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"Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those young rebels who are compelled, in spite of the 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."--… (more)
leigonj: By the same authors, both books feature strange happenings: in Roadside Picnic the curious effects left by a brief Alien visitation in 'the zone', and in Ugly Swans the perpetual rain and mutants in a small town, caused by who knows what?
A difficult read but worthwhile for its original idea. If after reading you are tempted to see the movie “Stalker” then you are likely to be disappointed. It’s long and painfully slow and there are no alien artifacts, which removes the main reason that stalkers go to the zone. We have to believe that they can earn a living by taking clients to visit a mysterious room that grants wishes. ( )
"Want a drink?" "Thank you, I don't drink." "How about a smoke?" "Sorry, I don't smoke either." "God damn it," I say. "Then what do you need money for?" ( )
Did not work for me. Though it started out good, when the chapters skipped to years in the future, I lost interest. There did not seem to be a larger story structure and the stalking became a bit repetitive. Hopefully, the film is better. ( )
Yes I know it's supposed to be a classic, and it certainly addresses some interesting issues on the nature of intelligence and mankind's place in the universe as alien artifacts (or alien trash?) threaten the very fabric of a society already sliding into decay. And could there be a little social satire, Soviet-style, going on as pragmatists and dreamers battle it out? But it didn't hold my interest and that final meltdown was anticlimactic. Perhaps it had more layers in the original Russian? ( )
You have to make the good out of the bad because that's all you have got to make it out of. Robert Penn Warren
Dedication
First words
I suppose that your first serious discovery, Dr. Pilman, should be considered what is now called the Pilman Radiant?
INTERVIEWER:... I suppose that your first important discovery, Dr. Pillman, was the celebrated Pillman radiant? (tr. Bormashenko, 2012)
Quotations
We usually proceed from a trivial definition: intelligence is the attribute of man that separates his activity from that of the animals. It's a kind of attempt to distinguish the master from his dog, who seems to understand everything but can't speak. However, this trivial definition does lead to wittier ones. They are based on depressing observations of the aforementioned human activity. For example: intelligence is the ability of a living creature to perform pointless or unnatural acts.
It all had to change. Not one life and not two lives, not one fate and not two fates -- every little bit of this stinking world world had to change ...
On the one hand, we are forced to admit, on the other hand, we can't dispute.
I'm anxious about going into the Zone and cold sober to boot. I grab him by the shoulder belt and tell him exactly what he is and just how his mother conceived him.
Last words
HAPPINESS FOR EVERYBODY, FREE, AND NO ONE WILL GO AWAY UNSATISFIED!
"Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those young rebels who are compelled, in spite of the 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."--
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Bibliographie
Wikipedia in English (2)
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