Andrey Platonov

Stories

ADVENTURE

Before Dvanov’s eyes, accustomed to distant horizons, a narrow valley of some ancient, long-dry river opened up. The valley was occupied by the settlement of Petropavlovka - a huge herd of hungry households huddled together at a cramped watering hole.

On Petropavlovka Street Dvanov saw boulders that had once been brought here by glaciers. Boulder stones now lay near the huts and served as a seat for thoughtful old people.

Dvanov remembered these stones when he was sitting in the Petropavlovsk village council. He went there to get a place to stay for the night and to write an article for the provincial newspaper. Dvanov wrote that nature does not create ordinary things, so it turns out well. But nature has no gift, she takes with patience. From the rare ravines of the steppe, from the deep soils, it is necessary to give water to the high steppe in order to establish socialism in the steppe. While hunting for water, Dvanov reported, we will simultaneously reach the goal of our hearts - indifferent peasants will understand and love us, because love is not a gift, but construction.

Dvanov knew how to combine the intimate with the social in order to preserve within himself an attraction to the social.

Dvanov began to be tormented by the certainty that he already knew how to create a socialist world in the steppe, but nothing had yet been accomplished. He could not endure the gap between truth and reality for long. His head sat on his warm neck, and what his head thought immediately turned into steps, manual labor and behavior. Dvanov felt his consciousness like hunger - you cannot renounce it and you will not forget it.

The Council refused the cart, and the man, whom everyone in Petropavlovka called God, showed Dvanov the way to the settlement of Kaverino, from where to railway twenty versts.

At noon Dvanov went out onto the mountain road. Below lay the gloomy Valley of a quiet steppe river. But it was clear that the river was dying: it was filled with ravines, and it was not so much flowing as being dissolved into swamps. Autumn melancholy hung over the swamps. The fish sank to the bottom, the birds flew away, the insects froze in the crevices of the dead sedge. Living creatures loved the warmth and the irritating light of the sun, their solemn ringing shrank into low holes and slowed down into a whisper.

Dvanov believed in the opportunity to eavesdrop and collect all that is most sonorous, sad and triumphant in nature in order to make songs as powerful as natural forces and as enticing as the wind. In this wilderness, Dvanov began talking to himself. He liked to talk alone in open places. Talking to yourself is an art; talking to others is fun. That is why a person goes into society, into fun, like water down a slope.

Dvanov made a semicircle with his head and looked around half of the visible world. And he spoke again to think:

“Nature is the basis of the matter. These glorified hillocks and streams are not only field poetry. They can water the soil, cows and people and move motors.”

In sight of the smoke from the village of Kaverino, the road went over a ravine. In the ravine the air thickened into darkness. There were some silent swamps there and, perhaps, huddled strange people, departed from the diversity of life for the monotony of thoughtfulness.

The snoring of tired horses was heard from the depths of the ravine. Some people were riding, and their horses were stuck in the clay.

There is in a distant country.
On the other side
What do we dream about in our sleep?
But the enemy got it...

The horses' pace straightened. The detachment covered the front singer in chorus, but in their own way and with a different tune.

Cut it out, apple.
Ripe gold.
The Council will cut you off
Hammer and sickle...

The lone singer continued at odds with the squad:

Here is my sword and soul,
And there is my happiness...

The squad crushed the end of the verse with a chorus:

Eh, apple.
Sincere,
You'll end up on rations, -
You will be rotten...
You grow on a tree
And by the way, the tree
And you will get into the Council
With stamp number...

People immediately whistled and finished the song recklessly:

Eh, apple.
You keep freedom:
Neither the Soviets nor the kings,
And to all the people...

The song died down. Dvanov stopped, interested in the procession in the ravine.

Hey top man! - they shouted to Dvanov from the detachment. - Get down to the beginningless people!

Dvanov remained in place.

Walk fast! - one said sonorously in a thick voice, probably the one who sang. - Otherwise, count to half - and sit on the gun!

Dvanov did not understand what he needed to do, and answered what he wanted:

Come here yourself - it’s drier here! Why are you killing horses in the ravine, kulak guards!

The squad below stopped.

Nikitok, do it right through! - ordered a thick voice.

Nikitok put down his rifle, but first, at the expense of God, relieved his depressed spirit:

On the scrotum of Jesus Christ, on the rib of the Virgin Mary and throughout the entire Christian generation - come on!

