Хищные вещи века. Чрезвычайные происшествия. Полдень, XXII век | Стругацкие

“Predatory Things of the Century” is a science fiction story by Soviet writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, written in 1964 and published in the USSR in 1965, then, after a long break, in 1980. The Strugatskys return to a topic that they repeatedly touched upon in their works (“Trainees”, “Monday Begins on Saturday”): the problem of philistinism, a low level of spiritual needs that lead people to life at a level not worthy of a person. The falsity of the idea that material well-being in itself solves all problems and leads to general prosperity is clearly demonstrated; a materially rich and well-fed tradesman remains a tradesman, and his needs, while remaining purely material, only become more and more sophisticated. In the described details of life in the “Land of Fools,” the main features of modern consumer society are predicted. Among the described phenomena one can recognize rave (“droshka”), extreme sports (“fishermen”), radicalism (“intelli”), paintball (“lyapnik”), and sitcoms are mentioned. “Sleg” has similarities to both virtual reality and psychotropic drugs. According to Boris Strugatsky, the story, written in 1964, remains fully relevant today: “We stand on the threshold of the World of Abundance and must be ready to make a decision on how to relate to this world.”

The Story “Noon, XXII Century” was written as a reaction to the science fiction epic novel “The Andromeda Nebula” by Ivan Efremov. In counterpoint to Efremov’s coldly logical utopia, a work more socio-philosophical than literary, the Strugatskys described a world inhabited by living people - seeking, restless, suffering, different - “a world in which it is interesting to live and work.” The technique of using short stories connected by common characters allowed the authors to offer the attentive reader a literary game: to discover in each short story these connecting characters, sometimes appearing in the very background. Writers are mastering a new technique: not explaining technical innovations to the reader, but including them in the narrative as a natural, familiar attribute of the reality being described. The title of the story “Afternoon” was chosen by the authors as a replica of Andre Norton’s dystopia “Dawn - 2250 A.D.” “Midday” marked the beginning of a new cycle of books by the Strugatsky brothers, a cycle telling about the time of victorious communism.