“Baby” is a novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky in the genre of science fiction, one of the iconic works of Soviet writers. It was published in 1971 in the journal Aurora. What idea did the Strugatsky brothers put into it? "Baby", a summary of which you will find in this article, is a kind of analogue of "Mowgli", but on a cosmic scale. By the way, the name of the book is translated into English exactly as "Space Mowgli".
A. and B. Strugatsky: "Baby" (summary and features of the story)
This literary work was filmed three times: in 1980, 1987 and 1994.
In 1971, the Strugatsky brothers released their next creation. The Kid, a summary of which you will find later, was first published in the journal Aurora.
It is curious that the idea of the story was born by writers in 1970. However, “Baby” then for some reason did not please Strugatsky. They finished the story only because the publishers were waiting for it.
Strugatsky brothers: "Baby" (summary and plot)
What is the plot of the story? And what are the features of the work written by the Strugatsky ("Kid")?
The summary of the story is as follows: events unfold on the planet Ark, which is being investigated by a group of scientists from Earth. The purpose of the operation: to prepare the Ark for colonization by the inhabitants of another planet - Panta, which is in danger of a global catastrophe.
However, here the expedition members find the crashed ship of the Semenov family. Of these, only the child Pierre survived, who was brought up by space aborigines. Scientists managed to establish contact with the "Kid", after which serious disagreements arose in the group. So, Gennady Komov believes that "Baby" can be used to establish communication with the Ark civilization. But Maya Glumova does not accept such interference in the fate of the space Mowgli.
It was not possible to establish contact with the aborigines of the planet. Ultimately, the colonization of the Ark was canceled, and a team of scientists left the planet.
The problems of the story
According to the plot and, in part, in theory, the work is very similar to Exupery's “Little Prince”. But if you consider this story from the point of view of atmospheric and imaginative, then the “Kid” has a lot in common with “Dandelion Wine” - the novel of another brilliant twentieth-century science fiction writer Ray Bradbury.
The Strugatsky brothers, of course, are science fiction, but science fiction is unusual. Almost every work of them is a whole “tangle” of philosophical problems. Including, and in "Baby" writers pose a whole series of questions before us:
- What is a person?
- What kind does modern humanity have?
- Is curiosity good or bad?
- Can a person climb into someone else's garden with their own rules?
"Baby" is a landmark work for the Strugatsky. It features an unusually lively and very professionally described futuristic world. And in this description various scientific terms and formulations are very organically interwoven. All the characters in the book are extraordinarily bright and self-sufficient.
The story poses a lot of questions, but absolutely does not give any answers to them. This feature can be considered both a plus and a minus of this work.
Finally...
"Operation Mowgli" - this is the name the Strugatsky originally planned to give to his brainchild. "Baby", the summary of which you now know, is a fascinating story about an earthly boy raised by space natives on the distant planet Pant.
In the work, the authors raise several important philosophical questions, the answers to which each reader will have to seek independently.