Definitely Maybe
by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, translated by Antonina W. Bouis
Buy on AmazonOriginally written in 1974, Definitely Maybe is here presented in its first ever unexpurgated edition. Its protagonist, Dmitry Alekseyevich Malyanov is an astrophysicist; just as he begins to realise that he is on the verge of a revolutionary discovery worthy of a Nobel Prize, his life becomes plagued by strange events. Malyanov suspects that his discovery is in the way of someone (or something) intent on preventing the completion of his work. An explanation is proposed by Malyanov's friend: the force is the Universe's adverse reaction to mankind's scientific pursuit.
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"Definitely Maybe, originally published in the 1970’s as A Billion Years Before the End of the World, is a gem of the dystopian order. Arkady and Boris Strugatsky — brothers and celebrated Russian geniuses — take us into the mind of Dmitri Malianov, an astrophysicist simply trying to get his work done while his family is away on holiday. As he tries to make headway on his experiments, however, Malianov keeps getting distracted. Soon, he becomes a suspect in a terrible crime and is threatened with prison. Definitely Maybe, further proof that knowledge can be a dangerous game, is a work of towering wit and intelligence."
NPR Books We Love — 2014 · apps.npr.org