Dvanov saw a flash of intense, silent fire and rolled from the edge of the ravine to the bottom, as if he had been hit in the leg by a crowbar. He did not lose clear consciousness and, as he rolled down, he heard a terrible noise in the ground, to which his ears were pressed alternately as he walked. Dvanov knew that he was wounded in right leg- the iron bird dug into it and moved the prickly spines of its wings.

In the ravine, Dvanov grabbed the horse’s warm leg, and he felt no fear near that leg. My leg trembled quietly from fatigue and smelled of the sweat and grass of the roads I had traveled.

Protect him, Nikitok, from the fire of life! The clothes are yours.

Dvanov heard. He grabbed the horse's leg with both hands, the leg turned into a pressing living body. Dvanov’s heart rose to his throat, he cried out in the unconsciousness of that feeling when life from the heart moves to the skin, and immediately felt a relieving, satisfying peace. Nature did not fail to take from Dvanov what he was created for: the seed of reproduction. In his last time, embracing the soil and the horse, Dvanov for the first time recognized the echoing passion of life and was surprised at the insignificance of thought before this bird of immortality, which touched him with its weather-beaten, fluttering wing.

Nikitok came up and tried Dvanov’s forehead: was he still warm? The hand was big and hot. Dvanov didn’t want to; so that this hand would soon tear away from him, and he would place his caressing palm on it. But Dvanov knew that Nikitok was checking and helped him:

Hit the head, Nikita. Wedge the skull quickly!

Nikita did not look like his hand - Dvanov caught this - he cried out in a thin, lousy voice, without matching the peace of life stored in his hand.

Oh, are you okay? I won’t wedge you, but I’ll destroy you: why do you need to die right away - you’re not human? Suffer yourself, lie down - you'll die harder!

Andrei Platonovich Platonov began writing very early, but during his lifetime his works were published very rarely. He lived in crucial moment history of Russia, and his work reflects the first decades of the life of the people after the revolution.

In 1927, the writer gained fame after his book “ Epifanskie locks", and already in next year he publishes two more books, actively publishes in magazines, and has numerous satirical stories. And those works that revealed the destructive power of bureaucracy in that society were never published.

Themes of Platonov's stories

His novel Chevergun"was not accepted for publication due to censorship, and his famous work « Pit"was also not published. All that was allowed to be published then was derogatory criticism of his stories and novels.

Andrei Platonovich wrote about many things: about the Great Patriotic War, about the work of peasants and workers, about the intelligentsia, about science and sports, about the personality of man and his freedom. This theme is especially acute in his work of the 1930s. In his stories " Fro" And " Potudan River“He raises themes of true human freedom and a feeling of complete, albeit quickly passing, happiness. Also in his work he touched upon current social topics, which concerned the leadership, power of the country and the system that dominates it.

Story " Across the midnight sky"is dedicated specifically to the danger of the idea of ​​National Socialism, and how such ideas turn out in life ordinary people. The theme of war is revealed in the story “ At the grave of Russian soldiers", in which Andrei Platonovich tries to describe all the cruelty and brutality to which the Russian people were subjected during the time of fascism. Platonov boldly expressed his opinion about Stalin's rule with this story, without directly mentioning his name, and thereby angered the ruler. Platonov's works were banned, they were not published, they were not allowed to be read, like many other writers.

Platonov's language

Platonov, according to the great poet Joseph Brodsky, tested the strength of the Russian language. Pushed him to the limit. Platonov's language, so unusual for simple eye, it's not easy to eat literary style. Platonov's language is a separate world where its own unique person is created. This man is unique in that he has properties that would hardly be useful to him if he lived in our world.

Platonov - writer-philosopher

And despite the seriousness of the themes that the talented and insightful Platonov raised in his works, he did not forget to write about the most important things in a person’s life - about simple, momentary happiness, about justice and honor, about the problem of the meaning of life and its search, about finding Plato's hero of peace for the soul and harmony for the heart. One of these stories is “ Flower on the ground”, telling the story of little bored Athos, who stayed at home with his grandfather. Platonov's symbolism is simple and clear, his allegories evoke an instant understanding of what is happening, and the light and realistic mood of the story reveals a deep concept with captivating simplicity. Platonov speaks about the harmony of life in an almost childish, sincere language; he shows happiness through the eyes of a small, innocent child.

