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+title = "Hard to be a God (Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, 1964)"
+author = ["Michał Sapka"]
+date = 2024-07-07T22:41:00+02:00
+categories = ["reviews"]
+draft = false
+weight = 2013
+reviewSection = ["Books"]
+abstract = "A short review of an absolut marvel of a book"
+image = "reviews/covers/hard-to-be-a-god-book.jpg"
+rating = 4.5
+aliases = ["brain-rot/eastern-block-scifi/hard-to-be-a-god-strugatsky-1964/"]
+related = ["Strugatsky brothers"]
+relatedName = "Hard to be God"
++++
+
+I remember, back in high school when 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].
+
+_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.
+Intelligentsia is killed by angry crowd, and Don Reba getting more and more powerful.
+That alien world is going into revolution.
+Coincidentaly, 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 only lead to more bloodshed and a circle of violence.
+
+Which is another interesting aspect of this book - mediation on human condition.
+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.
+
+_Hard to be God_ is, most definitely, an intelligent SciFi novel.
+
+But I was not invested emotionally.
+It's not visceral book.
+It is disgusting, but you comprehand it more with your mind than heart.
+
+At the same time, it's an easy read.
+You could think that with this subject matter, the book would be offputting, but it's not.
+I _had_ problems following names at some point, as every male character tends to be Don freaking something, but that's all.
+It's an ejoyable read, if you don't focus on what's it actually about.
+
+But when you do start thinking about the meaning, it becomes a completely different beast.
+Authors don't spare the viewer.
+There is a scene, where two young adepts are talking about torture methods, like it was nothing.
+It' almost funny, if it wasn't so real.
+
+_Hard to be a God_ is a short book, which is a great but challenging piece of art.
+I'd call it a masterpiece, if I were emotionally invested.
+As it stands now, it's closer to _Gulag Archipelago_ in a form of story.
+Highly recommended, even if this would be your first encounter with Russian speculative fiction.
+
+---
+
+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.