TOP 10 science fiction books that Soviet schoolchildren loved

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

We have already recalled the most popular children's books among schoolchildren of the USSR and modern adolescents, and also learned which books are undeservedly forgotten and practically inaccessible for modern schoolchildren in paper form. Now let's remember that we, Soviet schoolchildren, loved to read by genre. Of course, this series will be opened by science fiction.

1. "On the Night of the Great Tide" by Vladislav Krapivin

Other galaxies and worlds always attract the younger generation. Indeed, in childhood there are no obstacles and restrictions for imagination, everything seems possible, especially if it happens with the same boys and girls like you. Vladislav Krapivin, like no one else, knows how to replenish this childish craving for the unknown, while awakening the best feelings: compassion, support, participation, love and devotion. The heroes of the books simply come to life before our eyes and become our own - relatives and friends.

Krapivin's fantastic books, which most Soviet schoolchildren read for the first time in the Pioneer magazine, carried not only adventures in other worlds, but also strong friendship, mutual assistance, patriotism and self-sacrifice. Science fiction was organically woven into the everyday boy's life, and the reader, literally from the first pages, could not imagine how all this could be divided. Fortunately, many modern children still read Krapivin's books "voraciously".

2. "100 Years Ahead" by Kir Bulychev

Another native Russian children's science fiction writer who created for Soviet schoolchildren a special world of the future in which an ordinary schoolgirl Alisa Selezneva lives. So what if she flies with her dad, the scientist director of the space zoo on different planets, is friends with the alien professor Gromozeka and often gets into fights with space pirates? All the same, she is the most ordinary girl from the XXI century.

The book "100 Years Ahead" occupies a special place in the cycle about Alice, because the cult in the USSR children's film "Guest from the Future" was shot based on her motives. Needless to say that the film was shown on TV not often, and you categorically did not want to part with its heroes? Therefore, the book has received just immense popularity. In libraries, queues lined up for it, and if the happy owners gave it to read, it was only "for one evening." Modern schoolchildren can enjoy this masterpiece without restrictions, so I personally envy them.

3. "Hyperboloid of engineer Garin" by Alexei Tolstoy

The book, written in 1927, kept in suspense not a single generation of Soviet schoolchildren. This story has echoes of reality, because it is about science, the lust for power and the confrontation between the two great powers - the United States and Russia (USSR). Amazingly, after the discovery of a quantum generator by Soviet physicists Basov and Prokhorov, Academician L. Artsimovich, speaking at an all-Union meeting of scientists, said:

Did ordinary boys and girls know about this, who eagerly "swallowed" the pages of the book they read? Probably not. But that didn't make her any less fun.

4. "Aelita" by Alexei Tolstoy

And one more fantastic book beloved by Soviet schoolchildren from the creator of Pinocchio. This time about a beautiful Martian woman and a quivering love story. And, of course, girls preferred this book. After all, there were not many books about love at that time. And if her heroine turned out to be an alien, and the action takes place in believable Martian landscapes, popularity was assured. It is noteworthy that the author, realizing the main target audience of his work, in 1937 himself remade the original novel into a novel for young people. And yet, this work was developed and continued: in 1967, the Soviet science fiction writer Konstantin Volkov wrote an expanded version of Aelita with the original plot of Mars Awakening, which also gained popularity among Soviet children.

5. "20 thousand leagues under the sea" by Jules Verne

Yes, the famous captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus also take pride of place in our TOP. Of course, in the USSR there were simply no schoolchildren who were not familiar with the work of Jules Verne. And the adventures of Captain Nemo have become just the standard of fantasy and adventure. It was already surprising that the writer actually predicted the appearance of submarines and the possibility of long journeys under water. What else can you say about this book? Yes, only that it just needs to be read, even if it is not fashionable now.

6. "Amphibian Man" by Alexander Belyaev

And again, early Soviet science fiction, which remains relevant to this day. Ichthyander became just a household name, and this book was read and re-read by our grandmothers, grandfathers, dads and mothers, and then by ourselves. Our children, spoiled by other fiction, may not want to read the book, but they will be happy to watch the film, especially since the film adaptations of this story continue. Well, we may well want to re-read this poignant work about human loneliness and tragedy to be different from everyone else.

7. "The Adventures of Electronics" by Evgeny Veltisov

Yes, this is a completely children's book, better known in the USSR thanks to the film of the same name. Many children (including myself) did not even know that there was such a book. And if she accidentally fell into my hands, the delight was complete, because the amazing robot boy Elektronik and his living friend Seryozha have much more different adventures in the book. Suffice it to say that a friend of Electronics, a robot girl, appears there. In the USSR, the book had insultingly small print runs, so it was difficult to find it even in libraries. But now everyone can expand their understanding of the adventures of Electronics and find out what happened next (personally, the ending of the film was very disappointing to me).

