Five main books of the Strugatskys. Social fiction of the Strugatsky brothers Science fiction of the Strugatsky brothers

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are famous Russian and Soviet prose writers, playwrights, co-author brothers, the undisputed leaders of Soviet science fiction over the past several decades, the most popular Russian science fiction writers abroad. They had an invaluable influence on the development of Soviet and world literature.

The books of the Strugatsky brothers made a kind of dialectical revolution and thereby laid the foundation for the emergence of new utopian traditions of science fiction.

The work of the Strugatsky brothers

The Strugatsky brothers were the main science fiction writers in the USSR for many years. Their diverse novels served as a mirror of the changing worldview of writers. Each published novel became an event that caused controversial and vibrant discussions.

Some critics considered the Strugatskys to be writers who knew how to endow the people of the future with the best features of their contemporaries. The main theme that can be seen in almost all the authors’ works is the theme of choice.

The best books by the Strugatsky brothers online:

Brief biography of the Strugatsky brothers

Arkady Natanovich Strugatsky was born in 1925 in Batumi, after which the family moved to Leningrad. In 1942, Arkady and his father were evacuated; among all the passengers in the carriage, the only boy miraculously survived. He was sent to the city of Tashl, where he worked in the distribution of milk, and then was called up to the front.

He received his education at art school, but in the spring of 1943, shortly before graduation, he was sent to Moscow, where he continued his studies at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages. In 1949 he received a diploma as a translator. Then he worked in his specialty, moving from one city to another. In 1955, he retired from service, began working at the Abstract Journal, and then got a job as an editor at Detgiz and Goslitizdat.

Boris Natanovich Strugatsky was born in 1933 in Leningrad, after the end of the war he returned to his homeland, where he graduated from the university with a degree in astronomy. At first he worked at the observatory, but in 1960 he began writing with his older brother.

Fame came to the brothers after the publication of their first science fiction stories. The Strugatskys' fiction differed from others primarily in its scientific nature and thoughtful psychological images of the characters. In their first works, they successfully used the method of constructing their own history of the future, which to this day will remain the basis for all science fiction writers.

Arkady Strugatsky, the eldest of the brothers, died in 1991. After the death of his brother, Boris Strugatsky continued to write and publish works under the pseudonym S. Vititsky. Having lived all his life in St. Petersburg, he died in 2012.

"It's hard to be a god." Probably the most famous of the Strugatsky brothers' novels.

The story of an earthling who becomes an “observer” on a planet stuck in the late Middle Ages, and forced “not to interfere” with what is happening, has already been filmed several times - but even the best film is not able to convey all the talent of the book on which it is based!..

The fantastic story “Monday Begins on Saturday” talks about modern science, about scientists and the fact that already in our time people are making the most seemingly fantastic discoveries and feats.

“Hell Boy” shows the doom of the dark forces of reaction.

This volume includes the classic work of the late period of creativity of the Strugatsky brothers - the novel "The Doomed City", a fascinating story of a handful of people from different countries and eras who agreed to participate in a strange experiment - and were transported to a mysterious city "outside of time and space", where very and very unusual things, sometimes funny, sometimes dangerous, and sometimes downright scary...

“Here are collected, probably, far from our most exciting stories. And, of course, not the most romantic and cheerful. And certainly not even the most popular. But on the other hand, they are the most beloved, the most valued, the most respected by the authors themselves. All the most “mature” and perfect,” if you will, what they managed to create over fifty years of work.

We had many collections. Very different. And excellent ones too. But, perhaps, there was not a single one that we would be proud of.

Let it be now."

Boris Strugatsky

1 Snail on the slope

2 Second Martian Invasion

4 Doomed City

5 A billion years before the end of the world

6 Burdened with Evil

7 The devil among people

8 Powerless of this world

Masterpiece of the Strugatsky brothers. A tough, endlessly fascinating and at the same time endlessly philosophical book.

Time passes... But the story of the mysterious Zone and the best of its stalkers - Red Shewhart - still worries and excites the reader.

