Celestial Hellscapes : Cosmology as the Key to the Strugatskiis' Science Fictions / Kevin Reese.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Reese, Kevin, Author.

Series:

Real twentieth century.

Real Twentieth Century

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Strugat͡skiĭ, Arkadiĭ, 1925-1991--Criticism and interpretation.

Strugat͡skiĭ, Arkadiĭ.

Strugat͡skiĭ, Boris, 1933-2012--Criticism and interpretation.

Strugat͡skiĭ, Boris.

Science fiction, Russian--Soviet Union--History and criticism.

Science fiction, Russian.

Cosmology in literature.

Astronomy in literature.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (278 pages).

Place of Publication:

Boston, MA : Academic Studies Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

Neither Arkadii nor Boris Strugatskii had originally intended to make a living in writing. Arkadii dreamed of becoming an astronomer, but his wartime experience and training led him to work as a translator and editor of Japanese literature. Boris intended to become a physicist, trained as an astronomer, and ended up as a computer specialist at Pulkovo Observatory. This common thread of astronomy turns out to be fantastically important for understanding their works, as their most important ones are experiments in cosmology, and their shared expertise is instrumental in their construction of literary hellscapes. This book explores how the Strugatskiis' cosmological explorations are among the most fundamental elements of their art. It examines also how these explorations connect to their predecessors in the Russian literary tradition-particularly to the poetry of Pushkin.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgements

A Note on the Names of Our "Author"

The Strugatskiis' Pushkinian Cosmology

Introduction

Chapter 1. A Biography through Astronomy

Chapter 2. Minor Planets: The Strugatskiis' Earlier Experiments in Cosmology

Chapter 3. The Hell of the Ignorant: The Second Martian Invasion

Chapter 4. Poincaré's Starless Hell: The Inhabited Island

Chapter 5. Exceptions to the Laws of Thermodynamics: Roadside Picnic

Chapter 6. "Long live darkness!": A Billion Years until the End of the World

Chapter 7. The Island Universe and the Copper Doorknob: The Doomed City

Chapter 8. Chronic Bewilderment and Astronomical "Fact": Those Burdened by Evil

Coda. "Day and night my Man in Black gives me no peace...": The Yids of the City of Peter

Afterword

Bibliography

Appendix: The Altitude of Vega

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Feb 2020)

ISBN:

1-61811-980-X

OCLC:

1083691309