters are almost all scientists working at the institute trying to figure out happiness, meaning of life and solve mathematically proven unsolvable problems, while arguing, debating and trying to survive their other colleagues. And who knew that Merlin was a staunch Communist before Karl Marx.
And finally the brilliant title Monday Starts on a Saturday that reflects the authors ideal of a proper scientist.
January 18, 2021
Verujem da mi je dosta referenci promaklo, ali 膷ak i da zanemarim sve motive i pakosne (in a good way), standardno ruski teatralne satiri膷ne detalje (kao 拧to je kralj Artur koji iz jezera ne dobija Ekskalibur nego srp i 膷eki膰, ili skleroti膷ni ma膷ak koji je od svega zapamtio samo Lenjinovu maksimu rad, rad i samo rad), u trenutku kada sam do拧la do sovjetskih reklamnih parola u stihu ("u institutu dvesta du拧a, svaka i拧te vrelog tu拧a") ve膰 sam morala da ostavim knjigu i naglas se ismejem kao magar膷ina.
Ne se膰am kada me je poslednji put neka knjiga ovako dobro zabavila. Ve膷naja ljubov za bra膰u Strugacki. <3
Ne se膰am kada me je poslednji put neka knjiga ovako dobro zabavila. Ve膷naja ljubov za bra膰u Strugacki. <3
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December 20, 2021Dela bra膰e Strugacki su po pravilu duhovita, ali retko i vesela. "Ponedeljak po膷inje u subotu" u tom pogledu predstavlja izuzetak: mo啪da zbog izleta u folklorom inspirisanu fantastiku, a mo啪da zato 拧to je ovo relativno rano delo u kome ih nije jo拧 sasvim napustio optimizam u pogledu ljudskog roda - dovoljno je uporediti vi膽enje nau膷nika i nau膷nog rada kakvo je dato ovde sa onim u "Milijardu godina do kraja sveta". Da, ima satire uperene protiv birokrata i badavad啪ija, ima kritike ovog i onog, ima i urnebesne parodije tada拧nje nau膷ne fantastike kako utopijskog tako i distopijskog tipa, ali pre svega je u pitanju vedra zavrzlama o programeru koji zaluta na nau膷ni institut posve膰en 膷arobnja拧tvu i magiji i tamo na膽e srodne du拧e. Ali i ma膷ka koji govori, Baba Jagu, Merlina (u Tvenovom izvo膽enju) i jednu od verzija Kaljostra (s pravim a ne 拧arlatanskim mo膰ima). Tako膽e sadr啪i mo啪da najudarni膷kiji radni do膷ek Nove godine u vasceloj SF knji啪evnosti, s epskom posvetom svim nau膷nim radnicima koji vi拧e vole da rade, istra啪uju i unapre膽uju ljudski rod nego leba da jedu (eto jo拧 jednog fantasti膷nog elementa).
PS a u lokalnom bioskopu se daje film "Kozara" pri 膷emu junak prigovara da ju je ve膰 dvaput gledao, i mene nije mrzelo da iskopam original i uporedim, jeste stvarno "Kozara".
PS a u lokalnom bioskopu se daje film "Kozara" pri 膷emu junak prigovara da ju je ve膰 dvaput gledao, i mene nije mrzelo da iskopam original i uporedim, jeste stvarno "Kozara".
November 16, 2020
I don't know where to start with this extraordinary novel. It even read it twice because I wanted to make sure I understood everything there was to understand. I'm not entirely sure I did, but I definitely took the the time to read it carefully and enjoyed it thoroughly. Monday Beings on Saturday is an unique and original science fiction novel. It is a novel in which one fantastic episode replaces another in a manner that reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. These fantastical episodes are contrasted with more realistic ones that seem to a direct reference to Soviet times. In addition, there are so many surreal and fantastic characters- that at times it even seems overwhelming.
The story itself is narrated by a young programmer Sasha who picks up two hitchhikers who convince him to stay and work with them in a Scientific Institute of some kind. Once Sasha arrives there, he realizes this place is as far from ordinary as possible, but at the same time plagued by some ordinary problems such as bureaucracy. Sasha meets all kind of fantastic characters: the talking cat, the time- travelling parrot with an astronauts' vocabulary, its particular owner Janus that is a one man in two personas, the strange old granny, the pseudoscientists and even magicians. There is also a curious case of a disappearing divan. The reader is brought back to reality with clever use of humour, especially satire as well as with the realistic and rational commentary of its programmer protagonist- Sasha.
Upon my first reading, I was amazed and entertained by the lovely humour of this book, the reverse logic, the abundant satire, the amusing literary references, the fabulous talking animals and the clever world play. However, on the second reading I payed more attention to the social critique that was present in the novel. At times this novel seems a pretty serious critique of pseudoscience and research as well as the communist belief in the perfectly satisfied man. So, I'd say that I was more amused on my first read but more impressed on my second reading. I love how this novel manages to be both amusing and serious at the same time. The ending was very satisfying as well. All in all, it is a definitely a novel I would recommend.
The story itself is narrated by a young programmer Sasha who picks up two hitchhikers who convince him to stay and work with them in a Scientific Institute of some kind. Once Sasha arrives there, he realizes this place is as far from ordinary as possible, but at the same time plagued by some ordinary problems such as bureaucracy. Sasha meets all kind of fantastic characters: the talking cat, the time- travelling parrot with an astronauts' vocabulary, its particular owner Janus that is a one man in two personas, the strange old granny, the pseudoscientists and even magicians. There is also a curious case of a disappearing divan. The reader is brought back to reality with clever use of humour, especially satire as well as with the realistic and rational commentary of its programmer protagonist- Sasha.
Upon my first reading, I was amazed and entertained by the lovely humour of this book, the reverse logic, the abundant satire, the amusing literary references, the fabulous talking animals and the clever world play. However, on the second reading I payed more attention to the social critique that was present in the novel. At times this novel seems a pretty serious critique of pseudoscience and research as well as the communist belief in the perfectly satisfied man. So, I'd say that I was more amused on my first read but more impressed on my second reading. I love how this novel manages to be both amusing and serious at the same time. The ending was very satisfying as well. All in all, it is a definitely a novel I would recommend.
January 4, 2019
Bu 枚nemli yazarlara bu kitapla giri艧 yapmak bence g眉zel oldu.
Hem bilimkurgu hem fantasti臒in farkl谋 bir y枚ntemle birle艧tirildi臒i bu tarz bir kitap san谋r谋m daha 枚nce okumam谋艧t谋m.
Bilim nedir b眉y眉 nedir aralar谋nda nas谋l bir ili艧ki olabilir 眉zerine e臒lenceli bir ser眉vendi. kitap ayn谋 zamanda Rus ya艧am tarz谋na da tebess眉m ettirici n眉ktelerle bezeliydi.
