The foundation pit – Monoskop

reduced life, Platonov brings the action, the characters, and the language itself down to ultimate absurdity. He carries. The Foundation Pit beyond irony, beyond
164 pages

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MuchasHermanMelville™sgreatnesswasdiscoveredlongafterhisdeath,AndreyPlatonov’sreputationhasbeengrowingsincetheposthumouspublica-tionofasmallcollectionofhisstoriesin1958.DespitetheSovietauthorities’refusaltopublishhismoreexperimentalandcriticalworks,theextensiveunder-groundcirculationofhismanuscriptshasestablishedhisrighttobeconsideredoneoftheforemostwritersinRussianofthiscentury.TheFoundationFitisoneofthesefiunderground”manu-scripts.Setinasmalltowninearlypost-RevolutionaryRussia,itdescribesagroupofworkmenandlow-levelbu-reaucratsengagedindiggingthefoun-dationpitforwhatistobecomeagrand,centralstructuretohouseallthetown’sinhabitants.But,asksVoschev,thedreamer,fiDon’tpeopledecreaseintheirsenseoflifewhenbuildingsin-crease?Manwillmakeabuildingandunmakehimself.Whowillliveinitthen?flMirraGinsburgwritesintheIntro-duction:fi(He)createsasurrealistlandscapeŠalandscapeofmythornightmare.EverymanbecomesEveryman,andthenovelassumesalargerthanlife,almostlegendaryqual-ity.flAndProfessorVictorErlichofYalecomments:fiPlatonovisanimpor-tantandaremarkablewriter.Hisbrandofhumanismisuniqueandmoving.Hisproseisdeliberatelyandeffectivelyin-congruous.IttakesatranslatorofMirraGinsburg’sskilltorenderthisqualityintoequallyeffectiveEnglish.fl

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LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGINGINPUBLICATIONDATAPlatonov,AndreiPlatonovich,1899-1951.Thefoundationpit.TranslationofKotlovan.I.Title.PZ3.P6953F06[PG3476.P543]891.7’3’4273-122788Copyright©1968byAlexFlegonEnglishtranslationCopyright©1975byE.P.Dutton&Co.,Inc.Allrightsreserved.PrintedintheU.S.A.FirstEdition10987654321Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopy,recording,oranyinformationstorageandretrievalsystemnowknownortobeinvented,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhowishestoquotebriefpassagesinconnectionwithareviewwrittenforinclusioninamagazine,newspaperorbroadcast.PublishedsimultaneouslyinCanadabyClarke,Irwin&CompanyLimited,TorontoandVancouverISBN:0-525-10775-4DesignedbyDorotheavonElbe

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183388Translator™sIntroductionfiBeauty,flwrotePlatonov,fidoesnotexistseparately,byitself.Itisthepropertyofallbeautyisalldays,andallthings.flHealsowrote,fiWegrowoutoftheearth,outofallitsimpurities,andeverythingthatisonearthisalsoinus.flAndreyPlatonov,auniqueandextraordinarywriter,cameintoRussianliteratureinthe1920s,atatimewhenitaboundedinuniqueandextraordinarytalents.LiketheothersinthatbrilliantarrayŠZamyatin,Bulgakov,Babel,Pilnyak,Olesha,Zoshchenko,allofthemsilencedorde-stroyedattheheightoftheirpowersŠhebecameavictimofhistime,onemoreexampleofthevicissitudesoflitera-tureunderdictatorship.Yethisfate,likehistalentandhisorigins,followedapatternofitsown.Lessspectacularthantheothers,lessflashing,moremuted,hewasalsolessEuropean,lessworldly,moreRus-sian.Hisoriginswerenotinacosmopolitanandintellec-tualmiddle-classmilieu,butinaworldofurbanworkingpeople,ofartisansjustrecentlyemergedfromthepeas-antry.ThelocaleofmostofhisstorieswashisnativeprovinceofVoronezh,intheblackearthbeltsometwohundredmilessouthofMoscow,wherehewasbornin1899,theeldestsonofarailwaymechanic.Attheageoffifteen,Platonovwenttoworktohelphisfathersupportwhatwas