8. "The Lost World" by A. Conan Doyle

What could be more exciting to travel to the Amazon, to uncharted mountain plateaus and meet living dinosaurs? And none of the lessons of geography and biology taken together will not be able to convince that such an idea of the structure of our planet is wrong. There is clearly not a void inside, and one wants to believe in it, especially when you read about the adventures of Challenger's amazing expedition with companions (Professor Summerlee, Lord John Roxton and reporter Malone, on whose behalf the story is being told).

There is little science, but a lot of fiction and amazing discoveries. But this is what always fascinates young readers. Personally, I have re-read this book 3 times. And you?

9. "Yankees at the Court of King Arthur" by Mark Twain

And one more fantasy from the classic. The king of humor, Mark Twain, stayed with them telling about an American who, by the will of fate, ended up at the court of King Arthur. The story, mixed with adventure and time travel, and spiced with Twain's amazing talent, captivated and did not allow to break away from reading this book. By the way, many also learned about her thanks to the film adaptation of the same name. But it was still more interesting to read. And I really wanted to believe that the main characters would be able to return home. Although in the distant past, the enterprising Yankees did not waste time in vain and was able to arrange the Middle Ages in their own way.

By the way, with this amazing story, Mark Twain initiated a whole series of books and films about such random travels in time. And now there is even a special term - the populace.

10. "Monday starts on Saturday" by the Strugatsky brothers

And this TOP-10, of course, would be incomplete and incomplete without the brilliant work of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. NIICHAVO - The Research Institute of Witchcraft and Wizardry has become close and dear to several generations of Soviet adolescents and adults. And there is no need to talk about the humor that permeates the pages of this book. By the way, who else does not know (are there really such?) The famous New Year's fairy tale "The Sorcerers" is based on this book. But those who watched the film do not need to delude themselves that they met the Strugatskys. Not at all, the book is about something else, and there is much, much more in it.

The wall was constantly being completed for two thousand years - until 1644. At the same time, due to various internal and external factors, the wall turned out to be "layered", similar in shape to the channels left by bark beetles in the tree (this can be clearly seen in the illustration).

During the entire construction period, only the material changed, as a rule: primitive clay, pebbles and compacted earth were replaced by limestone and denser rocks. But the design itself, as a rule, did not undergo changes, although its parameters vary: height 5-7 meters, width about 6.5 meters, towers every two hundred meters (distance of the shot of an arrow or arquebus). They tried to draw the wall itself along the ridges of mountain ranges.

And in general they actively used the local landscape for fortification purposes. The length from the eastern to the western edge of the wall is nominally about 9000 kilometers, but if you count all the branches and layering, it comes out to 21,196 kilometers. On the construction of this miracle in different periods worked from 200 thousand to two million people (that is, a fifth of the then population of the country).

Now most of the wall is abandoned, part of it is used as a tourist site. Unfortunately, the wall suffers from climatic factors: the downpours erode it, the drying heat leads to collapses … Interestingly, archaeologists still discover hitherto unknown fortification sites. This mainly concerns the northern "veins" on the border with Mongolia.

Adrian's shaft and Antonina's shaft

In the first century AD, the Roman Empire actively conquered the British Isles. Although by the end of the century, the power of Rome, transmitted through the loyal heads of local tribes, in the south of the island was unconditional, the tribes living to the north (primarily the Picts and brigants) were reluctant to submit to foreigners, making raids and organizing military skirmishes. In order to secure the controlled territory and prevent the penetration of the raiders' detachments, in 120 AD the Emperor Hadrian ordered the construction of a line of fortifications, which later received his name. By the year 128, the work was completed.

The shaft crossed the north of the British Isle from the Irish Sea to the North and was a wall 117 kilometers long. In the west, the rampart was made of wood and earth, it was 6 m wide and 3.5 meters high, and in the east it was made of stone, the width of which was 3 m, and the average height was 5 meters. Moats were dug on both sides of the wall, and a military road for the transfer of troops ran along the rampart on the south side.

Along the rampart, 16 forts were built, which simultaneously served as checkpoints and barracks, between them, every 1300 meters - smaller towers, every half a kilometer - signaling structures and cabins.

The rampart was built by the forces of three legions based on the island, with each small section building a small legion squad. Apparently, such a rotational method did not allow a significant part of the soldiers to be immediately diverted to work. Then these same legions carried out a guard duty here.

