In the Explanatory Dictionary of V. I. Dahl we read: “Fantastic - unrealizable, dreamy; or intricate, quirky, special and different in its invention. In other words, two meanings are implied: 1) something unreal, impossible and unimaginable; 2) something rare, exaggerated, unusual. With regard to literature, the first sign becomes the main one: when we say “fantastic novel” (story, short story, etc.), we mean not so much that it describes rare events, but that these events are completely or partially - generally impossible in real life. We define the fantastic in literature by its opposition to the real and existing.
This contrast is both obvious and extremely variable. Animals or birds endowed with a human psyche and owning human speech; the forces of nature, personified in anthropomorphic (i.e., having a human appearance) images of the gods (for example, ancient gods); living creatures of an unnatural hybrid form (in ancient Greek mythology, half-humans-half-horses - centaurs, half-birds-half-lions - griffins); unnatural actions or properties (for example, in East Slavic fairy tales, the death of Koshchei, hidden in several magical objects and animals nested in each other) - all this is easily felt by us as fantastic. However, much also depends on the historical position of the observer: what today seems fantastic, for the creators of ancient mythology or ancient fairy tales, has not yet been fundamentally opposed to reality. Therefore, in art there are constant processes of rethinking, the transition of the real into the fanatical and the fantastic into the real. The first process associated with the weakening of the positions of ancient mythology was noted by K. Marx: “... Greek mythology was not only the arsenal of Greek art, but also its soil. Is that view of nature and social relations that underlies Greek fantasy, and therefore Greek art, possible in the presence of self-factories, railways, locomotives and electric telegraph? Science fiction literature demonstrates the reverse process of the transition of the fantastic into the real: scientific discoveries and achievements, which seemed fantastic against the backdrop of their time, become quite possible and feasible with the development of technical progress, and sometimes even look too elementary and naive.
Thus, the perception of the fantastic depends on our attitude to its essence, that is, to the degree of reality or unreality of the events depicted. However, for a modern person, this is a very complex feeling, which determines the complexity and versatility of experiencing the fantastic. A modern child believes in fairy tales, but from adults, from informative radio and television programs, he already knows or guesses that "everything is not so in life." Therefore, a share of disbelief is mixed with his faith and he is able to perceive incredible events either as real, or as fantastic, or on the verge of real and fantastic. An adult person “does not believe” in the miraculous, but sometimes it is common for him to resurrect in himself the former, naive “childish” point of view in order to plunge into an imaginary world with all the fullness of experiences, in a word, a share of “faith” is added to his disbelief; and in the obviously fantastic, the real and genuine begin to “flicker”. Even if we are firmly convinced of the impossibility of science fiction, this does not deprive it of interest and aesthetic appeal in our eyes, because fantasy becomes in this case, as it were, a hint at other, not yet known spheres of life, an indication of its eternal renewal and inexhaustibility. In B. Shaw's play “Back to Methuselah,” one of the characters (the Snake) says: “A miracle is something that is impossible and yet possible. That which cannot happen and yet does happen. Indeed, no matter how deep and multiplied our scientific knowledge, the appearance of, say, a new living being will always be perceived as a "miracle" - impossible and at the same time quite real. It is the complexity of experiencing fantasy that allows it to be easily combined with irony, laughter; create a special genre of ironic fairy tale (H. K. Andersen, O. Wilde, E. L. Schwartz). The unexpected happens: irony, it would seem, should kill or at least weaken fantasy, but in fact it strengthens and strengthens the fantastic beginning, as it encourages us not to take it literally, to think about the hidden meaning of a fantastic situation.
The history of world literature, especially modern and recent times, beginning with romanticism (late 18th - early 19th centuries), has accumulated an enormous wealth of fiction artistic arsenal. Its main types are determined by the degree of distinctness and relief of the fantastic beginning: explicit fantasy; fantasy implicit (veiled); fantasy that receives a natural-real explanation, etc.
In the first case (clear fantasy), supernatural forces openly come into action: Mephistopheles in Faust by J.V. Goethe, the Demon in the poem of the same name by M.Yu. Lermontov, devils and witches in N.V. Gogol, Woland and company in The Master and Margarita by M. A. Bulgakov. Fantasy characters enter into direct relationships with people, trying to influence their feelings, thoughts, behavior, and these relationships often take on the character of a criminal conspiracy with the devil. So, for example, Faust in the tragedy of I.V. Goethe or Petro Bezrodny in N.V. Gogol's "The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala" sell their souls to the devil to fulfill their desires.
