Originally published in Russian as Obitaemyi ostrov, translated into English by Helen Saltz Jacobson. First in series, followed by Beetle in the Anthill (original title: Zhuk v Muraveinike), and The Time Wanderers (original title: Volny Gasyat Veter).
The novel is set in the 22nd century of the Noon Universe. Mankind is the prevalent race in the Galaxy, capable of interstellar travel. Human social organization is presumably Communist, and can be described as a highly technologically advanced anarchistic meritocracy.
The 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.
There's a part at the beginning of this book - and note that I took this insight from the prologue by - where the main character Maxim doesn't dip his hand in water because he senses it's radioactive.
The average reader thinks either 'how would he know that?' or perhaps 'he probably wouldn't know that, but this is SciFi so I will suspend my disbelief.'
But this book, a hundred pages later, explains why Maxim just knows it.
That's the Strugatsky brothers. They don't tell you what is going on - they just assume their readers are patient enough to figure it out later.
And the premise of this book is the human crash landing on a planet with as many warring tribes as modern day earth.
That's the Strugatsky brothers. We're used to Star Trek tales, where each planet has a single culture, maybe two at most if that is the plot. But why shouldn't a planet have multiple cultures?
had three cultures - and that was enough to doom an actually pretty good movie, at least in terms of the modern public.
But the Strugatsky brothers don't play by these rules. was a high-ranking military officer, and then teacher. was an astronomer. They are both highly, highly educated - and they write for highly educated readers.
So be warned - this is not light reading. Though I still don't quite understand how this book got out of the Soviet Union - the allegories against totalitarian states are strong - I'm glad it did. Though I still prefer 's accessible SciFi and 's detailed but still accessible SciFi - these guys really brought a juggernaut to the table in .
Tanto bizzarro quanto complesso, 鈥淟鈥檌sola abitata鈥� presenta un inizio ingannevole da classico della Fantascienza (l鈥檃stronauta esploratore approdato in un mondo sconosciuto senza possibilit脿 di ritorno) per poi virare radicalmente pi霉 volte sia nella trama che nel tono, dal drammatico al grottesco, dall鈥檃vventuroso al satirico, dalla distopia all鈥檃pologo con profonde implicazioni politico sociali.
Dopo una prima parte avvincente e divertente ben oltre la met脿 del racconto, il mio interesse si 猫 andato riducendo e alla fine la lettura mi ha lasciato un po鈥� estenuato dalle innumerevoli giravolte di prospettiva, stile, significato, personaggi, in un contesto che in teoria avrebbe dovuto costituire un pregio del romanzo, ma nel quale mi 猫 sembrato che gli autori si siano fatti trascinare rischiando l鈥檈ffetto di 鈥渢roppo pieno鈥�.
Questa impressione confusa 猫 favorita da alcuni fattori esterni che ne condizionano la struttura: ci貌 che leggiamo, da quanto ho capito dalla postfazione, 猫 il restauro della versione originaria concepita dagli autori, sulla quale la censura sovietica al tempo della pubblicazione oper貌 tagli e modifiche tali da snaturarne in parte la concezione. Sebbene mai emarginati come dissidenti, i fratelli Strugatski ebbero difficolt脿 con le autorit脿 preposte al rigido controllo culturale. Leggendo 鈥淟鈥檌sola abitata鈥�, risulta peraltro evidente, neanche tanto in filigrana, la critica allo stato totalitario, alla sua burocrazia e al dominio esercitato nel pianeta Saraks dal potere sull鈥檕pinione pubblica.
Inoltre ho appreso a posteriori che il romanzo 猫 il primo di un ciclo narrativo, dove diverse situazioni in sospeso e trame incompiute saranno sviluppate in seguito, soprattutto in 鈥淟o scarabeo nel formicaio鈥� e 鈥淟e onde placano il vento鈥�, i due successivi romanzi che immagino forniscano risposte esaurienti a tante questioni che altrimenti restano poco comprensibili.
Questo vale anche per la figura di Maksim che qui sembra dapprima un sempliciotto, poi un fortunato deus ex machina, ma che invece, come ho sbirciato in una sinossi, si riveler脿 nei romanzi successivi appartenere alla categoria dei 鈥減rogressori鈥�, individui che raggiungono altri pianeti dove, grazie alla loro particolare condizione fisica, tecnologica e morale, si rivelano in grado di influenzare il corso della Storia.
