The Strugatsky’s Oeuvre - Body of Work

The Strugatskys wrote dozens of books collaboratively and individually. Sources we’ve scoured put the number at 27, but the actual number is more complex, as some were written under pseudonyms.

According to the Paris Review: Since they started writing in the mid-1950s, the brothers published at least twenty-six novels, in addition to stories, plays, and a few works written individually. According to a 1967 poll, four of the top ten works of science fiction in the Soviet Union were by the Strugatskys, including Hard to Be a God in first place and Monday Begins on Saturday (1965) in second. For at least three decades they were the most popular science-fiction writers in Russia, and the most influential Russian science-fiction writers in the world.

Read the full article on the Paris Review site.

“In some sense, we’re all cavemen—we can’t imagine anything more frightening than a ghost or a vampire. But the violation of the principle of causality—that’s actually much scarier than a whole herd of ghosts…”

— Arkady Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

Get to Know The Authors- Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

A documentary on the Strugatskys. But it’s in Russian. We are looking for a an English langauge or translated documentry.

Science fiction played a major role in Soviet literature and culture, especially after Stalin’s death during the Khrushchev Thaw. The genre thrived in the Cold War and space race era, promoted by the state but also embraced by intellectuals as a space for both hope and dissent. Within this context, Jewish authors and themes became central, shaping Soviet and Eastern European science fiction in unique ways.

Writers such as Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Stanisław Lem, Ilya Varshavsky, Gennady Gor, Rafail Nudelman, and Boris Shtern infused their works with Jewish identity, memory, and philosophy. The Strugatsky brothers, pioneers of Soviet science fiction, made Jewishness a recurring element throughout their novels.