"...herkes i莽in tek bir gelecek yoktur Bir s眉r眉d眉r bunlar ve her bir davran谋艧谋n谋z onlardan birini yarat谋r... Mutlaka anlayacaks谋n谋z bunu."
Hem bilimkurgu hem fantasti臒in farkl谋 bir y枚ntemle birle艧tirildi臒i bu tarz bir kitap san谋r谋m daha 枚nce okumam谋艧t谋m.
Bilim nedir b眉y眉 nedir aralar谋nda nas谋l bir ili艧ki olabilir 眉zerine e臒lenceli bir ser眉vendi. kitap ayn谋 zamanda Rus ya艧am tarz谋na da tebess眉m ettirici n眉ktelerle bezeliydi.
"...herkes i莽in tek bir gelecek yoktur Bir s眉r眉d眉r bunlar ve her bir davran谋艧谋n谋z onlardan birini yarat谋r... Mutlaka anlayacaks谋n谋z bunu."
January 7, 2019
Bilim kurgu ve fantastik edebiyata uzak biri olarak, her ikisinin harmanland谋臒谋 bu kitap beni olduk莽a a艧t谋 san谋r谋m. Uzun zamand谋r bir kitab谋n i莽ine bu kadar giremedi臒im olmam谋艧t谋. 脟ok hacimli bir kitap olmamas谋na, i莽indeki 莽izimlerle e臒lenceli bir yap谋ya d枚n眉艧mesine ra臒men zorlukla takip ettim ben. Yoruldum. Bazen "ne okuyorum? ne anlat谋l谋yor bana?" hissiyle doldum.
Bu deneyimin olumsuz her y枚n眉n眉 kendime, bilim kurgu ve fantastik tarzlar谋na uzak duru艧uma y眉kleyecektim ancak sonra akl谋ma "Lanark" geldi. O da fantastik edebiyat olmas谋na ra臒men okurken keyif ald谋臒谋m bir kitapt谋.
Y谋l谋n ilk okumas谋 olmas谋 da beklentiyi y眉kseltti臒inden bu kadar hayal k谋r谋kl谋臒谋na u臒ram谋艧 da olabilirim diyerek, s枚z眉 kitab谋 severlere b谋rak谋yorum :)
Bu deneyimin olumsuz her y枚n眉n眉 kendime, bilim kurgu ve fantastik tarzlar谋na uzak duru艧uma y眉kleyecektim ancak sonra akl谋ma "Lanark" geldi. O da fantastik edebiyat olmas谋na ra臒men okurken keyif ald谋臒谋m bir kitapt谋.
Y谋l谋n ilk okumas谋 olmas谋 da beklentiyi y眉kseltti臒inden bu kadar hayal k谋r谋kl谋臒谋na u臒ram谋艧 da olabilirim diyerek, s枚z眉 kitab谋 severlere b谋rak谋yorum :)
July 21, 2019
I just finished listening to a magnificent audio version and I already know I'm ready to do it again. Says me, who rarely does audio-books, because audio-books put me to sleep. Well, with this one I couldn't doze off because I laughed too often.
I had soooooo much fun! Both on the intellectual level as well as shits and giggles level, because this book has it all. On one hand it's a pity I haven't read this one as a teen, but on the other I'm pretty sure I would miss most of political allusions together with all the tongue-in-cheek-ness Strugatskys put into this book. Anyway, it can never be too late for a great timeless classic. Even if it is in fact a tad dated - of course it's full of komsomolskiy optimism and enthusiasm for science and future - I still think it aged rather well, much better in fact than some of the western sci-fi books written in 60'ies. And much better than other soviet sci-fi for sure.
A sudden thought - if I first read this and then later Zelazny and Pratchett, they wouldn't probably seem so fresh and original to me... But no worries - I still love them.
Anyway, gotta get myself more Strugatskys this year, definitely got to reread soon... 5 stars for this one!
I had soooooo much fun! Both on the intellectual level as well as shits and giggles level, because this book has it all. On one hand it's a pity I haven't read this one as a teen, but on the other I'm pretty sure I would miss most of political allusions together with all the tongue-in-cheek-ness Strugatskys put into this book. Anyway, it can never be too late for a great timeless classic. Even if it is in fact a tad dated - of course it's full of komsomolskiy optimism and enthusiasm for science and future - I still think it aged rather well, much better in fact than some of the western sci-fi books written in 60'ies. And much better than other soviet sci-fi for sure.
A sudden thought - if I first read this and then later Zelazny and Pratchett, they wouldn't probably seem so fresh and original to me... But no worries - I still love them.
Anyway, gotta get myself more Strugatskys this year, definitely got to reread soon... 5 stars for this one!
January 25, 2025
鈥炐熜狙傃€械斜薪懈 谢懈 褋屑械 薪邪 褋械斜械 褋懈?鈥�
鈥炐熜拘叫敌葱敌恍叫感� 蟹邪锌芯褔胁邪 胁 褋褗斜芯褌邪鈥� 械 屑薪芯谐芯 锌褉懈褟褌薪邪 懈 蟹邪斜邪胁薪邪 泻薪懈谐邪, 泻邪泻褌芯 懈 锌芯褉械写薪邪褌邪 芯褌谢懈褔薪邪 褋邪褌懈褉邪 薪邪 褉械邪谢薪芯褋褌褌邪 胁 小小小袪! 袘褉邪褌褟 小褌褉褍谐邪褑泻懈 锌芯 斜谢械褋褌褟褖 薪邪褔懈薪 芯褋屑懈胁邪褌 褋褗胁械褌褋泻邪褌邪 薪邪褍泻邪 懈 薪邪褔懈薪邪 薪邪 卸懈胁芯褌 胁 褌邪屑芯褕械薪 薪邪褍褔械薪 懈薪褋褌懈褌褍褌... 袣薪懈谐邪褌邪 褋褗写褗褉卸邪 3 芯褌写械谢薪懈 薪芯胁械谢懈, 胁 泻芯懈褌芯 写械泄褋褌胁懈械褌芯 褋械 褉邪蟹胁懈胁邪 胁 屑邪谐懈褔械褋泻懈褟, 薪芯 懈 蟹邪褌褗薪邪谢 胁 斜械蟹褋屑懈褋谢械薪邪 斜褞褉芯泻褉邪褑懈褟 袧袠袠效袗袙袨... 小锌芯褉械写 屑械薪, 褌械 薪械 写芯褋褌懈谐邪褌 褔邪泻 薪懈胁芯褌芯 薪邪 鈥炐⒀€褍写薪芯 械 写邪 斜褗写械褕 斜芯谐鈥� 懈 写褉褍谐懈 胁械谢懈泻懈 褌胁芯褉斜懈 薪邪 邪胁褌芯褉懈褌械, 薪芯 胁褋械 锌邪泻 褋邪 懈蟹锌褗谢薪械薪懈 褋 薪械锌芯胁褌芯褉懈屑芯褌芯 懈屑 褔褍胁褋褌胁芯 蟹邪 褏褍屑芯褉 懈 泻邪褌芯 褑褟谢芯 屑薪芯谐芯 屑懈 褏邪褉械褋邪褏邪!
