Tale of the Troika
Encyclopedia
Tale of the Troika is a 1968 satirical science fiction
novel
written by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky that criticises both Soviet bureaucracy
and somewhat the Soviet
scientific environment. Although the novel itself is not directed against state per se and a number of points underlined are true of modern day bureaucracy and science, it met with a cold reaction during Soviet times and was quite difficult to obtain, therefore achieving a "forbidden fruit" status.
The novel exists in two slightly different variants of the novel - Smena and Angara, by the names of the magazines in which they were published. They differ by characters and some plot lines and was caused by Angara editorial request to fit the novel for the magazine volume.
One version can be considered a more direct sequel to Monday Begins on Saturday
, at the end of which the main character is told he will be sent to Kitezh
grad for a business trip, and that is where this version of Tale of the Troika takes place. The other version takes place in Tmuskorpion' (literally: "darkness-scorpion
", a pun with "Tmutarakan
", which is a cliché for a remote, obscure place; tarakan means cockroach
, hence the pun), on a previously unexplored and unreachable floor of the Scientific Research Institute of Sorcery and Wizardry.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky that criticises both Soviet bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
and somewhat the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
scientific environment. Although the novel itself is not directed against state per se and a number of points underlined are true of modern day bureaucracy and science, it met with a cold reaction during Soviet times and was quite difficult to obtain, therefore achieving a "forbidden fruit" status.
The novel exists in two slightly different variants of the novel - Smena and Angara, by the names of the magazines in which they were published. They differ by characters and some plot lines and was caused by Angara editorial request to fit the novel for the magazine volume.
One version can be considered a more direct sequel to Monday Begins on Saturday
Monday Begins on Saturday
Monday Begins on Saturday is a 1964 science fiction / science fantasy novel by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky. Set in a fictional town in northern Russia, where highly classified research in magic occurs, the novel is a satire of Soviet scientific research institutes, complete with an inept...
, at the end of which the main character is told he will be sent to Kitezh
Kitezh
Kitezh was a mythical city on the shores of the Svetloyar lake in the Voskresensky District of the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast in central Russia. It appears for the first time in "Kitezh Chronicle", an anonymous book from the late 18th century, believed to have originated among the Old believers.-The...
grad for a business trip, and that is where this version of Tale of the Troika takes place. The other version takes place in Tmuskorpion' (literally: "darkness-scorpion
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...
", a pun with "Tmutarakan
Tmutarakan
Tmutarakan was a Mediaeval Russian principality and trading town that controlled the Cimmerian Bosporus, the passage from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov. Its site was the ancient Greek colony of Hermonassa . It was situated on the Taman peninsula, in the present-day Krasnodar Krai of Russia,...
", which is a cliché for a remote, obscure place; tarakan means cockroach
Cockroach
Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitations...
, hence the pun), on a previously unexplored and unreachable floor of the Scientific Research Institute of Sorcery and Wizardry.