The first english translations of the foundation pit came out in the 1980s, but has. In this work, the central metaphor for an era in this case the digging of a hole that will be the foundation for a huge building that will house the newly enfranchised proletariat is. Andrei platonovich platonov author the foundation pit. A companion to andrei platonovs the foundation pit. A companion to andrei platonovs the foundation pit on jstor.
In the foundation pit a futile, destructive laboring is a witness to the absence of. Thomas seifrid, a companion to andrei platonovs the foundation pit, academic studies press, 2009. The foundation pit by andrei platonov 1930 my body gets weak without truth. A companion to andrei platonov s the foundation pit book description. The workers dig each day but slowly cease to understand the meaning of their work.
The book, written in 19291930, is an allegory of the era of collectivization. Chevengur, the juvenile sea, and the foundation pit were not published in the soviet union until the late 1980s. Get free ebook the foundation pit, by andrei platonov. But that is not to say that the author wasnt procommunism. Seeking to evoke unspeakable realities, platonov deforms and transforms language in pages that echo both with the alienating. The plot of the novel concerns a group of workers living in. Andrey platonov, a unique and extraordinary writer, came into russian. The foundation pit is a dystopian work a distorted mirror image of the soviet. They attempt to dig out a huge foundation pit on the base of which a gigantic house will be built for the countrys proletarians. The foundation pit portrays a group of workmen and local bureau. The foundation pit will stand out as his masterpiece independent platonov managed to make the miseries of forced industrialization into a story as gripping as anything in dickens, as moving and as artful john bayley times literary supplement. Ebook the foundation pit as pdf download portable document. Andrew platonovs the foundation pit is a brutal novel. Platonov appears to have begun working on chevengur, his only novel, as early as when he was still in tambov.
Furthermore, it provides essential background to platonovs parody of the mainstream soviet production novel, which is widely. Books by andrei platonov author of the foundation pit. Controversy exists about the actual date of birth, however, and some experts fix it at 28 august 16 august, old style. Mirra ginsburg, translators introduction to the foundation pit, 1975. The plot of the novel concerns a group of workers living in the early soviet union. In a dusty little town, a worker named voshchev is fired from his job at a small machine factory. The foundation pit is a book which requires knowledge of the historical and political background to get the most from it to get, i would say, anything significant from it at all. The foundation pit top results of your surfing the foundation pit start download portable document format pdf and ebooks electronic books free online rating news 20162017 is books that can provide inspiration, insight, knowledge to the reader. This isnt meant to be a comprehensive list of whats available on one or the other. The afterword and copious notes are very helpful, but would be better as introduction, with the notes numbered through the. Written at the height of stalins first fiveyear plan for the industrialization of soviet russia and the parallel campaign to collectivize soviet agriculture, andrei platonovs the foundation pit registers a dissonant mixture of utopian longings and despair. Andrei platonov chevengur pdf stalin called him scum.
Platonovs writing focuses on the threat industrialization poses to human and spiritual values. Introducing andrei platonov by yevgeny yevtushenko the. Set in the 1920s, andrei patonovich klimentovs the foundation pit is a literary work that combines the genre of dystopian fiction, political satire, and ethical allegory to present a bleak. The foundation pit reprint edition by ginsburg, mirra trn. The foundation pit is one of the most difficult books ive read in recent years, but its worth the effort if you enjoy dystopia or innovative language. If you have read the foundation pit, which is concerned with collectivisation and the starvation of the russian peasantry, you will understand how ridiculous that claim is. Andrei platonovs face, looking out from one of his last photographs, is the face of a tired russian worker. In this way, nastya serves as a symbol of the foundatiion unions future.
Platonovs refraction of the production novel in the foundation pit. Platonovs books are still being unearthed in russia decades after his death. Andrei platonov, august 28, 1899 january 5, 1951, was the pen name of andrei platonovich klimentov, a soviet author whose works anticipate existentialism. Platonovs deadpan style makes the hunger and death he depicts that much more empty. Buy the foundation pit vintage classics by platonov, andrey, chandler, robert, chandler, elizabeth, meerson, olga from amazons fiction books store. In this volume, however, we have chosen to focus on the gentler, and perhaps subtler, work that platonov wrote during the late 1930s. Readers who encounter platonov for the first time are often struck by his surreality. Im going to try and post on andrei platonovs chevengur later this week but wanted to pass on some links i enjoyed related to the author andor the work. The foundation pit by andrei platonov the foundation pit by andrei platonov the foundation pit belongs to a very special category. The foundation pit opens with the worker voschev being made redundant in the factory where he works. Andrei platonovs most popular book is the foundation pit. Robert chandler and olga meersons afterword discusses the historical context and style of epub platonovs most haunted and troubling work. In a modern setting this redundancy would be the result of automation, but in 1920s soviet union it is a euphemism for any sort of expendabilityin this case, a more mundane issue of growing.