That's why short stories Platonov are just as rich deep meaning and a philosophical idea, like long, serious novels. Platonov, with his characteristic skill, reveals a wide variety of topics in his works, while speaking about them in simple and accessible language. That is why many called and call this talented writer a philosopher.

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A. Platonov. Unknown flower

In the family of Platon Firsovich Klimentov, a mechanic at railway workshops, Andrei was the eldest of eleven children. After studying at the diocesan and city schools, as a fourteen-year-old boy, he began working as a delivery boy, foundry worker, assistant driver on a steam locomotive, and during the Civil War, on an armored train. “...Besides the field, the village, my mother and the ringing of bells, I also loved (and the more I live, the more I love) steam locomotives, a car, a whining whistle and sweaty work.”(Autobiographical letter). Andrei Platonov was called “a philosopher-worker” or “a poet-worker” in Voronezh - under this name he published poems and philosophical sketches in local newspapers: for example, “Audible Steps. Revolution and mathematics". In 1921, his brochure “Electrification” was published. General concepts”, and in 1922 - a book of poems “Blue Depth”.
He was an electrical engineer and land reclamation specialist, built a hydroelectric power station on the Don, cleaned up the Chernaya Kalitva and Tikhaya Sosna rivers, invented "experienced gas diesel locomotive" And "electric aircraft powered by long-distance power lines", developed the “half-metro” project. With regard to the transformation of the earth and humanity, the ideas of A.A. Bogdanov, K.A. Timiryazev, N.F. Fedorov, K.E. Tsiolkovsky were close to him. However, he said: “I love wisdom more than philosophy, and knowledge more than science.”.
In 1927, Platonov received an appointment from the People's Commissariat of Agriculture to head the provincial land reclamation department in Tambov. “Wandering through the outback, I saw such sad things that I did not believe that luxurious Moscow, art and prose existed somewhere”. In Tambov he wrote almost simultaneously fantastic story"Ethereal tract" historical story“Epiphanian Locks”, the satire “City of Gradov” and the novel “Chevengur” (“Builders of the Country”).
A completely unique writer has appeared in Russian literature. Until now, both readers and researchers are often perplexed: is his writing style naive or refined? According to Platonov himself, “a writer is a victim and an experimenter rolled into one. But this is not done on purpose, it just happens naturally.”.
Very soon, especially after the publication of the story “The Doubting Makar” and the poor peasant chronicle “For Future Use,” frantic adherents of ideological purity declared Platonov’s works ambiguous, petty-bourgeois and harmful.
In the thirties, in Moscow, Platonov worked a lot, but rarely published. “Chevengur”, the stories “The Pit” and “The Juvenile Sea”, the play “14 Red Huts”, and the novel “Happy Moscow” will be published decades after the author’s death.
“...Can I be a Soviet writer, or is this objectively impossible?”- Platonov asked M. Gorky in 1933. However, before the First Congress of Soviet Writers, he was included in the so-called writers' brigade, sent to Central Asia, and also - as a land reclamation specialist - in the detachment of the Turkmen complex expedition of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

“I traveled far into the desert, where there is an eternal sand hurricane”.
“...There is nothing there except rare muddy wells, reptiles, the sky and empty sand...”
“The ruins (walls) are made of clay, but terribly strong. All of Asia is clay, poor and empty.”.
“The desert under the stars made a huge impression on me. I understood something that I didn’t understand before.”.

(From letters to his wife Maria Alexandrovna)

This trip gave Platonov the idea for the story “Takyr” and the story “Dzhan”, but only “Takyr” was published immediately.
The collection of short stories “The Potudan River” (1937) caused a wave of rabid criticism. Platonov was blamed "Yurod's performances" And "religious dispensation". In May 1938, the writer’s fifteen-year-old son, Plato, was arrested following a horrific libel. Thanks to the intercession of M. Sholokhov, the boy was released from the camp, but he soon died. “...I made such important conclusions from his death here during the war, which you will learn about later, and this will console you a little in your grief.”, - Platonov wrote to his wife from the front.
He achieved his appointment as a war correspondent in the active army. D. Ortenberg recalls: “Platonov’s modest and outwardly inconspicuous figure probably did not correspond to the reader’s idea of ​​the writer’s appearance. The soldiers did not feel constrained in his presence and spoke freely about their soldier topics.”. Platonov’s war stories were published in newspapers and magazines “Znamya”, “Red Star”, “Red Army Man”, “Red Navy Man”. Three collections of these stories were published in Moscow. Official criticism regarded them as "literary tricks". At the front, Platonov was shell-shocked and fell ill with tuberculosis; demobilized in February 1946.
He wrote a lot, especially at the end of his life, for children and about children: retellings of Bashkir and Russian folk tales (published with the assistance of M. Sholokhov), several plays for children's theater(“Granny’s Hut”, “Good Titus”, “Step-Daughter”, “Lyceum Student” - young viewers they were never seen), collections of stories “The July Thunderstorm” and “All Life” (the first book was published in 1939, the second was banned). In his work, Platonov always took a keen interest in childhood, old age, poverty and other extremes of existence, because he had long known and remembered: people near non-existence understand the meanings of life that are inaccessible to them in vanity. And in the human soul, he said, there are spaces even larger than in the interstellar deserts.