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bythenafamilyoften.Heworkedinmanyplacesatmanytrades.Nevertheless,aftertherevolutionandserviceintheRedArmy,hecontinuedhisschoolingandgraduatedin1924fromtheVoronezhPolytechnicalInstitutewithade-greeinelectricalengineering.From1923to1926heworkedinthefieldofelectrificationandlandreclamationinvariousprovincesincentralRussia.HerehebecamethoroughlyfamiliarwiththedevastatedpostrevolutionaryvillageandthepeasantsŠtheirlife,theirattitudes,theirspeech.Throughouttheseyearshecontributedpoems,stories,andarticlestoanumberoflocalnewspapers.In1927hewenttoMoscowanddevotedhimselfentirelytoliterarywork.Alatearrival,hemissedmuchofthebrilliantandvariedfloweringofearlySovietliterature.Hecameintimetowitnessthebeginningofitsruthlessextermina-tion.TheRAPP(RussianAssociationofProletarianWrit-ers)anditsnotoriousleaderLeopoldAverbakhwerejustabouttobeentrustedwiththedestructionofeverythingoriginalandalive,andverysoonPlatonovhimselfbecametheirtarget.Forashorttime,PlatonovjoinedthePerevalgroup,whichconsistedofpeasantandworkingclasswriters,aswellasfellowtravelers,andadvocatedservicetotherevo-lutionwhilepreservingtheearlierculturalandliteraryvaluesandcreativefreedom.Onthewhole,however,heneverbecamefiacculturatedflintheliteraryworldofthecapital,butremainedasolitaryfigure,goinghisownwayŠinhissubjectmatter,hischaracters,hislanguage,hisstyle,hisownbrandofirony,hisownhumor,andhisownsadness.Hisworkdidnotfitintoanyfimainstream.flAnd,al-thoughhewasaCommunist,hiscommunismwasclosertoearlyChristianitythantothebrutalstatereligionthatwasbeingforciblyimposedonRussia.Underattackalmostfromtheveryfirst,hewasaccusedofabevyofsins:pessimism,anarchism,nihilism,anti-vi

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realism,symbolism,petty-bourgeoisandkulakpsychology,failuretounderstandthelargerpurposesofCommunistconstructionwhichjustifiedthesacrificeoftheindividual,hostilemockeryoftherevolution,andevenTrotskyistdeviations.Barredfrombookpublicationforlongperiods,hewasreducedtovirtualnon-beingasawriterthroughmostofhislifetime,earningabarelivingasabookreviewerwrit-ingunderseveralpennames.Thestretchesofenforcedsilenceasanartistwerepunctuatedbytheoccasionalap-pearanceofastoryinamagazineoraslendercollection,usuallyfollowedbyrenewedoutburstsfrompartycritics.Between1929and1943,onlyonesmallcollectionappeared.Indeed,exceptfortheperiodswhenhewassubjecttoin-tensevilification,hisnameandhisworkwerealmostun-knowntoRussianreaders.Despitethehostileatmosphere,Platonovcontinuedwritinginhisownmanner,whichobstinatelyrefusedtofitintotherequisiteformsandrequisitemoods.HeremainedaCommunist,buthehelduphisearlyCommunistvisionŠthevisionexpressedinthesimplesttermsbymanyofhischaractersŠtotherealitiesofthetime,andclearlyfoundthemwanting.Thesatiricalveininhiswritingmanifesteditselfmoststronglyinthelate1920sandearly1930s.InthestoryfiDoubtingMakar,flpublishedin1929inthemagazineOktyabr,Platonov™sherofallsasleep,fiandhissufferingpassedintoadream:inthedreamhesawamoun-tainorsomeelevation,andonthemountainstoodamanofsciencethemanstoodsilently,withoutseeingthegrievingMakarandthinkingonlyaboutthegeneralscaleofthings,notabouttheprivateMakar.Thefaceofthatmostlearnedmanwaslitbytheglowoffarawaymasslifespreadinginthedistancebeneathhim,andhiseyeswereterribleanddeadfrombeingonsuchaheightandlookingtoofar.flThestoryprovokedavitriolicreplybyAverbakh,re-pletewithchargesofantisocialindividualism,anti-collec-Vll

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