The Doomed City
by Arkadii Strugatskii, Boris Strugatskii, Arkady and Boris Strugatsky · first published 2016
54% recommend46% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Philosophical science fiction offering subtle, wild portrayals of Soviet people and their thinking. It is among the Strugatsky brothers' most complex novels and suits those seeking serious dystopian fiction.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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As a Russian myself, I recommend Strugatsky brothers "The Doomed City", because firstly: it's a damn good book. Secondly, I think it gives great, subtle and wild representation of soviet people minds. Also, this book is full of awesome philosophical ideas, for which it…
on “'Mountaineer' Is a Must-Read of Soviet Sci-Fi” ↗FYI, there's a recent English translation of "The Doomed City" by the Strugatsky brothers, if you're into Soviet Sci-fi beyond Stanisław Lem, or if you want to see what dystopian fiction written by citizens of an actual dystopia looks like.
on “Ted Chiang: Fears of Technology Are Fears of Capitalism” ↗This is by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, who were contemporaries of Lem. FWIW by favorite Strugatsky novels were Hard to Be a God, and The Doomed City.
on “The Truth, by Stanisław Lem (1964)” ↗Arkady and Boris Strugatsky were pretty prolific during this time (often writing in secret, and reciting their works only to trusted friends). "The Doomed City" is one of the best pieces of philosophical scifi I've ever read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doomed_City
on “The secretive world of North Korean science fiction” ↗…can get vibe, how communist Sci-Fi looked. If you read later stuff, like "Tale of the Troika", then you get story humorously criticizing soviet bureaucracy. Then there is pretty serious stuff, like "The Doomed City" or "Ugly Swans". You probably know "Roadside Picnic" - this interpretations in films and gaming are known as "Stalker".
on “We're sorry we created the Torment Nexus” ↗The Doomed City is also great. Tried to read Noon and it was too unfocused for me.
on “Ask HN: Sci-fi recommendations by non-western authors?” ↗Highly recommend Doomed City, probably the most complex novel the Strugackis ever wrote.
on “Ask HN: What is the best thing you read in 2024?” ↗"You're not slaves - this collar just looks good on you!" (c) Strugatsky brothers, "The Doomed City" novel, 1988
on “Apple Q&A on gathering and use of location data (Apple Press Release)” ↗I am currently reading the Strugatsky brothers' "The Doomed City". The history of the book and its fanfare intrigued me. Sci Fi played an important role in Russian history as authors treaded carefully with their criticisms of the State. This book was written and…
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2017?” ↗…century novels, sci-fi (which has some intersection with 20th century classics..) and historical non-fiction. So far I've read one from each of those categories: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, The Doomed City by the Strugatsky Brothers and October by China Mievelle. I like to roughly alternate between fiction and non-fiction. It keeps things refreshing. I also find reading fiction after reading non-fiction…
on “Ask HN: What Books Do You Recommend Reading for 2022?” ↗I grw up reading Strugatsky brothers novels. They too became more and more disilusioned with the world. I haven't read The Doomed City yet.
on “Tell HN: If You Are in Russia” ↗…books every ten years or so (along with some of Philip K. Dick's) because I keep forgetting the plot and the details. The Noon Universe books, along with Roadside Picnic are quite cryptic. Anyway, The Doomed City is considered one of their most depressing of their novels, with a feeling of hopelessness characteristic of the Brezhnev era. I've long posponed reading it due to this and the fact that it's the last…
on “Reading Soviet Sci-Fi at the End of the World” ↗…Swans was previously published as a standalone book, but is now intertwined with a book about the hassles of dealing with an AI-based evaluator of book quality, the book in question being Ugly Swans). The Doomed City was the original candidate for that, but was too long to fit - that's also available on SF Masterworks. If you want to see where Iain M Banks extracted a good quarter of his ideas for the Culture, "Hard…
on “Chernobyl's 'stalker' subculture” ↗The Doomed City is a bad example since it was specifically released in a post-soviet era. It had very direct criticisms of communism which lead to the authors deciding to not release it during the soviet era they wrote…
on “The secretive world of North Korean science fiction” ↗Technically, 'The Doomed City' was released in Soviet times, not in the post-Soviet one, as a result of Glasnost'/Perestroika. It was published in serialized form in "Neva" magazine in '88-'89, then in book form, while the USSR would…
on “The secretive world of North Korean science fiction” ↗