147. The Ugly Swans and the Square of the Strugatsky Brothers
The brothers Boris and Arkady Strugatsky are Russian science fiction authors who published several dozen co-written novels, novellas, and short stories between 1958 and 1988. Many of their works have been translated into English, but for the most part they've remained poorly known outside of Russia and a few other Eastern European countries. They were both born in Leningrad; Arkady died in in 1991 and Boris died in 2012, both in St. Petersburg. A few years after Boris' death, the city decided to honor their literary legacy by naming a square in their honor. Ploshchad Brat'yev Strugatskikh (the Square of the Strugatsky Brothers) is located south of downtown, but north of Moskovskoya Ploshchad, Pulkovo airport, and other destinations in this part of town. It's about halfway between Moskovskaya Ploshchad and Park Pobedy, along Moskovskaya Ulitsa. The square is in a mostly residential area that I would otherwise not have a reason to visit. There are no major landmarks in this square, which I suppose is why it was available for naming a few years ago.
I wanted to visit the square because my Russian book club selection for November is one of the short novels by the Strugatsky brothers: "The Ugly Swans". You can read my review on Goodreads. It was not my favorite Russian work I've read since moving to St. Petersburg, but it was nice to learn that the city's literary legacy did not end in the nineteenth century with Pushkin and Dostoevsky (Nabokov notwithstanding). This is the third twentieth-century Russian work that I've read in the last three months, and I'm starting to see common themes and stylistic elements in Russian writing from this era, originating with the state of mind created by the Revolution and then Soviet rule.
The major theme of this novel in particular is the necessity of independent thought, which is why it was initially censored by the authorities and available in Russia only in samizdat format for a number of years. The quote that encapsulates its message is the following: “Because a mother wolf can say to her cubs, 'Bite the way I do,' and that's enough, and the mother rabbit teaches her bunnies, 'Run for your lives the way I do,' and that's also enough, but if a man teaches children, 'Think as I do,' it's criminal.”.
I wanted to visit the square because my Russian book club selection for November is one of the short novels by the Strugatsky brothers: "The Ugly Swans". You can read my review on Goodreads. It was not my favorite Russian work I've read since moving to St. Petersburg, but it was nice to learn that the city's literary legacy did not end in the nineteenth century with Pushkin and Dostoevsky (Nabokov notwithstanding). This is the third twentieth-century Russian work that I've read in the last three months, and I'm starting to see common themes and stylistic elements in Russian writing from this era, originating with the state of mind created by the Revolution and then Soviet rule.
The major theme of this novel in particular is the necessity of independent thought, which is why it was initially censored by the authorities and available in Russia only in samizdat format for a number of years. The quote that encapsulates its message is the following: “Because a mother wolf can say to her cubs, 'Bite the way I do,' and that's enough, and the mother rabbit teaches her bunnies, 'Run for your lives the way I do,' and that's also enough, but if a man teaches children, 'Think as I do,' it's criminal.”.
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