鈥炐⑿敌沸� 褋褌褉邪褏谢懈胁懈 褏芯褉邪, 屑懈褋谢械褏 褋懈 邪蟹, 锌褉懈谢懈褔邪褌 薪邪 薪褟泻芯懈 褍褔械薪懈 械泻褋锌械褉懈屑械薪褌邪褌芯褉懈, 褌胁褗褉写械 褍锌芯褉懈褌懈, 褌胁褗褉写械 褌褉褍写芯谢褞斜懈胁懈, 薪芯 斜械蟹 薪懈泻邪泻胁芯 胁褗芯斜褉邪卸械薪懈械 懈 蟹邪褌芯胁邪 褌胁褗褉写械 锌褉械写锌邪蟹谢懈胁懈. 袣芯谐邪褌芯 锌芯谢褍褔邪褌 褉械蟹褍谢褌邪褌, 泻芯泄褌芯 薪械 械 褌褉懈胁懈邪谢械薪, 褌械 褋械 褍锌谢邪褕胁邪褌 芯褌 薪械谐芯, 薪邪斜褗褉蟹芯 谐芯 芯斜褟褋薪褟胁邪褌 褋 褌芯胁邪, 褔械 械泻褋锌械褉懈屑械薪褌褗褌 薪械 械 懈蟹谢褟蟹褗谢 褔懈褋褌, 懈 褎邪泻褌懈褔械褋泻懈 褋械 芯褌泻邪蟹胁邪褌 芯褌 薪芯胁芯褌芯, 蟹邪褖芯褌芯 锌褉械泻邪谢械薪芯 褋邪 褋胁懈泻薪邪谢懈 褋褗褋 褋褌邪褉芯褌芯, 泻芯械褌芯 褍写芯斜薪芯 褋械 锌芯斜懈褉邪 胁 褉邪屑泻懈褌械 薪邪 邪胁褌芯褉懈褌械褌薪邪褌邪 褌械芯褉懈褟鈥︹€�
鈥炐熜拘叫敌葱敌恍叫感� 蟹邪锌芯褔胁邪 胁 褋褗斜芯褌邪鈥� 械 屑薪芯谐芯 锌褉懈褟褌薪邪 懈 蟹邪斜邪胁薪邪 泻薪懈谐邪, 泻邪泻褌芯 懈 锌芯褉械写薪邪褌邪 芯褌谢懈褔薪邪 褋邪褌懈褉邪 薪邪 褉械邪谢薪芯褋褌褌邪 胁 小小小袪! 袘褉邪褌褟 小褌褉褍谐邪褑泻懈 锌芯 斜谢械褋褌褟褖 薪邪褔懈薪 芯褋屑懈胁邪褌 褋褗胁械褌褋泻邪褌邪 薪邪褍泻邪 懈 薪邪褔懈薪邪 薪邪 卸懈胁芯褌 胁 褌邪屑芯褕械薪 薪邪褍褔械薪 懈薪褋褌懈褌褍褌... 袣薪懈谐邪褌邪 褋褗写褗褉卸邪 3 芯褌写械谢薪懈 薪芯胁械谢懈, 胁 泻芯懈褌芯 写械泄褋褌胁懈械褌芯 褋械 褉邪蟹胁懈胁邪 胁 屑邪谐懈褔械褋泻懈褟, 薪芯 懈 蟹邪褌褗薪邪谢 胁 斜械蟹褋屑懈褋谢械薪邪 斜褞褉芯泻褉邪褑懈褟 袧袠袠效袗袙袨... 小锌芯褉械写 屑械薪, 褌械 薪械 写芯褋褌懈谐邪褌 褔邪泻 薪懈胁芯褌芯 薪邪 鈥炐⒀€褍写薪芯 械 写邪 斜褗写械褕 斜芯谐鈥� 懈 写褉褍谐懈 胁械谢懈泻懈 褌胁芯褉斜懈 薪邪 邪胁褌芯褉懈褌械, 薪芯 胁褋械 锌邪泻 褋邪 懈蟹锌褗谢薪械薪懈 褋 薪械锌芯胁褌芯褉懈屑芯褌芯 懈屑 褔褍胁褋褌胁芯 蟹邪 褏褍屑芯褉 懈 泻邪褌芯 褑褟谢芯 屑薪芯谐芯 屑懈 褏邪褉械褋邪褏邪!
鈥炐⑿敌沸� 褋褌褉邪褏谢懈胁懈 褏芯褉邪, 屑懈褋谢械褏 褋懈 邪蟹, 锌褉懈谢懈褔邪褌 薪邪 薪褟泻芯懈 褍褔械薪懈 械泻褋锌械褉懈屑械薪褌邪褌芯褉懈, 褌胁褗褉写械 褍锌芯褉懈褌懈, 褌胁褗褉写械 褌褉褍写芯谢褞斜懈胁懈, 薪芯 斜械蟹 薪懈泻邪泻胁芯 胁褗芯斜褉邪卸械薪懈械 懈 蟹邪褌芯胁邪 褌胁褗褉写械 锌褉械写锌邪蟹谢懈胁懈. 袣芯谐邪褌芯 锌芯谢褍褔邪褌 褉械蟹褍谢褌邪褌, 泻芯泄褌芯 薪械 械 褌褉懈胁懈邪谢械薪, 褌械 褋械 褍锌谢邪褕胁邪褌 芯褌 薪械谐芯, 薪邪斜褗褉蟹芯 谐芯 芯斜褟褋薪褟胁邪褌 褋 褌芯胁邪, 褔械 械泻褋锌械褉懈屑械薪褌褗褌 薪械 械 懈蟹谢褟蟹褗谢 褔懈褋褌, 懈 褎邪泻褌懈褔械褋泻懈 褋械 芯褌泻邪蟹胁邪褌 芯褌 薪芯胁芯褌芯, 蟹邪褖芯褌芯 锌褉械泻邪谢械薪芯 褋邪 褋胁懈泻薪邪谢懈 褋褗褋 褋褌邪褉芯褌芯, 泻芯械褌芯 褍写芯斜薪芯 褋械 锌芯斜懈褉邪 胁 褉邪屑泻懈褌械 薪邪 邪胁褌芯褉懈褌械褌薪邪褌邪 褌械芯褉懈褟鈥︹€�
February 17, 2017
Maybe I'm too dumb for some books. Or maybe some books are too dumb for me. I've no idea which was the case here.
Fun though. An extra star for that. Even though it wasn't the fun kind of fun.