Svetlana Malaya

WORKS OF A.P.PLATONOV

COLLECTED WORKS: 3 volumes / Comp., intro. Art. and note V. Chalmaeva. - M.: Sov. Russia, 1984-1985.

COLLECTED WORKS: In 5 volumes: To the 100th anniversary of the writer’s birth. - M.: Informpechat, 1998.

WORKS: [In 12 volumes]. - M.: IMLI RAS, 2004-.
And this publication is announced only as an approach to full meeting works of Andrei Platonov.

- Works,
included in the reading circle of high school students -

« Hidden Man»
“Pukhov was always surprised by space. It calmed him in his suffering and increased his joy, if there was a little of it.”.
Machinist, Red Army soldier and wanderer Foma Pukhov is a hidden person, “because nowhere can you find the end of a person and it is impossible to draw a large-scale map of his soul”.

"Jan"
In the area of ​​the Amu Darya delta, a small nomadic people from different nationalities: fugitives and orphans from everywhere and old exhausted slaves who were driven away, girls who fell in love with those who suddenly died, and they did not want anyone else as husbands, people who do not know God, mockers of the world... This people was not called anything, but to itself gave the name - jan. According to Turkmen belief, jan is a soul that seeks happiness.

"Epiphanian Gateways"
In the spring of 1709, the English engineer Bertrand Perry came to Russia to build a canal between the Don and Oka. But already on the way to Epifan he “I was horrified by Peter’s idea: the land turned out to be so large, so famous is the vast nature through which it is necessary to arrange a water passage for ships. On the tablets in St. Petersburg it was clear and handy, but here, on the midday journey to Tanaid, it turned out to be crafty, difficult and powerful.”.

"Pit"
The diggers and the restless worker Voshchev, who has pestered them, are digging a pit for the foundation of the future common proletarian house.
“The mown wasteland smelled of dead grass and the dampness of naked places, which made the general sadness of life and the melancholy of futility more clearly felt. Voshchev was given a shovel, and with the cruelty of the despair of his life, he squeezed it with his hands, as if he wanted to extract the truth from the middle of the earth’s dust ... "

"Juvenile Sea (Sea of ​​Youth)"
State farm meeting in Parents' Yards “decided to build wind heating and dig deep into the earth, right down to the mysterious virgin seas, in order to release compressed water from there onto the daytime surface of the earth, and then plug the well, and then a new fresh sea will remain in the middle of the steppe - to quench the thirst of grass and cows”.

"Chevengur"
Chevengur - county town somewhere in central Russia. Comrade Chepurny, nicknamed the Japanese, organized communism in it. “The indigenous residents of Chevengur thought that everything was about to end: something that never happened cannot continue for long.”.
Utopia “Chevengur” or dystopia is a controversial issue. Initially, Platonov gave the novel the title “Builders of the Country. Traveling with an open heart."

- Publications -

RECOVERY OF THE LOST: Stories; Stories; Play; Articles / Comp. M. Platonova; Entry Art. S. Semyonova; Biochronicle, comment. N. Kornienko. - M.: Shkola-Press, 1995. - 672 p. - (Reading range: School curriculum).
Contents: Stories: Epiphanian Gateways; City of Gradov; Hidden man; Pit; Juvenile Sea; Stories: Doubting Makar; Garbage wind; Also mom; Fro et al.; Play: Organ organ; Articles: Literature Factory; Pushkin is our comrade; From letters to his wife.

