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Жиды города Питера
Ещё одна театральная пьеса братьев Стругацких, до сих пор входящая в репертуар многих драматических театров. Замысел пьесы писатели вынашивали, по их же словам, ещё с середины 60-х годов прошлого столетия. В почтовый ящик довольно обычной ленинградской семьи конца 80-х – начала 90-х кто-то бросает что-то вроде повестки-предписания к "богачам города Питера" с приказом завтра утром явится с вещами на центральный городской стадион. Недоумение и страх – это минимум, что может вызвать подобная бумажка. А потом постепенно, в квартиру начинают подтягиваться их знакомые и близкие. Каждый со своим предписанием – "словоблуды города Питера", "распутники города Питера", и наконец, "жиды города Питера". Как пережить эту ночь страха и что будет утром?..
69 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 16, 2015
109 people are currently reading
53 people want to read
About the author
Arkady Strugatsky
514 books1,876 followersThe brothers Arkady Strugatsky [Russian: Аркадий Стругацкий] and Boris Strugatsky [Russian: Борис Стругацкий] were Soviet-Russian science fiction authors who collaborated through most of their careers.
Arkady Strugatsky was born 25 August 1925 in Batumi; the family later moved to Leningrad. In January 1942, Arkady and his father were evacuated from the Siege of Leningrad, but Arkady was the only survivor in his train car; his father died upon reaching Vologda. Arkady was drafted into the Soviet army in 1943. He trained first at the artillery school in Aktyubinsk and later at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow, from which he graduated in 1949 as an interpreter of English and Japanese. He worked as a teacher and interpreter for the military until 1955. In 1955, he began working as an editor and writer.
In 1958, he began collaborating with his brother Boris, a collaboration that lasted until Arkady's death on 12 October 1991. Arkady Strugatsky became a member of the Union of Soviet Writers in 1964. In addition to his own writing, he translated Japanese language short stories and novels, as well as some English works with his brother.
Source: Wikipedia
Arkady Strugatsky was born 25 August 1925 in Batumi; the family later moved to Leningrad. In January 1942, Arkady and his father were evacuated from the Siege of Leningrad, but Arkady was the only survivor in his train car; his father died upon reaching Vologda. Arkady was drafted into the Soviet army in 1943. He trained first at the artillery school in Aktyubinsk and later at the Military Institute of Foreign Languages in Moscow, from which he graduated in 1949 as an interpreter of English and Japanese. He worked as a teacher and interpreter for the military until 1955. In 1955, he began working as an editor and writer.
In 1958, he began collaborating with his brother Boris, a collaboration that lasted until Arkady's death on 12 October 1991. Arkady Strugatsky became a member of the Union of Soviet Writers in 1964. In addition to his own writing, he translated Japanese language short stories and novels, as well as some English works with his brother.
Source: Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 26, 2021
Сильно. 1990 год!
July 16, 2023
After the recent re-reading of “Град обреченный,” I remembered that there was one book by brothers Стругацкие that I meant to read in my youth but was repelled by the title and was too shallow-minded then to make an effort and understand that this is obviously something meaningful and not just a chauvinistic vulgarity.
It turned out to be a very special book actually. First of all, it’s the last of their joint works. It was written in 1990, and one of the co-authors, Аркадий Стругацкий, died the next year. Secondly, it was their first (and the only one) play (probably the format was chosen because Аркадий Стругацкий was not feeling that he would be able to finish something longer but they still wanted it to be something much more influential than just a short story/novella — they were right, the play immediately became extremely popular in Russian theaters, and no short story/novella could have had such an effect). Finally, its subject is very remarkable, as we can see how the imminent end of the USSR and all the “democratization” processes changed brothers Стругацкие’s interests radically. Here, they talk about very realistic and serious things rather than some fantastic worlds and a metaphorical representation of “general” social/historical problems.