Fun though. An extra star for that. Even though it wasn't the fun kind of fun.
January 23, 2012
袨写薪邪 懈蟹 谢褍褔褕懈褏 泻薪懈谐 斜褉邪褌褜械胁 小褌褉褍谐邪褑泻懈褏. 袥褍褔褕邪褟 懈蟹 褑懈泻谢邪 袧袠袠效袗袙袨. 袩褉芯褔谢邪 械械 胁锌械褉胁褘械 谢械褌 胁 19, 懈 锌芯褌芯屑, 泻邪泻 胁 写械褌褋褌胁械, 写芯谢谐芯 薪械 芯褌锌褍褋泻邪谢芯 芯褖褍褖械薪懈械, 褔褌芯 褝褌芯褌 锌芯写芯褉胁邪薪薪褘泄 袧袠袠 效邪褉芯写械泄褋褌胁邪 懈 袙芯谢褕械斜褋褌胁邪 懈 锌褉邪胁写邪 谐写械-褌芯 褋褍褖械褋褌胁褍械褌.)
July 26, 2021
Having read and enjoyed 鈥楻oadside Picnic鈥�, I was looking forward to this. Unfortunately, despite being glad I read it, I really didn鈥檛 enjoy it that much. There鈥檚 a lot in it, but is an 鈥榦ff-the-wall hilarious SF romp鈥� as one reviewer put it ,and that description is like garlic to a vampire for me. Pity I didn鈥檛 read the reviews before starting to read..
March 24, 2023
My buddy Laurent, who enthusiastically recommended I read the Strugatsky brothers, describes 鈥淢onday Begins on Saturday鈥� as 鈥楽oviet 鈥淗arry Potter鈥濃€� 鈥� while that is not entirely accurate, it is the general vibe, except it鈥檚 far funnier and far cleverer than anything Rowling ever wrote.
A young programmer from Leningrad is driving to a small northern town for a few days of vacation and picks up two hitchhikers who turn out to be employees of the Scientific Research Institute of Sorcery and Wizardry 鈥� a place where folklore and magic is studied with very serious scientific methods, but with the level of absurdity one can certainly expect from a story set in the USSR in the 60s鈥�
There is certainly a lot of socio-political and economic subtext weaved through this story of an everyman suddenly stuck in a surreal situation. Some of that subtext might have been lost on me, because while I have a decent familiarity with Russian folklore and history, it is by no means an expertise; I caught quite a few references, but I am sure I must have missed a bunch as well. Luckily, I think the story鈥檚 zaniness is strong enough on its own. The convoluted structure of the Institute our hero, Alexander, finds himself employed by has a clear Kafkaesque nature, but balanced with a lot of that weird Russian humor I am quite fond of. Folkloric creatures collide with modern technology and rigid committee and inventory structures, and that all goes about as well as you might imagine!
The novel is made up of 3 loosely tied stories, and that format is interesting, but doesn鈥檛 really allow for a lot of character development, it goes more like a series of vignettes, and I think I would have liked a deeper immersion into the world dreamt up by the Strugatsky brothers. But considering the intent behind writing such a book, I am in awe at how entertaining they made it, even if it left me just a little bit wanting. Very recommended!
A young programmer from Leningrad is driving to a small northern town for a few days of vacation and picks up two hitchhikers who turn out to be employees of the Scientific Research Institute of Sorcery and Wizardry 鈥� a place where folklore and magic is studied with very serious scientific methods, but with the level of absurdity one can certainly expect from a story set in the USSR in the 60s鈥�
There is certainly a lot of socio-political and economic subtext weaved through this story of an everyman suddenly stuck in a surreal situation. Some of that subtext might have been lost on me, because while I have a decent familiarity with Russian folklore and history, it is by no means an expertise; I caught quite a few references, but I am sure I must have missed a bunch as well. Luckily, I think the story鈥檚 zaniness is strong enough on its own. The convoluted structure of the Institute our hero, Alexander, finds himself employed by has a clear Kafkaesque nature, but balanced with a lot of that weird Russian humor I am quite fond of. Folkloric creatures collide with modern technology and rigid committee and inventory structures, and that all goes about as well as you might imagine!
The novel is made up of 3 loosely tied stories, and that format is interesting, but doesn鈥檛 really allow for a lot of character development, it goes more like a series of vignettes, and I think I would have liked a deeper immersion into the world dreamt up by the Strugatsky brothers. But considering the intent behind writing such a book, I am in awe at how entertaining they made it, even if it left me just a little bit wanting. Very recommended!
February 17, 2012
One of the best books I've ever read. I keep rereading it from time to time when I need a chuckle at the foolishness of life, or when I am too stressed with exams and research papers for my own good.
The Brothers Strugatsky managed to satirise everything under the sun: Academic research, communist optimism, science-fiction (and especially science-fiction authors), academia, and on and on.
The book might prove a touch impenetrable for the foreign language (English or otherwise) reader, due to its reliance, especially in the first part, on Russian folk tales. But this is hardly a problem that cannot be overcome with a measure of footnotes and creative extrapolation.
The Brothers Strugatsky managed to satirise everything under the sun: Academic research, communist optimism, science-fiction (and especially science-fiction authors), academia, and on and on.
The book might prove a touch impenetrable for the foreign language (English or otherwise) reader, due to its reliance, especially in the first part, on Russian folk tales. But this is hardly a problem that cannot be overcome with a measure of footnotes and creative extrapolation.
November 6, 2024
Mondhatni, a minket k枚r眉lvev艖 fizikai val贸s谩gnak h谩rom riv谩lisa van:
1.) A tudom谩ny, ami egyfel艖l m茅rhet艖v茅 teszi a fizikai val贸s谩got, 谩m bizonyos 茅rtelemben meg is haladja azzal, hogy olyan szerkezeteket gondol ki, amelyek seg铆ts茅g茅vel ignor谩lhatjuk t枚rv茅nyszer疟s茅geit. Feltal谩lja p茅ld谩ul a rep眉l艖t, 茅s onnant贸l fityiszt neked, gravit谩ci贸.
2.) A m谩gia, ami sim谩n magasr贸l tesz a val贸s谩g t枚rv茅nyeire.
3.) 脡s a b眉rokr谩cia, ami viszont a saj谩t maga 谩ltal meghat谩rozott sz疟k korl谩tok k枚z茅 szor铆tan谩 azt.