In works with implicit (veiled) fantasy, instead of the direct participation of supernatural forces, strange coincidences, accidents, etc. occur. none other than the cat of the old poppy seedling, reputed to be a witch. However, many coincidences lead us to believe this: Aristarkh Faleleich appears exactly when the old woman dies and no one knows where the cat disappears; there is something feline in the official's behavior: he "pleasantly" arches his "round back", walks "smoothly speaking", grumbles something "under his breath"; his very name - Murlykin - evokes quite definite associations. In a veiled form, a fantastic beginning is also manifested in many other works, for example, in The Sandman by E. T. A. Hoffmann, The Queen of Spades by A. S. Pushkin.
Finally, there is such a kind of fantastic, which is based on the most complete and completely natural motivations. Such, for example, are the fantastic stories of E. Poe. F. M. Dostoevsky noted that E. Poe “only admits the external possibility of an unnatural event (proving, however, its possibility and sometimes even extremely cunningly) and, having admitted this event, is completely true to reality in everything else.” “In Poe’s stories, you see so clearly all the details of the image or event presented to you that, finally, as if you are convinced of its possibility, reality ...”. Such thoroughness and "reliability" of descriptions is also characteristic of other types of fantastic, it creates a deliberate contrast between the obviously unrealistic basis (plot, plot, some characters) and its extremely accurate "processing". This contrast is often used by J. Swift in Gulliver's Travels. For example, when describing fantastic creatures - midgets, all the details of their actions are recorded, up to giving exact numbers: in order to move the captive Gulliver, “they drove in eighty pillars, each one foot high, then the workers tied ... the neck, arms, torso and legs with countless bandages with hooks ... Nine hundred of the strongest workers began to pull the ropes ... ".
Fiction performs various functions, especially often a satirical, accusatory function (Swift, Voltaire, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, V.V. Mayakovsky). Often this role is combined with another - affirmative, positive. Being an expressive, emphatically vivid way of expressing artistic thought, fantasy often captures in public life that which is just being born and arises. The moment of advance is a common feature of science fiction. However, there are also types of it that are specifically dedicated to foresight and forecasting the future. This is the science fiction literature already mentioned above (J. Verne, A. N. Tolstoy, K. Chapek, S. Lem, I. A. Efremov, A. N. and B. N. Strugatsky), which is often not limited to foresight future scientific and technological processes, but seeks to capture the entire social and social structure of the future. Here it comes into close contact with the genres of utopia and anti-utopia (“Utopia” by T. Mora, “City of the Sun” by T. Campanella, “City without a name” by V. F. Odoevsky, “What is to be done?” by N. G. Chernyshevsky).
FANTASTIC IN LITERATURE. The definition of fantasy is a task that has caused a tremendous amount of discussion. The basis for no fewer disputes was the question of what science fiction consists of, how it is classified.
The question of singling out fantasy as an independent concept arose as a result of the development of science fiction in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. literature, strongly associated with scientific and technological progress. The plot basis of fantastic works was scientific discoveries, inventions, technical foresights... Herbert Wells and Jules Verne became recognized authorities of science fiction of those decades. Until the middle of the 20th century. fantasy kept a little apart from the rest of literature: it was too closely connected with science. This gave grounds for the theorists of the literary process to assert that fantasy is a completely special kind of literature, existing according to rules inherent only to it, and setting itself special tasks.