"Snail on the Slope" The strangest, most controversial work in the rich creative heritage of the Strugatsky brothers. A work in which fantasy itself, “magical realism” and even some shades of psychedelia are intertwined into an amazingly talented original whole.

“Happiness for everyone, and let no one leave offended!” Significant words...

Masterpiece of the Strugatsky brothers.

A tough, endlessly fascinating and at the same time endlessly philosophical book.

Time goes by...

But the story of the mysterious Zone and the best of its stalkers, Red Shewhart, still disturbs and excites the reader.

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.
Monday starts on Saturday. A fairy tale for younger scientists.
1st edition 1965

“The laughter was darting between the floor and the ceiling, jumping from wall to wall like a huge colored ball.
The editors read “The Vanity Around the Sofa” - the first part of “Monday...”. It happened right away
after the release of the philosophical tragedy “It’s Hard to Be a God,” that’s why they laughed with relief:
The Strugatskys came to their senses and decided not to walk on the edge of a knife, but to do something fun and
safe. The writers finally allowed themselves to have fun from the heart..."
This is how one of the participants in its preparation describes the atmosphere that reigned around this story.
to "coming out".
The brilliant book of Russian science fiction writers is rightfully considered one of the pinnacles of their creativity. Having stood the test of time, filled with humor and kindness, the story of the everyday life of a fabulous research institute
will not leave any of the readers indifferent.

One fine evening, young programmer Alexander Privalov, returning from vacation, met two pleasant young people right in the middle of a dense forest. And falling under their charm, he went to work at a mysterious and prestigious research institute, where quitters and slackers are not tolerated, where enthusiasm and optimism rule, and fairy tales become reality.

Illustrations and cover by Evgeny Migunov.

Note:
The illustrations in this edition differ from those in subsequent reprints.

Happiness for a stalker just released from prison is to lead others to the Room. This time he leads the Professor (Grinko), a physics researcher, and the Writer (Solonitsyn) in a creative and personal crisis. The three of them penetrate through the cordons into the Zone. The stalker leads the group carefully, in a roundabout way, probing the way with nuts. The phlegmatic Professor trusts him. The Skeptical Writer, on the contrary, behaves defiantly, and, it seems, does not really believe in the Zone and its “traps,” although the encounter with inexplicable phenomena somewhat convinces him. The characters' characters are revealed in their dialogues and monologues, in the Stalker's thoughts and dreams. The group passes the Zone and on the threshold of the Room it turns out that the Professor was carrying with him a small, 20-kiloton bomb, with which he intends to destroy the Room - a potential fulfillment of the wishes of any despot, psychopath, scoundrel. The shocked Stalker tries to stop the Professor with his fists. The writer believes that the Room still fulfills not beautiful, well-thought-out wishes, but subconscious, petty, shameful ones. (But, perhaps, there is no fulfillment of desires at all.) The professor ceases to understand “why then go to her at all,” unscrews and throws out the bomb. They are returning.

Columnist of the magazine "World of Fantasy" Vasily Vladimirsky specially for RIA Novosti

On November 19, Boris Strugatsky, a great writer, founder of a literary school, a wise and kind man, passed away. On April 15, 2013, Boris Natanovich would have turned eighty years old. The last chapter of the history of Soviet science fiction has closed, in which the Strugatsky brothers wrote the brightest pages. It is almost impossible to single out the main works from the not so extensive bibliography of the Strugatskys. Each text became a significant milestone - both those that the authors themselves disliked, like their first book, “The Country of Crimson Clouds” (1959), and those that were published less frequently than others, like “The Tale of Friendship and Unfriendship” (1980), and those that were written "solo" - by Arkady Natanovich under the pseudonym S. Yaroslavtsev ("Details of the life of Nikita Vorontsov", "Expedition to the Underworld", "The Devil Among Men") and Boris Natanovich under the pseudonym S. Vititsky ("Search for Destiny, or the Twenty-Seventh theorem of ethics", "The powerless of this world"). But still, I would venture to name five books by ABS (an abbreviation accepted among fans of their work), which every cultured person who speaks Russian should read, so as not to miss the references and reminiscences with which modern literature is densely saturated. What subtexts are there - there are things that you need to know just so as not to lose the thread in a table conversation.

