10 best books of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
The Strugatsky brothers, Arkady and Boris are classics of such a genre as social fiction. Their works are known in many countries - the texts have been translated into 50 languages, films that have become classics of cinema have been made based on novels and novels. The co-authors are the first in the literary world who entered the abbreviation of the initial letters of the first and last names of the ABS as a signature to their works, then their works were also denoted in the same way. We represent the rating, which includes the top 10 books of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky according to experts and readers.
Rating the best books of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
| Nomination | a place | composition | rating |
| Rating the best books of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky | 1 | It's hard to be a god (1964) | 4.9 |
| 2 | Roadside Picnic (1972) | 4.8 | |
| 3 | Monday begins on Saturday (1965) | 4.8 | |
| 4 | The city is doomed | 4.7 | |
| 5 | Inhabited Island (1969) | 4.7 | |
| 6 | Snail on the slope (1965) | 4.7 | |
| 7 | Beetle in the anthill (1979) | 4.6 | |
| 8 | One billion years before the end of the world (1977) | 4.5 | |
| 9 | The country of crimson clouds (1959) | 4.5 | |
| 10 | Predatory things of the century (1965) | 4.4 |
It's hard to be a god (1964)
The author of the book: Strugatsky Arkady and Boris
Rating: 4.9
The undisputed leader of the rating is the fantastic story “It's hard to be a god”, which was originally conceived as a light adventurous story, turned out to be deep, affecting the social problems of society from an unusual point of view. The work is about trying to change society, the essence of its people, and the action was transferred from Earth to another planet, to a distant future. Civilization is stuck in development, scientists are trying to pull it to a new level, without thinking about the ethics of the methods used. What feeling will win - human or social, when it is known for sure - to save everyone, and ordinary people, and the closest and loved ones, simply will not succeed?
The story partially formed the concept of fraternal assistance, similar to that provided by the USSR to the neighboring countries, but the Strugatskys did not share this opinion. By the way, one of the key roles of the story went to a woman, which is rare for authors. "It is hard to be a god" has several high-budget versions, which, unfortunately, were not as successful as the story.
Roadside Picnic (1972)
The author of the book: Strugatsky Arkady and Boris
Rating: 4.8
The second in the rating book “Roadside Picnic” was so resonant that Andrei Tarkovsky decided to make a two-part film “Stalker” based on it. The film has become part of the gold fund of the national cinema, but does not fully correspond to the content of the story, so we still recommend that you read the work in order not to be mistaken when storming the precipice between generations of writers.
The fantastic novel “Roadside Picnic” is a story about human happiness and the difficult path of its formation. In one area of the planet Earth after the invasion of aliens, there is a separate zone in which the laws of physics do not work in the usual sense. Many people want to go there for valuable scientific data and artifacts, but it is almost impossible to do it, and it is dangerous for life, therefore it is forbidden.However, the main character finds a way to get into the Zone in order to obtain artifacts and resell them on the black market.
The book "Roadside Picnic" is one of the most beloved among fans of the art of ABS, probably because it contains a shock dose of philanthropy, mystery. However, fans of S. T.A.L.K.R.R. “There is no particular hope for the work, the probability of disappointment is high.
Monday begins on Saturday (1965)
The author of the book: Strugatsky Arkady and Boris
Rating: 4.8
The next story worth seeing is “Monday begins on Saturday,” written in 1965. The comic story of the ABS, which is jokingly called “a fairy tale for younger researchers,” is dedicated to people who sincerely love their work. This approach is the ideal remedy for depressive disorders. The story became the embodiment of the heyday of science and technology in the 60s in the USSR, the anthem of the enthusiastic scientists of that time who took on the disclosure of the secrets of the universe.
The plot of the work consists of three blocks: “Vanity around the sofa” introduces the reader to the current situation, the second “Vanity of vanities” is a little satirical, written in the genre of controversy, but the most interesting and lively third “All vanity” reveals the creative and scientific nature of the research process, the key role in which is played by imagination and unusual thinking.
The city is doomed
The author of the book: Strugatsky Arkady and Boris
Rating: 4.7
The novel “The City of the Doomed” was written in 1972, but was published only in 1988-1989. The work is full of deep meaning and epic moments, but nowadays it has lost some relevance due to the past era of communism, not all current readers understand, it is the text that is devoted to it. The “doomed city” was not published for a long time just because of the main idea - the answer to the communist system, which was so zealously becoming in the USSR.
The action develops in the City, which is not in our time and space. Its population is people from different worlds and epochs who have fallen into reality for the experiment, for which no initial information has been given, so participants act in accordance with their own premonitions, focusing only on the proposed events.
The syllable of writing “The City of the Doomed” is complex, the plot is full of incomprehensible at first glance inserts and events characteristic of Strugatsky, especially in an attempt to create a philosophical work.
Inhabited Island (1969)
The author of the book: Strugatsky Arkady and Boris
Rating: 4.7
The story "The Inhabited Island" of the ABS includes the literary trilogy of Kammerer, it is the only one where the third person narrates. The work is dedicated to a young man from Earth, who lived in the XXII century, was on another planet Saraksh because of the collapse of a spacecraft during the flight. He finds himself in a hostile world, full of apocalyptic cruelty, incomprehensible, different from the earthly one. Despite the difficulties, the confrontation with betrayal, lies, greed, in the process the hero manages not only to adapt to new realities, but also to find friends.
The story "Inhabited Island" was filmed by Fyodor Bondarchuk, performances were staged on it, a computer game was created.
Snail on the slope (1965)
The author of the book: Strugatsky Arkady and Boris
Rating: 4.7
The next in the ranking is not easy from the point of view of understanding the story “The snail on the slope” - there are a lot of hidden meaning and ideas in the text, which are rediscovered with each subsequent acquaintance with the book. In the work of 2 storylines - one occurs in the Office of the Issues of the Forest, where the main character goes to visit the forest, but he is held hostage to complex bureaucratic structures and corridors.
The second line takes place in the Forest itself, where, in turn, an employee of the biological station, who wants to get to the City, got lost, but the Forest does not let him go, drawing him into his heart. Combines 2 story total progress, incomprehensible, but developing, in spite of everything.The eternal flight from the environment and the inability to escape from it - the main message of the authors.
The story "The snail on the slope" was a turning point in the work of the Strugatsky brothers, with this work they make the transition from the science of the 60s to the description of the future. By the way, it is the ABS in their texts that suggested that the fantasy image of the future drawn by people will most likely not correspond to reality.
Beetle in the anthill (1979)
The author of the book: Strugatsky Arkady and Boris
Rating: 4.6
The story "The Beetle in the Anthill" is part of the trilogy about Maxim Kammerer, while not connected with the meaning of the first book. In the work, the authors showed an experiment, observation of special services in the conditions of an unknown future. The protagonist, 40-year-old Maxim Kammerer, a police officer, is assigned the task of finding out Professor Lev Abalkin hiding in an unknown direction. As it turns out later, Leo is not an earthly man, but a fruit from the embryos of alien civilizations. The phenomenon of the children that appeared in this way was investigated by scientists, and the professor became aware of the mystery of his birth, which caused the sudden disappearance.
The Strugatskys carried the character of the power structures as a red thread through the work - their actions do not always take into account the value of human life, often lead to suffering and even death of innocent people.
One billion years before the end of the world (1977)
The author of the book: Strugatsky Arkady and Boris
Rating: 4.5
In the story "A billion years before the end of the world," the topic of the Universe, and not the social sphere, was touched upon for the first time, which is not typical of the work of the ABS. The plot develops in Leningrad, where astrophysicist Dmitry Malyanov does not cease to do science, even on vacation. The theme of the work on which he works is the interaction of stars and matter in the galaxy. But as soon as the scientist comes to the essence of this question, life throws him all sorts of obstacles, and the physicist understands that it is not by chance that the Universe itself tries to stop the process.
His colleagues in the “scientific workshop” come out on Malyanova, all of them have a similar problem - in mathematics, biology and other branches of science, new knowledge has also been achieved, but some force prevents them from working out. Friends find certain patterns in the events that take place, but not the reason - the events are not similar to the actions organized by competitors or spiteful critics. Probably, the Universe itself is involved in this.
Can a group of scientists resist the power of a universal scale?
The country of crimson clouds (1959)
The author of the book: Strugatsky Arkady and Boris
Rating: 4.5
The fantastic story “The Country of Crimson Clouds” opens up such a problem as the welfare of society and individual human needs. In parallel, in the plot goes the development of technical progress, got into the lens of attention and human exploration of space.
Authors from the 50s are transferred in the 1990s to the country of victorious communism (SCCR). Nuclear-powered transport specialist Alexei Bykov has been sent to Moscow, to the State Committee for Interplanetary Communications. He receives an offer to go to Venus as part of a space mission to test a photonic airplane, developed for interplanetary flights and research. At the same time, scientists will study the matter in the anomalous zone of Venus. The team is faced with a life-threatening task - to land at an unusual zone and survive, while coping with the technical features of its aircraft and fulfill the goal of the flight.
The story is interesting with an unpredictable plot and detail - it is interesting to watch the fantasy of authors who are trying to look into the future.
Predatory things of the century (1965)
The author of the book: Strugatsky Arkady and Boris
Rating: 4.4
At the end of the ranking, the experts present the Strugatsky 'Predatory Things of the Century' story dedicated to the problem of low moral and moral values of a person. The main misconception of mankind is a comparison of material and spiritual well-being, which basically do not correspond to each other.ABS predicted modern consumer leanings of rich people and the world as a whole.
Former space pilot Zhilin enters a city with pronounced bourgeois sentiments: little work, lots of entertainment, many services, along with low levels of spiritual development. The task of the hero - to find a path to the manufacturers of the newest drug, about which virtually nothing is known. Having passed a complicated search path, Zhilin learns: the dangerous substance is not so secret, many inhabitants of the town own the recipe for its preparation, and the spread of muck is just natural. The main and only way to combat its consumption is to change the outlook of the population and reduce the consumer level. Can this be done? The hero remains in the city, resigning from service, to find like-minded people among the population, and together overcome the spontaneous drug addiction.
Attention! This rating is subjective, is not advertising and does not serve as a guide to the purchase. Before buying, you should consult with a specialist.
