Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Man. This one was a disappointment to me, especially considering the huge success I've found lately in a handful of their other books.
Monday Starts On Saturday is a sort of series on anecdotal stories about a computer scientist who comes to work for the fictional USSR lab NITWIT, whose purpose is to scientifically study and quantify the magical and mystical elements of the universe. The scientists are all students of magic at varying degrees and work in departments reminiscent of the classes from Hogwarts. The novel whimsically plays with many silly and philosophically mind-bending ideas that would come with trying to qualify, quantify, and harness the supernatural elements of the universe, covering all the mythologies and folklores made popular throughout human history, from time travel to genies to spell casting to vampires.
I would willingly and deprecatingly call myself an occasionally pedantic and obtuse bibliophile. If you caught all that, you might have a slim chance of enjoying this book. Even so, I doubt it. While the concepts in it are unique, ironically hilarious, and expansively themed, it is hard to stay engaged to a level that keeps it feeling enjoyable. The Strugasky's fall into the seemingly Russian tradition of an expansive cast of long-named characters who are hard to keep straight, and all of these characters are wielding half-understood magical spells and items while trying to philosophically dissect their magical meanings. Characters argue over whether they should try to gain direction on how to try to go about explaining an unsolvable mystery if they already know the mystery is unsolvable. One scientist tries to program homemade monsters to try to prove that man can engineer a life form which is wholly satisfying, with disastrous and bizarre results. Throughout the novel, one feels like there might be something more interesting in the experiencing of the magic itself than there is in the discussions that drag on about the nature of the magic taking place.
There are other authors who have come from scientific and theoretical backgrounds who have nearly bored me with their philosophy professor's water cooler jargon. C.S. Lewis gets dangerously close to overwhelming his readers with university departmental politics in That Hideous Strength. Kingsley Amis actively rebels against collegiate stuffiness in Luck Jim. But here the Strugatskys embrace and run with the heady science lab witticisms and the departmental politicking.
It isn't strange that they said it was their least censored novel in Cold War Russia. How could the censors hope to grasp it all? It is strange that they said it was their most well received work upon publication. I have no answer for that, apart from the suggestion that, if you do choose to read it, do not listen to it on audiobook. I do quite well with audio comprehension, but this one might have been easier to enjoy in text format.
It's not a sensible ride, but it definitely moves at breakneck speeds, with glimpses of nuggets here and there.
Monday Starts On Saturday is a sort of series on anecdotal stories about a computer scientist who comes to work for the fictional USSR lab NITWIT, whose purpose is to scientifically study and quantify the magical and mystical elements of the universe. The scientists are all students of magic at varying degrees and work in departments reminiscent of the classes from Hogwarts. The novel whimsically plays with many silly and philosophically mind-bending ideas that would come with trying to qualify, quantify, and harness the supernatural elements of the universe, covering all the mythologies and folklores made popular throughout human history, from time travel to genies to spell casting to vampires.
I would willingly and deprecatingly call myself an occasionally pedantic and obtuse bibliophile. If you caught all that, you might have a slim chance of enjoying this book. Even so, I doubt it. While the concepts in it are unique, ironically hilarious, and expansively themed, it is hard to stay engaged to a level that keeps it feeling enjoyable. The Strugasky's fall into the seemingly Russian tradition of an expansive cast of long-named characters who are hard to keep straight, and all of these characters are wielding half-understood magical spells and items while trying to philosophically dissect their magical meanings. Characters argue over whether they should try to gain direction on how to try to go about explaining an unsolvable mystery if they already know the mystery is unsolvable. One scientist tries to program homemade monsters to try to prove that man can engineer a life form which is wholly satisfying, with disastrous and bizarre results. Throughout the novel, one feels like there might be something more interesting in the experiencing of the magic itself than there is in the discussions that drag on about the nature of the magic taking place.
There are other authors who have come from scientific and theoretical backgrounds who have nearly bored me with their philosophy professor's water cooler jargon. C.S. Lewis gets dangerously close to overwhelming his readers with university departmental politics in That Hideous Strength. Kingsley Amis actively rebels against collegiate stuffiness in Luck Jim. But here the Strugatskys embrace and run with the heady science lab witticisms and the departmental politicking.
It isn't strange that they said it was their least censored novel in Cold War Russia. How could the censors hope to grasp it all? It is strange that they said it was their most well received work upon publication. I have no answer for that, apart from the suggestion that, if you do choose to read it, do not listen to it on audiobook. I do quite well with audio comprehension, but this one might have been easier to enjoy in text format.
It's not a sensible ride, but it definitely moves at breakneck speeds, with glimpses of nuggets here and there.
3.5/5
Perhaps I'd have enjoyed this book if I had better knowledge of Russian Folklore or if I had read the book in its original language but reading a translated version without any knowledge of the references made it a dull read for me. There are a lot of funny moments but ultimately it felt like the plot wasn't leading anywhere and just relied on the situation.
Perhaps I'd have enjoyed this book if I had better knowledge of Russian Folklore or if I had read the book in its original language but reading a translated version without any knowledge of the references made it a dull read for me. There are a lot of funny moments but ultimately it felt like the plot wasn't leading anywhere and just relied on the situation.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What if Terry Pratchet had been born in Soviet Russia instead of Englad?
What if the company from Office Space researched magic?
What if Terry Gilliam intentionally set out to design academia cum government agency in charge of magic then filmed it?
Any of those could be the elevator pitch for Monday Start On Saturday. As is par for the course with the Strugatsky's, we have some brilliant criticism of the Soviet system deftly embedded in fantastical settings and storytelling to help them get by. We experience the inept silliness of the government agency in charge of magical research through a programmer and mathematician everyman. A lot of the fun is built around references to and easter eggs of a wide variety of folk/fairy tale characters as well as some literary characters. Unfortunately, while I recognized the vast majority, I think a few references to russian or slavic folktales went a bit over my head. Rather than a novel, this is really a set of vignettes, presented as both 'chapters' and 'stories' of various goings on at the Institute. As such, it does feel a little incomplete and meandering. It also lacks the overall punch that the tighter narrative of Roadside Picnic possessed.