"It's Hard to Be a God" (1964)

The story, which was conceived as a light, bravura, adventurous, “musketeer” story, but became one of the most controversial works of the Strugatskys, most often causing irritation in high offices. A book about attempts to change human essence and the ethics of such attempts. It is generally accepted that the story “It’s Hard to Be a God” largely influenced the Soviet intelligentsia’s understanding of the “brotherly assistance” that the USSR generously provided to developing countries and neighbors in the socialist camp. However, the Strugatskys themselves did not share this opinion: they were interested in closer historical parallels; it was not without reason that in one of the first editions Don Rebu, the “gray eminence” Arkanar, was called without any fuss Don Rebia.

"Monday Begins on Saturday" (1965)

“A Tale for Young Scientists,” a cheerful and dashing ode to creative work and people who “are more interested in working than relaxing.” The best cure for depression and blues, a reference book for every self-respecting young scientist of the 1960s, which has not lost its relevance to this day for those who love their work to the point of unconsciousness. Along with the film “Nine Days of One Year” and the novel by Daniil Granin, “I’m Going into a Thunderstorm” became one of the main symbols of scientific and technological prosperity in the USSR at that time, the literary embodiment of genuine enthusiasm, still remembered with nostalgia.

"Snail on the Slope" (1966-1968)

A phantasmagoria about an unbearable present and an unpredictable future, about an eternal escape from the surrounding reality leading to nowhere. Masterly work with counterpoint, brilliant detail. Researchers compare this thing with the works of Franz Kafka; for the Strugatskys themselves, “Snail on the Slope” marked a departure from traditional “sixties” science fiction and became a turning point story, on which they worked for several years, creating two radically different versions. In the pages of this book, they were the first of their generation to come to the realization that the future that people with the purest motives build is likely to turn out not at all what was expected, and is unlikely to greet its creators with open arms. Time has confirmed the correctness of this view.

"Roadside Picnic" (1972)

The most resonant thing by the Strugatskys, which launched the word “stalker” into wide circulation. The story of ABS gave Andrei Tarkovsky a reason to create a two-part film, which was included in the golden fund of world cinema. As always - about human happiness and about the remote, roundabout paths that sometimes lead to it. The original source is very far from Tarkovsky’s picture, and even more so from the “S.T.A.L.K.E.R.” franchise, promoted by Ukrainian game makers and Moscow publishers: it’s worth familiarizing yourself with “Picnic...” if only to avoid getting into trouble and to realize the aesthetic abyss that separates literary generations .

"A Billion Years Before the End of the World" (1977)

How to survive in unbearable conditions, under extreme pressure, when the universe itself rebels against you, how not to betray what is dear to you, to save your life’s work - this topic turned out to be especially important for the ABS at the end of the 1970s. The theory of the Homeostatic universe, put forward on the pages of this book, which reflexively seeks to destroy everyone who is capable of destroying the “status quo”, the established order of things, continues to be confirmed before our eyes. “A billion years before the end of the world” is a text that best conveys the atmosphere of “mature stagnation”, but at the same time it was not cut down by censorship, did not go to “samizdat” and “tamizdat”, but was quite officially published on the pages of the Soviet press. Which in itself is a phenomenon bordering on fantasy.

Briefly about the article: Ask any science fiction fan the question: “Which of our science fiction writers is best known and most read?” Eight out of ten will answer - the Strugatsky brothers. The Strugatskys have always been read and will continue to be read for a long time. Already during their lifetime they became classics of science fiction, recognized not only here, but also abroad. And this is not an accident, but a completely natural result of their true talent and skill. What is the secret of the Strugatskys’ popularity and recognition?

