Andreĭ Platonovich Platonov

A 1930s novel on a disillusioned Russian Communist. He analyzes the manner in which people rationalize their membership in the Communist party, turning a blind eye to its excesses.

The Foundation Pit

Moscow in the 1930s is the consummate symbol of the Soviet paradise, a fairy-tale capital where, in Stalin's words, "life has become better, life has become merrier". In Happy Moscow Platonov exposes the gulf between this premature triumphalism and the harsh reality of low living standards and even lower expectations. For in Stalin's ideal city there is no longer a place for those who do not fit the bright, shining image of the new men and women of the future. The heroine, Moscow Chestnova, is an Everywoman, both virgin and whore, who flits from man to man, fascinated by the brave new world supposedly taking shape around her. In a variety of styles ranging from the grotesque to the sentimental to the absurd, Platonov lays bare the ways in which language itself has been debased, even borrowing slogans from Stalin's own speeches for comic effect.

Happy Moscow

Chevengur

Robert Chandler

Translated from the Russian by Robert & Elizabeth Chandler and Olga Meerson With notes and an afterword by Robert Chandler and Olga Meerson In Andrey Platonov’s The Foundation Pit, a team of workers has been given the job of digging the foundation of an immense edifice, a palatial home for the perfect future that, they are convinced, is at hand. But the harder the team works, the deeper they dig, the more things go wrong, and it becomes clear that what is being dug is not a foundation but an immense grave. The Foundation Pit is Platonov’s most overtly political book, written in direct response to the staggering brutalities of Stalin’s collectivization of Russian agriculture. It is also a literary masterpiece. Seeking to evoke unspeakable realities, Platonov deforms and transforms language in pages that echo both with the alienating doublespeak of power and the stark simplicity of prayer. This English translation is the first and only one to be based on the definitive edition published by Pushkin House in Moscow. It includes extensive notes and, in an appendix, several striking passages deleted by Platonov. Robert Chandler and Olga Meerson’s afterword discusses the historical context and style of Platonov’s most haunted and troubling work.

Mutlu Moskova

"This volume gathers eight works that show Platonov at his tenderest, warmest, and subtlest. Among them are "The Return," about an officer's difficult homecoming at the end of World War II; "The River Potudan," an account of a troubled marriage; and the title novella, the tale of a young man unexpectedly transformed by his return to his Asian birthplace, where he finds his people deprived not only of food and dwelling, but of memory and speech."--BOOK JACKET.

Soul and Other Stories

"Born in Central Asia, Chagataev, the hero of Soul, goes on to be educated in Moscow. As an adult, he is sent back to his birthplace as a kind of missionary; believing his people are lost in the desert, he goes to rescue them and lead them towards Communism. His mission becomes a search for happiness, but his success goes only so far. The people prove that they have their own ideas about where and how they wish to be led. Andrey Platonov's style is that of myth and fable. Chagataev is an epic hero, a twentieth-century Moses leading his people to freedom and battling against the powers of darkness. At the same time, he is himself lost, vulnerable and ill at ease with the burden of responsibility which he tries to shoulder. There is a paradox in that by trying to release the people from one ruling power, he himself fills the role of another one. In this story about being in possession of your own life, Platonov weaves together Zoroastrian myth, Sufism, Communism and Freud, creating a work of psychological and philosophical nuance." --Book Jacket.

Soul

Antoaneta-Liliana Olteanu

Cevengur

Günay Çetao Kızılırmak

roman

Çevengur

'For the mind, everthing is in the future' Platonov once wrote; 'for the heart, everything is in the past'. The protagonist of Soul is a young man torn between these opposing desires, sent as a kind of missionary to bring the values of modern Russia to his childhood home town in Central Asia.

Didar Zeynep Batumlu

статьи

Повесть, рассказы, 1934-1941 ; Размышления читателя

рассказы

Июльская гроза

повести, рассказы

В прекрасном и яростном мире

John Berger

John Berger Reads Andrey Platonov

A Sparrow's Journey

After a lifetime of persecution Andrey Platonov (1899-1951) has emerged as one of the greatest writers of this century, an artist of profound genius, integrity and clarity of vision. Today he is venerated in Russia, and his major novels, Chevengur and The Foundation Pit, have been published in numerous editions. His influence on contemporary Russian writing is enormous, and he marked a new era in Russian literature, his language and style being so distinctive that for a long time his work defied translation. Platonov vividly presents the dreams of the builders of socialism in all their inarticulate confusion, with a sympathy not lessened by an unparalleled awareness of their tragic consequences.

Andrey Platonov: 1899-1999

The Portable Platonov

Collected Works

An epic tale, by one of Soviet Russia’s greatest writers, about the search for happiness, the longing to lead and the need to follow, and ultimately, being in possession of one’s own life.

Andreĭ Platonovich Platonov

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