The foundation pit is a gloomy symbolic and semisatirical novel by andrei platonov. Buy this book completed in 1930 but unpublished during his. It has not a trace of affectation, no hint of what is called artistic temperament, no monumental profundity, no oracular brilliance in the eyes. Platonovs reputation as one of russias most important twentiethcentury writers is confirmed by this new translation of his novel, the foundation pit. Available in the national library of australia collection. The foundation pit distresses the russian language, showing it splayed and shattered by the demands of. The foundation pit by andrey platonov, robert chandler. Voshchev tries to defend himself, saying that he is trying to work out a plan for life. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. Once known only to a small circle of admirers in russia and the west, andrey platonov 18991951 has emerged to assume his rightful place as one of the major russian writers of the twentieth century. He shatters any illusions one might have about the virtues of soviet communism. His works had been banned for many years, but fortunately his daughter kept his manuscripts and was able to get the foundation pit and other.
If you ally need such a referred the foundation pit, by andrei platonov publication that will certainly give you worth, get the most effective vendor from us currently from many preferred publishers. Im always surprised when platonovs work is called prostalin. Written at the height of stalins first fiveyear plan for the industrialization of soviet russia and the parallel campaign to collectivize soviet agriculture, andrei. Born in vorenzh, miles south of moscow, inandrey platonov came of age during the chaotic years of the russian revolution. Written at the height of stalins first fiveyear plan for the industrialization of soviet russia and the parallel campaign to collectivize soviet agriculture, andrei platonov s the foundation pit registers a dissonant mixture of utopian longings and despair. She has deepened my understanding of almost every sentence of soul and the foundation pit. Kliemtov born on 1 september 1899 20 august, old style in voronezh.
Seeking to evoke unspeakable realities, platonov deforms and transforms language. Olga was brought up in the soviet union, she was once a fine violinist, she has a profound knowledge of russian orthodoxy, and she has written an excellent book about platonov. The foundation pit beyond irony, beyond satire, to a point. Platonov, or the disinherited is jay scheibs remix of the traditions of shakespeareinthepark, the ribald nostalgia of the driveinmovie, and the unpredictability of liveonlocationbroadcasting to create a new livecinema performance. The foundation pit by andrey platonov 1994, paperback. Counting andrei platonov among the greatest russian prose writers of this century, joseph brodsky considered him to be quite untranslatable, and, in one sense, thats a good thing. Andrei platonov has 106 books on goodreads with 25768 ratings. Platonov, andrei platonovich, acceptable book the foundation pit kotlovan, platonov, andrei platonovich, acceptable book. The foundation pit is platonovs most overtly political book, written in direct response to the staggering brutalities of stalins collectivization of russian agriculture. Search the catalogue for collection items held by the national library of australia. His denunciation of the soviet bureaucracy led to severe rebuke by the stalinist authorities and the suppression of his work, rediscovered in the poststalin thaw. Reviews of the foundation pit until now regarding the book we have now foundation pit pdf responses end users are yet to but eventually left the article on the action, or otherwise not read it but. Although platonov was a communist, his works were banned in his own lifetime for their skeptical attitude toward collectivization and other stalinist policies.
Sholokhov, gorky, pasternak, and bulgakov all thought he was the bees knees. The foundation pit by russian soviet writer andrei platonov 18901951 was a satirical novel following the travails of a group of workers digging out a foundation pit for a gigantic house for all proletariat and is considered by some to have been a significant influence on other statecontrol dystopias such as george orwells 1984 and aldous huxleys brave new world. Stalin notwithstanding, platonov had a deep passion for the soviet union. Platonov, andrei platonovich and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Humanities open book initiative, which includes the open access release of several. The foundation pit translated by robert and elizabeth. The enormous foundation pit sucks out all of their physical and mental energy. The foundation pit, were turbulent ones for platonov in which his. Platonov the foundation pit pdf le catalogue a companion to andrei platonovs the foundation pit book description. In andrey platonovs 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. The foundation pit portrays a group of workmen and local bureaucrats engaged in digging the foundation pit for what is to become a grand general building. A companion to andrei platonovs the foundation pit oapen. Ebook get free ebook the foundation pit, by andrei.