No most Sztugackij茅k reg茅ny茅be mindh谩rom elemb艖l b艖s茅ggel jutott. Tud贸sok, var谩zsl贸k 茅s b眉rokrat谩k birk贸znak benne nyakl贸 n茅lk眉l, aminek nem is lehet m谩s eredm茅nye, mint a tot谩lis k谩osz. (脡rdekess茅g: amikor a b眉rokr谩cia megpr贸b谩lja kontroll谩lni a k谩oszt, az esetek nagy r茅sz茅ben maga is kaotikus jelleget 枚lt.) A tot谩lis k谩osz pedig term茅szetesen ellens茅ge a hagyom谩nyos t枚rt茅netmes茅l茅snek, k枚vetkez茅sk茅ppen ennek az 煤n. "reg茅nynek" sincs t枚rt茅nete - az eg茅sz egy v茅gtelen眉l j贸pofa 枚tletkazal, amiben papag谩jok t谩madnak fel, az 贸g枚r枚g mitol贸gia l茅nyei ficam铆tj谩k ki a kisujjukat, atipikus d铆v谩nyokat rabolnak szint茅n atipikus fiatalemberek, sz贸val van itt minden, mint a b煤cs煤ban. 脷gy sejtem, nagyon j贸l 茅rezhett茅k magukat a szerz艖k 铆r谩s k枚zben, 茅s h谩t ki vagyok 茅n, hogy ne 茅lvezzem azt, amit 艖k igen?
1.) A tudom谩ny, ami egyfel艖l m茅rhet艖v茅 teszi a fizikai val贸s谩got, 谩m bizonyos 茅rtelemben meg is haladja azzal, hogy olyan szerkezeteket gondol ki, amelyek seg铆ts茅g茅vel ignor谩lhatjuk t枚rv茅nyszer疟s茅geit. Feltal谩lja p茅ld谩ul a rep眉l艖t, 茅s onnant贸l fityiszt neked, gravit谩ci贸.
2.) A m谩gia, ami sim谩n magasr贸l tesz a val贸s谩g t枚rv茅nyeire.
3.) 脡s a b眉rokr谩cia, ami viszont a saj谩t maga 谩ltal meghat谩rozott sz疟k korl谩tok k枚z茅 szor铆tan谩 azt.
No most Sztugackij茅k reg茅ny茅be mindh谩rom elemb艖l b艖s茅ggel jutott. Tud贸sok, var谩zsl贸k 茅s b眉rokrat谩k birk贸znak benne nyakl贸 n茅lk眉l, aminek nem is lehet m谩s eredm茅nye, mint a tot谩lis k谩osz. (脡rdekess茅g: amikor a b眉rokr谩cia megpr贸b谩lja kontroll谩lni a k谩oszt, az esetek nagy r茅sz茅ben maga is kaotikus jelleget 枚lt.) A tot谩lis k谩osz pedig term茅szetesen ellens茅ge a hagyom谩nyos t枚rt茅netmes茅l茅snek, k枚vetkez茅sk茅ppen ennek az 煤n. "reg茅nynek" sincs t枚rt茅nete - az eg茅sz egy v茅gtelen眉l j贸pofa 枚tletkazal, amiben papag谩jok t谩madnak fel, az 贸g枚r枚g mitol贸gia l茅nyei ficam铆tj谩k ki a kisujjukat, atipikus d铆v谩nyokat rabolnak szint茅n atipikus fiatalemberek, sz贸val van itt minden, mint a b煤cs煤ban. 脷gy sejtem, nagyon j贸l 茅rezhett茅k magukat a szerz艖k 铆r谩s k枚zben, 茅s h谩t ki vagyok 茅n, hogy ne 茅lvezzem azt, amit 艖k igen?
January 23, 2019
Valla kitab谋n ad谋 her ne kadar 鈥渒i艧isel geli艧immi艧鈥� gibi geliyorsa da kula臒a de臒il. Hatta tam tersine bilim-kurgu fantastik gibi bi艧ey bu kitap. 脟okta ba艧ar谋l谋 bulmad谋m ben. Notu olduk莽a y眉ksek ana beni 莽ok sarmad谋 ne yapay谋m.
Bilim-kurgu ve fantastik deyince akla ne geliyorsa bu kitapta bulabilirsiniz. Ama roman deyince akla gelen ilk 艧eyi bu kitapta bulamazs谋n谋z. 鈥淥lay 枚rg眉s眉鈥�
Nerde ba艧l谋yor, nas谋l ba艧l谋yor ve bitiyor belli de臒il. 陌lerleyip giden bir konu yok ortada.
Ortal谋k cinden periden hayaletten b眉y眉c眉den vampirden ge莽ilmiyor. E bilim de alm谋艧 y眉r眉m眉艧. 陌nsano臒lu t眉m bu tiplerin efendisi olmu艧. Peki.
Ama konu??
Bilim-kurgu ve fantastik deyince akla ne geliyorsa bu kitapta bulabilirsiniz. Ama roman deyince akla gelen ilk 艧eyi bu kitapta bulamazs谋n谋z. 鈥淥lay 枚rg眉s眉鈥�
Nerde ba艧l谋yor, nas谋l ba艧l谋yor ve bitiyor belli de臒il. 陌lerleyip giden bir konu yok ortada.
Ortal谋k cinden periden hayaletten b眉y眉c眉den vampirden ge莽ilmiyor. E bilim de alm谋艧 y眉r眉m眉艧. 陌nsano臒lu t眉m bu tiplerin efendisi olmu艧. Peki.
Ama konu??
February 11, 2019
陌yi fantezi. Bilimsel ger莽eklikle masal ger莽ekli臒inin k谋v谋lc谋mlar 莽谋karan dans谋. Bu k谋v谋lc谋mlar insanla insan, toplum, iktidar aras谋nda 艧ekillenen ili艧kilere, demir perdenin alt谋na s眉p眉r眉lenlere, var olu艧a yok olu艧a, hatta bilimkurgunun kendisine y枚nelen dahiyane ta艧lamalar. D枚nemine g枚re ve d眉nyan谋n hayal g眉c眉ne katt谋klar谋yla d眉艧眉n眉nce, benden biraderlere be艧 y谋ld谋z g眉c眉nde d枚rt k谋z谋l yld谋z.
January 11, 2019
脺topik bir kuzey masal谋nda, Alice'in deli臒inden bir bilim adam谋 d眉艧er.
Gerisi Harry, gerisi mistisizm, gerisi kozmonot kabalas谋..
Kuzey an芒nesinin Mezopotompayay谋 zorlayaca臒谋 da hi莽 akl谋ma gelmezdi.
November 3, 2020
Niekde na za膷iatku druhej kapitoly som pojala podozrenie, 啪e V脷膶AKO je vysunut茅 pracovisko Nevidite木nej Univerzity a a啪 do konca knihy som sa ho nezbavila.
