Roadside Picnic

De: Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky, Olena Bormashenko - translator

Narrado por: Robert Forster

Duración: 7 h y 8 m

Resumen del Editor

Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those young rebels who are compelled, in spite of extreme danger, to venture illegally into the Zone to collect the mysterious artifacts that the alien visitors left scattered around. His life is dominated by the place and the thriving black market in the alien products. But when he and his friend Kirill go into the Zone together to pick up a "full empty", something goes wrong. And the news he gets from his girlfriend upon his return makes it inevitable that he'll keep going back to the Zone, again and again, until he finds the answer to all his problems.

©1972 Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (P)2012 Random House

a new favorite

this is going on my best list. this is an excellent existential scifi story. there is some creepy stuff at the beginning and the writing is top notch. I don't want to give anything away. at times it's a little noir-ish in its tone and in the trapped situation of the characters. my only advice would be to fast forward through the 1st 7 minutes or so at opening as there is a forward by LeGuin that is good to return to afterwards, but she does mention a couple of plot points that I'm glad i didn't know and was able to experience the story without prior prejudice of any type. Excellent and mature and i highly recommend it.

good idea for a book

What did you like best about Roadside Picnic? What did you like least?

It was a very good premise but the writer should have added a story. Very little of the book actually takes place in the zone. Not a lot actually takes place in the book.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

yes

Fantastic Preformance

Robert Forster had all the right timing, slowing when the action required. Loud, then down to a whisper. His voice was hypnotic at times. And of course his drawl, which I have always loved, made Red a very believable and human character.

7 stars! Fantastic story. Fantastic voiceover!

What a story! Gripping till the very end. A true Science Fiction book. I am recommending this to all my friends.

Excellent story, engagin afterword

Tanis turned me on to the story. The descriptions of the alien technology are wonderfully vague and, as a result, great food for the imagination. The story of the publication was excellent.

Roadside Picnic is a great book.

Roadside Picnic is a classic of science fiction. It is also a testimony to perseverance on the part of the authors who wrote under Soviet censorship. The forward by renown science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin is a fantastic explanation of how the book was received when first published in the 1970's. The afterword by Boris Strugatsky details the fight to get the book published by the Soviet censors.

The premise of Roadside Picnic is that the earth has been visited by aliens. In six areas of the world, they have come and gone, leaving only their debris or garbage behind. Five of these areas are on land. By the end of the day of the visit, the Zones are declared off limits. Eventually, world scientific organizations set up on the borders of the Zones and begin to study the visible and invisible. Some of the items in the Zone are powerful energy sources. Some of the areas of intense gravity that crush men and vehicles flat. There are also organic life forms that cannot be studied because they kill all who get near them. Thirteen years later they are still being studied.

No one except scientists are allowed into the Zones. The trade in the black market for items smuggled out of the Zone is huge. The money to be made makes it worth the risk for these smugglers or "stalkers" to enter the Zone at night risking their lives. They are also risking more. Stalkers who frequently run the risk of the Zones find they have severe mutations in their children born after they begin venturing into the Zone. The book prefigured many of the issues surrounding the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

It really is an amazing book that really must be read. Or even better, listened to. Robert Forster does a great job narrating the book. Roadside Picnic, although written by two Russian brothers, takes place in Canada. Forster keeps his voice in somewhat of a neutral accent but he conveys the toughness of the main character, Red. Red's frustration with the problems of living with the Zone and the issues it causes comes through very well in the narration.

Roadside Picnic is a great book. It has all the tension of a thriller, all the science of a science fiction, all the character development of a great literary novel and it is an exciting audiobook. The Forward by Ms. Le Guin is really important to listen to before the book itself. It helps put the importance of the novel in the listener's mind as they hear the incredible story of Stalkers and the risks they take to provide for their families.

Astonishingly well-translated and performed.

I can't overstate the level of excellence here. If you've never read the Picnic, this is an excellent opportunity to do so. Real science fiction of the best kind, with translation and performance second to none. Highest accolades.

SF Masterpiece

story: fucking awesome
narrator: fucking great
translation: solid gold

you'll never forget this book and will think about it many times.

Dark, Dated And Rightfully Loved

The Story Invokes A Notable Darkness, Yet Inspires Hope And Appreciation, Truly It's Great.

My favorite Sci-Fi

The book is by far, bar none my favorite sci-fi novel of all time. I've read and listened to alot of sci fi and fantasy novels, and roadside picnic shines above all of them. The questions asked, answered, posed and prodded at in this book are not only thought provoking and mind blowing, but well written, voiced and acted out by the narrator. I cannot say much more than if you are a fan of sci-fi and the book looks interesting or good, take this as a highest recommendation.