In definitiva tantissima carne al fuoco nelle pagine di questo racconto, ma un risultato al di sotto delle mie aspettative, che non mi induce alla lettura delle prossime (dis)avventure dell鈥檃stronauta-progressore Maksim Kammerer e degli altri eccentrici personaggi del ciclo. Un po鈥� mi dispiace, per貌鈥�
This novel (set in future) follows a story of Maxim, a twenty old Earthling who in want of a better occupation explores space. Apparently, on Earth of his time (that doesn't sound the slightest bit like the society we live on), exploring space is something that is frowned upon, a hobby more fitting for a teenager, than a twenty year old guy. In fact, Maxim should (according to his parents and everyone else) find something better to do. Reflecting on his situation, Maxim suddenly makes a 'forced' discovery when he lands on an unknown planet. The problem? Well, he is sort of stuck there, as someone (who we will find out later) destroy his space ship. Maxim at first assumes that it is by mistake, that some animal got in there and broke the wires and etc. by accidents.
Brothers Strugatsky are brilliant storytellers for sure. At first they reveal little about Maxim and this causes the reader to have a big question mark above his head. How can Maxim tell that the river is polluted? Why is he so carefree about being stranded in what appears to be wilderness? Why does Maxim imagine that he will be able to live in the forest and make friends with bears and wolves? Does he have some kind of super powers? We follow Maxim as he discovers and studies the society of this bleak planet, and with time things start to make more sense...and that they get complicated again. I believe that part, you know, when things get interesting in a novel, is called the plot:). Anyhow, I enjoyed the storytelling greatly. The plot was interesting and the narrative was well paced. The characters were wonderfully portrayed and really got under my skin.
Prisoners of power is more a social allegory kind of SF than a hardcore SF. I personally enjoy both types, so for me the book was perfect. I've actually seen the films before I read the book. I enjoyed the first film better than the second one, and I enjoyed the book better than the films. The film is more about action, whereas the novel is more philosophical, I would say. It is no secret that the book was probably referencing the soviet communist society of the time. The book invited the reader to think. Do the film do the same? Possibly they do, but the message of the book is definitely stronger. There were some things I did like about the movie. The scenes in which Maxim first joins the army and witnesses the questioning of the 'degens (degenerates)' were very well filmed. They were realistic and well acted. On overall, the acting was pretty good, although some characters were overacted, especially in the second film. If I would have to choose between the book and the films, I would go for the book, but if you have time for both, why not?
Honestly, I can't believe it has taken me such a long time to read one of brothers Strugatsky's book. Well, better late than never. Perhaps it is not a bad thing I've discovered them latter in life, because now I have something to really look forward it. Lately I've been reading a lot of classical literature, and while that is always a fantastic thing to do, most of the time I know what to expect. Take for example, Turgenev and Chechov. This year I decided to read all of their works. I'm obviously having such a great time reading their works, but I was already familiar with their writing, so in a way, it's just going one step further and really digging into their writing. On the other hand, Brothers Strugatsky are uncharted territory for me. I've always loved SF (seriously since even I can remember) and discovering new SF authors is always a treat. Well, these two are legends of SF, but I only discovered them now ( I knew about them, but haven't read them so far) so they are news to me. Curiously, I only read one Russian SF novel before, the famous novel We that is considered to be the founder of the dsytopian genre.
I started to read this book in English, but as I had a dress I had to finish sewing, I switched to an audio version in Russian (about 14 hours long). Initially I was a bit apprehensive about not being able to follow the novel in Russian, because I've only read classics in Russian so far, but as I have already seen the film, that made things easier for me. Plus, Strugatsky's language is beautiful. It's surprisingly poetic at times. I enjoyed the descriptions immensely. Moreover, the humour in this book is wonderful. These guys are witty, aren't they? I enjoy this kind of dry humour. To conclude, I would definitely recommend this novel. If you enjoy dystopian literature or social SF, you will probably enjoy this one. I personally can't wait to read more of Strugatsky duo!
Noon svemir - mogu膰a su svemirska istra啪ivanja i letovi od zvijezde do zvijezde. Maksim je svemirski lutalica kojega kritiziraju svi u obitelji. Dok tako leti u dokolici kroz svemirska prostranstva senzor uhvati nastanjeni planet Sarakash u 拧uni nenastanjenih i Maksim odlu膷i sletjeti. Budu膰i je na planetu tehnologija na razini tehnologije oko 2. svjetskog rata, oni ru拧e MAksimov brod i on pada u 拧umu nedaleko od velikog grada. Tako otprilike po膷inje ova fantasti膷na knjiga bra膰e Strugatsky. Naravno, na planetu vlada antiutopijsko okru啪enje, veliki strojevi ispiru mozak gra膽anima i kontroliraju umove, negdje daleko kriju se divljaci koji 膰e Maksimu pomo膰i u pobuni, a cijelu spletku dru拧tvenog ure膽anja, diktature i prevlasti radi onaj od kojega to nikada ne bismo o膷ekivali, pa je i sam kraj knjige klasi膷ni turnover. Knjiga je vrlo dobra. Jasno opisuje ruski totalitarizam i na膷ine kako se boriti protiv toga. Sve 拧to Strugatsky napi拧u djeluje zapanjuju膰e, ali ova knjiga odska膷e od svega 拧to su ikada napisali (koliko sam ja 膷itao, a to je nekih 10-knjiga) i vjerojatno je najbli啪a ameri膷kim SF klasicima. Postoji i ruski SF film po toj knjizi iz 2008. godine, to膷nije dva filma. Drugi nastavak iza拧ao je 2009. godine. Jedan je od najskupljih ruskih filmova uop膰e i ne zaostaje ni malo za ameri膷kim SF sra... spektaklima. Dosta je lo拧iji od knjige jer re啪iser je fulao poprili膷no poantu cijele pri膷e, ali je zabavan i gledljiv, te bolji od hrpe novih SF filmova dana拧njice. Ali daleko od stare ruske 拧kole nau膷ne fantastike.