(Pozn: Na prv媒, druh媒 aj tret铆 pokus v starom slovenskom preklade mi to pri拧lo absol煤tne ne膷itate木n茅, roky som nech谩pala, 膷o na tomto kto m么啪e vidie钮, ale v 膷e拧tine to bola nakoniec fakt sranda)
(Pozn: Na prv媒, druh媒 aj tret铆 pokus v starom slovenskom preklade mi to pri拧lo absol煤tne ne膷itate木n茅, roky som nech谩pala, 膷o na tomto kto m么啪e vidie钮, ale v 膷e拧tine to bola nakoniec fakt sranda)
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October 22, 2016Pazartesi Cumartesiden Ba艧lar, b眉y眉 kisvesi alt谋nda merkezine ald谋臒谋 bilim gibi ele avuca s谋臒maz, da臒谋n谋k, s眉rprizlerle dolu. Evrenin kavramas谋 zor, ne 莽谋kaca臒谋 bilinmez mucizeler ve musibetler bar谋nd谋ran varl谋臒谋n谋n ve onun bilinmezliklerini de艧ifre etmeye 莽al谋艧an bilim insanlar谋n谋n maceralar谋 var burada. Onlara uzaktan bakanlar谋n yaftalayabilece臒i gibi, b眉y眉 ve b眉y眉c眉 olduklar谋 bir masala ho艧 geldiniz.
Masal谋 ve mizah谋, harika birer hizmetkara d枚n眉艧t眉ren Strugatski Karde艧ler, hikaye temelli s眉r眉kleyicilik anlay谋艧谋n谋 da reddetmekte. S眉r眉kleyicilik, her sayfada kar艧谋la艧谋lan yeni yeni durum ve fikirlerin kendi tuhafl谋klar谋ndan do臒an merak unsuruyla sa臒lan谋yor asl谋nda. Bunca tuhafl谋k bir anda boca edilip, pek 莽o臒unun a莽谋kl谋臒a kavu艧turulmamas谋na ra臒men, hikayenin akmaya devam etmesi 鈥� inan谋lmaz gelse de- sa臒lan谋yor. Anlatt谋臒谋 bilimin 莽谋kmaz sokaklar ve bilinmezliklerle dolu yap谋s谋yla insan谋n merak duygusunu kaybetmemesini 枚臒眉tleyen ve anlat谋msal manada okuru kitaptan uzakla艧t谋rma risk ta艧谋yan bir se莽im bu. Tutulan bu riskli yolun ba艧ar谋ya ula艧mas谋nda g枚rece ana karakterimiz diyebilece臒imiz A.陌.Privalov ve onun vekaletinde tan谋k oldu臒umuz curcunan谋n de臒i艧en yo臒unlu臒u da yard谋mc谋 oluyor.
Kendisiyle birlikte bu sihirli d眉nyaya ad谋m att谋臒谋m谋zda A.陌.Privalov鈥檜n yard谋ma ko艧an y枚n眉 rehberli臒i. Klasik masallar谋n ideal ama hikayenin sonuna kadar tam bir d枚n眉艧眉m ge莽irmeyen kahramanlar谋ndan farkl谋 olarak, kitab谋n en ba艧谋ndan beri ideal insan tipi olarak sunuluyor kendisi. Birinci b枚l眉mde, ya艧anan tuhafl谋klara bizimle birlikte o da 艧a艧谋rmakta. Tuhafl谋klar kar艧谋s谋nda biz ne yapaca臒谋m谋z谋 bilemezken, kendisinin tak谋nd谋臒谋 bilimsel bak谋艧 a莽谋s谋 yard谋m谋m谋za ko艧uyor. Bilinmeze kar艧谋 ne yapaca臒谋m谋z谋 bize anlatan bu dosta ve aktard谋臒谋 bilgilere g眉venimiz peki艧iyor.
Biricik masal谋m谋z i莽erisinde akademik 莽evreye uzak olan biz okurlar i莽in yabanc谋 gelebilecek mevzular ayr谋nt谋land谋r谋lmaya 莽al谋艧谋l谋nca anlat谋m b眉y眉s眉nde biraz bozulma ya艧an谋yor asl谋nda. Kitab谋n s谋k谋c谋la艧maya ba艧lad谋臒谋 bu k谋s谋mlar, yazarlar谋m谋z谋n bilim 莽evresinden edindikleri g枚r眉艧 ve tecr眉belerini dam谋t谋p genel hatlar谋yla anlatmaya ara verdi臒inde olu艧uyor. O ana kadarki olgular谋 peki艧tirmek ya da akademik ortamda kar艧谋la艧谋labilecekleri 枚rneklemeye 莽al谋艧谋nca masal temalar谋 kullan谋lmaya devam ederken masal anlatmaya ara verilmesi k谋sadevreye yol a莽谋yor. Tunguska Olay谋 a莽谋klamas谋, gazetede 艧iir yazma tela艧谋, Hopgeldio鈥檔un, yeterince k谋sa olsa da, sinir bozan bo艧 felsefi tart谋艧malar谋 ilk akl谋ma gelenler aras谋nda.
G枚r眉n眉rde alelade da臒谋n谋kl谋kta, ama d眉艧眉nsel anlamda b眉t眉nc眉l bir kitap Pazartesi Cumartesiden Ba艧lar. Anlatt谋臒谋 masala kendini vererek i莽eri臒ine adapte olunabilindi臒inde okuruna katk谋 sa臒layan t眉rden bir eser. T谋pk谋 iyi bir masal谋n olmas谋 gerekti臒i gibi.
- Cemalettin S陌PAH陌O臑LU
陌ncelemenin tamam谋 i莽in:
Masal谋 ve mizah谋, harika birer hizmetkara d枚n眉艧t眉ren Strugatski Karde艧ler, hikaye temelli s眉r眉kleyicilik anlay谋艧谋n谋 da reddetmekte. S眉r眉kleyicilik, her sayfada kar艧谋la艧谋lan yeni yeni durum ve fikirlerin kendi tuhafl谋klar谋ndan do臒an merak unsuruyla sa臒lan谋yor asl谋nda. Bunca tuhafl谋k bir anda boca edilip, pek 莽o臒unun a莽谋kl谋臒a kavu艧turulmamas谋na ra臒men, hikayenin akmaya devam etmesi 鈥� inan谋lmaz gelse de- sa臒lan谋yor. Anlatt谋臒谋 bilimin 莽谋kmaz sokaklar ve bilinmezliklerle dolu yap谋s谋yla insan谋n merak duygusunu kaybetmemesini 枚臒眉tleyen ve anlat谋msal manada okuru kitaptan uzakla艧t谋rma risk ta艧谋yan bir se莽im bu. Tutulan bu riskli yolun ba艧ar谋ya ula艧mas谋nda g枚rece ana karakterimiz diyebilece臒imiz A.陌.Privalov ve onun vekaletinde tan谋k oldu臒umuz curcunan谋n de臒i艧en yo臒unlu臒u da yard谋mc谋 oluyor.