The book is very short and feels weak as literature (you can see clearly that the writers are much more used to larger forms and just tried to learn how to represent their complex ideas in such a concise but still very serious work), but the subject is surprisingly fresh for today, especially in the last 1.5 years. Some ideas look simplistic (in short, the story may look like a serious retelling of the famous joke about “А веревку с собой приносить или там выдадут?”) but I was very impressed by one of the final dialogues:
“Базарин: Нет уж, позволь. Молодые люди мягко упрекают нас в том, что мы сделали не тот выбор. Оч-чень хотелось бы знать, какой выбор сделали бы молодые люди, если бы им принесли аналогичные повестки? «Нигилисты города Питера»!
Сергей: Но ведь не принесли же!
Базарин: Но ведь могли принести? И может быть, еще принесут!
Сергей: А вот не могли! И не принесут! Вы этого не понимаете. Приносят тем, кто сделал выбор раньше, — ему еще повестку не принесли, а он уже сделал выбор! Вот маме повестку не принесли. Почему? Потому что плевала она на них. Потому что, когда они вербовали ее в органы в пятьдесят пятом, она сказала им: нет! Знаете, что она им ответила? Глядя в глаза! «Я люблю ходить в ведро, заносить над ним бедро…» И вся вербовка! И когда в партию ее загоняли в шестьдесят восьмом, она снова сказала им: нет! «Да почему же нет, Зоя Сергеевна? Что же, в конце концов, для вас дороже — Родина или семья?» А она им, ни секунды не размышляя: «Да конечно же, семья». И все. А вот вы, Олег Кузьмич, в партию рвались, как в винный магазин, извините за выражение…
Кирсанов (грозно): Сергей!
Сергей: Папа, я же извинился. И я вообще ничего плохого сказать не хочу. Ни про кого. Я только одно вам объясняю: выбор свой люди делают до повестки, а не после.”
Yes indeed, you can apply this to many, many things that are going on in Russia today. Including, ironically, the draft summons (“повестки в военкомат”) during the current war. “Выбор свой люди делают до повестки, а не после,” “Приносят тем, кто сделал выбор раньше” — of course.
The play starts with the epigraph: “Назвать деспота деспотом всегда было опасно. А в наши дни настолько же опасно назвать рабов рабами.” (Р. Акутагава). Again, nothing to add here. (I wonder now why Russians actually liked this play so much in the 1990s… did not they understand that this is about them? or “took it lightly,” as they did with everything concerning their awful history?).
It looks like brothers Стругацкие might have said a lot of similarly poignant words to their own people, and maybe a good, fat book or two of such kind, written in a new, “democratic” Russia, where they could talk about the most important things openly and not behind the veil of “entertaining” sci-fi stories, would make a difference in the collective mindset of Russians. Alas, as I said, Аркадий Стругацкий (who, I believe, was the most intellectual and original mind of the two authors and basically the driving force of the creative tandem) died in 1991, and I had an impression that Борис Стругацкий was a much more complicit and passive personality overall. At least, he never even tried to tell the world something like this and “develop” these reflections somehow, although he had this opportunity and immense attention, love, and respect for many years afterward.
It turned out to be a very special book actually. First of all, it’s the last of their joint works. It was written in 1990, and one of the co-authors, Аркадий Стругацкий, died the next year. Secondly, it was their first (and the only one) play (probably the format was chosen because Аркадий Стругацкий was not feeling that he would be able to finish something longer but they still wanted it to be something much more influential than just a short story/novella — they were right, the play immediately became extremely popular in Russian theaters, and no short story/novella could have had such an effect). Finally, its subject is very remarkable, as we can see how the imminent end of the USSR and all the “democratization” processes changed brothers Стругацкие’s interests radically. Here, they talk about very realistic and serious things rather than some fantastic worlds and a metaphorical representation of “general” social/historical problems.