A hard book to get a hold of, but definitely worth the search. At first I wasnt really getting into it as I found it starting off kinda cheesy, but the writing was so good that it kept me going until it really got going. The Strugatsky's also have a habit (from what I understand -- this is the first of theirs Ive read) of shoot first, explain later which means that you might not get whats going on until later in the book (so stay tuned). There is a great explanation in the beginning of the book by Theodore Sturgeon which, although it does kinda give some minor spoilers, its worth reading so you can go in kinda understanding how the Strugatsky's game plan works. I still kinda found it a *little* cheesy, and would really give it a 4.5/5 (I wish there was a 1-10 scale), but its great enough overall to warrant the extra .5 IMO.
Boris and Arkady Strugatsky's is one of my favorites in the Noon Universe series, in which Earthlings get involved in mostly messed-up other worlds. There, they act as "Progressors" to bring the populations up to speed with Earth, which in future is much more together than it is today.
I have read twelve of the Strugatsky Brothers' sci-fi novels in translations, half of them belonging to the Noon Universe series. Some of them -- especially Roadside Picnic -- hold their own among the greatest novels, irrespective of genre, in the twentieth century.
Nije mi jasno kako "Nastanjeno ostrvo" nije poznatije ili bar vise pominjano u okviru opusa brace Strugacki. A i sama braca Strugacki, za mene poznata vec 30tak godina kao nesto najbolje sto sam citao iz edicije Kentaur, izgleda da van Rusije (i par zemalja, kao ex YU) nisu mnogo poznata. Sam 'Piknik kraj puta', nezasluzeno se vise pominje kao knjiga po kojem je radjen Stalker i to je to... Masaraksh (psovka iz knjige :) )
Napisan pre 1970te , ovaj military SF i dalje deluje sveze. Jedan je od najboljih koji sam citao u poslednjih ko zna koliko godina i na srecu ima jos 2 nastavka...
22nd century communist earth has raised the human being to such heights that even Maxim Kammerer - who has the less than prestigious job of exploring new planets chosen at random - is a virtual superman compared to the unhappy inhabitants of what he comes to think of as his "Undesert Isle" (IMO a better translation of the Russian title 袨斜懈褌邪械屑褘泄 芯褋褌褉芯胁). Social development there has taken such a bizarre turn that by comparison capitalism looks humane and even fascism not quite so utterly hopeless. The plot takes an occasional awkward lurch as Maxim struggles first to understand the place where he is stranded and then to help change it, and there are some elements I would have liked to see developed further (to avoid spoilers I won't say what they are). All the same, I have never before read 300-plus pages in Russian quite so quickly or with so much enjoyment, and the twist at the end is icing on the cake.
the eternal Strugatsky's curse - it starts out with a super-awesome idea, then fall out of it on some boring lecture~y deep-philosophizing .. the climb back into adventure (which is now kinda hard to get back into with as much enthusiasm as before) and then.. kinda limp to the ending
Another great dystopian sci-fi from Strugatsky brothers! I love their mix of fast pace action and deep philosophical waffle on humanity, society and morality.
鈥業f you want simply to live then why do you die so easily. Die so cheaply.鈥�
Max values life above all but the cruelty of this new world slowly changes him too. His character development and moral crossroads he faces in this world are amazing.
Guy and Max鈥檚 relationship is the heartbreak highlight of the book for me. Especially with homophobic and toxic rhetoric rising in Russia it鈥檚 very refreshing to actually see something like the love (even friendly platonic) between Guy and Max. The simping was strong with those two. USSR censorship seems more lenient than now.
The Noon Universe at its best. Ah, hell no... I'm exaggerating. Count Beetle in an Anthill, It's Hard To Be A God and Waves Silence the Wind (a.k.a. The Time Wanderers) in as well. Now that's the Noonverse at its best - no kidding. The other half of the series isn't that bad either, but these 4 books are totally pivotal to the entire setting and totally one of the best things ever created by the legendary Russian duo.