STAR TANDEM

WORLDS AND BOOKS OF THE STRUGATSKY BROTHERS

Ask any science fiction fan the question: “Which of our science fiction writers is best known and most read?” Eight out of ten will answer - the Strugatsky brothers. The Strugatskys have always been read and will continue to be read for a long time. Already during their lifetime they became classics of science fiction, recognized not only here, but also abroad. And this is not an accident, but a completely natural result of their true talent and skill. What is the secret of the Strugatskys’ popularity and recognition?

Start

The first book of the brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky - “The Country of Crimson Clouds” - was published in the late fifties. At that time, few could see the future rulers of fantastic thoughts in the authors of the small volume. But already this book, not free from shortcomings, was distinguished by the charm characteristic of the Strugatskys. It's hard to say what it is. Maybe in living, vibrant characters. Or maybe it’s because the authors showed heroism (albeit somewhat pictorial) not as a one-time manifestation of courage and ingenuity, but as daily, hard work.

After this story, others began to appear, more and more talented and bright. At the beginning of their creative careers, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky were incredibly productive. It was published within three years five their books, and with each one the authors rose to a new level of writing. It is not surprising that the army of Strugatsky fans increased with each new work of the brothers.

Despite the fact that the Strugatsky brothers were not distinguished by such a disastrous addiction to serials for modern authors, one major cycle in their creative heritage can be distinguished. This is the so-called world of Noon, which got its name from the collection “Noon, XXII century”. The cycle about Midday includes one and a half dozen books by the Strugatskys; the events described cover the period from the late twentieth to the early twenty-third centuries.

The books in the series are united, first of all, by a common vision of the world and cross-cutting characters, but they cannot be called a series. The central character of one work may be briefly mentioned in another, and even the smallest story is completely independent. The topics of the books included in the series are also varied. If in the early works the Strugatskys described the difficult everyday life of spacemen and planetary scientists of the future, then in later authors they turned to ethical and social problems. And these problems in the world of Noon are no less than in ours, and sometimes they are so acute that they hopelessly cripple the psyche of the seemingly inflexible supermen of a bright future. Are they supermen?

The heroes of the communist, kind and bright future are practically no different, with the exception of some moral principles, from our contemporaries. It was precisely this simple and natural view that generated genuine interest in the Strugatskys’ books. After all, before them, attempts to describe this very future, permeated with love and respect for one’s neighbor, were... let’s say, not entirely successful. And, although the Strugatskys themselves said that the world of Noon is a dream world, which is unlikely to ever take place exactly in the form in which it is described, but it was created so realistically that it forever leaves a mark not only in the head, but also in the reader's heart.

World of Noon

1. Country of crimson clouds

2. The path to Amalthea

3. Interns

4. Predatory things of the century

5. Noon, XXII century (Return)

6. Distant Rainbow

7. It's hard to be a god

8. Inhabited Island

10. The guy from the underworld

12. Beetle in an anthill

13. Attempt to escape

14. Waves dampen the wind

Novels and stories

A Tale of Friendship and Unfriendship

Monday starts on Saturday

The Tale of Troika

Hotel near the “Dead Climber”

Second Martian invasion

Roadside Picnic

A billion years before the end of the world

Snail on the slope

Doomed city

Burdened with Evil, or Forty Years Later

Lame fate

Scripts, plays

Eclipse days

Wishing machine

Five spoons of elixir

Jews of the city of St. Petersburg

Stories

Six matches

Spontaneous reflex

Emergency

Sand fever

Poor evil people

The first people on the first raft

Man from Pasifida

In our interesting times

The Forgotten Experiment

Particular assumptions

SCIBR test

A progressor is not an aggressor?

One of the most interesting discoveries of the Strugatsky brothers was the theme of progress. The Progressors are an organization of scientists who study the lives of other, less developed civilizations and intervene in the historical course of events with the goal... But for what purpose? The Strugatskys themselves do not give an unambiguous answer to this question.

