Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

The two brothers Arkady ( _ru. Арка́дий, IPA-ru|ɐrˈkadʲɪj; August 28, 1925 – October 12, 1991) and Boris ( _ru. Бори́с, IPA-ru|bɐˈrʲis; born April 14, 1933) Strugatsky ( _ru. Струга́цкий, IPA-ru|strʊˈgat͡skʲɪj; alternate spelling: Strugatski, also Strugatskii) are Soviet Russian science fiction authors who collaborated on their fiction.

Life and work

The Strugatsky brothers (Бра́тья Струга́цкие), as they are usually called, became the best-known Soviet science fiction writers with a well developed fan base. Their early work was influenced by Ivan Yefremov. Their most famous novel "Piknik na obochine" has been translated into English as "Roadside Picnic" in 1977 and was filmed by Andrei Tarkovsky under the title "Stalker".

Several other works have been translated into English, but did not receive even a fraction of the critical acclaim of Russian audiences. There are three chief factors responsible:Or|date=February 2008first, that failings inevitably arise when an attempt is made to translate colloquial Russian into a language that does not very well support its grammatical structure; second, that a basic understanding of the rigid mindset promoted by the Stalinist regime is a prerequisite to being able to see the contrast and rejection of uniformity that is evident in every one of the Strugatskys' worksFact|date=August 2008; and finally, that much of the humor of works such as "Monday Begins on Saturday" comes from hundreds of years' worth of cultural and literary allusions.

It should be noted, however, that the Strugatsky brothers were and still are popular in many countries, including Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Germany, where most of their works were available in both East and West Germany.

The brothers were Guests of Honour at the 1987 World Science Fiction Convention, held in Brighton, England.

Noon Universe

Several of the books written by the Strugatskys take part in the same universe, known as The World of Noon; another unofficial and perhaps less-known title is the Wanderers Universe. The name derives from the title of one of their texts, "". Among the main characteristics of Noon Universe are a very high level of social, scientific, and technological development, high creativity of the general population, and very significant increases in the level of societal maturity compared to either the modern world or any of those known to exist. For instance, this world knows no monetary stimulation (indeed, money does not exist), and every person is engaged in a profession that interests him or her. The Earth of Noon Universe is governed by a global technocratic council composed of the world's leading scientists and philosophers.

Noon Universe was described by the authors as the world in which they would like to live and work. It became highly influential for at least a generation of Soviet people, e.g. a person could speak with quotes from Strugatsky books sure of being understood. At first the authors thought of the Noon Universe to come into reality "by itself", then they realized that the only way to achieve it is inventing the High Theory of Upbringing, making upbringing of each person a unique deed.

One of the important story arcs of those books is how the advanced human civilization covertly steers the development of those considered less advanced. Agents of humans are known as Progressors. At the same time, some humans suspect that a very advanced spacefaring race called Wanderers exists and is 'progressing' humanity itself.

Works

Novels

Short stories originally published as part of the novel "":

Legacy

Several writers have to a varying degree paid their tribute to the works of Strugatsky brothers:
* Sergey Lukyanenko in his duology "The Stars Are Cold Toys" has the main character visit a world that is in many aspects strikingly similar to Earth from Noon Universe but in truth is revealed to be fundamentally different and oppressive. On his website, Lukyanenko commented that he disagreed with Strugatsky's view on education and upbringing and conceived his duology partly as a polemic criticism of it.cite web|url=http://www.rusf.ru/lukian/faq/list1.htm|title=Works. F.A.Q. Full list of questions and answers|author=Sergei Lukyanenko|accessdate=2008-02-14|language=Russian]
* The plot of Kir Bulychev's novella about Alice's adventures "Vacations in Space, or the Planet Five-Four" is based on finding a secret base of mysterious "Wanderers" (Странники), an extinct highly advanced civilization. He also depicted his own Zone in the story "Save Galya!"
* In late 1990s, a three-volume collection of fiction by notable contemporary Russian science fiction authors, titled "The Time of the Apprentices" (Время учеников), was published with an endorsement of Boris Strugatsky. Each piece in the collection was a sequel to one of Strugatskys' books.

The asteroid 3054 Strugatskia, discovered in 1977 was named after the Strugatsky brothers.

Soviet film Charodey (1982) is loosely based on the novel Monday Begins on Saturday.

ee also

* Noon Universe
* 21st century
* 22nd century
* List of heroic fictional scientists
* Planets in science fiction

References

External links

* [http://lib.ru/STRUGACKIE/ Includes the complete works in Russian and selected translations]
* [http://rusf.ru/abs/books.htm Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The Complete Works]
** en icon [http://www.rusf.ru/abs/english/index.htm Includes free library, bibliography of their books translated in English and other languages and awards sections]
* [http://www.russia-ic.com/culture_art/literature/230/ Stalkers of Russian Science Fiction – the Strugatsky Brothers]