Subsequently, this opinion was shaken. The statement of the famous American science fiction writer Ray Bradbury is characteristic: "Fiction is literature." In other words, there are no significant barriers. In the second half of the 20th century old theories gradually receded under the onslaught of changes that took place in science fiction. Firstly, the concept of "fantasy" began to include not only "science fiction" proper, i.e. works that go back basically to the samples of Jule Verne and Wells production. Under the same roof were texts related to "horror" (horror literature), mysticism and fantasy (magical, magical fantasy). Secondly, significant changes have also taken place in science fiction: the “new wave” of American science fiction writers and the “fourth wave” in the USSR (1950–1980s of the 20th century) led an active struggle to destroy the boundaries of the “ghetto” of science fiction, to merge it with literature. "mainstream", the destruction of the unspoken taboos that dominated the classic science fiction of the old style. A number of trends in "non-fantastic" literature somehow acquired a pro-fantastic sound, borrowed the entourage of science fiction. Romantic literature, literary fairy tale (E. Schwartz), phantasmagoria (A. Green), esoteric novel (P. Coelho, V. Pelevin), many texts that lie in the tradition of postmodernism (for example, Mantissa Fowles), are recognized among science fiction writers as “their own” or “almost their own”, i.e. borderline, lying in a wide band, which is covered by the spheres of influence of both the literature of the "main stream" and science fiction.
At the end of the 20th and the first years of the 21st centuries. the destruction of the concepts of “fantasy” and “science fiction” familiar to science fiction literature is growing. A lot of theories have been created, one way or another, fixing strictly defined boundaries for these types of fiction. But for the general reader, everything was clear from the surroundings: fantasy is where witchcraft, swords and elves are; science fiction is where robots, starships and blasters are. Gradually, “science fantasy” appeared, i.e. "scientific fantasy" that perfectly connected witchcraft with starships, and swords with robots. A special kind of science fiction was born - "alternative history", later replenished with "cryptohistory". And there, and there, science fiction writers use both the usual entourage of science fiction and fantasy, and even combine them into an indissoluble whole. Directions have arisen in which it does not really matter at all to belong to science fiction or fantasy. In Anglo-American literature, this is primarily cyberpunk, and in Russian literature it is turborealism and "sacred fantasy".
As a result, a situation has arisen where the concepts of science fiction and fantasy, which previously firmly divided science fiction literature in two, have been blurred to the limit.
Fantasy as a whole is today a continent populated very variegatedly. Moreover, individual "nationalities" (directions) are closely related to their neighbors, and sometimes it is very difficult to understand where the borders of one of them end and the territory of a completely different one begins. Today's science fiction is like a melting pot in which everything fuses with everything and melts into everything. Within this cauldron, any clear classification loses its meaning. The boundaries between the literature of the main stream and science fiction have almost disappeared, in any case, there is no clarity here. The modern literary critic does not have clear, strictly defined criteria for separating the first from the second.
Rather, the publisher sets the boundaries. The art of marketing requires appealing to the interests of established readership groups. Therefore, publishers and sellers create so-called "formats", i.e. form the parameters within which specific works are accepted for printing. These "formats" dictate to science fiction writers, first of all, the entourage of the work, in addition, the methods of constructing the plot and, from time to time, the thematic range. The concept of "non-format" is widespread. This is the name of the text that does not fit in its parameters to any established "format". The author of a “non-formatted” science fiction work, as a rule, has difficulties with its publication.
Thus, in fiction, the critic and the literary critic do not have a serious influence on the literary process; it is directed primarily by the publisher and bookseller. There is a huge, unevenly defined "world of fantasy", and next to it - a much narrower phenomenon - "format" fantasy, fantasy in the strict sense of the word.
Is there even a nominally theoretical difference between fantasy and non-fiction? Yes, and it applies equally to literature, cinema, painting, music, theater. In a laconic, encyclopedic form, it reads as follows: “Fiction (from the Greek phantastike - the art of imagining) is a form of displaying the world, in which, on the basis of real ideas, a logically incompatible (“supernatural”, “wonderful”) picture of the Universe is created.
What does this mean? Fantasy is a method, not a genre and not a direction in literature and art. This method in practice means the use of a special technique - the "fantastic assumption". A fantastic assumption is not difficult to explain. Each work of literature and art involves the creation by its creator of a "secondary world" built with the help of imagination. There are fictional characters in fictional circumstances. If the author-creator introduces elements of the unprecedented into his secondary world, i.e. that, in the opinion of his contemporaries and fellow citizens, in principle could not exist in that time and in that place with which the secondary world of the work is connected, then we have before us a fantastic assumption. Sometimes the whole "secondary world" is completely real: let's say it's a provincial Soviet town from A. Mirer's novel House of wanderers or a provincial American town from the novel by K. Simak All living things. Suddenly, something unthinkable appears inside this familiar reality for the reader (aggressive aliens in the first case and intelligent plants in the second). But it can be completely different: J.R.R. more real than the reality around them. Both of these are fantastic assumptions.
