a new challenge for you :)

supergirl

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Apr 29, 2007
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Hi everyone!

Here is the new challenge:

What I remember for sure is that the author was Russian. I read this book some 18 years ago (when I was a teenager) and my memories are quite hazy but still there are some details I remember well enough. It was also in Bulgarian and I'm not sure it has ever being translated in English, but who knows...

So here it is:
There were no countries and boundaries on our planet, no racism, no crime (or at least no severe crimes), everyone worked for the wellbeing of all mankind - the perfect society. There were no political parties and the position in the community did not depend on your appearance, relationships or relatives but on your knowledge and skills. I also remember a young man who wanted to become a respected member of this society and to achieve this he had to perform several tasks (like the labors of Hercules) that required courage, altruism, wisdom and hardiness. These tasks were of his own choosing and consisted of solving different problems around the Earth. His first task was connected with a marsh or something that was causing troubles in the area.

I have some vague images of an island where you could retreat if you were not quite content with that society... This was not the main plot of the book, but it impressed me the most. The young man was the son of one of the protagonists and I do not remember what the problems of the grown-ups were.

And now that I'm a grown-up myself I'd like to reread it. I'm sure I'll find something else worth remembering so I count on you! Please help!
 
I found it! It's Ivan Yefremov's Andromeda (1957). I might've mixed some of the details with another book of his written in 1968. It is about the same society although with different characters. I couldn't find it translated in English but the title is something like The Bull's Hour. Worth reading!
 

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