Hard to Be a God (19) (Rediscovered Classics)

I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did. I blazed through almost the whole thing in a week. Picked up a copy after getting recommended the film by a friend. Comparing the two the book is nothing like the movie which is actually a shame because the book's so much more interesting than some grotesque tour through medieval Russia like the movie was. The characters are so loosely described yet so easily and vividly imagined with how they're presented throughout their scenes. Baron Pampa for example has to be some giant of a man able to take on entire crowds and slicing buildings practically in half with his massive sword that he effortlessly swings above his head. The noble Don Rumata sure knows how to pick em, curating the gems from the horde of mindless animals as he sees them, and they're all unique in their own right. Nobody is perfect, or even admirable, but they are very entertaining. Even Don Reba the clueless villain of the book gets his moment where even the "god" is surprised by some of his discoveries and observations.Seeing how quickly Rumata adapts to the ever-changing society as it drastically shifts from day to day reminds me of Greek heroes. So quick-witted and bold yet not without their faults that humanize them. You look up to this man, but also pity him for what he's going through. I'm instantly a fan of Strugatsky books and after this one and I'm gonna be collecting all of the books from the "Noon Universe" because I'm hooked. Hard to be a God was just that good.

I saw Stalker, and something about it was compelling in many ways: the visuals and especially use of color, the plot, the characters, the deep, driven mood. I didn't know then that it came from Roadside Picnic but the Strugatskys. I liked that even better. I lacked the visual impact, but made the main character's compulsion deeper, stronger, almost a character in itself - and not always a friend to the protagonist.So, I want more. This work showed up with very little search effort, and I like it almost as much. Although written half a century ago, it's aged well. In some far future time (when the Soviet ideals have been achieved, of course), Our Hero goes to work as spy/provocateur on some distant planet. For reasons unspecified - convergent evolution, long lost colonization, or lack of imagination - Our Hero and his hi-tech backing gain him a high position in the feudal society. Since this was written and even published within the Soviet world, it examines the pre-Renaissance society in terms of Marxian inevitability (and Soviet superiority).But things don't actually go according to historical inevitability. Whatever in that world is nasty, brutish, and short appears contagious - agents have to take on things like hallway discussion in the torture school as a routine matter. This, and many other things (often modeled on the practices and even personalities of their own repressive regime) undermine his wall between "them" and "me," however tightly he tried to maintain it.Society degrades into something - maybe a stylized Fascism - that goes the wrong way. Far beyond any point I could make sense of, Our Hero continues to hold sway within this corrupt society of vindictive leaders as they hew their way through the citizenry. In the end, though, "... there was no one left to speak for me."But my summary over-simplifies the many acute observations written here, and the tone of word choice as it grays toward the end. It's not an easy read, and likely to push some buttons, and actually has two endings (the end, and the what comes after) that don't seem to support the nominal ideals of either society. A bit abrupt, perhaps, but possibly meaningful. I still haven't worked that out for myself.So, by raw chance, I saw a used DVD for sale, I had to grab it. It's long, a tad under 3hr, and I wonder how this will translate to imagery. But I plan to find out.-- wiredweird

I found this book to be a real page turner. The conceit is that the protagonist is a visitor historian in this medieval like setting who can observe and participate but not really have any drastic life changing effect on the people in the world he is visiting. I like it because it really melds the idea of science fiction and fantasy in a way that is outside of the genre constraints I am used to as a western reader. The situation the authors create is interesting, the plot within that world is compelling, and the characters are fairly well fleshed out. This is a trifecta that is often not met in science fiction writing and I appreciate it.

"Hard to Be a God" might not be the best of the books written by Strugatsky brothers, but it is easily the most likable. On the surface it is a very entertaining book highly readable and written in a language full of humor. Quite a few quotes from it immediately became catch phrases in Russian and remain popular and recognizable even now 50 years after the book was first published. If you choose to look deeper the book raises some very important questions about the human nature: the responsibility for action and inaction, the futility of efforts to engineer social progress, the challenge of remaining a human in the world of cruelty and betrayal.The quality of translation is the reason why I've given this book only 3 stars. The events of the original book are conveyed in the translated version correctly with maybe a couple of very minor mistakes (i.e. a character draws his sword in translation and sheathes it in the original text). The style and language are however a very different issue. As a non native speaker I am not in a position to evaluate the style of writing but I had a very strong impression that fluid and humorous language of the original book was lost in translation.

I've loaned this book out twice and never gotten it back. So I bought a third copy to not loan out. There is a reason people do not bring it back. The movie(s) are awful, the book is amazing.