P.S. I'm pretty baffled about the complete lack of any mentions about the plot itself in the synopsis above. It sums up the nature of the Noonverse, but says little about Maxim's weird adventure on the mildly post-apocalyptic, Cold War-esque world of Saraksh (with it's bizzare skyline that heavily influenced the worldview of the local civilization of human aliens).
Side note: I've read this book in its original language and haven't gotten a chance yet to evaluate the quality of the translation. This factor aside, this is one of my absolute favorite sci-fi novels.
"L'isola abitata" fa parte del ciclo del Mezzogiorno strugatskiano ed 猫 il primo romanzo della trilogia dedicata a Maksim K脿mmerer. Nel 2157 Maksim precipita con la sua navicella sul pianeta Saraksh, che scopre poi essere abitato da una popolazione umanoide praticamente uguale a noi, con tecnologia pi霉 o meno pari a quella terrestre del nostro '900 (prima met脿). Ma niente 猫 semplice, tutto 猫 complicato. Innanzitutto, l'intero pianeta 猫 in subbuglio, dopo un immane conflitto atomico che ha disgregato i vecchi equilibri politici e il precedente stato imperiale sul continente. Ne sono sorti molteplici stati di media estensione, con lingue diverse, e in conflitto permanente. Per loro Maksim 猫 quasi un uomo superiore: i terrestri del futuro hanno fisico e mente molto allenati, oltre che tecnologia all'avanguardia (i calzoncini di Mak). Le radiazioni hanno iniziato a impoverire flora e fauna. Hanno cominciato ad apparire dei mutanti, spesso con poteri particolari, che si sono uniti in comunit脿 autonome pi霉 o meno estese. Una particolare specie canina sembra avere sviluppato un elevato livello di intelligenza (sono i cinoidi, e se ne parler脿 diffusamente nel secondo episodio della trilogia). Le particolari condizioni atmosferiche sul pianeta hanno sviluppato nel corso dei secoli una particolare visione cosmologica: le stelle non sono visibili di notte, di giorno il disco solare non 猫 ben definibile e la rifrazione fa credere che il mondo sia la superficie interna di una sfera, con atmosfera che si condensa sempre pi霉 a mano a mano che ci si avvicina al centro. Questa condizione 猫 di serio ostacolo al contatto, posto che nessuno pu貌 concepire il cosmo nella maniera in cui lo concepiamo noi. Una specie di universo tolemaico, fisso e immutabile. Nessuno pu貌 comprendere il fatto che Maksim venga da un altro pianeta e lo credono un abitante dei monti, rappresentante di una schiatta di cui si parla nelle leggende. Lo stato dei Padri Ignoti regge il governo facendo uso di un sistema di torri per il controllo mentale. Torri spacciate per un sofisticato sistema di difesa antibalistica. Ma il condizionamento non funziona con tutti. In una parte minoritaria l'irraggiamento determina violentissimi dolori. Queste persone sono perseguitate e additate come "degenerati", soggetti da sradicare.
L'intera collettivit脿 sta regredendo ed 猫 sull'orlo della catastrofe definitiva. L'ignoranza dilaga e stanno nascendo nuove leggende, nuove mitologie a partire da tutto ci貌 che non si conosce e non si riesce a capire. I mutanti suscitano le dicerie pi霉 strane e alcuni di loro - a quanto pare - hanno realmente poteri sorprendenti. Ad esempio, il Mago, ha un'intelligenza superiore e occhi di felino e sembra parlare tramite l'uccello che gli sta sempre appollaiato sulla spalla.
Per quanto l'intervento censorio abbia contribuito a plasmare certa ambientazione del romanzo e a germanizzarla (il cognome originario di Maksim doveva essere Rostislavskij), 猫 evidentissima l'atmosfera sovietica... il concetto di "zona", di rieducazione ecc. ecc.
Molte idee in questo libro le ritroviamo anche in altri romanzi. Ad esempio i mutanti con poteri superiori sono presenti in "Brutti cigni" e certe scene di Maksim ai lavori forzati, che striscia tra relitti bellici pericolosi ricordano direttamente l'attivit脿 dello stalker in "Picnic sul ciglio della strada".
I fratelli Strugatskij creano un mondo infernale, decadente, misterioso, sull'orlo dell'apocalisse.
Uzbudljiv i pitak roman, a opet vi拧eslojan. Ipak, mene vi拧e od svega Strugacki obaraju s nogu nenadma拧nom lepotom jezika... Snaga re膷enica, na momente lirska poeti膷nost, o拧tra ironija... Ve拧tina pripovedanja kakva se retko sre膰e.