Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are widely known as the greatest Russian writers of science fiction, and their 1964 novel Hard to Be a God is considered one of the greatest of their works.
It tells the story of Don Rumata, who is sent from Earth to the medieval kingdom of Arkanar with instructions to observe and to influence, but never to directly interfere. Masquerading as an arro...
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky are widely known as the greatest Russian writers of science fiction, and their 1964 novel Hard to Be a God is considered one of the greatest of their works.
It tells the story of Don Rumata, who is sent from Earth to the medieval kingdom of Arkanar with instructions to observe and to influence, but never to directly interfere. Masquerading as an arrogant nobleman, a dueler and a brawler, Don Rumata is never defeated but can never kill. With his doubt and compassion, and his deep love for a local girl named Kira, Rumata wants to save the kingdom from the machinations of Don Reba, the First Minister to the king. But given his orders, what role can he play?
Hard to Be a God has inspired a computer role-playing game and two movies, including Aleksei German’s long-awaited swan song. Yet until now the only English version (out of print for over thirty years) was based on a German translation, and was full of errors, infelicities, and misunderstandings. This new edition—translated by Olena Bormashenko, whose translation of the authors’ Roadside Picnic has received widespread acclaim, and supplemented with a new foreword by Hari Kunzru and an afterword by Boris Strugatsky, both of which supply much-needed context—reintroduces one of the most profound Soviet-era novels to an eager audience.
And there isn't a better way for them to spend their time...Reba is nothing, a tiny speck in comparison with the enormous influence of traditions, the rules of the herd -- sanctified by centuries, unshakeable, tested, accessible to the dullest of the dull, freeing one from the necessity of thinking and wondering. "A minor adventurer in the era of increasing absolutism." (查看原文)
They were passive, greedy, and incredibly, fantastically selfish. Almost all of them had the psychology of slaves -- slaves of religions, slaves of their own kind, slaves of their pathetic passions, slaves of avarice. And if the fates decreed for one of them to be born or become a master, he didn't know what to do with his freedom. He would again hurry to become a slave -- a slave of wealth, a slave of outlandish excesses, a slave of his slaves. The vast majority of them weren't guilty of anything. They were too passive and too ignorant. Their slavery was the result of passivity and ignorance, and passivity and ignorance again and again breeds slavery. (查看原文)
1 有用 Ultramarine 2016-06-22 19:47:25
读长篇科幻小说的乐趣之一就是体会初读之时难以“浸入”的尴尬感，读英文时体会更甚。然而随着阅读进展，一部好的科幻长篇会在你身边一点点建立起一个完全陌生却又无比熟悉的世界观，从一草一木到人文风俗，这便是我读《上帝难为》时的乐趣。平时读的多是上世纪中后期的美国科幻，60年代苏联的小说所描述的gc主义未来社会非常有趣，然而文中对中世纪人性的描述结合了近代史又觉得讽刺意味十足（虽然并不是作者的本意）。书中的... 读长篇科幻小说的乐趣之一就是体会初读之时难以“浸入”的尴尬感，读英文时体会更甚。然而随着阅读进展，一部好的科幻长篇会在你身边一点点建立起一个完全陌生却又无比熟悉的世界观，从一草一木到人文风俗，这便是我读《上帝难为》时的乐趣。平时读的多是上世纪中后期的美国科幻，60年代苏联的小说所描述的gc主义未来社会非常有趣，然而文中对中世纪人性的描述结合了近代史又觉得讽刺意味十足（虽然并不是作者的本意）。书中的不足一是Arata这个角色出现和退场太突兀，觉得还有更深的故事可挖却在一章带过；二是相比起男主，重要女性角色Kira太过于“完美”和平面——不过这也是科幻作品一直难以避免的male gaze角度。 (展开)