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sociotom 's review for:
Picnic extraterrestre / Leyendas de la Troika
by Boris Strugatsky, Arkady Strugatsky
As this is two separate stories, I'm going to have to split my review to look at them separately. Although both are great.
Roadside Picnic is a slow-paced and thoughtful work, concerning itself with what being human is in the face of the unimaginably different. None of the characters are really "good" and none are really "bad" (well, one might be). They're all looking out for themselves, and maybe one or two others along the way. The influence this story must have had on the Southern Reach trilogy is immense - it's not a perfect 1-for-1 by any means, but so much of Picnic feels familiar if you've already read that trilogy. If you're up for some weird, in a way that won't leave you feeling quite as gutted as the Southern Reach can - well, this is your book.
Tale of the Troika was like watching the Mad Hatter and March Hare run a Soviet bureaucracy. It was ridiculous, it was over the top, it was funny, and at times almost frustrating. So many of the character are clearly insane, and they pull you in with them, until you find yourself looking forward to the next absolute nonsense they're going to spew. It's a fun story in its own right, but coming after Roadside Picnic made it a nice salve as well. Just be ready to be unbalanced by the end of the first page, and never really finding your balance again.
Roadside Picnic is a slow-paced and thoughtful work, concerning itself with what being human is in the face of the unimaginably different. None of the characters are really "good" and none are really "bad" (well, one might be). They're all looking out for themselves, and maybe one or two others along the way. The influence this story must have had on the Southern Reach trilogy is immense - it's not a perfect 1-for-1 by any means, but so much of Picnic feels familiar if you've already read that trilogy. If you're up for some weird, in a way that won't leave you feeling quite as gutted as the Southern Reach can - well, this is your book.
Tale of the Troika was like watching the Mad Hatter and March Hare run a Soviet bureaucracy. It was ridiculous, it was over the top, it was funny, and at times almost frustrating. So many of the character are clearly insane, and they pull you in with them, until you find yourself looking forward to the next absolute nonsense they're going to spew. It's a fun story in its own right, but coming after Roadside Picnic made it a nice salve as well. Just be ready to be unbalanced by the end of the first page, and never really finding your balance again.