Review: Hard to Be a God by Strugatsky Brothers (Chicago Review Press translation)
When I was at Chicago Comics and Entertainment Expo earlier this year, I found that Chicago Review Press, a local publisher, will be releasing the brand-new English translation of Hard To Be a God by Arkadiy and Boris Strugatsky. It's hard to explain to someone who didn't grow up east of the Iron Curtain why I was so excited. For over 50 years, the Strugatsky Brothers have been huge in former Soviet Union - and many ex-Soviet country. Their Noon Universe novels. While they may not have been quite as literary or as complex as their later work, their saga of the post-Socialist, Utopian 22nd Century dealt with complex themes of influence of propaganda, the nature - and consequences of - interfering in other cultures, the importance of art and science, what it means to be good and, in a lot of ways, what it means to be human.
I was introduced to the Noon Universe by my mom, when I was around 10 years old. I was immidiately captivated. And none of them stuck a cord quite as much as Hard To Be a God.
While Noon Universe novels never went out of print in Russia, English translations are incredibly difficult to find. In Chicago, I haven't been able to find any outside the Chicago Public Library (which, for some reason, has a nearly complete collection of all the English translations ever released). So to have a Noon Universe novel - and one of my favorite Noon Universe novels, no less - released in English and available in bookstores, was simply too exciting for words.
So when it came out... Well, I didn't buy it. After all, what if the translation was crap? But I did reserve a copy at the Chicago Public Library, which, true to form, got it in stock.
So what is it about?
On an alien world very much like Earth during the Renaissance era, in a kingdom of Arkanar, a former province of a once-mighty Estorian Empire, Anton, a historian from Earth, is on a mission. Masquerading as Don Rumata, a local nobleman, he is charged with observing the events around him without interfering... at least most of the time. As the new Prime Minister Don Reba cracks down on scientists and artists, Anton tries his best to get them to safety - all while feeling helpless that he couldn't do more. Every day, Anton struggles to hold on to the values and ideals of the utopian Earth even as circumstances push him to compromise them. As the situation in the country deteriorates and fellow agents don't take the situation as seriously as he thinks he should, will Anton be able to avoid crossing the line?
One of the things I've always found compelling about the novel is the moral struggle at the heart of the novel. Early in the novel, Anton's fellow agent (who's been under cover as a bureaucrat Don Condor for decades and remembers a time when Earth agents weren't allowed to interfere at all) reminds him that he should act like a benevolent god and use his "piower" - his knowledge of history, the technology and skills at his disposal and the strength and resilience granted by 22nd Century medical science - wisely and carefully. But it was easier said than done. Over the course of the novel, we see the realities of day-to-day life wearing Anton down. To a kid, this was heavy stuff. It still is, even if to a somewhat lesser extent.
I've reread the novels several times over the years in the original Russian. But when I read it in English, I found myself looking at it from a somewhat different perspective. I found myself wondering - what would an American think of this? And things that didn't jump out at me before suddenly did.
I never realized how much of Hard to Be a God's depiction of late-Medieval/Renaissance society was influenced by the way Soviet propaganda depicted medieval society. For example, to someone who was familiar with that culture, it would make sense that religious authorities were depicted as agents of ignorance. But that sort of thing might raise a few eyebrows in the West. The Soviet ideology, the notion that history is the cycle of exploiters and exploited that only Socialism can break, underlines many scenes, which may jump out to a Western reader.
And, to my surprise, I found that my opinion of Anton changed as I read the translated version. When I first read the novel, I sympathized and admired him. But I was surprised to realize that I found that his disdain for the Arkanarian society, his readiness to write the whole thing off as rotten to the core and its people as ignorant stooges, felt a bit grating. I couldn't help but feel that, at times, it came off as an intellectual's disdain for "ignorant"working people. I'm not entirely sure that's not intentional - since we do see natives who don't fit Anton's stereotypes, and there are several scenes where he thinks that he was wrong to tar everyone with the same brush. One can see this mindset as the side-effect of the pressures Anton is under. Maybe we aren't supposed to take it entirely at face value.
It's funny what difference a re-reading in a different language makes.
Ultimately, I would still recommend the novel. Even with what I said earlier, Anton is ultimately a sympathetic character. The novel has an interesting supporting cast, and the villainous Don Reba ultimately comes off as more human than first impressions suggest. The themes are as compelling as ever. The Strugatsky Brothers had a gift for capturing the environments their characters find themselves, creating complex, detailed worlds, and that gift is very much on display here. Plus, it's an interesting story with some legitimate plot twists and genuine surprises.
As for the translation - I feel that, for the most part, Olena Barmashenko did a pretty good job. I question a few translation choices - like, in the later portion of the novel, the character makes reference to a "werewolf" when a "vampire" or "shapeshifter" would have been a much better translation (as mysticowl mentioned in a recent podcast, in Slavic mythology, the line between vampires and werewolves is a bit blurry). But all things considering, those are minor quibbles that don't detract from the overall quality of the translation.
In the end... I'm really curious to see a review by an American, by someone who has no background in Soviet culture and no per-conceptions. Maybe the Soviet cultural aspects of the novel jump out at me because I'm familiar enough with both cultures to spot the contrast.
