The Strugatsky brothers’ poignant and introspective novel of first contact that inspired Andrei Tarkovsky’s classic film Stalker. Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those strange misfits who are compelled by some unknown force to venture illegally into the Zone and, in spite of the extreme danger, collect the mysterious artefacts that the alien visitors left scattered around. His life is dominated by the Zone and the thriving black market in the alien products. Even the nature of his daughter has been determined by the Zone.
And it is for her that Red makes his last, tragic foray into the hazardous and hostile depths. Readers can’t stop thinking about Roadside Picnic: A story of a horrific yet fascinating place, a story of an ordinary and unlikable man just trying to get by, a philosophical interlude on humanity and its significance or lack thereof, of greed and wonder, and the fever dream of the soul scream.