Kendisiyle birlikte bu sihirli d眉nyaya ad谋m att谋臒谋m谋zda A.陌.Privalov鈥檜n yard谋ma ko艧an y枚n眉 rehberli臒i. Klasik masallar谋n ideal ama hikayenin sonuna kadar tam bir d枚n眉艧眉m ge莽irmeyen kahramanlar谋ndan farkl谋 olarak, kitab谋n en ba艧谋ndan beri ideal insan tipi olarak sunuluyor kendisi. Birinci b枚l眉mde, ya艧anan tuhafl谋klara bizimle birlikte o da 艧a艧谋rmakta. Tuhafl谋klar kar艧谋s谋nda biz ne yapaca臒谋m谋z谋 bilemezken, kendisinin tak谋nd谋臒谋 bilimsel bak谋艧 a莽谋s谋 yard谋m谋m谋za ko艧uyor. Bilinmeze kar艧谋 ne yapaca臒谋m谋z谋 bize anlatan bu dosta ve aktard谋臒谋 bilgilere g眉venimiz peki艧iyor.
Biricik masal谋m谋z i莽erisinde akademik 莽evreye uzak olan biz okurlar i莽in yabanc谋 gelebilecek mevzular ayr谋nt谋land谋r谋lmaya 莽al谋艧谋l谋nca anlat谋m b眉y眉s眉nde biraz bozulma ya艧an谋yor asl谋nda. Kitab谋n s谋k谋c谋la艧maya ba艧lad谋臒谋 bu k谋s谋mlar, yazarlar谋m谋z谋n bilim 莽evresinden edindikleri g枚r眉艧 ve tecr眉belerini dam谋t谋p genel hatlar谋yla anlatmaya ara verdi臒inde olu艧uyor. O ana kadarki olgular谋 peki艧tirmek ya da akademik ortamda kar艧谋la艧谋labilecekleri 枚rneklemeye 莽al谋艧谋nca masal temalar谋 kullan谋lmaya devam ederken masal anlatmaya ara verilmesi k谋sadevreye yol a莽谋yor. Tunguska Olay谋 a莽谋klamas谋, gazetede 艧iir yazma tela艧谋, Hopgeldio鈥檔un, yeterince k谋sa olsa da, sinir bozan bo艧 felsefi tart谋艧malar谋 ilk akl谋ma gelenler aras谋nda.
G枚r眉n眉rde alelade da臒谋n谋kl谋kta, ama d眉艧眉nsel anlamda b眉t眉nc眉l bir kitap Pazartesi Cumartesiden Ba艧lar. Anlatt谋臒谋 masala kendini vererek i莽eri臒ine adapte olunabilindi臒inde okuruna katk谋 sa臒layan t眉rden bir eser. T谋pk谋 iyi bir masal谋n olmas谋 gerekti臒i gibi.
- Cemalettin S陌PAH陌O臑LU
陌ncelemenin tamam谋 i莽in:
September 24, 2022
This was one of the most frustratingly painful books I have ever read! The store that recommended it called it the Russian version of Harry Potter. THEY LIED. I spent so much time trying to understand the thought loops they went through, and I finally grasped the major points in logic, philosophy, and the overall satire (which is remarkably still relevant especially compared to the USA university system). For the first time in my life I actually cried tears of frustration, it was more confusing to read this book than it was to get through all of my college science classes combined (I majored in chemistry, I promise I am not an idiot). The only reason I finished the book was because I couldn't let it win.
That said, I did like the set up of the book into three main storylines. I enjoyed the first the most, and it was probably the most easily understandable. Sasha is a rather underdeveloped protagonist but is not distasteful. I really enjoyed the use of Russian folklore in this section, a good portion of my childhood was spent obsessed with Russian folklore and Vasily and the carp were my favorite parts of this entire book. The second part was awful though. It was so painful to get through the detailed description of Vybegallo's experiment. I don't care how relevant the satire is, this was torturous. I actually had to put the book down for a month in order to work up the nerve and anger to finish it. The third storyline I am still trying to fully understand, but at least Vybegallo wasn't in it.
I really only recommend this book to hard-core science-fiction fiends with extensive knowledge of scientific rhetoric. Never before have I wanted to burn a book, but there is a first time for everything.
That said, I did like the set up of the book into three main storylines. I enjoyed the first the most, and it was probably the most easily understandable. Sasha is a rather underdeveloped protagonist but is not distasteful. I really enjoyed the use of Russian folklore in this section, a good portion of my childhood was spent obsessed with Russian folklore and Vasily and the carp were my favorite parts of this entire book. The second part was awful though. It was so painful to get through the detailed description of Vybegallo's experiment. I don't care how relevant the satire is, this was torturous. I actually had to put the book down for a month in order to work up the nerve and anger to finish it. The third storyline I am still trying to fully understand, but at least Vybegallo wasn't in it.
I really only recommend this book to hard-core science-fiction fiends with extensive knowledge of scientific rhetoric. Never before have I wanted to burn a book, but there is a first time for everything.
March 15, 2017
Prea meta-psiho-abramburit膬 ca s膬 zic oau! La fel ca toate c膬r葲ile fra葲ilor Struga葲ki, cu excep葲ia Picnicului la marginea drumului. Critic膬 deghizat膬 la adresa sistemului 葯i a mon葯trilor pe care-i na葯te, termeni inventa葲i sau 卯mprumuta葲i din limbi de circula葲ie interna葲ional膬 sau chiar moarte, c膬l膬torii 卯n viitor, inchizitori, motani, papagali 卯nvia葲i 葯i o explica葲ie chiar 鈥瀕ogic膬鈥� a meteoritului Tungus. 葮i s膬 nu-i uit膬m pe Kafka sau pe Gogol. Mai multe, pe FanSF: .
January 28, 2020
鈥氣€欱ajka za mlade nau膷ne radnike''
Na trenutke varljivo jednostavan a u su拧tini slo啪en konglomerat fantastike, mitologije, humora, satire, ismevanja birokratije... likovi bi mogli da budu bolje razra膽eni a tok pri膷e je povremeno nejasan (mo啪da je u pitanju prevod) ali knjiga je vredna truda.
Na trenutke varljivo jednostavan a u su拧tini slo啪en konglomerat fantastike, mitologije, humora, satire, ismevanja birokratije... likovi bi mogli da budu bolje razra膽eni a tok pri膷e je povremeno nejasan (mo啪da je u pitanju prevod) ali knjiga je vredna truda.
Read
November 19, 2020MONDAY STARTS ON SATURDAY by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, tr. from the Russian by Andrew Bromfield, 1964 / 2016.
Last year for #RedOctoberRussianReads, several of us read the Strugatsky Brothers' most popular novel, ROADSIDE PICNIC, published in 1971. This scifi is dark in tone, looking at a world post-alien invasion... Basically humans cleaning up the mess that was made when the aliens arrived and promptly left earth. Big concepts and philosophical in tone.
