A story where contact with aliens has social lessons
5 stars
This book holds a special place in science fiction for its unusual take on a first contact situation without the aliens themselves. The authors had a hard time getting it past the Soviet censors and bureaucrats even though it seemed obvious to them that the story was a harsh condemnation of rapacious capitalism. It's hard to know how much the story had to change in the process, but to me the climactic ending really did seem like a surprising paean to utopian communism. The criticisms of the black market in alien artifacts and the stifling bureaucracy could have been uncomfortable for the authorities during a time when the West was pulling away with a strong economy and great technological prowess.
The strongest feature of the story was the sense of uneasy dread permeating the zone that seems more important than the plot. The characters are three dimensional, especially the stalkers …
This book holds a special place in science fiction for its unusual take on a first contact situation without the aliens themselves. The authors had a hard time getting it past the Soviet censors and bureaucrats even though it seemed obvious to them that the story was a harsh condemnation of rapacious capitalism. It's hard to know how much the story had to change in the process, but to me the climactic ending really did seem like a surprising paean to utopian communism. The criticisms of the black market in alien artifacts and the stifling bureaucracy could have been uncomfortable for the authorities during a time when the West was pulling away with a strong economy and great technological prowess.
The strongest feature of the story was the sense of uneasy dread permeating the zone that seems more important than the plot. The characters are three dimensional, especially the stalkers who venture into the cursed zone left behind by the aliens. The items they bring back are like totemic mystery objects obtained at great price. To me, the sacrificial imagery of the ending hits with metaphysical impact.
I listened to the audiobook version of the book that came out last year and found the narration enhanced the story. This isn't a long book, but it lands hard.