Chevengur
Book description
'Platonov is an extraordinary writer, perhaps the most brilliant Russian writer of the twentieth century' New York Review of Books
The Soviet Don Quixote, Chevengur is now seen by many Russian writers as Russia's greatest novel of the last century. This is the first English version to convey its subtlety…
- Coming soon!
Why read it?
1 author picked Chevengur as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
A big, brave book written in Stalinist Russia, promptly banned, and published only 29 years after his death. The subject is the transformation of Russia into a Communist state. It reads almost like a fairytale, with witty, surreal touches, and Platonov never seems to take anything seriously, but the facts that he tells in this almost dreamlike way are horrific - random murders, forests destroyed, rootless people wandering the country. The translation is beautifully simple.