Talk:Andrei Platonov

Materialism (?)
Before I edit the page itself, I need to know if anybody has a problem with my edit. On AP's page, you have a note (under 'Writing') that:

"Although his works generally take a materialist stance, denying the importance or existence of the soul, he is stylistically very distinct from Socialist Realism, which focused on simple language and straightforward plots"

He was a materialist, in the philosophical sense, but a problematic one; to suggest that he denied "the importance or existence of the soul" is, I think, a big error when his books are filled with existential questions preicsely about the soul, about the 'heart', and about "spirit". Consult the AP authorities, or just one his his major works, and you will see the author writing about the antagonism between spirit and matter. It would be, perhaps, more correct to say that in the world that Platonov writes, the soul (spirit, whatevever) is subordinated to matter, that individuals, even trees and plants, fail to realise spiritual happiness. This doesn't mean that he 'denied' the "existence of the soul". Rather, he was worried about the soul becoming extinct.

Moreover, it needs to be made clear that AP did not reject socialist realism out of hand, but tried, rather, to reform it from within, and to find his own place in it (this is very clear in his literary criticism of the 30s). So, we could say that yes, he was not a socialist realist purist, but did at least enter into a dialogue with it (both satirical and more, let us say, 'serious').

Thoughts? Dune Sherban (talk) 18:54, 5 July 2011 (UTC)

AP worked as a caretaker in the Gorky's Institute. Xx236 14:19, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Broken link
I deleted General site on Platonov from the links because it doesn't work as of early 2010. Languagehat (talk) 16:10, 10 March 2010 (UTC)

Platonov, the Communist Party and his son's arrest
The statements throughout this entry concerning Platonov's membership of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolshevik) are contradictory and inconsistent. The Russian entry may have more precise information.

Likewise the reference to the regime's arrest and imprisonment of his son, a classic form of hostage-taking, is not accurate or sufficiently specific.

John R. Crowfoot (talk) 04:03, 31 August 2020 (UTC)

Blue Depths translated by Adam Halbur
The novel Blue Depths (Голубая глубина) written by Andrei Platonov was translated by Adam Halbur and the translation is available online. This book contains parallel translation with Russian and English poems. --Andrew Krizhanovsky (talk) 07:23, 12 October 2020 (UTC)

Commons files used on this page or its Wikidata item have been nominated for deletion
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 * Andrej-platonovic-platonov-1938.jpg
 * Платонов Андрей Платонович (1922).jpg