Monday Begins on Saturday
by Boris Strugatskii, Arkadii Strugatskii, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky · first published 2014
50% recommend44% neutral6% critical
Why HN recommends it
Satirical, humorous story about a programmer at a research institute of sorcery and wizardry; many software engineers, especially from the former USSR, say it is a fun read that feels relatable.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Investigators Also, you can introduce him to some excellent Ostblock sci-fi authors: Stanislav Lem: "The Cyberiad" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cyberiad) Arkady and Boris Strugatsky: "Monday Begins on Saturday" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday_Begins_on_Saturday)
on “Ask HN: Good Sci-Fi/Geek-Lit For School-Age Kids?” ↗"Hard to be a God" of Strugatsky Brothers. "Monday Begins on Saturday", circa 1965, of the same authors. That is a satiric story full of brilliant humor about programmer (main hero) in Scientific Research Institute of Sorcery and Wizardry. This book is literally the reason…
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗Aside from "serious literature struggle" a nation that liked catch-22 and stuff like that would dig "Monday begins on Saturday". Its been out of print forever (in english), used copies sell for $50 on amazon. Something to think about with "failed markets" is when you only have a microscopic hyper regulated oligopoly you can…
on “Why are there few courses in Soviet literature at American universities? (2014)” ↗Strugatski brothers' Monday Begins on Saturday is aslo a difficult translation from Russian. I really love Russian literature, especially modern writers like Vladimir Sorokin, it's so different.
on “How Chekhov invented the modern short story” ↗…fifteen years or so with epilogues written by Boris covering the censorship process. I would recommend beginning with "The Dead Mountaineer's Inn," which I started with, although "Hard to be a God" and "Monday Begins on Saturday" are more strongly allegorical. I read their entire catalogue after reading a book review last year and becoming (mildly) obsessed.
on “Bringing Chinese Science Fiction to the West” ↗…future-earth hold up a twisted mirror to our own life as they try to engage and help but discover there are no good answers - at best, they don't make things any worse; but often they fail in even that much. Monday begins on Saturday is a much more upbeat story that's actually about people who are better than who we are right now, in an environment that lets them thrive; and you do need both those components for a utopia - contrast…
on “Blindsight (2006)” ↗Many of the ex-USSR software engineers have read and adore "Monday Begins on Saturday" which is a humorous and satirical story about a programmer working for the Scientific Research Institute of Sorcery and Wizardry. It was written in 1965 when the whole 'programmer' concept was unknown…
on “How the Strugatsky brothers’ science fiction went from utopian to dystopian” ↗Agreed. Monday Begins on Saturday is amazing - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday_Begins_on_Saturday
on “Ask HN: What are some great books that are relatively unknown in the US?” ↗…communism but saw stalinism as something horrible that should never happen again. But, for better or for worse, it looks like believers was the last thing the communist party needed. By the way, the book "Monday begins on Saturday" by Strugatsky brothers is exactly about a RnD institute (almost) full of people sincerely trying to make world a better place. Strugatsky brothers were believers themselves. To the end of USSR they have…
on “David Dushman, last surviving Auschwitz liberator, dies aged 98” ↗There's a lot more runway, in a novel, to establish style and voice - both for the authors and for the translators. Monday Begins on Saturday begins: "Я приближался к месту моего назначения. Вокруг меня, прижимаясь к самой дороге, зеленел лес, изредка уступая место полянам, поросшим желтой осокою." Pretty much ez-mode compared to this opener,…
on “How Chekhov invented the modern short story” ↗In sci-fi book "Monday begins on Saturday" by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky there was cool, but rather unrealistic theory, according to which Tunguska event was a landing of an alien spaceship, which had reverse time arrow. They landed and then…
on “The Tunguska Event” ↗I always wondered if that Strugatsky book _Monday Begins on Saturday_ was playing on something else...
on “For 11 Years, the Soviet Union Had No Weekends (2018)” ↗Anything will be hard to translate between languages as distant as English and Russian, to be quite honest. Monday Begins on Saturday just has more contemporary cultural references that Russian readers understand. Chekhov's stories probably have just as many but they are just as lost to the contemporary Russian reader as they would…
on “How Chekhov invented the modern short story” ↗Apparently, a new version of Monday Begins on Saturday is due to be released in September, costing £4 and £10 for the Kindle and paperback editions, respectively. https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=97814732...
on “Why are there few courses in Soviet literature at American universities? (2014)” ↗In Powell's in Portland, I have seen out-of-print old translations and original Russian copies of Monday begins on Saturday. Maybe try their website?
on “Why are there few courses in Soviet literature at American universities? (2014)” ↗