Any Western reader would be coming in without the original text to compare it to, without any knowledge of Strugatsky Brothers' work and the circumstances that helped shape it. I'm not sure what kind of impression they would get - but I'd be curious to find out.
Hard to Be a God is available on Amazon, as well as at Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million Chicago Review Press' official website and (hopefully) the library and independent book store near you.
I was introduced to the Noon Universe by my mom, when I was around 10 years old. I was immidiately captivated. And none of them stuck a cord quite as much as Hard To Be a God.
While Noon Universe novels never went out of print in Russia, English translations are incredibly difficult to find. In Chicago, I haven't been able to find any outside the Chicago Public Library (which, for some reason, has a nearly complete collection of all the English translations ever released). So to have a Noon Universe novel - and one of my favorite Noon Universe novels, no less - released in English and available in bookstores, was simply too exciting for words.
So when it came out... Well, I didn't buy it. After all, what if the translation was crap? But I did reserve a copy at the Chicago Public Library, which, true to form, got it in stock.
So what is it about?
On an alien world very much like Earth during the Renaissance era, in a kingdom of Arkanar, a former province of a once-mighty Estorian Empire, Anton, a historian from Earth, is on a mission. Masquerading as Don Rumata, a local nobleman, he is charged with observing the events around him without interfering... at least most of the time. As the new Prime Minister Don Reba cracks down on scientists and artists, Anton tries his best to get them to safety - all while feeling helpless that he couldn't do more. Every day, Anton struggles to hold on to the values and ideals of the utopian Earth even as circumstances push him to compromise them. As the situation in the country deteriorates and fellow agents don't take the situation as seriously as he thinks he should, will Anton be able to avoid crossing the line?
One of the things I've always found compelling about the novel is the moral struggle at the heart of the novel. Early in the novel, Anton's fellow agent (who's been under cover as a bureaucrat Don Condor for decades and remembers a time when Earth agents weren't allowed to interfere at all) reminds him that he should act like a benevolent god and use his "piower" - his knowledge of history, the technology and skills at his disposal and the strength and resilience granted by 22nd Century medical science - wisely and carefully. But it was easier said than done. Over the course of the novel, we see the realities of day-to-day life wearing Anton down. To a kid, this was heavy stuff. It still is, even if to a somewhat lesser extent.
I've reread the novels several times over the years in the original Russian. But when I read it in English, I found myself looking at it from a somewhat different perspective. I found myself wondering - what would an American think of this? And things that didn't jump out at me before suddenly did.
I never realized how much of Hard to Be a God's depiction of late-Medieval/Renaissance society was influenced by the way Soviet propaganda depicted medieval society. For example, to someone who was familiar with that culture, it would make sense that religious authorities were depicted as agents of ignorance. But that sort of thing might raise a few eyebrows in the West. The Soviet ideology, the notion that history is the cycle of exploiters and exploited that only Socialism can break, underlines many scenes, which may jump out to a Western reader.
And, to my surprise, I found that my opinion of Anton changed as I read the translated version. When I first read the novel, I sympathized and admired him. But I was surprised to realize that I found that his disdain for the Arkanarian society, his readiness to write the whole thing off as rotten to the core and its people as ignorant stooges, felt a bit grating. I couldn't help but feel that, at times, it came off as an intellectual's disdain for "ignorant"working people. I'm not entirely sure that's not intentional - since we do see natives who don't fit Anton's stereotypes, and there are several scenes where he thinks that he was wrong to tar everyone with the same brush. One can see this mindset as the side-effect of the pressures Anton is under. Maybe we aren't supposed to take it entirely at face value.
It's funny what difference a re-reading in a different language makes.
Ultimately, I would still recommend the novel. Even with what I said earlier, Anton is ultimately a sympathetic character. The novel has an interesting supporting cast, and the villainous Don Reba ultimately comes off as more human than first impressions suggest. The themes are as compelling as ever. The Strugatsky Brothers had a gift for capturing the environments their characters find themselves, creating complex, detailed worlds, and that gift is very much on display here. Plus, it's an interesting story with some legitimate plot twists and genuine surprises.
As for the translation - I feel that, for the most part, Olena Barmashenko did a pretty good job. I question a few translation choices - like, in the later portion of the novel, the character makes reference to a "werewolf" when a "vampire" or "shapeshifter" would have been a much better translation (as mysticowl mentioned in a recent podcast, in Slavic mythology, the line between vampires and werewolves is a bit blurry). But all things considering, those are minor quibbles that don't detract from the overall quality of the translation.
In the end... I'm really curious to see a review by an American, by someone who has no background in Soviet culture and no per-conceptions. Maybe the Soviet cultural aspects of the novel jump out at me because I'm familiar enough with both cultures to spot the contrast.
Any Western reader would be coming in without the original text to compare it to, without any knowledge of Strugatsky Brothers' work and the circumstances that helped shape it. I'm not sure what kind of impression they would get - but I'd be curious to find out.
Hard to Be a God is available on Amazon, as well as at Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million Chicago Review Press' official website and (hopefully) the library and independent book store near you.