The quantity of a work unprecedented in the secondary world does not play a role. The very fact of its existence is important.
Let's say times have changed and the technical fiction has become something ordinary. So, for example, high-speed cars, wars with the massive use of aircraft, or, say, powerful submarines were practically impossible in the time of Jules Verne and HG Wells. Now this will surprise no one. But the works of a century ago, where all this is described, remain fiction, because for those years they were.
Opera Sadko- fantasy, because it uses the folklore motif of the underwater kingdom. But the ancient Russian work about Sadko itself was not fiction, since the ideas of people who lived at the time when it arose allowed the reality of the underwater kingdom. Movie Nibelungen- fantasy, because it has an invisibility cap and "living armor" that made a person invulnerable. But the ancient German epic works about the Nibelungen do not belong to science fiction, because in the era of their appearance, magic objects could appear as something unusual, but still really existing.
If the author writes about the future, then his work always refers to science fiction, since any future is, by definition, an unheard-of thing, there is no exact knowledge about it. If he writes about the past and admits the existence of elves and trolls in ancient times, then he falls into the field of fantasy. Perhaps the people of the Middle Ages considered the presence of a “little people” in the neighborhood possible, but modern world science denies this. Theoretically, it cannot be ruled out that in the 22nd century, for example, elves will again become an element of the surrounding reality, and such a representation will become widespread. But in this case, the work of the 20th century. will remain fiction, given the fact that it was born fiction.
Dmitry Volodikhin
Greek phantastike - the art of imagining) - a form of reflection of the world, in which, based on real ideas, a logically incompatible picture of the Universe is created. Common in mythology, folklore, art, social utopia. In the XIX - XX centuries. science fiction develops.
Great Definition
Incomplete definition ↓
FICTION
Greek phantastike - the art of imagining), a kind of fiction where fiction gets the most freedom: the boundaries of fantasy stretch from depicting strange, unusual, fictional phenomena to creating your own world with special patterns and possibilities. Fiction has a special type of figurativeness, which is characterized by a violation of real connections and proportions: for example, the cut off nose of Major Kovalev in N.V. Gogol's story "The Nose" itself moves around St. place. At the same time, the fantastic picture of the world is not pure fiction: the events of reality are transformed and raised to the symbolic level in it. Fiction in a grotesque, exaggerated, transformed form reveals to the reader the problems of reality and reflects on their solution. Fantastic imagery is inherent in a fairy tale, epic, allegory, legend, utopia, satire. A special subspecies of science fiction is science fiction, in which imagery is created by depicting fictional or real scientific and technological achievements of a person. The artistic originality of science fiction lies in the opposition of the fantastic and real world, therefore, each work of science fiction exists, as it were, in two planes: the world created by the author's imagination somehow correlates with reality. The real world is either taken out of the text ("Gulliver's Travels" by J. Swift), or is present in it (in "Faust" by I.V. Goethe, the events in which Faust and Mephistopheles participate are contrasted with the lives of other citizens).
Initially, fantasy was associated with the embodiment of mythological images in literature: for example, ancient fantasy with the participation of gods seemed to be quite reliable for authors and readers (The Iliad, Odyssey by Homer, Works and Days by Hesiod, plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Euripides and etc.). Homer's Odyssey, which describes many amazing and fantastic adventures of Odysseus, and Ovid's Metamorphoses, stories of the transformation of living beings into trees, stones, people into animals, etc., can be considered examples of ancient fiction. In the works of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, this trend continued: in the knightly epic (from Beowulf, written in the 8th century, to the novels of Chrétien de Troyes in the 14th century), images of dragons and wizards, fairies, trolls, elves and other fantastic creatures appeared. A separate tradition in the Middle Ages is Christian fiction, which describes the miracles of saints, visions, etc. Christianity recognizes evidence of this kind as genuine, but this does not prevent them from remaining part of the fantastic literary tradition, since extraordinary phenomena are described that are not typical of the usual course of events. The richest fantasy is also represented in Eastern culture: the tales of the Thousand and One Nights, Indian and Chinese literature. In the Renaissance, the fantasy of chivalric romances is parodied in Gargantua and Pantagruel by F. Rabelais and in Don Quixote by M. Cervantes: Rabelais presents a fantastic epic that rethinks the traditional clichés of science fiction, while Cervantes parodies the passion for fantasy, his hero sees fantastic creatures everywhere, which does not exist, gets into ridiculous situations because of this. Christian fiction in the Renaissance is expressed in the poems of J. Milton "Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Regained".