Progressorism first appears in the story “It’s Hard to Be a God.” Earthlings, disguised as aborigines, work on the planet of “developed feudalism” and try to save the best representatives of humanity there from destruction, moral and physical. However, any physical impact on earthlings is prohibited, so their activities are not always successful: for every few saved, there are tens and hundreds destroyed. Earthlings face a harsh choice: either actively intervene in the course of events, reshape history - or remain on the sidelines, watching the death of great scientists, artists and poets.

In the novel “The Inhabited Island,” the main character, finding himself alone with an unfamiliar and often hostile world, solves this problem on his own. And, as a person with a very specific moral position, he makes a decision that is obvious to himself, which leads to unpredictable consequences. The Strugatskys seem to take us to the next level of understanding: what can lead to actions that seem to be the only correct ones? Do we have the right to single-handedly solve other people’s problems, even from the principles of humanism?

In the stories “The Beetle in the Anthill”, “The Waves Quench the Wind”, “The Guy from the Underworld” the theme of progress is visible, but fades into the background. But it manifests itself in “Attempt to Escape.” In this book, the Strugatsky brothers, probably for the first time, raise the problem of social progress in full force. Can and does a small group of people, albeit incredibly technologically advanced, even filled with the most humane feelings, have the right to change the course of history and make people feel like people and not brutes? The answer remains open...

Fiction of the present

The remaining books by the Strugatskys are separate works with their own themes, worlds and characters. It is these novels and stories that are perhaps the most powerful both in terms of the issues raised and in style. The Strugatskys clearly see the task of each work and masterfully solve it. The severity of the problems is also undeniable. Sometimes the Strugatskys have to resort to a manner that is not accessible to every reader. For example, “Snail on the Slope” is written in the spirit of Kafka, the same style of writing is visible in “The Doomed City”. Allegory is generally the brothers’ strong point, which often helped them bypass censorship.

One of the first books that can be classified as science fiction of the present day was the most famous story of writers - “Monday begins on Saturday.” The authors themselves called it “a fairy tale for younger scientists.” “Monday” is not as simple a thing as it might seem at first glance. On the one hand, this is a cheerful, sometimes hiccup-funny story, written using a fairy-tale setting. There are no contradictions between the Research Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the real world. In the end, any scientist is a little bit of a magician and sorcerer. Actually, the whole point of “Monday” is in the name. This is a book about people who ...it was more interesting to complete or start over some useful task than to drown yourself with vodka, senselessly kick your legs, play forfeits and engage in flirting of varying degrees of ease. ...Every person is a magician at heart, but he becomes a magician only when he begins to think less about himself and more about others, when work becomes more interesting to him than having fun in the ancient sense of the word”.

“Monday” was followed by “Roadside Picnic”, “Doomed City”, “Snail on the Slope”, “A Billion Years Before the End of the World”, “Burdened with Evil”, “Ugly Swans”. The theme of progress, however, in a mirror image, appears again in “The Hotel of the Dead Climber”: alien observers interfere in human affairs against their will and die tragically.

At the center of these works by the Strugatsky brothers is a man from our present, burdened by the vices of the modern world, and for various reasons facing the problem of choice. It would seem that this is a hackneyed topic, repeatedly studied in literature, but the Strugatskys give it a new vision, placing their heroes in fantastic and irrational conditions.

About the benefits of classical reading

Even against the backdrop of the most diverse modern science fiction, the works of the Strugatskys remain “first fresh.” And largely thanks to the talent and skill of the brothers.

In each of their books, even in the early stories from the world of Noon, the Strugatsky brothers try to show the reader the reasons that make the world around us exactly what it is - complex, contradictory, and sometimes repulsive. But each of their works ends, nevertheless, on an optimistic note. The Strugatskys have blood, horror, farce, and cruel mockery, but the conclusion from all this is far from tragic. Just the opposite - Arkady and Boris Strugatsky believe in the power of reason and the human spirit despite the nightmarish reality of the present.