As the Roman Empire expanded, already under Emperor Antoninus Pius, in 142-154, a similar line of fortifications was built 160 km north of the Andrianov Wall. The new stone Antoninov shaft was similar to the "big brother": width - 5 meters, height - 3-4 meters, ditches, road, turrets, alarm. But there were much more forts - 26. The length of the rampart was two times less - 63 kilometers, since in this part of Scotland the island is much narrower.

However, Rome was unable to effectively control the area between the two ramparts, and in 160-164 the Romans left the wall, returning for Hadrian's fortifications. In 208, the troops of the Empire again managed to occupy the fortifications, but only for a few years, after which the southern one - the Hadrian's shaft - again became the main line. By the end of the 4th century, the influence of Rome on the island was declining, the legions began to degrade, the wall was not properly maintained, and the frequent raids of tribes from the north led to destruction. By 385, the Romans had stopped serving Hadrian's Wall.

The ruins of the fortifications have survived to this day and are an outstanding monument of Antiquity in Great Britain.

Serif line

The invasion of nomads in Eastern Europe required the strengthening of the southern borders of the Rusyn principalities. In the XIII century, the population of Russia uses various methods of building defenses against horse armies, and by the XIV century, the science of how to correctly build "notch lines" is already taking shape. Zaseka is not just a wide clearing with obstacles in the forest (and most of the places in question are wooded), it is a defensive structure that was not easy to overcome. On the spot, fallen trees, pointed stakes and other simple structures made of local materials, impassable for the horseman, are stuck in the ground crosswise and directed towards the enemy.

In this thorny windbreak were earthen traps, "garlic", which incapacitated the foot soldiers, if they tried to approach and dismantle the fortifications. And from the north of the clearing there was a shaft fortified with stakes, as a rule, with observation posts and forts. The main task of such a line is to delay the advance of the cavalry army and give time to the princely troops to gather. For example, in the XIV century, Prince of Vladimir Ivan Kalita erected an uninterrupted line of marks from the Oka River to the Don River and further to the Volga. Other princes also built such lines in their lands. And the Zasechnaya guard served on them, and not only on the very line: horse patrols went out on reconnaissance far to the south.

Over time, the principalities of Russia united into a single Russian state, which was capable of building large-scale structures. The enemy also changed: now they had to defend themselves from the Crimean-Nogai raids. From 1520 to 1566, the Great Zasechnaya Line was built, which stretched from the Bryansk forests to Pereyaslavl-Ryazan, mainly along the banks of the Oka.

These were no longer primitive "directional windbreaks", but a line of high-quality means of fighting horse raids, fortification tricks, gunpowder weapons. Beyond this line were stationed troops of the standing army of about 15,000 people, and outside the intelligence and agent network worked. However, the enemy managed to overcome such a line several times.

As the state strengthened and the borders expanded to the south and east, over the next hundred years, new fortifications were built: Belgorod line, Simbirskaya zaseka, Zakamskaya line, Izyumskaya line, woodland Ukrainian line, Samara-Orenburgskaya line (this is already 1736, after the death of Peter !). By the middle of the 18th century, raiding peoples were either subdued or could not raid for other reasons, and linear tactics reigned supreme on the battlefield. Therefore, the value of the notches came to naught.

Berlin Wall

After World War II, the territory of Germany was divided between the USSR and the allies into the Eastern and Western zones.

On May 23, 1949, the state of the Federal Republic of Germany was formed on the territory of West Germany, which joined the NATO bloc.

On October 7, 1949, on the territory of East Germany (on the site of the former Soviet occupation zone), the German Democratic Republic was formed, which took over the socialist political regime from the USSR. She quickly became one of the leading countries of the socialist camp.

Berlin remained a problem: just like Germany, it was divided into eastern and western zones of occupation. But after the formation of the GDR, East Berlin became its capital, but West, nominally being the territory of the FRG, turned out to be an enclave. Relations between NATO and the OVD heated up during the Cold War, and West Berlin was a bone in the throat on the road to GDR sovereignty. In addition, the troops of the former allies were still stationed in this region.

Each side put forward uncompromising proposals in their favor, but it was impossible to put up with the current situation. De facto, the border between the GDR and West Berlin was transparent, with up to half a million people crossing it unhindered a day. By July 1961, over 2 million people fled through West Berlin to the FRG, which made up a sixth of the population of the GDR, and emigration was increasing.

The government decided that since it could not take control of West Berlin, it would simply isolate it. On the night of 12 (Saturday) to 13 (Sunday) August 1961, the troops of the GDR surrounded the territory of West Berlin, not allowing the inhabitants of the city either outside or inside. Ordinary German communists stood in a living cordon. In a few days, all streets along the border, tram and metro lines were closed, telephone lines were cut off, cable and pipe collectors were laid with gratings. Several houses adjacent to the border were evicted and destroyed, in many others the windows were bricked up.

