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Indlæser... Soul (1934)af Andrey Platonov
Central Asia (7) Indlæser...
Bliv medlem af LibraryThing for at finde ud af, om du vil kunne lide denne bog. Der er ingen diskussionstråde på Snak om denne bog. This is a beautiful story of a young Turkmen, who tries to save, or perhaps, uplift his tribe of people, referred to as dzhan, which means soul. Chagataev is abandoned by his other, and ends up in Moscow. He does marry but returns alone to his group in Turkemenistan to lead his people away from their drudgery into the presumed brightness of the Stalin's Soviet system. He leads them through desert, initially with much hope, but really into much privation. At one point in the story, they run into a flock of feral sheep, who allow a portion of themselves to be slaughtered for food, but then escape. Chagataev tries to find them, and eventually loses his way. Eventually he and his tribe are reunited, but Chagatev's fear of their decimation doesn't occur. They survive by a residency of soul in their being. The old Sufyan represents their stalwartness, the young Aidym represents the flower and resourceful of youth, and the contemporary Nur-Mohammed represents idealism gone bleak. The story has an "all-well" ending which some believe was Platonov's effort to have a good spin with the Soviet government. ( ) Soul was written by Platonov in Soviet Russia during the thirties, but was only finally published in un-bowdlerised form in 1999. This might be surprising, given its ostensible plot of a young man, an analogue of Stalin, sent from Moscow to spread socialism to the 'nation' he was born in, and his (probable, depending on which of Platonov's endings one accepts) success. But Soul subverts the epic hero narrative so fundamentally that it was impossible for it to be accepted in Soviet Russia. I found reading it a strange experience - most of my understanding of it seems to have popped out fully formed having been fermenting in my subconcious (although no doubt abetted by the helpful introduction) while I followed Chagataev and the Dzhan on their journey back to their 'hell' of a homeland. Platonov's description of the bleak desert through which they travel and the unremitting hardship of their poverty is spare but perfect, but its underlying theme of a search for a place and a people to belong and be useful in is far wider than the Dzhan or Soviet Russia. If I had known more about the grim subject matter before beginning Soul, I would perhaps have avoided it, which would have been a terrible waste; despite the harshness of the narrative, the novel has a strangely compelling lightness to it. I am only disappointed that the British edition only includes Soul - I will be seeking out the NYRB edition which also includes a number of Platonov's short stories. ingen anmeldelser | tilføj en anmeldelse
Indeholdt iHæderspriser
Born in Central Asia Chagataev, the hero, goes on to be educated in Moscow. As an adult he is sent back to his birthplace as a kind of missionary, believing his people are 'lost in the desert' he goes to rescue them and lead them towards Communism. His mission becomes a search for happiness and, ultimately, Chagataev discovers that he needs their help as much as they need his. Platonov's style is that of myth and fable. Chagataev is an epic hero, a 20th century Moses leading his people to freedom and battling against the powers of darkness and yet, at the same time, he is lost and vulnerable, uncomfortable with the responsibility he tries to shoulder. In trying to release the people from one ruling power, he himself fills the r-le of another. This is ultimately a story about being in possession of your own life. Platonov weaves together Zoroastrian myth, Sufism, Communism and Freud creating a work of psychological and philosophical complexity. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Indlæser... GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)891.7342Literature Literature of other languages Literature of east Indo-European and Celtic languages Russian and East Slavic languages Russian fiction USSR 1917–1991 Early 20th century 1917–1945LC-klassificeringVurderingGennemsnit:
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