The literature of the Enlightenment and classicism is alien to fantasy, and its images are used only to give an exotic flavor to the action. A new flowering of fantasy comes in the 19th century, in the era of romanticism. Genres based entirely on fantasy appear, such as the gothic novel. The forms of fantasy in German romanticism are varied; in particular, E. T. A. Hoffman wrote fairy tales (“Lord of the Fleas”, “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King”), Gothic novels (“Devil's Elixir”), enchanting phantasmagoria (“Princess Brambilla”), realistic stories with fantastic background (“ The Golden Pot", "The Choice of the Bride"), philosophical fairy tales-parables ("Little Tsakhes", "The Sandman"). Fiction in the literature of realism is also common: "The Queen of Spades" by A. S. Pushkin, "Shtoss" by M. Yu. Lermontov, "Mirgorod" and "Petersburg Tales" by N. V. Gogol, "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" by F. M. Dostoevsky etc. There is a problem of combining fantasy with the real world in the text, often the introduction of fantastic images requires motivation (Tatyana's dream in "Eugene Onegin"). However, the assertion of realism relegated fantasy to the periphery of literature. They turned to her to give a symbolic character to the images (“Portrait of Dorian Gray” by O. Wilde, “Shagreen Skin” by O. de Balzac). The gothic tradition of fiction is being developed by E. Poe, whose stories feature unmotivated fantastic images and collisions. The synthesis of various types of fantasy is represented by M. A. Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita.
Great DefinitionIncomplete definition ↓
Fantastic motives are one of the main methods for creating a certain key situation in the works of not only Russian, but also world culture.
In Russian literature, writers of various trends addressed these motives. So, for example, in Lermontov's romantic poems there are images of the other world. In The Demon, the artist depicts the protesting Spirit of Evil. The work carries the idea of protest against the deity as the creator of the existing world order.
The only way out of sadness and loneliness for the Demon is love for Tamara. However, the Spirit of Evil cannot achieve happiness, because it is selfish, cut off from the world and from people. In the name of love, the Demon is ready to renounce the old revenge on God, he is even ready to follow the Good. It seems to the hero that tears of repentance will regenerate him. But he cannot overcome the most painful vice - contempt for humanity. The death of Tamara and the loneliness of the Demon is an inevitable consequence of his arrogance and selfishness.
Thus, Lermontov turns to fantasy in order to more accurately convey the mood of the idea of the work, to express his thoughts and feelings.
A slightly different purpose of fantasy in the work of M. Bulgakov. The style of many works of this writer can be defined as fantastic realism. It is easy to see that the principles of depicting Moscow in The Master and Margarita clearly resemble the principles of depicting Gogol's Petersburg: a combination of the real with the fantastic, the strange with the ordinary, social satire and phantasmagoria.
The story is told in two directions at the same time. The first plan is the events taking place in Moscow. The second plan is a story about Pilate and Yeshua, composed by the master. These two plans are united, brought together by the retinue of Woland - Satan and his servants.
The appearance of Woland and his retinue in Moscow becomes the event that changed the lives of the heroes of the novel. Here we can talk about the tradition of romantics, in which the Demon is a hero, sympathetic to the author with his mind and irony. Woland's retinue is as mysterious as he himself. Azazello, Koroviev, Behemoth, Gella are characters that attract the reader with their singularity. They become the arbiters of justice in the city.
Bulgakov introduces a fantastic motif in order to show that in the world of his day only with the help of otherworldly power is it possible to achieve justice.
In the work of V. Mayakovsky, fantastic motifs are of a different nature. So, in the poem "An extraordinary adventure that happened with Vladimir Mayakovsky in the summer at the dacha", the hero conducts a friendly conversation with the sun itself. The poet believes that his activity is similar to the glow of this luminary:
Let's go poet
The world is in gray trash.
