Roadside Picnic

by Борис Стругацкий, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

224 pages

English language

Published April 8, 2012

ISBN:: 978-0-575-09313-3

Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those young rebels who are compelled, in spite of 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.

First published in 1972, Roadside Picnic is still widely regarded as one of the greatest science fiction novels, despite the fact that it has been out of print in the United States for almost thirty years.

5 editions

sotolf reviewed Roadside Picnic by Борис Стругацкий

Decent book, didn't hate it

3 stars

This one was okay, a lot of descriptions of smoking and drinking, and in a way looking down at the working class people in a way showing them off as crass, chainsmoking alcoholics most of the time, sure I think what was meant is that this is what they are forced to under a capitalistic system which is kind of falling apart from being so close to the Zones. The ending was also a bit abrupt and vague, but okay, and most of the characters were just assholes to each other.

KennyKravitz reviewed Roadside Picnic by Борис Стругацкий

I don't know what I was expecting...but it wasn't this

5 stars

I picked this up based on the media that has been influenced by it, like the Tarkovsky film, the STALKER games, Metro 2033, Tales of the Loop etc. Usually when you move from the influences and adaptations and return to the source work, you find a tighter and more concentrated version of what came after but with Roadside Picnic almost the opposite is true. Having consumed quite a bit of media that borrow from the tense, otherworldly horror of RP's Zone sections I was unprepared for the breadth of the book. I didn't expect it to, by turns, become a Noirish thriller, a jet black comedy, and a philosphilical treatise on human nature and capitalism.

It seems to me that this should be on every SF enthusiast's 'required reading' list but it doesn't seem like many people bother to read it and that's a huge shame. Especially because it …

It seems to me that this should be on every SF enthusiast's 'required reading' list but it doesn't seem like many people bother to read it and that's a huge shame. Especially because it says so much in so few words: 145 pages from start to finish. I've read so many big SF&F trilogies that use ten times as many pages to say a tenth of what the Strugatskys say here.

jarizleifr reviewed Roadside Picnic by Борис Стругацкий

Review of 'Roadside Picnic' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

If I had to pick one word to describe Roadside Picnic, it would be clever. All about this book feels rascalous, chaotic, full of energy and vitality. I think the main theme here is how people and culture can adapt to almost anything. No matter how bleak, odd or desperate the situation, the spark of life can be found in the most unexpected of places and that's something I'd gladly take to my heart from this book, especially in these trying times.