Soul |
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Andrey Platonov
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Pages: 208 (Paperback)
ISBN: 184343038X
Pub: The Harvill Press
Pub date: 2003-04-03
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 36828
Reader Reviews:
One of the most perfect novels I know (0/0 people found this helpful)
In 2004 our co-translation of this beautiful novel received the annual translation prize awarded by The American Association of Teachers of Slavonic and East European Languages. The citation reads as follows: The Harvill Press translation of Platonov's Soul - a collaborative effort - accomplishes the seemingly impossible in bringing the notoriously idiosyncratic language of this talented writer to English-language readers. The superb yet compact apparatus includes an essay on "Platonov and Central Asia," an introduction explicitly treating the challenges of translating Platonov, a map, a pronunciation and meaning guide to names, and endnotes. This translation and accompanying material will be invaluable in bringing Platonov into the English-language classroom and making his work accessible to our students.
Undiscovered genius (13/14 people found this helpful)
Andrey Platonov is an author not widely reconised - unfortunately. I took a chance on this book and I was completely blown away by the articulate genius of Platonov's writing - this is an author that is dying to be discovered.
Soul is set in central Asia and is the story of Chagatev's - the hero of the book - journey from his homeland to Moscow and eventually back to his homeland once again. He has a utopian dream and mission to save his people and nation from being erradicated from this planet for eternity; Chagatev believes it is his duty and responsible to save them. In his absence the nation had ceased to live and were merely existing from day to day, as tormented souls. Chagatev believes he has to lead his people to the promised land himself; but his people decide to seek the experience of living for themselves, before returning to the nation.
Platonov portrays the jouney that Chagatev and his nation went on with amazing articulation and there is such an immense atmosphere to his writing, that you can almost feel that you are there; he even brings the desert to life, even though the area seems to be so desolate. Every line seems to be described in such a intelligent and intelligible manner that you feel like you have been transported to another planet.
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Categories
Amazon.co.uk places this book into the following categories:
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> World -> Russian
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> General
Books -> Subjects -> Fiction -> Short Stories -> World -> Russian
Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback