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A review by ashleymg99
Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky, Boris Strugatsky
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Before I read this book, I had watched Andrei Tarkovsky’s STALKER (which was intriguing, visually delightful, but too slow for me) and my boyfriend is a fan of the games.
This is the cosmic horror novel of the 20th century -Lovecraft stans can fight me. There’s something so sinister about our extreme lack of knowledge about the Zone, and the nightmarish effects it has on the environment and the people in it.
My favorite part of the novel was in the chapter from Noonan’s perspective.Valentine’s Theory of the Roadside Picnic, and the ensuing discussion about the measure of intelligent life was fascinating to me. As I said, there’s something so intriguing and yet disturbing at the idea that these aliens are so far beyond our comprehension, that we are essentially bugs and birds that are examining the mess left by beings we can never hope to understand.
Valentine sees humanity for all its flaws, and in a world where aliens have visited us, he sees the insignificance of us - we are not worth testing, or training or observing. We are simply primitive animals, “using sledgehammers to crack nuts” - picking up alien space junk that we can never hope to understand the true use of, and adapting it for a more primitive purposes.
This is a short read, and overall I was pretty engaged, but there were some slower parts (particularly the beginning of Noonan’s chapter) that struggled to capture my attention.
This is a must read for any sci-fi, cosmic horror, or dystopian fans. Also, watch Tarkovsky’s STALKER - it’s written by the same authors and tells a similar story in the same universe, but is by no means an adaptation.
This is the cosmic horror novel of the 20th century -
My favorite part of the novel was in the chapter from Noonan’s perspective.
Valentine sees humanity for all its flaws, and in a world where aliens have visited us, he sees the insignificance of us - we are not worth testing, or training or observing. We are simply primitive animals, “using sledgehammers to crack nuts” - picking up alien space junk that we can never hope to understand the true use of, and adapting it for a more primitive purposes.
This is a short read, and overall I was pretty engaged, but there were some slower parts (particularly the beginning of Noonan’s chapter) that struggled to capture my attention.
This is a must read for any sci-fi, cosmic horror, or dystopian fans. Also, watch Tarkovsky’s STALKER - it’s written by the same authors and tells a similar story in the same universe, but is by no means an adaptation.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, and Alcohol