Freedom of movement was completely prohibited: some could not return home, some did not get to work. The Berlin conflict on October 27, 1961, would then be one of those moments when the Cold War could turn hot. And in August, the construction of the wall was carried out at an accelerated pace. And initially it was literally a concrete or brick fence, but by 1975 the wall was a complex of fortifications for various purposes.

Let's list them in order: a concrete fence, a mesh fence with barbed wire and electrical alarms, anti-tank hedgehogs and anti-tire spikes, a road for patrols, an anti-tank ditch, a control strip. And also the symbol of the wall is a three-meter fence with a wide pipe on top (so that you cannot swing your leg). All this was served by security towers, searchlights, signaling devices and prepared firing points.

In fact, the wall turned West Berlin into a reservation. But the barriers and traps were made in such a way and in the direction that it was the inhabitants of East Berlin who could not cross the wall and get into the western part of the city. And it was in this direction that the citizens fled from the country of the Internal Affairs Department to the fenced-in enclave. Several checkpoints worked exclusively for technical purposes, and the guards were allowed to shoot to kill.

Nevertheless, in the entire history of the existence of the wall, 5,075 people successfully fled from the GDR, including 574 deserters. Moreover, the more serious the fortifications of the wall were, the more sophisticated were the escape methods: a hang glider, a balloon, a double bottom of a car, a diving suit, and makeshift tunnels.

Another 249,000 East Germans moved west "legally". From 140 to 1250 people died while trying to cross the border. By 1989, perestroika was in full swing in the USSR, and many of the GDR's neighbors opened borders with it, allowing East Germans to leave the country en masse. The existence of the wall became meaningless, on November 9, 1989, a representative of the GDR government announced new rules for entering and leaving the country.

Hundreds of thousands of East Germans, without waiting for the appointed date, rushed to the border on the evening of November 9. According to the recollections of eyewitnesses, the maddened border guards were told "the wall is no more, they said on TV," after which crowds of jubilant residents of the East and West met. Somewhere the wall was officially dismantled, somewhere the crowds smashed it with sledgehammers and carried away the fragments, like the stones of the fallen Bastille.

The wall collapsed with no less tragedy than the one that marked every day of its standing. But in Berlin, a half-kilometer stretch remained - as a monument to the senselessness of such usurpation measures. On May 21, 2010, the inauguration of the first part of the large memorial complex dedicated to the Berlin Wall took place in Berlin.

Trump Wall

The first fences on the US-Mexico border appeared in the middle of the 20th century, but these were ordinary fences, and they were often demolished by emigrants from Mexico.

The construction of a real formidable line took place from 1993 to 2009. This fortification covered 1,078 km of the 3145 km of the common border. In addition to a mesh or metal fence with barbed wire, the functionality of the wall includes auto and helicopter patrols, motion sensors, video cameras and powerful lighting. In addition, the strip behind the wall is cleared of vegetation.

However, the height of the wall, the number of fences at a certain distance, surveillance systems and materials used during construction vary depending on the section of the border. For example, in some places the border runs through cities, and the wall here is just a fence with pointed and curved elements on top. The most "multi-layered" and often patrolled sections of the border-wall are those through which the flow of emigrants was greatest in the second half of the 20th century. In these areas, it has dropped by 75% over the past 30 years, but critics say this simply forces emigrants to use less convenient overland routes (which often lead to their death due to harsh environmental conditions) or resort to the services of smugglers.

On the current section of the wall, the percentage of illegal immigrants being detained reaches 95%. But on sections of the border where the risk of drug smuggling or the crossings of armed gangs is low, there may be no barriers at all, which causes criticism about the effectiveness of the entire system. Also, the fence can be in the form of a wire fence for livestock, a fence made of vertically placed rails, a fence made of steel pipes of a certain length with concrete poured inside, and even a blockage from machines flattened under the press. In such locations, vehicle and helicopter patrols are considered the primary means of defense.

The construction of the separation wall along the entire border with Mexico became one of the main points of Donald Trump's election program in 2016, but the contribution of his administration was limited to moving the existing sections of the wall to other directions of migration, which practically did not increase the total length. The opposition prevented Trump from pushing the wall project and funding through the Senate.

The heavily media-covered issue of building the wall has resonated in American society and outside the country, becoming another point of contention between Republican and Democratic supporters. New President Joe Biden promised to completely destroy the wall, but this statement has remained words for now.

And so far, to the delight of the emigrants, the fate of the wall remains in limbo.