I will pour my sun
And you are your
Thus, Mayakovsky, with the help of a fantastic plot, solves realistic problems: he explains his understanding of the role of the poet and poetry in Soviet society.
Without a doubt, turning to fantastic motifs helps Russian writers more clearly, accurately and clearly convey the main thoughts, feelings and ideas of their works.
I am a big fan of science fiction and science fiction as well. At one time I read a lot, now much less because of the invention of the Internet and lack of time. While preparing the next post, I came across this rating. Well, I think I’ll run now, I probably know everything here! Aha! No matter how. I haven't read half of the books, but that's okay. I hear some authors almost for the first time! Wow, how it is! And they are CULT! How are you doing with this list?
Check...
1. Time Machine
A novel by H. G. Wells, his first major science fiction work. Revised from the 1888 story "The Argonauts of Time" and published in 1895. The Time Machine introduced the idea of time travel and the time machine used for this into fiction, which were later used by many writers and created the direction of chrono-fiction. Moreover, as Yu. I. Kagarlitsky noted, both in scientific and world outlook Wells "... in a certain sense anticipated Einstein", who formulated the special theory of relativity ten years after the publication of the novel
The book describes the journey of the inventor of the time machine into the future. The plot is based on the fascinating adventures of the protagonist in a world 800 thousand years later, describing which the author proceeded from the negative trends in the development of contemporary capitalist society, which allowed many critics to call the book a warning novel. In addition, the novel for the first time describes many ideas related to time travel, which will not lose their attractiveness for readers and authors of new works for a long time.
2. Stranger in a foreign land
A fantastic philosophical novel by Robert Heinlein, awarded the Hugo Award in 1962. In the West, it has a "cult" status, being considered the most famous fantasy novel ever written. One of the few science fiction books included in the Library of Congress list of books that have shaped America.
The first expedition to Mars disappeared without a trace. The Third World War pushed back the second, successful expedition for a long twenty-five years. New researchers made contact with the original Martians and found out that not all of the first expedition died. And they bring to earth "Mowgli of the space age" - Michael Wallentine Smith, brought up by local intelligent beings. A man by birth and a Martian by upbringing, Michael bursts into the habitual everyday life of the Earth as a bright star. Endowed with the knowledge and skills of an ancient civilization, Smith becomes the messiah, the founder of a new religion and the first martyr for his faith...
3. Saga of the Lensmen
The Lensman saga is the story of a million-year confrontation between two ancient and powerful races: the evil and cruel Eddorians, who are trying to create a giant empire in space, and the inhabitants of Arrisia, the wise patrons of young civilizations emerging in the galaxy. In time, the Earth will enter this battle with its mighty space fleet and the Lensman Galactic Patrol.
The novel instantly became incredibly popular among fans of science fiction - it was one of the first major works, the authors of which ventured to take the action outside the solar system, and since then, Smith, along with Edmond Hamilton, is considered the founder of the space opera genre.
4 Space Odyssey 2001
"2001: A Space Odyssey" is a literary script of the film of the same name (which, in turn, is based on Clark's early short story "The Sentinel"), which has become a classic of science fiction and is dedicated to human contact with an extraterrestrial civilization, reworked into a novel.
The film "2001: A Space Odyssey" is regularly included in the list of "greatest films in the history of cinema." It and its sequel 2010: Odyssey Two won the Hugo Awards in 1969 and 1985 for best fantasy films.
The influence of the film and book on modern culture is enormous, as is the number of their fans. And although the year 2001 has already arrived, "Space Odyssey" is unlikely to be forgotten. She continues to be our future.
5. Fahrenheit 451
The dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 by the famous American science fiction writer Ray Bradbury has become, in a sense, an icon and a guiding star of the genre. It was created on a typewriter, which the writer rented from the public library and was printed for the first time in parts in the first issues of Playboy magazine.
The epigraph of the novel states that the ignition temperature of paper is 451 °F. The novel describes a society that relies on mass culture and consumerism, in which all books that make you think about life are to be burned; possession of books is a crime; and people who can think critically are outlawed. The protagonist of the novel, Guy Montag, works as a "fireman" (which in the book means burning books), confident that he is doing his job "for the benefit of mankind." But soon he becomes disillusioned with the ideals of the society of which he is a part, becomes an outcast and joins a small underground group of outcasts, whose supporters memorize the texts of books in order to save them for posterity.
