Ep. 98 The Doomed City

“The Experiment is The Experiment.” We’re joined by critic &
filmmaker Martin Kessler to discuss the Strugatsky Brothers’ magnum
opus, The Doomed City. Long self-suppressed by the brothers due to
fears of retribution by Soviet government under which it was
written, the book has a potency and imagination that rivals their
best work like Hard to Be a God (adapted into the legendary film by
Alexei German) and Roadside Picnic (adapted by Andrei Tarkovsky
into the all-time classic Stalker.) The story concerns a bizarre
city operating unstuck from time under the incomprehensible
parameters of an opaque social-metaphysical project known only as
The Experiment. Theological novel, pointed political allegory,
mind-bending sci-fi story; like the land of The Experiment itself,
The Doomed City is an ever-changing landscape with mysteries apt to
be interpreted wildly differently depending on who is doing the
interpreting. We go deep on this challenging but wildly engaging
masterpiece from some of the most important science-fiction writers
ever to exist. Support our Patreon: 
www.patreon.com/thepinksmoke
The Pink Smoke site: 
www.thepinksmoke.com Martin Kessler on
Twitter:
 https://twitter.com/MovieKessler The Pink Smoke on
Twitter:
 twitter.com/thepinksmoke John Cribbs on Twitter:

twitter.com/TheLastMachine Christopher Funderburg on Twitter:

twitter.com/cfunderburg Intro music: Unleash the Bastards / “Tea
for Two”
 Outro music: Marcus Pinn / “Vegas"