The book is very short and feels weak as literature (you can see clearly that the writers are much more used to larger forms and just tried to learn how to represent their complex ideas in such a concise but still very serious work), but the subject is surprisingly fresh for today, especially in the last 1.5 years. Some ideas look simplistic (in short, the story may look like a serious retelling of the famous joke about “А веревку с собой приносить или там выдадут?”) but I was very impressed by one of the final dialogues:
“Базарин: Нет уж, позволь. Молодые люди мягко упрекают нас в том, что мы сделали не тот выбор. Оч-чень хотелось бы знать, какой выбор сделали бы молодые люди, если бы им принесли аналогичные повестки? «Нигилисты города Питера»!
Сергей: Но ведь не принесли же!
Базарин: Но ведь могли принести? И может быть, еще принесут!
Сергей: А вот не могли! И не принесут! Вы этого не понимаете. Приносят тем, кто сделал выбор раньше, — ему еще повестку не принесли, а он уже сделал выбор! Вот маме повестку не принесли. Почему? Потому что плевала она на них. Потому что, когда они вербовали ее в органы в пятьдесят пятом, она сказала им: нет! Знаете, что она им ответила? Глядя в глаза! «Я люблю ходить в ведро, заносить над ним бедро…» И вся вербовка! И когда в партию ее загоняли в шестьдесят восьмом, она снова сказала им: нет! «Да почему же нет, Зоя Сергеевна? Что же, в конце концов, для вас дороже — Родина или семья?» А она им, ни секунды не размышляя: «Да конечно же, семья». И все. А вот вы, Олег Кузьмич, в партию рвались, как в винный магазин, извините за выражение…
Кирсанов (грозно): Сергей!
Сергей: Папа, я же извинился. И я вообще ничего плохого сказать не хочу. Ни про кого. Я только одно вам объясняю: выбор свой люди делают до повестки, а не после.”
Yes indeed, you can apply this to many, many things that are going on in Russia today. Including, ironically, the draft summons (“повестки в военкомат”) during the current war. “Выбор свой люди делают до повестки, а не после,” “Приносят тем, кто сделал выбор раньше” — of course.
The play starts with the epigraph: “Назвать деспота деспотом всегда было опасно. А в наши дни настолько же опасно назвать рабов рабами.” (Р. Акутагава). Again, nothing to add here. (I wonder now why Russians actually liked this play so much in the 1990s… did not they understand that this is about them? or “took it lightly,” as they did with everything concerning their awful history?).
It looks like brothers Стругацкие might have said a lot of similarly poignant words to their own people, and maybe a good, fat book or two of such kind, written in a new, “democratic” Russia, where they could talk about the most important things openly and not behind the veil of “entertaining” sci-fi stories, would make a difference in the collective mindset of Russians. Alas, as I said, Аркадий Стругацкий (who, I believe, was the most intellectual and original mind of the two authors and basically the driving force of the creative tandem) died in 1991, and I had an impression that Борис Стругацкий was a much more complicit and passive personality overall. At least, he never even tried to tell the world something like this and “develop” these reflections somehow, although he had this opportunity and immense attention, love, and respect for many years afterward.
September 22, 2024
Small play written towards the end of Strugatskys creative life. I loved it. Seems to be written in the first years of perestroika, it shows how quickly all the freedoms can be taking away and how the mindset of Russian people still harbors all the worst prejudices of the past. Even more relevant now considering changes in Russia after the start Ukrainian war.
September 26, 2019
Почему я эту пьесу не прочёл лет 20 назад...
Стругацкие пишут немного лучше когда намёками, а не напрямую, как в этой пьесе. Всё равно отлично. А дочка еврея - самая лучшая.
Стругацкие пишут немного лучше когда намёками, а не напрямую, как в этой пьесе. Всё равно отлично. А дочка еврея - самая лучшая.
May 29, 2021
Актуальненько
September 26, 2021
"Знаешь, когда в нашей стране человека обзывают богачом, ничего хорошего в этом нет, уверяю тебя. Ещё неизвестно, что хуже."
January 6, 2025
К сожалению, безумно реалистично. Так же актуально сегодня как и 30 лет назад. Рекомендую.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews