Portrayal of a distorted image
Andrei Platonov’s The Foundation Pit
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
At first sight, Platonov’s novel Kotlovan looks like an absurd, surreal, eccentric text. However, on closer examination, it becomes apparent that in many respects, it comes very close the reality of its time. In The Foundation Pit, pathos, madness and cruelty are here not a literary game, but a mirror of a historical reality that is equally emotive, insane and cruel beyond measure.
(Osteuropa 8-10/2016, pp. 339–348)