6. "Foundation" (other names - Academy, Foundation, Foundation, Foundation)
A science fiction classic that tells of the collapse of a great galactic empire and its rebirth with the help of the "Seldon Plan".
In later novels, Asimov connected the world of the Foundation with his other cycles of works about the Empire and about positronic robots. The combined cycle, which is also called "Foundation", covers the history of mankind for over 20,000 years and includes 14 novels and dozens of short stories.
According to rumors, Asimov's novel made a huge impression on Osama bin Laden and even influenced his decision to create the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. Bin Laden likened himself to Gary Seldon, who rules the society of the future through pre-planned crises. Moreover, the Arabic translation of the novel's title is Al Qaida and thus may have given rise to the name of bin Laden's organization.
7. Massacre Number Five, or The Children's Crusade (1969)
Kurt Vonnegut's autobiographical novel about the bombing of Dresden during World War II.
The novel was dedicated to Mary O'Hare (and Dresden taxi driver Gerhard Müller) and was written in a "telegraphic-schizophrenic style", as Vonnegut himself puts it. Realism, grotesque, fantasy, elements of madness, cruel satire and bitter irony are closely intertwined in the book.
The protagonist is American soldier Billy Pilgrim, a ridiculous, timid, apathetic man. The book describes his adventures in the war and the bombing of Dresden, which left an indelible imprint on the Pilgrim's mental state, which has not been very stable since childhood. Vonnegut introduced a fantastic element into the story: the events of the protagonist's life are viewed through the prism of post-traumatic stress disorder, a syndrome characteristic of war veterans that crippled the hero's perception of reality. As a result, the comical "tale about aliens" grows into some coherent philosophical system.
Aliens from the planet Tralfamador take Billy Pilgrim to their planet and tell him that time does not really "flow", there is no gradual random transition from one event to another - the world and time are given once and for all, everything that has happened and will happen is known . About someone's death, the Trafalmadorians simply say: "Such things." It is impossible to say why or why something happened - such was the "structure of the moment".
8. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Legendary ironic sci-fi saga by Douglas Adams.
The novel tells about the adventures of the unfortunate Englishman Arthur Dent, who, with his friend Ford Prefect (a native of a small planet somewhere near Betelgeuse, working in the editorial office of the Hitchhiker's Guide), escapes death when the Earth is destroyed by a race of Vogon bureaucrats. Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ford's relative and President of the Galaxy, accidentally saves Dent and Ford from death in outer space. Also aboard Zaphod's improbable-powered ship, the Heart of Gold, are the depressive robot Marvin, and Trillian, aka Tricia MacMillan, whom Arthur once met at a party. She is, as Arthur soon realizes, the only human left alive besides himself. The heroes search for the legendary planet Magrathea and try to find a question that fits the Ultimate Answer.
9. Dune (1965)
Frank Herbert's first novel in the Dune Chronicles saga about the sandy planet Arrakis. It was this book that made him famous. Dune won Hugo and Nebula Awards. Dune is one of the most famous science fiction novels of the 20th century.
This book raises many political, environmental and other important issues. The writer managed to create a full-fledged fantasy world and cross it with a philosophical novel. In this world, the most important substance is spice, which is needed for interstellar flights and on which the existence of civilization depends. This substance is found only on one planet called Arrakis. Arrakis is a desert inhabited by huge sandworms. The Fremen tribes live on this planet, in whose life water is the main and unconditional value.
10 Neuromancer (1984)
A novel by William Gibson, a cyberpunk canon that won the Nebula (1984), the Hugo (1985) and the Philip Dick Prize. This is the first Gibson novel to open the Cyberspace trilogy. Published in 1984.
This work discusses such concepts as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, genetic engineering, transnational corporations, cyberspace (computer network, matrix) long before these concepts became popular in popular culture.
11. Do androids dream of electric sheep? (1968)
Science fiction novel by Philip Dick written in 1968. Tells the story of "bounty hunter" Rick Deckard, who goes after androids - creatures almost indistinguishable from humans, outlawed on Earth. The action takes place in the radiation-poisoned and partially abandoned San Francisco of the future.
