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Now watch the film adaptation, Stalker - even more depressing!

Try their other book, "The Doomed City".

it's as upbeat as the title suggests.

The novel itself and the setting are not about communism though, not even in disguise. It would have to be in disguise because the setting is an unnamed North American (possibly Canadian?) city, but even if it was, the themes are not about communism.

Agreed about the melancholy.

Yes, that's Russian literature. Even before communism the melancholy is strong.