Hard to be a God (Russian: Трудно быть богом)

Details
Title: E greu să fii zeu
Author: Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
Paperback: 239 pages
Publisher: Paralela 45, 2006
Language: Romanian
Original Language: Russian
Translator: Valerian Stoicescu
ISBN: 973-697-365-4

Review
Before 1989 I have read some Russian science fiction. Remember Efremov? Remember Beleaev? I didn’t have much of a choice, as Russian were the only “modern” foreign authors published in Romania.

Efremov versus Strugatky? Military march versus symphony!

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky write in what I call the Russian style. The book is dark, the lives of people are hopeless, and the misery and mud are the main components of everyday life.

The sparks of goodness are small and rare.

The reader is trapped between the immense Earth happiness and intense Arkanar misery.

Authors wrote about their life. About the communism, which promise “eternal” happiness for everybody, but was light-years ahead and about their everyday life.

Beyond the obvious comparison between soviet Russia and don Rumata adventures, the book explores the drama of a human good, of an almost spectator. Don Rumata is neither fully detached, neither fully involved.

Overall I like the book, despite the dark "Russian" feeling.