Along with The Man in the High Castle, this novel is Dick's most famous work. This is one of the classic science fiction works that explores the ethical issues of creating androids - artificial people.
In 1982, based on the novel, Ridley Scott directed the film Blade Runner, starring Harrison Ford. The script, which Hampton Fancher and David Peoples created, is quite different from the book.
12. Gate (1977)
A 1977 science fiction novel by American writer Frederick Paul that won all three major American genre awards - Nebula (1977), Hugo (1978), and Locus (1978). The novel opens the Heechee cycle.
Near Venus, people have found an artificial asteroid built by an alien race called the Heechee. Spaceships were found on the asteroid. People figured out how to navigate the ships, but they couldn't change their destination. Many volunteers have tested them. Some returned with discoveries that made them rich. But most returned with nothing. And some didn't come back at all. The flight on the ship was like Russian roulette - you could get lucky, but you could also die.
The main character is a lucky explorer. He is tormented by remorse - from the crew, which had good luck, only he returned. And he is trying to figure out his life, confessing to a robot psychoanalyst.
13 Ender's Game (1985)
Ender's Game won the Nebula and Hugo Awards for Best Novel in 1985 and 1986, some of the most prestigious science fiction literary awards.
The novel is set in 2135. Mankind survived two invasions of the alien race "buggers" (English buggers), only miraculously survived, and is preparing for the next invasion. To search for pilots and commanders who can bring victory to the Earth, a military school is being created, to which the most talented children are sent from an early age. Among these children is the title character of the book - Andrew (Ender) Wiggin, the future commander of the International Earth Fleet and the only hope of mankind for salvation.
14. 1984 (1949)
In 2009, The Times listed 1984 as one of the 60 best books published in the last 60 years, and Newsweek ranked the novel second in its list of the 100 best books of all time.
The title of the novel, its terminology, and even the name of the author later became a household name and are used to denote a social structure reminiscent of the totalitarian regime described in 1984. Repeatedly became both a victim of censorship in the socialist countries, and the object of criticism from leftist circles in the West.
George Orwell's fantasy novel 1984 tells the story of Winston Smith, who is rewriting history based on partisan interests during the reign of a totalitarian junta. Smith's rebellion leads to dire consequences. As the author predicts, nothing can be worse than total lack of freedom...
This work, which was banned in our country until 1991, is called a dystopia of the twentieth century. (hatred, fears, hunger and blood), a warning against totalitarianism. The novel was boycotted in the West due to the similarity between the ruler of the country, Big Brother, and the real heads of state.
15. Brave New World (1932)
One of the most famous dystopian novels. A sort of antipode of Orwell's 1984. No torture chambers - everyone is happy and satisfied. The pages of the novel describe the world of the distant future (the action takes place in London), in which people are grown in special embryorium plants and in advance (by influencing the embryo at various stages of development) are divided into five castes of different mental and physical abilities, which perform different work. From "alphas" - strong and beautiful mental workers to "epsilons" - semi-cretins who can only do the simplest physical work. Babies are brought up differently depending on the caste. Thus, with the help of hypnopedia, each caste is brought up with reverence for the higher caste and contempt for the lower castes. Costumes for each caste of a certain color. For example, alphas go in gray, gammas go in green, deltas go in khaki, epsilons go in black.
In this society, there is no place for feelings, and it is considered indecent not to have regular sexual intercourse with different partners (the main slogan is “everyone belongs to everyone else”), but pregnancy is considered a terrible shame. People in this "World State" do not age, although the average life expectancy is 60 years. Regularly, in order to always have a good mood, they use the drug "somu", which has no negative effects ("soma grams - and no dramas"). God in this world is Henry Ford, they call him “Our Lord Ford”, and the chronology comes from the creation of the Ford T car, that is, from 1908 AD. e. (in the novel, the action takes place in the year 632 of the "era of stability", that is, in 2540 AD).
The writer shows the life of people in this world. The main characters are people who cannot fit into society - Bernard Marx (a representative of the upper class, alpha plus), his friend, a successful dissident Helmholtz and a savage John from an Indian reservation, who all his life dreamed of getting into a beautiful world where everyone is happy.
source http://t0p-10.ru
And on a literary topic, let me remind you what he was like and what he was The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -
