feat(br): hard to be a god

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diff --git a/content-org/brain-rot.org b/content-org/brain-rot.org
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--- a/content-org/brain-rot.org
+++ b/content-org/brain-rot.org
@@ -2131,6 +2131,76 @@ Anyway, a masterpiece.
 I encourage everyone to at least /try/ to experience it.
 
 
+*** DONE Hard to be a God (Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, 1964)
+CLOSED: [2024-07-05 Fri 20:08]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: hard-to-be-a-god-strugatsky-1964
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract A short review of an absolut marvel of a book
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image brain-rot/covers/hard-to-be-a-god-book.jpg
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating  4.75
+:END:
+
+I remember, when back in high school we were tasked with reading /The Master and Margarita/.
+Teenage me loved this book about devil and demonic stuff.
+Then they told us that all of that /cool/ stuff is just a cover to hide the real meaning of the book: commentary on the Soviet Union and communism[fn:teen].
+
+
+#+attr_shortcode: 4.75 "hard-to-be-a-god-book.jpg" 
+#+begin_rating
+Cover
+#+end_rating
+/Hard to be a God/ is a novel by the famous Strugatsky brothers.
+In the undefined future, humans are capable of space travel.
+A group of scientists in sent to an alien planet to observe and report back.
+The planet is populated by beings living in a society that reminds us of the Middle Ages.
+However, the power shifts and a violent, hateful revolution starts taking place.
+Intelligence is killed by angry crowd, and Don Reba getting more and more powerful.
+That alien world is going into revolution.
+Coincidental, this is how communism overtook Russia.
+
+This is a hard book to get through.
+The subject is very dark, and the form doesn't make it any easier.
+One of the biggest problems here is: should observers interfere
+The reader /wants/ a gun-blazing ride on Don Reba, but would it be ethical?
+The observers have guns and flying machines.
+They are able to crush anyone.
+But this would lead only to more bloodshed and a circle of violence.
+
+Which is the second thing the book is about.
+Violence is /inherent/ to human race.
+We see it all the time, and the writers put a mirror to our faces.
+How many wars were fought not for survival, but for power?
+World War I was called "The Great War" and was supposed to be the last war.
+Humanity saw the absolute worse it can do, definitely we will learn from it.
+We know how it ended.
+
+But I also not invested emotionally.
+It's not visceral book.
+It is disgusting, but you comprehand it more with your mind than heart.
+
+As for the downsides, my biggest (and I think only) complaint here is that I was unable to truly follow the story.
+We know that there are many observers, we meet few.
+For most of the book, we follow one of them - Don Rumata.
+But is Don Reba also one of them?
+Is the one welding godlike powers?
+Only in the last chapter was this explained to me.
+I am not a focused reader, it's completely possible that I missed a sentence (or a chapter) explaining it.
+So yeah - the book expects the reader to /truly/ follow it, to fully comprehend it.
+It's not a book to read here and there.
+Luckily, it's shorter than something like /The Brothers Karamazov/.
+If it wasn't, I would have no idea what's going on.
+
+But even with this "problem", I still consider /Hard to be a God/ a masterpiece.
+Challenging, smart, offensive.
+It lives more in the subtext than in a standard story.
+Definitely a must-read.
+
+---
+
+Movies based on /Hard to be a God/ are also amazing!
+
+[fn:teen] Teenage me hated that, but as I mentioned occasionally, he wasn't very bright.
+
 ** European SciFi
 :PROPERTIES:
 :EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: brain-rot/european-scifi
@@ -2222,6 +2292,7 @@ I say that as a Pole.
 Our cities back then were far from being nice to look at.
 It improved though!
 
+
 ** Severance 
 :PROPERTIES:
 :EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: brain-rot/american-scifi/severance
diff --git a/content/brain-rot/eastern-block-scifi/hard-to-be-a-god-strugatsky-1964.md b/content/brain-rot/eastern-block-scifi/hard-to-be-a-god-strugatsky-1964.md
new file mode 100644
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/content/brain-rot/eastern-block-scifi/hard-to-be-a-god-strugatsky-1964.md
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
++++
+title = "Hard to be a God (Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, 1964)"
+author = ["Michał Sapka"]
+date = 2024-07-05T20:08:00+02:00
+categories = ["brainrot"]
+draft = false
+weight = 3003
+image_dir = "brain-rot/screenshots"
+image_max_width = 765
+primary_menu = "brain-rot"
+menu_order = "name"
+abstract = "A short review of an absolut marvel of a book"
+image = "brain-rot/covers/hard-to-be-a-god-book.jpg"
+rating = 4.75
+[menu]
+  [menu.brain-rot-ebscifi]
+    weight = 3003
+    identifier = "hard-to-be-a-god-arkady-and-boris-strugatsky-1964"
++++
+
+I remember, when back in high school we were tasked with reading _The Master and Margarita_.
+Teenage me loved this book about devil and demonic stuff.
+Then they told us that all of that _cool_ stuff is just a cover to hide the real meaning of the book: commentary on the Soviet Union and communism[^fn:1].
+
+{{< rating 4.75 "hard-to-be-a-god-book.jpg" >}}
+Cover
+{{< /rating >}}
+
+_Hard to be a God_ is a novel by the famous Strugatsky brothers.
+In the undefined future, humans are capable of space travel.
+A group of scientists in sent to an alien planet to observe and report back.
+The planet is populated by beings living in a society that reminds us of the Middle Ages.
+However, the power shifts and a violent, hateful revolution starts taking place.
+Intelligence is killed by angry crowd, and Don Reba getting more and more powerful.
+That alien world is going into revolution.
+Coincidental, this is how communism overtook Russia.
+
+This is a hard book to get through.
+The subject is very dark, and the form doesn't make it any easier.
+One of the biggest problems here is: should observers interfere
+The reader _wants_ a gun-blazing ride on Don Reba, but would it be ethical?
+The observers have guns and flying machines.
+They are able to crush anyone.
+But this would lead only to more bloodshed and a circle of violence.
+
+Which is the second thing the book is about.
+Violence is _inherent_ to human race.
+We see it all the time, and the writers put a mirror to our faces.
+How many wars were fought not for survival, but for power?
+World War I was called "The Great War" and was supposed to be the last war.
+Humanity saw the absolute worse it can do, definitely we will learn from it.
+We know how it ended.
+
+But I also not invested emotionally.
+It's not visceral book.
+It is disgusting, but you comprehand it more with your mind than heart.
+
+As for the downsides, my biggest (and I think only) complaint here is that I was unable to truly follow the story.
+We know that there are many observers, we meet few.
+For most of the book, we follow one of them - Don Rumata.
+But is Don Reba also one of them?
+Is the one welding godlike powers?
+Only in the last chapter was this explained to me.
+I am not a focused reader, it's completely possible that I missed a sentence (or a chapter) explaining it.
+So yeah - the book expects the reader to _truly_ follow it, to fully comprehend it.
+It's not a book to read here and there.
+Luckily, it's shorter than something like _The Brothers Karamazov_.
+If it wasn't, I would have no idea what's going on.
+
+But even with this "problem", I still consider _Hard to be a God_ a masterpiece.
+Challenging, smart, offensive.
+It lives more in the subtext than in a standard story.
+Definitely a must-read.
+
+---
+
+Movies based on _Hard to be a God_ are also amazing!
+
+[^fn:1]: Teenage me hated that, but as I mentioned occasionally, he wasn't very bright.