Science Fiction

Roadside Picnic

Roadside Picnic

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  • Create Date：2021-07-28 09:54:04
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Arkady Strugatsky
  • ISBN：0575093137
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Summary

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

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Reviews

Patrick ，

ich war einfach viel zu blöd für dieses buch das muss man so offen und ehrlich sagen

Richard Howard ，

This is the first Soviet SF novel I've read and its feel is certainly different to its western contemporaries。 It's much grittier for a start and its devoid of the scientific heroics usually found in a book about first contact。The irony， of course， is that in this instance of first contact， there has been no contact。 The aliens， whatever they are， land， leave their 'rubbish' strewn around， and depart。 The zones they visited are then left full of artifacts， none of which we understand， many of wh This is the first Soviet SF novel I've read and its feel is certainly different to its western contemporaries。 It's much grittier for a start and its devoid of the scientific heroics usually found in a book about first contact。The irony， of course， is that in this instance of first contact， there has been no contact。 The aliens， whatever they are， land， leave their 'rubbish' strewn around， and depart。 The zones they visited are then left full of artifacts， none of which we understand， many of which are deadly and some of which are useful。 As the zones contain numerous dangers， it's left to 'stalkers' to go I to them and retrieve these artefacts。 There's nothing glamorous about them nor their lifestyles: this is perhaps where the Soviet influence is most felt。And why did the aliens leave these objects？Is it a test？ Or is it just the detritus of their 'roadside picnic'？ 。。。more

Pete ，

Roadside Picnic （1972） by Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky is an interesting Soviet era science fiction story。 It’s different， bleak， believable and fascinating。The main protagonist is Red Schuhart who lives in Harmount。 Harmount is in a place that is like Canada or somewhere in the US midwest。 Near Harmount is one of ‘the zones’ that are places where aliens have briefly stopped and left things。 These zones are dangerous and going in to them often results in death or serious harm。 Stalkers Roadside Picnic （1972） by Arkady Strugatsky and Boris Strugatsky is an interesting Soviet era science fiction story。 It’s different， bleak， believable and fascinating。The main protagonist is Red Schuhart who lives in Harmount。 Harmount is in a place that is like Canada or somewhere in the US midwest。 Near Harmount is one of ‘the zones’ that are places where aliens have briefly stopped and left things。 These zones are dangerous and going in to them often results in death or serious harm。 Stalkers are people who have learned how to stay alive in them and manage to bring back artifacts that are very valuable。 Red is a stalker。 Stalkers and their family also suffer from them going into the zone。The reasons for the zones are nicely pondered in the book。Roadside Picnic is an excellent piece of sci-fi that’s well worth a read。 。。。more

Anastasiia Safiannikova ，

Как правильная фантастика， "Пикник на обочине" задает нам массу вопросов о нас， о нашей реальной реальности:（view spoiler）[Кто создал наш мир？ Кто дал нам жизнь， и зачем？ Подарок это， или оружие， направленное против нас？ Или наша жизнь - это остатки некоторого пикника на обочине， никто и не думал， что они кому-то достанутся？Кто виноват в поступках Рэда - сам Рэд или система， в которой и правда все несчастны？ Правда ли， что такую систему невозможно переделать， как-то перекроить， чтобы сделать все Как правильная фантастика， "Пикник на обочине" задает нам массу вопросов о нас， о нашей реальной реальности:（view spoiler）[Кто создал наш мир？ Кто дал нам жизнь， и зачем？ Подарок это， или оружие， направленное против нас？ Или наша жизнь - это остатки некоторого пикника на обочине， никто и не думал， что они кому-то достанутся？Кто виноват в поступках Рэда - сам Рэд или система， в которой и правда все несчастны？ Правда ли， что такую систему невозможно переделать， как-то перекроить， чтобы сделать всех счастливыми - только разрушить до основания？ Нужно ли нам СЧАСТЬЕ ДЛЯ ВСЕХ， ДАРОМ？ Или человек сам себе создает несчастья？Что нам делать со всеобщим счастьем， если магического шара у нас нет？ （hide spoiler）]Вопросы сложные， такой книге нужно отлежаться。 Читается она при этом с огромным интересом и удовольствием。 。。。more

