The Snail on the Slope - (Rediscovered Classics) by Arkady Strugatsky & Boris Strugatsky

Book Synopsis

The Snail on the Slope is a neglected masterpiece by Russian science fiction greats Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, who thought of it as ther "most complete and important work." now, in a stunning translation, this tour de force is ready to be introduced to a new generation of American readers. The novel takes place in two worlds. One is the Administration, an institution run by a surreal, Kafkaesque bureaucracy whose aim is to govern the forest below. The other is the Forest, a place of fear, weird creatures, primitive but garrulous people, and violence. Peretz, who works at the Administration, wants to visit the Forest. Candide crashed in the Forest years ago and wants to return to the Administration. Their journeys are surprising and bizarre, and readers are left to puzzle out the mysteries of these foreign environments. Brilliant, enigmatic, and revelatory, The Snail on the Slope is one of the greatest literary works to come out of Soviet Russia.

Review Quotes

"Approached as a meditation on the human inability to comprehend more than a very small part of the universe, this is a surprisingly satisfying, if often perplexing, work." --Publishers Weekly

"The Snail on the Slope may be the most dizzyingly concentrated dose of the Strugatskys' strange and powerful medicine." --Jonathan Lethem

"[Arkady and Boris Strugatsky] open windows in the mind and then fail to close them all, so that, putting down one of their books, you feel a cold breeze still lifting the hairs on the back of your neck." --New York Times

About the Author

Arkady (1925-1991) and Boris (1933-2012) Strugatsky were the most famous and popular Russian writers of science fiction, with over 25 novels and novellas to their names, including Roadside Picnic, The Doomed City, Hard to Be a God and The Inhabited Island. Their books have been widely translated and made into a number of films. Olena Bormashenko has been acclaimed for her translations of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic and Hard to Be a God.