But this was not the only reason for their popularity and genuine interest in their books. The Strugatskys fully possess the real skill of a writer, something that attracts the widest audience. Everyone will find for themselves in the books of the brothers something that is close to them. The plot in their works is structured in such a way that, once it grabs you, it doesn’t let you go until the very end. However, any more or less experienced writer can construct a cleverly twisted plot. But to weave into the narrative outline, along with the fascinating adventures of the body, no less fascinating adventures of the spirit, to build a coherent picture of the worldview of the characters, to force them not so much to wave swords and fists, but to think hard, and even season this mixture with a fair amount of good humor - this is , alas, is not given to everyone.

There is another strong point of the Strugatskys - the multi-layered nature of their books. You never tire of re-reading the brothers’ novels and stories: every time you discover something new for yourself. And the ambiguous ending of most works allows you to mentally play with the plot, bring it to the logical end that is closest to you.

* * *

The importance of the Strugatskys' creativity is difficult to overestimate. Firstly, an entire generation of readers grew up on their books, who not only absorbed the ideas of the brothers, but also became true connoisseurs of good science fiction literature. Secondly, the Strugatskys served as a creative detonator for the next generation of writers, many of whom studied directly with the Masters, at seminars and gatherings of science fiction writers. And finally, thirdly. Can you imagine a fantasy fan who hasn't read The Lord of the Rings? And I can't. Therefore, if you don’t just indulge in science fiction from time to time, but consider yourself a true fan of it, then you simply need to read the Strugatskys. In the end, it's just incredibly interesting.

Why do the Strugatskys stand out so much among all science fiction writers? The galaxy of science fiction writers at that time, especially in the editorial office of Zemaitis, was absolutely magnificent. Of course, literary language. First of all, it is a literary language. It must be said that they defined themselves, according to Arkady Natanovich, very simply - this is the language of the street. We say what, we write what people think. They simply cannot speak themselves, but our speech, our style, is precisely the most adequate for expressing these thoughts. This is, of course, connected with a very definite transformation of language, literary language, everyday language. Why? Because a large number of foreign words that appeared after the war in the everyday lexicon - they are present in the Strugatskys, if we analyze the literature of those times in this regard, to a much greater extent, that is, as it was in life. This means that it was organic and does not carry an additional function, as, say, with Gansovsky or Dneprov. Further. Of course, an adventurous plot. Always. This requirement is not a fantastic idea, and everything else is subordinated to it, and above all, the plot. This is the main thing, the main thing that, by the way, they always had, as Arkady Natanovich said: “The main thing in literary activity is the plot. No matter what they say, literature of the first, second, third - it should be interesting.” Their transformation of the literary language, by the way, was started by Hemingway - the lapidary nature of the works, the lack of desire to create wide panoramas, which was characteristic of the 19th - early 20th centuries. It must be said that Arkady Natanovich clearly identifies Hemingway as the forerunner of their literature. There was a time when he and Boris Natanovich read to him precisely in terms of literature, in terms of craft.

Well, and, of course, adequacy. Adequacy of interests. To be honest, having read quite a lot, heard the Strugatskys, I accepted the hypothesis about the primacy of Aesopian language in the works of the Strugatskys, that only because Soviet reality did not make it possible to say what, they say, you think, to be, say, Nina Andreeva - “ I can’t remain silent,” that this alone brought to life the Strugatskys’ fantastic literature—I, frankly, cannot. I have a truly deep conviction that this assessment was introduced by Western researchers. After all, the third Commandment - do not make yourself an idol - is always violated in everything. And close attention, just like ours to the life of another world, existed in the other world - close attention to what was going on in our country. We will talk about the concept of the “Cold War” – even if it is more of a political concept – but there was a confrontation. We were looking for our roots, our fifth column - there, in James Joyce - “From Here to Eternity”, in Andre Steele, in Swedish communist writers - everything that, say, “Foreign Literature” published in those years. They looked for us in exactly the same way. If Amalrik - yes, this is not Aesopian language, this is really the literature of criticism, if Voinovich, if Sinyavsky - yes, this is indeed politicized literature. This is on the one hand. On the other hand are Markov and the rest of the galaxy of official writers standing at the other end of the scale. Do you remember at one time there was a luxurious parody article “Political assessment of the political position of the mouse in “Chicken Ryaba”? Here is such a completely serious, political science, literary essay on “Ryaba the Hen.” It seems to me that the beginning of all these discussions about the Aesopian language of the Strugatskys are similar critical essays about the work of the Strugatskys in the West.

