pickRagle Gumm spends most of each day entering a newspaper contest, submitting his guess as to where the "Little Green Man" will appear next on a grid. Every day, he wins. As Ragle questions the meaning of his repetitive existence, he also begins to question reality itself. Why is he famous? Why does he seem to be the center of the universe? Published in 1959, this was a quick and intriguing read.
pick#reread for #bookclub The book was a legend way before I read it for the first time, but now I believe I didn‘t appreciate the complexity and the clues between the lines, hidden from the Soviet censorship. The story is deep, dark, frightening and full of hate, but there are also sparkles of decency and love. The ending is somewhat hopeful, or at least open for interpretation
pickTo me this read sort of like an SF take on The Count of Monte Cristo, and while that structure can be compelling, I'm just not super into revenge stories. What I found most interesting about reading this one was noticing the ways it influenced later SF—I recognize some of its DNA in the worldbuilding of the early Expanse novels, for example. In the end, I did enjoy this book but it is very much a product of its time, with everything that implies.
pickSciFi • 1972 • 4 Stars
Roadside Picnic is set on Earth after alien "Visitations" leave mysterious Zones with bizarre artifacts. People called Stalkers, like Redrick Schuhart, illegally enter Zones to collect these artifacts, which have extraordinary and often hazardous properties. The narrative focuses on Redrick's life, from financial gain to personal loss and existential questioning, as he deals with the Zone's effects on society and himself.
pickDriving a tourist bus on the Moon, Pat Harris gets caught in a moonquake and his bus sinks in the Sea of Thirst's moondust. We follow the passengers and crew, the rescue team, and the journalists covering the story.
The moondust in the story doesn't actually exist, though it was a reasonable speculation at the time of writing. Yes, the characters were firmly rooted in the 1950s but the author still provided an exciting, suspenseful story.
TO BE THE SKIPPER of the only boat on the Moon was a distinction that Pat Harris enjoyed.
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