[Name Redacted] ，

This is a perfectly fine novel， neither offensive nor boring， but I just kept thinking "Oh， so it's like if Stanislaw Lem wrote the 'Area X' trilogy" or "Huh， so it's kind of 'The Midwich Cuckoos' through the lens of Dmitry Glukhovsky？" So I spent the entire book comparing it to other books and， really， that's not a good thing。 I kept thinking "Yeah， I WOULD rather be reading 'His Master's Voice'！" and "Man， I guess Jeff VanderMeer was a fan of this。。。" and in the end I guess this is how many mo This is a perfectly fine novel， neither offensive nor boring， but I just kept thinking "Oh， so it's like if Stanislaw Lem wrote the 'Area X' trilogy" or "Huh， so it's kind of 'The Midwich Cuckoos' through the lens of Dmitry Glukhovsky？" So I spent the entire book comparing it to other books and， really， that's not a good thing。 I kept thinking "Yeah， I WOULD rather be reading 'His Master's Voice'！" and "Man， I guess Jeff VanderMeer was a fan of this。。。" and in the end I guess this is how many modern readers feel about classic works of sci-fi， works which laid the groundwork for later works with which they're more familiar。 I suspect I'm a few decades too late to really appreciate what a smash this must have been when it came out。 Though I'm a huge Stanislaw Lem and Isaac Asimov fan， so maybe this just wasn't for me？ 。。。more

Marcus ，

4。5/5

Auden ，

I absolutely love the premise to this story， and see what it spun off into more explorations of the world。 I like how it took place in the aftermath of the big event， and there was no hero who saved the world or great scientist who made a discovery。 There were no sky high stakes， just people’s lives and relationships with each other， themselves， and the Zone。 Each explores a different effect of this world changing event。 Work， family， philosophy， and humanity。 I loved the ending， but philosophic I absolutely love the premise to this story， and see what it spun off into more explorations of the world。 I like how it took place in the aftermath of the big event， and there was no hero who saved the world or great scientist who made a discovery。 There were no sky high stakes， just people’s lives and relationships with each other， themselves， and the Zone。 Each explores a different effect of this world changing event。 Work， family， philosophy， and humanity。 I loved the ending， but philosophical sci fi always leaves me feeling just a little bit empty。 Wondering， questioning， unsure of my footing and aware of the unknown。 。。。more

Max ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Really great read。 Why does Goodreads say it’s just by Arkady when it was co-written by Arkady and Boris both？ Weird。Turning spoilers on because I don’t want to spoil the central idea of the book， which is so well put forth over the span of a conversation between two characters that I want it to come as a surprise to anyone who reads it。 The whole premise is basically how humans are so insignificant that a small amount of accidental spillage from a more advanced alien civilization can totally al Really great read。 Why does Goodreads say it’s just by Arkady when it was co-written by Arkady and Boris both？ Weird。Turning spoilers on because I don’t want to spoil the central idea of the book， which is so well put forth over the span of a conversation between two characters that I want it to come as a surprise to anyone who reads it。 The whole premise is basically how humans are so insignificant that a small amount of accidental spillage from a more advanced alien civilization can totally alter the course of our species’ destiny， but this is an very human book in the best way possible。 This isn’t a book of philosophical abstractions， this is a book of human beings dealing with philosophical implications that they aren’t really fully aware of （and neither are we）。 The book mostly follows Red Schuhart， who balances an illegal career going into the “zone” left behind by an alien visitation to collect artifacts with maintaining a life back home （a wife and a daughter）， and later on must contend with human attempts to tame and commodify the zone for its own benefit - again， the zone is treated as this amazing thing that can irrevocably shift the trajectory of the human species， despite the fact that it consists of stuff that is JUNK to a greater species。 God， that’s just really neat！Oh yeah， and there’s a wish granter。 But read it yourself。 It’s one of the best spec-fi books ever， up there with the best of Le Guin， Dick， Ellison， Wolfe， all those guys。 It’s a beautiful book， it’s only around 150 pages but after I finished it I just had to sit there a minute with a dumb grin on my face。 。。。more

