A Partially Satisfied Man

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
Monday Begins on Saturday
(Gollancz)

Hands up who's familiar with the Sci Fi sub-genre of Soviet science fiction ? Thought not. I'll confess neither was I until a chance encounter with 'Monday Begins on Saturday' by brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. Hardly household names, their main claim to fame is having also penned 'Roadside picnic', the novel which formed the basis for Soviet film director Andrei Tarkovsky's sci fi movie - Stalker. A classic of Russian cinema which regularly features high on lists of best ever non-English language movies. In direct contrast to the dystopian darkness of Stalker, MBoS is a riotous satire on Soviet bureaucracy. Specifically that of science institutions - Boris was an astronomer. The story is set in and around  the 'National Institute for the Technology of Witchcraft and Thaumaturgy' - a  supposedly scientific institution dealing with magic, sorcery and wizardry. Abbreviated in English it becomes   'NITWITT' -although the original  Russian acronym suggests words meaning "nothing" or "It doesn't matter".- 'NITWITT' ? Yes, and unsurprisingly perhaps rumour has it that both Douglas Adams and JK Rowling were/are fans of MBoS. Although clearly both toned down the absurdity in their own works. 

Briefly, the story is that of a young computer programmer, who picks up two hitchhikers while driving back to Leningrad,. The pair happen to work at 'NITWITT'- conveniently located in the next town, and which quite by chance happens to be in need of a programmer. Duly seconded he finds himself in a surreal world inhabited by - among others, a teleporting sofa, a cat who tries to relate fairy tales but can't remember the endings, and a talking pike that grants wishes in return for not being made into soup. This before he even sets foot in his new workplace. When he does he finds himself deployed as weekend manager with strict instructions to lock all doors and let no one enter. The problem being that at 'NITWITT', Monday does indeed begin on Saturday. At least for half the institute's employees who endeavour to prove their ideological zeal by working weekends. Those who don't, have hairy ears - but of of course... While the institute's director has cloned himself in order to be able to function as both administrator and scientist. Subsequent surreal shenanigans revolve around experiments by the institute's own showboating charlatan to produce a "partially satisfied man". A blatant satire of Soviet dogma which insisted that only its brand of totalitarian communism satisfied all human needs. His efforts are supported, hindered or conveniently ignored by a cast of characters that include a taxidermist, a vampire, a number of walking corpses, several clones, and parrots. Lots of parrots. 

Much of the absurdity and humour, derives from allusions to Soviet era tropes, political in jokes, and puns as well as Russian folk lore, history and literature. Most of these would have been familiar to readers at the time of its publication, and certainly to those who, like Boris Strugatsky, were employed in Soviet scientific institutions. In truth, MBoS could benefit from footnotes explaining some of the more obscure references. Equally though, half the enjoyment for the non Russian reader is from being immersed in a totally foreign world where little if anything makes any sense at all. Viewed in a historical context, MBoS is no less perplexing. It appeared after the 1964 fall of nominally reform minded Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and his replacement by the hard line Leonid Brezhnev. As such it's a wonder the brothers Strugatsky managed to not only see the novel into print but more significantly avoid being shipped off to the Gulags. 

That they did, despite later novels they penned together being subject to heavy censorship, strongly suggests that someone high up in the Soviet politburo had a particularly mischievous sense of humour.