Everyone sees what they can, what they want. And for our literary critics, this criticism, this idea turned out to be... Let's put it this way: when did critical strugatskology appear? Well, at least not earlier than one thousand nine hundred and fifty-eight. This is the end of the sixties and beyond... And this is a period of clear, completely increasing politicization of the population in the Soviet Union. There was no politicization. March fifth, one thousand nine hundred and fifty-three, death of Stalin. Then it begins: the anti-party group and Shepilov who joined them. Politicization begins. What is literary criticism? What is the ideological sector? He is right here, nearby. And now, in parallel with this, a thaw begins - these are the same years. And since these are the same years, it means that there is an opportunity, firstly, to say what was impossible to say before, and most importantly, to allow yourself to see what was impossible to see before. And then they immediately give you a recipe for an ideological assessment - a fantastic shell. In fact, it is always said: the Strugatskys are less science fiction writers, more sociologists. Just look at what Le Guin writes in all the advertising lines: “The forerunner of the Strugatskys is Chekhov and Gogol, as I understand it.” Excuse me, what does Le Guin understand about Chekhov and Gogol? Yes, and in the Strugatskys. And, from my point of view, it is precisely this bias towards political sociology in the Strugatskys’ assessment that detracts from the true significance of the essence of the fiction of the Strugatsky brothers. After all, it is not without reason that the further and further in their works they move away from technocracy, first to sociological modeling, and then to biological modeling. You look, starting from “The Waves Quench the Wind” and even from “The Beetle in the Anthill” - there is a more and more tendency towards biology, Arkady Natanovich’s latest work “The Devil Between People” is biology and sociology. Fiction, models, foresight, plot, construction, because, excuse me, this is not criticism.

You can say this: “Predatory Things of the Century” is a criticism of our contemporary society. And where, excuse me, will we then put all these amazing sociogenetic, sociopsychological foresights that are in this thing? “Predatory Things of the Century” is a unique book. This is a thing that was born twice. Published in 1965, it was then forgotten for more than twenty years.

And then suddenly, in all of them, first again not in our country, but then in all the collections of provincial and central publications, suddenly it started again. “Predatory Things of the Century” began to be staged everywhere. Why? But because: droshky - one, slug - two, country of fools - three, patrons of the arts - four, which only later we learned in the form of color music, raps, hallucinogens, social barbarism as an aesthetic category. And long-term television series - in one thousand nine hundred and sixty-five they did not even exist in the West. When I was working on the issue of “soap operas,” I specifically took “Britannica” from 1994, there was a long article about “soap operas.” In sixty-four, when “HVV” was written, this was not the case. Is this criticism? What? The future? Criticism of trends? Sorry, this is the latest thing, it is Marxism to criticize trends. And the Strugatskys never did this in their lives. This means that this is normal social foresight. This is Jules Verne, but not in electricity, not in electrical engineering, not in astronautics, but in sociology, in sociogenetics, in sociopsychology. And in individual psychology. From this point of view, can we call it Aesopian language? This is what they were thinking about, what you were thinking about... That's right, we grew up with them. It must be said that now it is necessary, if we speak seriously, it is necessary to study the generation that grew up with the Strugatskys, not according to political scientists, not according to ideologists, but according to those who now work in sociology, psychology and sociogenetics. It’s embedded there, this concept of “development of human psychology.” And it was founded precisely by the Strugatskys. By the way, no other modern science fiction writer has such a clear delineation and focus. Neither modern Russian, nor modern Western.

