Monday Begins on Saturday
Monday Begins on Saturday (
The "Scientific Research Institute of Sorcery and Wizardry" (or, in Andrew Bromfield's 2002 translation "the National Institute for the Technology of Witchcraft and Thaumaturgy", abbreviated to "NITWITT"), located in the fictional Northern Russian town of Solovets, is portrayed as a place where everyone either works diligently, or else their loss of honesty is symbolized by their ears becoming more and more hairy. These hairy-eared people are viewed with disdain by the idealistic scientists. The more morally backward specimens are the most self-aggrandizing and sure of their own significance, while conducting the more ridiculous and nonsensical pseudo-research, to justify their position.
It has a sequel, Tale of the Troika, a much more grotesque satire, which describes Soviet bureaucracy at its worst and features many of the same characters.
Characters and events
The novel is written from the point of view of Aleksandr Ivanovich Privalov (usually called Sasha), a young programmer from Leningrad, who picks up two hitchhikers during a road trip north through Karelia. After the two find out that he is a programmer, they convince him to stay in Solovets and work together with them in the Scientific Research Institute of Sorcery and Wizardry (abbreviated NIIChaVo in Russian, which sounds very close to "Ничего", the word for "nothing").
The book contains a large number of references to well-known Russian fairy tales and children's stories:
is staffed by Alfred, a vampire.The novel is remarkable for its colorful characters. For example, Cristóbal Josevich Junta was formerly a
Much of the action centers on the laboratory of Amvrosiy Ambroisovich Vybegallo (roughly "one who runs out", a fictional surname based on ancient Polish-Lithuanian names like
The final part of the book solves the mystery of
Translations
The first English translation was published by DAW Books in 1977.[1]
In August 2005,
Puns and hints
- The Russian language abbreviation for the institute, NIICHAVO, sounds like a colloquial pronunciation for the word "nichevo" ("it doesn't matter" or "nothing"). In the English translation by Andrew Bromfield, the name of the institute has been translated as NITWITT (National Institute for the Technology of Witchcraft and Thaumaturgy).
- The place of "Solovets" hints at Solovetsky Islands, with their historical and mythological associations.
- "A-Janus and U-Janus" is a hint to Janus).
- Vybegallo with his pseudo-commoner appearance and radical pseudoscientific ideas is a hint to Trofim Lysenko.[3]
Adaptations and influence
- In 1965, a TV play was staged, based on the book.
- Charodei (Sorcerers) TV film (1982) was initially written by Strugatskys as adaptation of the second part of the novel. But director Konstantin Bromberg turned down the script due to its serious tone and social commentary, and the Strugatskys had to rewrite their script as a light-hearted romantic comedy. As a result, the movie bore almost no resemblance to the book besides the similar setting and several characters' names.
- In 2015, Teterin Films studio has obtained the rights to adaptation, with plans to release a feature film based on the book. As of 2018, the project was still in development hell.
- The song "Allegry" from the album Коварство и любовь by the Soviet rock band Agatha Christie was taken from the novel, which is, in its turn, taken from the book Creativity of the mentally ill and its influence on the development of science, art and technology by Russian psychiatrist Pavel Karpov .[4][5][6]
References
- ^ The DAW translation
- ^ The Seagull translation Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Before and After the 'Tale'..." (in Russian).
- ^ группа АГАТА КРИСТИ - "Аллергия"
- ^ «Трепеща и одиноко». Кто автор стихотворения про «чернокрылого воробья»
- ^ П.И.Карпов, Творчество душевнобольных и его влияние на развитие науки, искусства и техники
Sources
- Byron Lindsey, "On the Strugackij Brothers’ Contemporary Fairytale Monday Begins of Saturday". Book chapter. "The Supernatural in Russian Literature". Editor: Amy Mandelker. Columbus: Slavica, 1988: 290–302.
External links
- Online text at Lib.ru (in Russian)