Adnan Bajrović ，

Piknik pored puta je u tom multimedijalnom svijetu Stalkera i Zone došao na kraju。 Kao tinejdžer sam lutao Zonom u igri Stalker， a ekranizaciju sam gledao nekad kasnije， u zrelijoj dobi i drago mi je što jesam。 Knjiga je na red došla tek nedavno i također mi je drago što je tako。 Iako je bilo par segmenata koji su mi bili smor （tamo u sredini） uživao sam u čitanju i bit će jedan od onih klasika čiji ću primjerak nabaviti i strpati na policu s knjigama。Osim toga， mislim da smo zaslužili i jednu v Piknik pored puta je u tom multimedijalnom svijetu Stalkera i Zone došao na kraju。 Kao tinejdžer sam lutao Zonom u igri Stalker， a ekranizaciju sam gledao nekad kasnije， u zrelijoj dobi i drago mi je što jesam。 Knjiga je na red došla tek nedavno i također mi je drago što je tako。 Iako je bilo par segmenata koji su mi bili smor （tamo u sredini） uživao sam u čitanju i bit će jedan od onih klasika čiji ću primjerak nabaviti i strpati na policu s knjigama。Osim toga， mislim da smo zaslužili i jednu vjernu ekranizaciju filma。 Ono što je Tarkovski uradio s braćom Strugatski koji su mu pomogli u pisanju scenarija je bilo vrhunski odrađeno， ali to je ekranizacije neke druge priče， ne one o stalkeru Redriku zvanom Riđi。 Ali uvjeren sam da je nikada nećemo dobiti jer nijedan studio ne želi finansirati svoju sahranu。。。 Ako ništa izlazi nova Stalker igra， pa će na taj način nasljedstvo braće Strugatsky biti predstavljeno novim generacijama。。。 。。。more

Andy ，

A great twist on the classic alien story with interesting characters and a well thought out world。 My only complaint is that it's too short。 More would have been better here。 A great twist on the classic alien story with interesting characters and a well thought out world。 My only complaint is that it's too short。 More would have been better here。 。。。more

Nico Vreeland ，

Great simple sci-fi concept。 And the translation is surprisingly sharp

Ella ，

აქამდე სად ვიყავი？ეს ოქრო წიგნი აქამდე რატომ ვერ აღმოვაჩინე。。。。。。。

Jill Spaulding ，

Skimmed so hard because I could not connect to the story。 It wasn’t my usual genre， but we have to give new things a chance。 The writing was dry， which probably has a lot to do with translation。

Fatemeh Safari ，

کلا کتاب های علمی‌تخیلی کلاسیک به درد من نمیخورن فکر کنم:）

Elisabeth ，

It's a weird one， along the lines of Annihilation or The Gone-Away World， but obvs much older， and a unique take on first contact。 Also it was the 70s so it's all dudes all the time， with a few women tossed in for decoration， but that doesn't detract too much。 As pointed out in the foreword by Ursula K。 LeGuin， it differs from its Western contemporaries in its dearth of shiny spaceships and shiny， chiseled heroes。 The future， alien invasion， global catastrophe， don't just affect world leaders an It's a weird one， along the lines of Annihilation or The Gone-Away World， but obvs much older， and a unique take on first contact。 Also it was the 70s so it's all dudes all the time， with a few women tossed in for decoration， but that doesn't detract too much。 As pointed out in the foreword by Ursula K。 LeGuin， it differs from its Western contemporaries in its dearth of shiny spaceships and shiny， chiseled heroes。 The future， alien invasion， global catastrophe， don't just affect world leaders and soldiers and brave adventurers; it affects everyone， and this is （some of） their story。 。。。more

