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manoushp109's review against another edition
3.0
read for russian modernism class - very interesting in terms of alienation, had to read rly quickly and i felt like i wasn’t able to appreciate the writing style because sometimes it was rly lovely. i thought the characters might get confusing bc it shifts perspectives a lot but they stayed pretty separate. no chapters or anything to separate which i didn’t love. would’ve been much better if i didn’t have to read so quickly
jameskennedy's review against another edition
i cant keep track of russian names :(
hazel1998's review against another edition
3.0
Most interesting about this novel is the Soviet obsession with ‘generational purity’. That all remnants of the old feudal world, including its victims (i.e. the peasantry), must be swept away to reach utopia.
casparb's review against another edition
Here's a big name in Russian lit & a well-known if seemingly unfinished novel. It's anti-soviet. I think it is very good in certain ways with that comic interplay of - what the blurb calls Carollian - and what I call Gogolism. Also very very grim this is early years five year plans and the Колхоз is not so happy.
Sadly the vintage translation is not quite holding water for me which seems odd since the three(!!) translators have their pedigree. It reads as though it were a literal translation intended to be shaped into an English idiom but somebody was too rushed in idiomising it so we have patches of oddness. This is boring talk but I shall demonstrate. The Russian verb 'to rest' is <Отдыхать> - which is literally something like 'breathing out' (think, 'taking a breather'). Vintage has 'many of the men stopped digging and sat down for a sigh' which sounds suspiciously to me like somebody literally translated Отдыхать. A few pages later we also have a husband say to his wife in bed 'let me organize myself close to you!'. That's kind of brilliant I wish it wasn't a mistake
Sadly the vintage translation is not quite holding water for me which seems odd since the three(!!) translators have their pedigree. It reads as though it were a literal translation intended to be shaped into an English idiom but somebody was too rushed in idiomising it so we have patches of oddness. This is boring talk but I shall demonstrate. The Russian verb 'to rest' is <Отдыхать> - which is literally something like 'breathing out' (think, 'taking a breather'). Vintage has 'many of the men stopped digging and sat down for a sigh' which sounds suspiciously to me like somebody literally translated Отдыхать. A few pages later we also have a husband say to his wife in bed 'let me organize myself close to you!'. That's kind of brilliant I wish it wasn't a mistake
ilaydesu's review against another edition
dark
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
subdue_provide75's review
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Very different and interesting.
mxmlln's review against another edition
1.0
Story: 2.0 / 10
Characters: 4
Setting: 8.5
Prose: 3.5
Tags: Communism, Socialism, peasantry, work, meaning, generations
Characters: 4
Setting: 8.5
Prose: 3.5
Tags: Communism, Socialism, peasantry, work, meaning, generations
trioplan's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
owhite's review against another edition
4.0
4.5
Edit: if you have the nyrb edition, definitely read the afterword! It makes sense that they didn’t make it a forward because it discusses parts of the text directly, but it gives a bit of historical context that certainly makes the word more understandable.
Something I’ll need to reread to further understand because I am certain I did not fully comprehend what was being said, but that’s my own fault.
I’ve read the NYRB classics edition so there is a very lengthy afterword I’m currently reading, which is a great feature, and maybe I’ll update my thoughts when I finish.
This book is really great! Platonov writes in a way that isn’t too difficult to understand but I was still finding myself getting lost. The book immediately dives into the discussion about Russian agriculture and the Bolshevik power at the time, which was something I knew nothing about, which only served to my detriment when reading the book. I think if I had known more about the historical events I would have had an easier time understanding what they were talking about, but at the same time it wasn’t too difficult because the characters do not beat around the bush at all.
The only thing about this book (which totally might be me not paying close enough attention consistently) was that characters seem to just appear in the story without introduction. It’s not a big issue but it was something I noticed and I feel like it’s strange.
Great book!
Edit: if you have the nyrb edition, definitely read the afterword! It makes sense that they didn’t make it a forward because it discusses parts of the text directly, but it gives a bit of historical context that certainly makes the word more understandable.
Something I’ll need to reread to further understand because I am certain I did not fully comprehend what was being said, but that’s my own fault.
I’ve read the NYRB classics edition so there is a very lengthy afterword I’m currently reading, which is a great feature, and maybe I’ll update my thoughts when I finish.
This book is really great! Platonov writes in a way that isn’t too difficult to understand but I was still finding myself getting lost. The book immediately dives into the discussion about Russian agriculture and the Bolshevik power at the time, which was something I knew nothing about, which only served to my detriment when reading the book. I think if I had known more about the historical events I would have had an easier time understanding what they were talking about, but at the same time it wasn’t too difficult because the characters do not beat around the bush at all.
The only thing about this book (which totally might be me not paying close enough attention consistently) was that characters seem to just appear in the story without introduction. It’s not a big issue but it was something I noticed and I feel like it’s strange.
Great book!
goofy_ruthie's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
i think that platonov gets at an issue which i havent seen a good answer to only thoughts on in the writing of tue existentialists as well as che and fanon and that is what it means to be human, even under socialism the question persists. are we mote than our labour and the promise we've made to the future generations?