What if the company from Office Space researched magic?
What if Terry Gilliam intentionally set out to design academia cum government agency in charge of magic then filmed it?
Any of those could be the elevator pitch for Monday Start On Saturday. As is par for the course with the Strugatsky's, we have some brilliant criticism of the Soviet system deftly embedded in fantastical settings and storytelling to help them get by. We experience the inept silliness of the government agency in charge of magical research through a programmer and mathematician everyman. A lot of the fun is built around references to and easter eggs of a wide variety of folk/fairy tale characters as well as some literary characters. Unfortunately, while I recognized the vast majority, I think a few references to russian or slavic folktales went a bit over my head. Rather than a novel, this is really a set of vignettes, presented as both 'chapters' and 'stories' of various goings on at the Institute. As such, it does feel a little incomplete and meandering. It also lacks the overall punch that the tighter narrative of Roadside Picnic possessed.
No, no, no. Just no. I'll wholly take responsibility and say it's me rather than the book, but it just did not work at all for me. This one is just a little too Soviet, a little... too... ... ponderous.
For me at least.
For me at least.
Interesting! A number of my Russian colleagues consider this an absolutely seminal book in their personal and intellectual development; I get the feeling it was a really important sci-fi novel if you grew up in Soviet-era Russia. It's very interesting even today, though I'm not sure the translation I read does it justice. It was fascinating as an insight into from-the-inside views of the absurdity of the Soviet scientific establishment, and honestly, for how much of the outside world (especially American writers and culture) were known broadly enough them to crack jokes about. Growing up in the US, we of course assumed that the USSR was totally closed off and essentially in the dark about the outside world, which you can tell from reading this was very obviously untrue (I mean, we had our own propaganda on that score, I suppose).
Worth reading, as a historical document, at the very least.
Worth reading, as a historical document, at the very least.
Would like to give this three stars, because it's not badly written, it's just a mess. Really, it's several stories loosely linked, but I just found it a chore to try and keep up with what plot there was. It was difficult to understand some parts of the novel, jumping back and forth between reality and 'hallucination'. In the end, it's the lack of a coherent story that was the big problem.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
My buddy Laurent, who enthusiastically recommended I read the Strugatsky brothers, describes “Monday Begins on Saturday” as ‘Soviet “Harry Potter”’ – while that is not entirely accurate, it is the general vibe, except it’s far funnier and far cleverer than anything Rowling ever wrote.
A young programmer from Leningrad is driving to a small northern town for a few days of vacation and picks up two hitchhikers who turn out to be employees of the Scientific Research Institute of Sorcery and Wizardry – a place where folklore and magic is studied with very serious scientific methods, but with the level of absurdity one can certainly expect from a story set in the USSR in the 60s…
There is certainly a lot of socio-political and economic subtext weaved through this story of an everyman suddenly stuck in a surreal situation. Some of that subtext might have been lost on me, because while I have a decent familiarity with Russian folklore and history, it is by no means an expertise; I caught quite a few references, but I am sure I must have missed a bunch as well. Luckily, I think the story’s zaniness is strong enough on its own. The convoluted structure of the Institute our hero, Alexander, finds himself employed by has a clear Kafkaesque nature, but balanced with a lot of that weird Russian humor I am quite fond of. Folkloric creatures collide with modern technology and rigid committee and inventory structures, and that all goes about as well as you might imagine!
The novel is made up of 3 loosely tied stories, and that format is interesting, but doesn’t really allow for a lot of character development, it goes more like a series of vignettes, and I think I would have liked a deeper immersion into the world dreamt up by the Strugatsky brothers. But considering the intent behind writing such a book, I am in awe at how entertaining they made it, even if it left me just a little bit wanting. Very recommended!
A young programmer from Leningrad is driving to a small northern town for a few days of vacation and picks up two hitchhikers who turn out to be employees of the Scientific Research Institute of Sorcery and Wizardry – a place where folklore and magic is studied with very serious scientific methods, but with the level of absurdity one can certainly expect from a story set in the USSR in the 60s…
There is certainly a lot of socio-political and economic subtext weaved through this story of an everyman suddenly stuck in a surreal situation. Some of that subtext might have been lost on me, because while I have a decent familiarity with Russian folklore and history, it is by no means an expertise; I caught quite a few references, but I am sure I must have missed a bunch as well. Luckily, I think the story’s zaniness is strong enough on its own. The convoluted structure of the Institute our hero, Alexander, finds himself employed by has a clear Kafkaesque nature, but balanced with a lot of that weird Russian humor I am quite fond of. Folkloric creatures collide with modern technology and rigid committee and inventory structures, and that all goes about as well as you might imagine!
The novel is made up of 3 loosely tied stories, and that format is interesting, but doesn’t really allow for a lot of character development, it goes more like a series of vignettes, and I think I would have liked a deeper immersion into the world dreamt up by the Strugatsky brothers. But considering the intent behind writing such a book, I am in awe at how entertaining they made it, even if it left me just a little bit wanting. Very recommended!
I'd love to know if the authors ever read Flann O'Brien, the Irish surrealist writer. There are parts of this book that really remind me of "At Swim-Two-Birds", particularly where the world of the novel intersects with the world of fiction.
A fantastic read, truly delightful. As a novel, it's inventive and whimsical and unique in a way I think everyone can enjoy. For those more versed in Soviet history, Russian folklore, or science fiction I think it will take on even deeper significance.