And here we can begin to say that if science fiction is literature, say, of the second grade, studying the technocratic, technological future - this is Kazantsev’s approach, and literature studies man, as Gorky said, “the typical in typical circumstances,” then the writer Arkady and Boris Strugatsky is a normal, modern, brilliant writer who studies man using methods, in particular, the way Bulgakov did. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy studied this by giving a historical panorama, Guy de Maupassant studied this by giving an ethnographic-sociological cross-section, just like almost all the French of the 19th-20th centuries. The Strugatskys give this through fiction. If we take the subject of literature as the study, research, understanding of man, higher nervous activity, that is, the ego in society and the ego alone with the ego, we will already have Dostoevsky, we will have Joyce, this will already be Kafka, that is, this will already be all existentialism, then the Strugatskys are writers who study... people with modern methodology, scientists...

Arkady Natanovich Strugatsky was born on August 28, 1925 years in the city of Batumi, then lived in Leningrad. Father is an art critic, mother is a teacher. With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he worked on the construction of fortifications, then in a grenade workshop. At the end of January 1942, together with his father, he was evacuated from besieged Leningrad. Miraculously, he survived - the only one in the entire carriage. He buried his father in Vologda. I ended up in the city of Chkalov (now Orenburg). In the city of Tashla, Orenburg region, he worked at a milk collection point, and was drafted into the army there. He studied at the Aktobe art school. In the spring of 1943, just before graduation, he was sent to Moscow, to the Military Institute of Foreign Languages. He graduated from it in 1949 with a specialty - translator from English and Japanese. He was a teacher at the Kansk School of Military Translators and served as a divisional translator in the Far East. Demobilized in 1955. He worked at the Abstract Journal, then as an editor at Detgiz and Goslitizdat.

Boris Natanovich Strugatsky was born on April 15, 1933. in Leningrad, returned there after the evacuation, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Leningrad State University with a diploma in astronomy, worked at the Pulkovo Observatory; since 1960 - professional writer. Member of the Writers' Union. He published mainly in collaboration with his brother (he is also known for his translations of American SF - in collaboration with his brother, under the pseudonyms S. Pobedin and S. Vitin). Laureate of the State Prize of the RSFSR (1986 - for the script of the film “Letters from a Dead Man”, together with V. Rybakov and director K. Lopushansky). Permanent leader of the seminar for young science fiction writers at the St. Petersburg Writers' Organization. Lived and worked in St. Petersburg.

Science Fiction by the Strugatsky Brothers

Wide fame came to the Strugatsky brothers after the publication of the first Science Fiction stories, which were examples of good “hard” (natural science) Science Fiction and differed from other works of those years by their great attention to the psychological development of characters - “Six Matches” (1959), “Test of the SKR "(1960), "Private Assumptions" (1960) and others; the majority compiled the collection “Six Matches” (1960). In a number of early stories, the Strugatsky brothers successfully tested for the first time the method of constructing their own history of the future - the first and to this day remains unsurpassed in Soviet Science Fiction. Unlike similar large-scale constructions by R. Heinlein, P. Anderson, L. Niven and other science fiction writers, the near future according to the Strugatskys did not have a clearly defined chronological scheme from the very beginning (it was later restored by enthusiastic readers from the Luden research group). , but more attention was paid to the creation of “through” characters, moving from book to book and mentioned occasionally. As a result, individual fragments eventually formed into a bright, multicolored, internally evolving and organic mosaic - one of the most significant worlds of Science Fiction in Russian literature.

The list of awards and prizes given below is far from complete. In the list compiled by Vadim Kazakov, only in the period from 1959 to 1990, 17 awards and other distinctions received by the Strugatskys are mentioned (almost half of which are foreign). They received their first prize in 1959 for the story “The Country of Crimson Clouds” - third place in the competition for the best book about science and technology for schoolchildren, held by the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR (first place went to “The Andromeda Nebula” by I. A. Efremov).