After reading that one, I sought out a few of their other books available in English translation. I wanted some Soviet-era sci-fi in the mix this month for #ReadtheWorld21, and little did I know how *different* this one would be from my earlier experience with their work!
Monday Starts on Saturday is best described as a science fantasy, and a delightful romp at that. It's a satirical and absurd look at scientific research, Soviet bureaucracy and institutions, and "magic" through the eyes of an unsuspecting everyman, Alexander "Sasha" Privalov.
Traveling in north Russia (near the current border with Finland), young Sasha picks up 2 hitchhikers who recruit him to come work for their research institute... Wizards and vampires become his co-workers, and there are some hilarious situations, especially as Sasha has a late-night shift.
Broken into 3 parts, the stories overlap in time, and the 3rd and final piece was my favorite. There are many absurd situations and wordplays, which are likely even more humourous in the original Russian.
This edition includes a glossary of fantastical creatures, and a great essay by Boris about the process that he and Arkady took when writing this novel.
The Strugatskys have several works available in English, and I have Snail on the Slope, The Doomed City, and Hard to be a God still to look forward to. Each one seems to take on a different tone and feel, so I'm looking forward to reading more of their work.
Last year for #RedOctoberRussianReads, several of us read the Strugatsky Brothers' most popular novel, ROADSIDE PICNIC, published in 1971. This scifi is dark in tone, looking at a world post-alien invasion... Basically humans cleaning up the mess that was made when the aliens arrived and promptly left earth. Big concepts and philosophical in tone.
After reading that one, I sought out a few of their other books available in English translation. I wanted some Soviet-era sci-fi in the mix this month for #ReadtheWorld21, and little did I know how *different* this one would be from my earlier experience with their work!
Monday Starts on Saturday is best described as a science fantasy, and a delightful romp at that. It's a satirical and absurd look at scientific research, Soviet bureaucracy and institutions, and "magic" through the eyes of an unsuspecting everyman, Alexander "Sasha" Privalov.
Traveling in north Russia (near the current border with Finland), young Sasha picks up 2 hitchhikers who recruit him to come work for their research institute... Wizards and vampires become his co-workers, and there are some hilarious situations, especially as Sasha has a late-night shift.
Broken into 3 parts, the stories overlap in time, and the 3rd and final piece was my favorite. There are many absurd situations and wordplays, which are likely even more humourous in the original Russian.
This edition includes a glossary of fantastical creatures, and a great essay by Boris about the process that he and Arkady took when writing this novel.
The Strugatskys have several works available in English, and I have Snail on the Slope, The Doomed City, and Hard to be a God still to look forward to. Each one seems to take on a different tone and feel, so I'm looking forward to reading more of their work.
August 9, 2020
Konfuzno u po膷etku, ali postaje sve bolje kako knjiga odmi膷e. Sve do pomalo razo膷aravaju膰eg zavr拧etka. Delo je podeljeno na tri dela, tj. tri pri膷e koje ne dele zajedni膷ki zaplet. Posle prve pri膷e, koja opisuje dolazak i prvi susret Privalova sa Nau膷noistra啪iva膷kim institutom 膷arobnja拧tva, vra膷anja i okultizma (NI膶AVO), sledi niz dogodov拧tina koje ga prate kada i sam prihvati zaposlenje na institutu.
Svaka celina pred kraj zagolica ma拧tu nagove拧tajem nekakvog otkrovenja i potom se zavr拧ava re膷ima: 鈥淎li to je ve膰 neka sasvim druga pri膷a鈥�. I to je, u su拧tini, struktura knjige. Zasebne epizode bez nekog sveobuhvatnog narativa. Moglo se ubaciti jo拧 pri膷a, jo拧 avantura, u bilo kakvom redosledu. 鈥淜raj鈥� knjige je zapravo samo kraj tre膰e pripovesti.*
Same pri膷e su zabavne i na momente urnebesne.
鈥�...Vibegalo je izneo tri eksperimentalna modela: model 膶oveka, u potpunosti nezadovoljenog, model 膶oveka, 啪eluda膷no nezadovoljenog, i model 膶oveka, potpuno zadovoljenog. Potpuno nezadovoljeni antropoid je stigao prvi - ispilio se pre dve nedelje. To 啪alosno stvorenje, prekriveno ranama, kao Jov, poluraspadnuto, koje su mu膷ile sve poznate i nepoznate bolesti, neverovatno gladno, koje je patilo od hladno膰e i vru膰ine istovremeno, izletelo je u hodnik, uputilo institutu niz nerazgovetnih 啪albi i izdahnulo. Vibegalo je likovao. Sad se moglo smatrati dokazanim da, ukoliko 膷oveka ne hranimo, ne pojimo, ne le膷imo, onda 膰e on, ovaj, dakle, biti nesre膰an i mo啪e 膷ak i da umre.鈥�
Ako vas, izme膽u ostalog, zanima kako su protekla preostala dva eksperimenta modela 膶oveka, pro膷itajte ovo delo.
*Tehni膷ki, 鈥淧ogovor i komentari鈥� Privalova slede nakon poslednje pri膷e.
Svaka celina pred kraj zagolica ma拧tu nagove拧tajem nekakvog otkrovenja i potom se zavr拧ava re膷ima: 鈥淎li to je ve膰 neka sasvim druga pri膷a鈥�. I to je, u su拧tini, struktura knjige. Zasebne epizode bez nekog sveobuhvatnog narativa. Moglo se ubaciti jo拧 pri膷a, jo拧 avantura, u bilo kakvom redosledu. 鈥淜raj鈥� knjige je zapravo samo kraj tre膰e pripovesti.*
Same pri膷e su zabavne i na momente urnebesne.
鈥�...Vibegalo je izneo tri eksperimentalna modela: model 膶oveka, u potpunosti nezadovoljenog, model 膶oveka, 啪eluda膷no nezadovoljenog, i model 膶oveka, potpuno zadovoljenog. Potpuno nezadovoljeni antropoid je stigao prvi - ispilio se pre dve nedelje. To 啪alosno stvorenje, prekriveno ranama, kao Jov, poluraspadnuto, koje su mu膷ile sve poznate i nepoznate bolesti, neverovatno gladno, koje je patilo od hladno膰e i vru膰ine istovremeno, izletelo je u hodnik, uputilo institutu niz nerazgovetnih 啪albi i izdahnulo. Vibegalo je likovao. Sad se moglo smatrati dokazanim da, ukoliko 膷oveka ne hranimo, ne pojimo, ne le膷imo, onda 膰e on, ovaj, dakle, biti nesre膰an i mo啪e 膷ak i da umre.鈥�
Ako vas, izme膽u ostalog, zanima kako su protekla preostala dva eksperimenta modela 膶oveka, pro膷itajte ovo delo.
*Tehni膷ki, 鈥淧ogovor i komentari鈥� Privalova slede nakon poslednje pri膷e.
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