''Amphibian Man'' (rus. Человек-амфибия) is a science fiction adventure novel by the Soviet Russian writer Alexander Beliaev. It was published in 1928.

Plot

Argentinean doctor Salvator, a scientist and a maverick surgeon, gives his son, Ichthyander (russian: Ихтиандр, Ikhtiandr) (Greek etymology: "Fish"+ "Man") a life-saving transplant - a set of shark gills. The experiment is a success but it limits the young man's ability to interact with the world outside his ocean environment. He has to spend much of his time in water. Pedro Zurita, a local pearl gatherer, learns about Ichthyander and tries to exploit the boy's superhuman diving abilities. Similar to other works by Beliaev, the book investigates the possibilities of physical survival under extreme conditions, as well as the moral integrity of scientific experiments. It also touches on socialist ideas of improving living conditions for the world's poor.

Other media

The 1962 film adaptation the '' Amphibian Man'' (russian: Человеκ-aмфибия,

translit. Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus '' trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or ...

''Chelovek-Amfibiya''), was directed by Vladimir Chebotaryov. The movie recorded 65 million ticket sales (the actual ticket revenue is unknown) quickly becoming one of the most admired movies in the USSR. Filmed on the South Coast of the Crimea and in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

and featuring a cast of beautiful young actors, the film features some popular song and dance numbers and has certain characteristics of a

musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

. The first song and the musical theme of the movie - "The Sea Devil" became such a hit that it was sung well into the 1990s. A 2004 Russian TV series ''Sea Devil'' ( Морской Дьявол) was aired, loosely based on the novel.

Translations

* Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow *''L'Uomo Anfibio'', Agenzia Alcatraz, Italia

Cultural influence

Ichthyander Project The Ichthyander Project was the first project involving underwater habitats in the Soviet Union in 1960s."Ichthyander-66, an Underwater House in Tarkhankut", Tatiana Shevcnenko, ''Sobytiya Weekly'' «Ихтиандр-66» — подводный д ...

, underwater habitat *

Daphnella ichthyandri ''Daphnella ichthyandri'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Raphitomidae. Description Distribution This marine species was found on the Nazca Ridge The Nazca Ridge is a submarine ridge, located on the Na ...

, mollusc *

Chlorophthalmus ichthyandri ''Chlorophthalmus'' is a genus of greeneyes Species There are currently 17 recognized species in this genus: * '' Chlorophthalmus acutifrons'' Hiyama, 1940 (Greeneye) * Shortnose greeneye (''Chlorophthalmus agassizi'') Bonaparte, 1840 (Shortn ...

, fish

References

1928 Russian novels Novels by Alexander Beliaev 1928 science fiction novels Russian novels adapted into films Science fiction novels adapted into films Soviet science fiction novels {{1920s-sf-novel-stub

Plot

Other media

Translations

Cultural influence

See also

References