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A review by owhite
The Foundation Pit by Andrey Platonov
4.0
4.5
Edit: if you have the nyrb edition, definitely read the afterword! It makes sense that they didn’t make it a forward because it discusses parts of the text directly, but it gives a bit of historical context that certainly makes the word more understandable.
Something I’ll need to reread to further understand because I am certain I did not fully comprehend what was being said, but that’s my own fault.
I’ve read the NYRB classics edition so there is a very lengthy afterword I’m currently reading, which is a great feature, and maybe I’ll update my thoughts when I finish.
This book is really great! Platonov writes in a way that isn’t too difficult to understand but I was still finding myself getting lost. The book immediately dives into the discussion about Russian agriculture and the Bolshevik power at the time, which was something I knew nothing about, which only served to my detriment when reading the book. I think if I had known more about the historical events I would have had an easier time understanding what they were talking about, but at the same time it wasn’t too difficult because the characters do not beat around the bush at all.
The only thing about this book (which totally might be me not paying close enough attention consistently) was that characters seem to just appear in the story without introduction. It’s not a big issue but it was something I noticed and I feel like it’s strange.
Great book!
Edit: if you have the nyrb edition, definitely read the afterword! It makes sense that they didn’t make it a forward because it discusses parts of the text directly, but it gives a bit of historical context that certainly makes the word more understandable.
Something I’ll need to reread to further understand because I am certain I did not fully comprehend what was being said, but that’s my own fault.
I’ve read the NYRB classics edition so there is a very lengthy afterword I’m currently reading, which is a great feature, and maybe I’ll update my thoughts when I finish.
This book is really great! Platonov writes in a way that isn’t too difficult to understand but I was still finding myself getting lost. The book immediately dives into the discussion about Russian agriculture and the Bolshevik power at the time, which was something I knew nothing about, which only served to my detriment when reading the book. I think if I had known more about the historical events I would have had an easier time understanding what they were talking about, but at the same time it wasn’t too difficult because the characters do not beat around the bush at all.
The only thing about this book (which totally might be me not paying close enough attention consistently) was that characters seem to just appear in the story without introduction. It’s not a big issue but it was something I noticed and I feel like it’s strange.
Great book!