pick4⭐️ What a tough book to read! 😅 Platonov deployed so many layers of irony in this story of communist experiment in a district named Chevengur. It‘s not easy to realize the dream of creating a perfect communist world. The communist intellectuals themselves were not sure about the concepts and implementations. It‘s really a brain-wrecking novel but I‘m also encouraged to read Platonov‘s other works now 😆
I had no idea about Andrey Platonov and his works; all I knew is that NYRB said that it‘s good and so I decided to read it. The Chandlers translated this novel and they translated Vasily Grossman‘s works so I trusted them. So I read the first chapter and thought “wow so this is about the famine period! This is going to be tough!” I then flipped to the translator‘s note and Robert Chandler‘s first sentence says 👇🏻
pickThe author of this novel was initially a true believer in the communist revolution in Russia; this fatalistic, absurdist and often lyrical novel is the product of his experiences. It's no wonder it was suppressed for 60 years, given the confusion, despair and end times yearning it depicts as villagers attempt to somehow trigger communism from within. A Russian blend of Don Quixote and Waiting for Godot, mournfully comic and doomed from the start.
"Old provincial towns have tumbledown outskirts, and people come straight from nature to live there."
A single copy of this Russian novel was printed in 1929; the first Soviet edition appeared in 1988. This is a new translation, and it's fascinating so far.
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Chevengur | 
