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asya_sueta_chitaet's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
13_of_october's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
whydoihaveto's review against another edition
کسی هم هست که از خوندن این واقعا لذت برده باشه؟
louiza_read2live's review against another edition
4.0
The Foundation Pit is an important work in Russian literature written by Russian author Andrey Platonov in 1930. It was censored in Russia, so it was not published until 1987. As translators Robert Chandler and Olga Meerson write in the "Afterword" of the book: "The Foundation Pit is located in a very particular historical and political context—that of Stalin's drive towards rapid industrialization and Total Collectivization [...]" (153).
The characters are set to dig a Foundation Pit that they expect the end result will be a future of happiness and hope. Some are forced to work on the pit and others believe in it. We see the characters' disilussionment setting in as they realize that they are digging in vain.
It is a political satire (dark satire I would say), and not a difficult book to understand the gist of it, but certain terms used during Stalin's Soviet Union might not be familiar. Some terms and some specific in-depth historical context certainly were not familiar to me; however, the extensive endnotes of this edition were very helpful. Also, the Afterword written by the translators is very helpful in putting this novel in its historical context. If I was to read it again, I would read first the Afteword and all the Endnotes before I get to the novel, and I highly suggest to other readers also to read this information first unless they already have extensive knowledge of that era and its terminology. I loved it, but I think on a second reading I would get much more out of it than I got now.
At only 150 pages feels much longer and heavy due to the subject matter, so it's quite a slow reading. It is characterized as a political and philosophical novel, and definitely you feel this all the way through.
The characters are set to dig a Foundation Pit that they expect the end result will be a future of happiness and hope. Some are forced to work on the pit and others believe in it. We see the characters' disilussionment setting in as they realize that they are digging in vain.
It is a political satire (dark satire I would say), and not a difficult book to understand the gist of it, but certain terms used during Stalin's Soviet Union might not be familiar. Some terms and some specific in-depth historical context certainly were not familiar to me; however, the extensive endnotes of this edition were very helpful. Also, the Afterword written by the translators is very helpful in putting this novel in its historical context. If I was to read it again, I would read first the Afteword and all the Endnotes before I get to the novel, and I highly suggest to other readers also to read this information first unless they already have extensive knowledge of that era and its terminology. I loved it, but I think on a second reading I would get much more out of it than I got now.
At only 150 pages feels much longer and heavy due to the subject matter, so it's quite a slow reading. It is characterized as a political and philosophical novel, and definitely you feel this all the way through.
jtgoldie00's review
3.0
2.5 stars-good book but nothing to make me want to read more/again. Similar to how I felt about the Easter Parade really
ttovarischh's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
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
hazel1998's review
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.