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Roadside Picnic (Gollancz Collectors' Editions)
 
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Roadside Picnic (Gollancz Collectors' Editions) (Paperback)

by Boris Strugatsky (Author), Arkady Strugatsky (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 145 pages
  • Publisher: Gollancz (24 Aug 2000)
  • ISBN-10: 0575070536
  • ISBN-13: 978-0575070530
  • Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 13.6 x 1.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 791,973 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description

Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those strange misfits who are compelled by some unknown force to venture illegally into the Zone and, in spite of the extreme danger, collect the mysterious artefacts that the alien visitors left scattered around. His life is dominated by the Zone and the thriving black market in the alien products. Even the nature of his daughter has been determined by the Zone. And it is for her that Red makes his last, tragic foray into the hazardous and hostile depths.


About the Author

Arkady Strugatsky (1925-1991) and Boris Strugatsky (b.1931) began to collaborate in the early 1950s after Arkady had studied English and Japanese and worked as a technical translator and editor and Boris was a computer mathematician at Pulkova astronomical observatory.

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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (5)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.1 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Truly exceptional, 3 Dec 2005
There are few sci-fi books as great as this. It's a pointer as to exactly what sci-fi can do. It's full not of macho escapist nonsense but of humanity and reflections on the place of the individual in modern societies, be they Soviet or capitalist.
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16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Packed prose, 16 Oct 2002
By W. G. Hardy "gaz_23" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
It's a pleasant thing to read fiction from Eastern Europe and Russia, mostly because it seems to highlight differences in the way things can be considered and approached. A new angle on something, a new way of looking at it can be very enlightening. This is most certainly true of science fiction.
Until quite recently the vast bulk of fiction/sci-fi I read was western european/american. After reading this, I know that it's time to change that pattern and start looking further east for a few more things that are a bit like this.

The premise of this novel is not completely unfamiliar to those who enjoy sci-fi. It's the approach that's different. I really don't want to make sweeping generalisations, but the whole thing just felt 'russian', which helped increase the sense of alienation when visiting the zone. There were certainly some influences of life behind the iron curtain, which had the effect (for me) of making it feel almost claustrophobic. Some of the ideas where not explored fully enough, which is why I gave this four stars.

The writing style is concise and detailed, and although the page count is quite low, there is a lot packed into those pages.
Definately worth giving this a go if you're looking for something in this genre that's just a little bit different.

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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars SF needs to get back to its roots, 2 Sep 2003
SF in English has two problems... 1) it's become branded and commercialised e.g. Star Trek pulp novels and 2) it doesn't know enough about SF in other languages. Reading "Roadside Picnic" is a nice antidote to both. SF is meant to be Science and Fiction, not Pulp and Trash.

As a novel it isn't perfect. I reckon it only really gets going about 3/4 of the way through, but having said that, the first 3/4 ARE readable. Like Lem's "Solaris" it tackles questions about ETs that corporate SF doesn't deal with, like "Can we communicate with aliens?" & "Can we even understand them?". The aliens in Roadside Picnic aren't two dimensional Klingons or Vulcans, but genuinely alien.

Some of the dialogue could do with tidying up too (translator's fault?), but unlike the majority of junk that masquerades as classic Science Fiction in English, it stands up as literature and a good novel in its own right. Theodore Sturgeon's excellent foreword points this out better than I can.

One more thing... you might be surprised to find out that Russian characters are actually thin on the ground in this novel. They seem to be in the minority - apart from Kirill. There are no obvious "Soviet vibes" from it either, political or otherwise. (Although I have heard it is a sly dig at the Soviet mechanical view of the universe, where everything is cut and dried and certain...).

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Zone
'Roadside Picnic' is the book that Tarkovskijs film 'Stalker' (1979) was based on. The Strugatsky btothers also wrote parts of the manuscript together with Tarkovsky. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Markus Gossas

3.0 out of 5 stars At least it has a pretty front cover ...
A pretty front cover is worth a lot in selling a book. Fortunately I got my copy from the library. Online ordering is cool. Read more
Published 14 months ago by mad_mushroom

4.0 out of 5 stars Roadside Picnic

One of the best pieces of sci-fi fiction in the last few decades, "Roadside Picnic" tells the story of a Stalker, one of the few who dare to enter a zone of suspended... Read more
Published 14 months ago by David Brookes

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent and human
Like some other reviewers, my interest in "Roadside Picnic" came from seeing the 1979 Russian film "Stalker" directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Graham C. Rodger

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended
This book is Sciend Fiction at it's best, being both intelligent and literate. One of the best in the SF masterworks series. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Johnny London

5.0 out of 5 stars A must
Sci-fi and philosophy in a successful, fascinating 2-in-1. If you can see past the "fi" and into the true meaning of things you will understand why the authors were far from being... Read more
Published 21 months ago by N. Van Reenen

4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding
Roadside Picnic follows the trials of a Russian "stalker", who are scavengers that specialise in infiltrating an area called "The zone": A restricted area in Russia that has been... Read more
Published on 25 Oct 2007 by Alexander Haynes

2.0 out of 5 stars Re-issues
This book was selling for up to 80 pounds on Amazon! How sick would I have been if I had paid that much for it? Read more
Published on 26 May 2007 by A. Dad

2.0 out of 5 stars Errr, what's all the fuss?
This book was selling for up to 80 pounds on Amazon! How sick would I have been if I had paid that much for it? Read more
Published on 26 May 2007 by A. Dad

4.0 out of 5 stars good, but not great.
i got this book because i had seen the andri tarkovsky film stalker that based itself on the book. the book is good, not great. Read more
Published on 8 April 2007 by Andrew Ferguson

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