Andrei Platonov

Books in the ‘Rereading the Classics’ series give a modern analysis of the works that form part of school literature curricula. This is the first attempt to provide a detailed insight into the spiritual, moral and religious aspects of the art of 19th and 20th century Russian writers. The series is offered as the basis of modern knowledge about Russian literature necessary for high school students to pass school-leaving examinations and gain admission to any institution of higher learning.

In his book, the author draws the reader into ‘a neighborless country’ – Andrei Platonov’s unique artistic world. Most amazing heroes with an unprotected heart and anxiety for the humanity wander forever in this ‘fierce and beautiful world’. These truth-seekers, 20th-century Hamlets and Don Quixotes, are convinced that ‘a song is dearer than things, for it brings one human being closer to another’, that ‘the main thing is to sow souls in people.’ The return of the novel ‘Chevengur’ and the story ‘The Foundation Pit’ – Platonov's ‘banned’ prose of the 1920s – 1930s – allowed the researcher to uncover the writer’s dramatic path in its fullness and in the unity of personal destiny and history. ‘Without me, people are incomplete,’ said one of his main characters. Being a most active character in his own works, especially in the linguistic sphere, Platonov emerges as our contemporary and a co-author of most profound human insights into the tragic 20th century.

The book is addressed to teachers of Russian literature, high school students, university entrants, students, all admirers of Platonov’s ‘inadvertent’ and innermost Word.