Arkady
and Boris Strugatsky
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The brothers Arkady (Russian: Арка́дий; August
28, 1925 – October 12, 1991) and Boris (Russian:
Бори́с; born April 14, 1933) Strugatsky
(Russian: Струга́цкий; alternate spellings:
Strugatskiy, Strugatski, Strugatskii) are Soviet
Russian science fiction authors who collaborated
on their fiction.
Life and work
The Strugatsky brothers (Бра́тья Струга́цкие
or simply Струга́цкие), as they are usually
called, although also known as "Абээ́сы" ("Abeesy",
from ABS, Arkadiy and Boris Strugatsky) in
Russian, are perhaps the best-known Soviet
science fiction writers with a well developed
fan base. Their early work was influenced by
Ivan Yefremov. Their 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 of their works were translated
into German, French, English, and Italian but
did not receive the same magnitude of the
critical acclaim granted them by their Russian
audiences. The Strugatsky brothers, however,
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.
Arkady
Arkady Natanovich Strugatsky was born August
25, 1925 in Batumi; his father was an art
critic, his mother a teacher. The family later
moved to Leningrad. In January 1942 Arkady and
his father left the besieged city, but Arkady
was the only survivor in his train car; his
father died on reaching Vologda. Arkady was
later drafted into the Soviet army, training
first at the artillery school in Aktyubinsk and
later at the Military Institute of Foreign
Languages in Moscow, from which he graduated in
1949 as an interpreter of English and Japanese.
He worked as a teacher and interpreter for the
military until 1955. From 1955 he began to work
as a editor and writer. In 1958, he began to
collaborate with his brother Boris, a
collaboration that lasted until Arkady's death
October 12, 1991.
Boris
Born April 14, 1933, Boris Natanovich
Strugatsky remained in Leningrad with his mother
during the siege of the city during World War
II. He graduated from high school in 1950 and
applied to the physics department as Leningrad
State University, but studied astronomy instead.
After graduating in 1955, he worked as an
astronomer and computer engineer until 1966 when
he became a full-time writer.
Noon Universe
Several of the books written by the
Strugatsky brothers 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 is derived from the
title of one of their texts, Noon: 22nd Century.
The main characteristics of the Noon Universe
are: a very high level of social, scientific,
and technological development; the creativity of
the general population; and the very significant
level of societal maturity compared to the
modern world. 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 the Noon Universe is governed by a global
technocratic council composed of the world's
leading scientists and philosophers. That Noon
World has been clearly named as "World of
Communism" in their novels, which was kind of
handy for publishing their novels in 1960's,
when the "redsovet" (editors' committee meeting)
had right to decide whether book would be
printed, and whether book is aprroved for mass
circulation.
The 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
quote the Strugatsky books and be sure of being
understood. At first the authors thought that
the Noon Universe would become reality "by
itself", but then they realized that the only
way to achieve it is by inventing the High
Theory of Upbringing, making the 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.