Some_girl49 ，

It's an interesting book。 The idea of the story is really great but i had to get used to the authors' style of writing。。。 Sometimes i didn't really understand what are they talking about。。 like。。。there are Zones created by aliens （Visitors） who visited and then left Earth。。。 And people can find strange things out there but it's really dangerous to visit it because it's full of traps。 And when main character was talking about things from Zone， it was hard to imagine it from his description （and s It's an interesting book。 The idea of the story is really great but i had to get used to the authors' style of writing。。。 Sometimes i didn't really understand what are they talking about。。 like。。。there are Zones created by aliens （Visitors） who visited and then left Earth。。。 And people can find strange things out there but it's really dangerous to visit it because it's full of traps。 And when main character was talking about things from Zone， it was hard to imagine it from his description （and sometimes he didn't even tried to describe it。。。 Like， he says there's sponge but you don't know what is it。。。） Anyway。。。 I enjoyed this book。 Authors' point of view is a little bit depressive。。。 or maybe realistic。。。 Yes that's it。。。 Authors are right。。。 If aliens visited us we would be like ants for them。。。 Nothing special。 If you like sci-fi mixed with an interesting philosophy I highly recommend this book！ 。。。more

Joe ，

This book was。。。 AMAZING！！！ But， I have no idea what happened， so I'll have to reread it in the near future。 This book was。。。 AMAZING！！！ But， I have no idea what happened， so I'll have to reread it in the near future。 。。。more

Christian ，

A case where the movie is superior in every way。

Wannia ，

3。5 starsScared of rating this lower than most people。。。 I really enjoyed the first two parts of the book， but the last two fell a bit short for me。 I found the ending quite anti-climactic and would've liked a little bit more closure。That said， the overall concept of this book is so clever。 The purposeful lack of explanation for all the weird tech is a nice change of pace from the usual dense hard sci-fi found in this genre。 3。5 starsScared of rating this lower than most people。。。 I really enjoyed the first two parts of the book， but the last two fell a bit short for me。 I found the ending quite anti-climactic and would've liked a little bit more closure。That said， the overall concept of this book is so clever。 The purposeful lack of explanation for all the weird tech is a nice change of pace from the usual dense hard sci-fi found in this genre。 。。。more

Geoffrey Cowling ，

HAPPINESSFREEFOR EVERYONE

Will Pope ，

Poorly written tripe。 Clearly I was missing something

Gabriel Benitez ，

Una de mis novelas favoritas de dos de mis escritores favoritos。 Tuve contacto con ella por primera vez gracias a la película de Tarkvosky， que me pareció confusa pero hipnótica a la vez， con una imágenes frías y melancólicas que me impresionaron mucho， tal vez porque se parecían en cierta manera a los lugares donde yo había pasado mi infancia。 Después， tuve la oportunidad de leer el guion que los Strugatsky escribieron para la película， titulado LA MÁQUINA DE LOS DESEOS en una revista soviética Una de mis novelas favoritas de dos de mis escritores favoritos。 Tuve contacto con ella por primera vez gracias a la película de Tarkvosky， que me pareció confusa pero hipnótica a la vez， con una imágenes frías y melancólicas que me impresionaron mucho， tal vez porque se parecían en cierta manera a los lugares donde yo había pasado mi infancia。 Después， tuve la oportunidad de leer el guion que los Strugatsky escribieron para la película， titulado LA MÁQUINA DE LOS DESEOS en una revista soviética en español， que dejaron de publicar en cuanto cayó la cortina de hierro。 Gracias a ese guion pude entender por fin cual era el punto en la película。 Así que lo tomé， lo copie en mi computadora y lo subí a mi página web de ciencia ficción que se titulaba Realidad Cero。 Ahí tuvo mucho éxito。 Ahora ya no está la página pero aún podemos encontrarla en fomato epub y pdf por internet。La novela es diferente a la película en tanto que no se trata de una sola historia sino de una serie de ellas centradas en el extraño caso que detona la novela: Un visitación de una civilización extraterrestre deja al norte del planeta， un anillo de restos y objetos traídos por las naves espaciales， quienes bajaron y después de haber hecho lo suyo （nadie sabe qué） se van， dejando tras de sí todo aquel reguero de tecnología misteriosa e imposible。 Entrar a la zona está terminantemente prohibido y sacar objetos del lugar， aún más。 Nadie sabe que pueda llegar a causar alguno de estos aparatos misteriosos。 Sin embargo， como siempre， hay un mercado negro para ellos y por tal razón， un grupo de personas llamadas Stalkers， entran en la zona arriesgando su vida para obtenerlos y venderlos。 Y es que la zona no solo está prohibida， sino que además ocurren fenómenos fuera de serie en el interior que pueden resultar aterradores y mortales。 Se necesita ser más que un profesional para salir vivo de la zona， un lugar que se ha convertido en una especie de Chernobyl de origen extraterrestre。Muy buena novela。 。。。more

Ryan McGranaghan ，

Set after an alien visitation has left ‘zones’ scattered around the Earth， society moves on oddly integrated with the knowledge of the visitation （and departure） and the alien artifacts left behind。 Science changes， studying the zones’ unique properties and the artifacts themselves， while a renegade culture of ‘stalkers’ make illegal and dangerous trips into the zone to pull out artifacts for sale and also for a kind of psychological thrill。 Roadside Picnic is as much a sociological thought piec Set after an alien visitation has left ‘zones’ scattered around the Earth， society moves on oddly integrated with the knowledge of the visitation （and departure） and the alien artifacts left behind。 Science changes， studying the zones’ unique properties and the artifacts themselves， while a renegade culture of ‘stalkers’ make illegal and dangerous trips into the zone to pull out artifacts for sale and also for a kind of psychological thrill。 Roadside Picnic is as much a sociological thought piece as it is a sci-fi thriller。 Worth savoring the ideas raised on each page and enjoying the fast-paced ride。 Couple it with ideas about what it would mean not to be alone in the universe and a brilliant podcast that emerged around this novel centered on the question of ‘what would you risk great personal danger to venture into the zone for？’ 。。。more

Warszawiak1917 ，

Absolute must-read for fans of Eastern European sci-fi。 Despite its vaguely Canadian setting， Roadside Picnic has become a great source of inspiration for Soviet and post-Soviet artists。 It was adapted to film as Stalker by Andriej Tarkowski in 1979; both the original novel as well as Tarkowski's cinematic masterpiece were a well of inspiration for the creation of the S。T。A。L。K。E。R。 videogame series set after a second Chernobyl nuclear accident， to a lesser extent the post-apocalyptic Metro 2033 Absolute must-read for fans of Eastern European sci-fi。 Despite its vaguely Canadian setting， Roadside Picnic has become a great source of inspiration for Soviet and post-Soviet artists。 It was adapted to film as Stalker by Andriej Tarkowski in 1979; both the original novel as well as Tarkowski's cinematic masterpiece were a well of inspiration for the creation of the S。T。A。L。K。E。R。 videogame series set after a second Chernobyl nuclear accident， to a lesser extent the post-apocalyptic Metro 2033 books and games also。 However， even with its immense impact on Eastern European science fiction， the Strugatsky brothers' 1972 story should still be appreciated for its own merits as a short， but fantastically atmospheric read that has made it a classic of the genre。 。。。more

Alexey Averyanov ，

Книга не о пришельцах… И к сожалению это не фантастика。 Фантастика， пришельцы， все， что описывается в этом произведении все， что в нем рассказывается， все это кулисы， мизансцена для нескольких абзацев в конце。 Там суть этого произведения и наверное суть нашей глупой， дурацкой человеческой жизни， жизни всего рода человеческого независимо от цвета кожи и национальности。

Hollars ，

I was totally submerged in the story within the first few minutes。

Ryan McCarthy ，

This is definitely one of the best-translated Russian novels I’ve read。 The narrative itself is lean and engaging， but as usually happens with sci-fi， the world building sometimes leaves me scratching my head and feeling more confused than immersed。 Still well worth a read。

Costi Santorros ，

4* 1/2。 O minunăție， depășită， totuși， de adaptarea lui Tarkovski după ea， „Stalker” （Călăuza）。

Daniel ，

wild west sci fi novel written by 2 Soviet brothers

TangoDeltaDelta ，

Interesting both from the story/technology point of view and the personalities that are developed。 It is different in that it was written originally in Russian and from a Russian point of view。 The notes about book translation and publication are intriguing。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Roadside Picnic

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Roadside Picnic&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Roadside Picnic&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0