DEFINITELY MAYBE

by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1978

What on earth (or anywhere else) is this doing in a volume all to itself at $7.95? In no way could it ever be taken for a full-fledged novel. It is a clever and provocative little bit of invention about an astrophysicist and various of his pals puzzling over a series of strange interruptions to their work, and eventually stumbling over the nameless intelligence at the root of it. This rather slight plot is tricked out a bit by being split into a third-person and a first-person narrative--not altogether a happy idea. We are shunted too fast from a detached comic-opera perspective (maddening phone mix-ups, unexpected guests, visits from the CID) to all sorts of lofty cosmic suggestions. Of course the Strugatskys, as usual, write with a bite and concentration that comes through splendidly in Bouis' translation. But this should have appeared in tandem with a few other novellas or long stories.

Pub Date: April 1, 1978

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1978

Categories: FICTION