PITCH: [Novels, stories, stories]. - St. Petersburg: ABC-classics, 2005. - 797 p. - (ABC-classics).

Contents: Chevengur; Happy Moscow; Pit; Epifanskie locks; Spiritualized people.

PIT: [Sat.]. - M.: AST, 2007. - 473 p.: ill. - (World classics).
Contents: Juvenile Sea; Etheric tract; Epifanskie locks; Yamskaya Sloboda; City of Gradov.

PIT; CITY OF CITY; JAN; STORIES. - M.: Synergy, 2002. - 462 p.: ill. - (New school).

AT THE DAWN OF MISTY YOUTH: Novels and Stories / Intro. Art. N. Kornienko. - M.: Det. lit., 2003. - 318 p. - (School library).
Contents: Hidden man; Pit; Sandy teacher; Fro; At the dawn of foggy youth; In beauty and furious world(Machinist Maltsev); Return.

IN THE MIDNIGHT SKY: Stories / Comp. M. Platonova; Preface M. Kovrova. - St. Petersburg: ABC-classics, 2002. - 315 p. - (ABC-classics).
Contents: Doubting Makar; Potudan River; Third son; Fro; In the midnight sky, etc.

STORY; STORIES. - M.: Bustard, 2007. - 318 p. - (B-ka classic art literature).
Contents: Pit; Hidden man; Doubting Makar; Fro; In a beautiful and furious world (Machinist Maltsev).

DESCENDANTS OF THE SUN. - M.: Pravda, 1987. - 432 p. - (Adventure World).
Contents: Moon Bomb; Descendants of the Sun; Etheric tract; Armor; Jan et al.

CHEVENGUR: Novel. - M.: Synergy, 2002. - 492 p. - (New school).

CHEVENGUR: [Novel] / Comp., intro. Art., comment. E. Yablokova. - M.: Higher. school, 1991. - 654 p. - (B-literacy student).

- Stories and fairy tales for children -

MAGIC RING: Fairy tales, stories / Artist. V. Yudin. - M.: Onyx, 2007. - 192 p.: ill. - (B-younger schoolboy).
Contents: Fairy tales: The Magic Ring; Ivan the mediocre and Elena the Wise; Smart granddaughter; Hassle; Stories: Unknown Flower; Nikita; Flower on the ground; July thunderstorm; Also mom; Cow; Dry bread.

UNKNOWN FLOWER: Stories and fairy tales. - M.: Det. lit., 2007. - 240 pp.: ill. - (School library).
Contents: Unknown flower; July thunderstorm; Nikita; Flower on the ground; Dry bread; Also mom; Ulya; Cow; Love for the Motherland, or the Journey of a Sparrow; Smart granddaughter; Finist - Clear Falcon; Ivan the mediocre and Elena the Wise; Handleless; Hassle; Soldier and Queen; Magic ring.

STORIES. - M.: Bustard-Plus, 2008. - 160 p. - (School reading).
Contents: Cow; Sandy teacher; Little Soldier; Ulya; Dry bread; At the dawn of foggy youth.

“In the depths of our memory both dreams and reality are preserved; and after a while it is no longer possible to distinguish what once really appeared and what was a dream, especially if they have passed long years and the memory goes back to childhood, into the distant light of original life. In this memory of childhood, a long-past world exists unchanged and immortal..."(A. Platonov. Light of life).

- Retellings of folk tales,
made by Andrey Platonov -

BASHKIR FOLK TALES / Lit. processing A.Platonova; Preface prof. N. Dmitrieva. - Ufa: Bashkirknigoizdat, 1969. - 112 p.: ill.
The book was first published in Moscow and Leningrad in 1947.

Platonov A.P. MAGIC RING: Rus. adv. fairy tales. - Fryazino: Century 2, 2002. - 155 p.: ill.

Platonov A.P. MAGIC RING: Rus. adv. fairy tales / [Art. M. Romadin]. - M.: Rus. book, 1993. - 157 pp.: ill.
The first edition of the collection “The Magic Ring” was published in 1950.

THE SOLDIER AND THE QUEEN: Russian. adv. fairy tales retold by A. Platonov / Artist. Yu. Kosmynin. - M.: Sovrem. writer, 1993. - 123 p. - (Wonderland).

Read more about these retellings in the section “Myths, legends, folk tales”: Platonov A.P. Magic ring.

Svetlana Malaya

LITERATURE ABOUT THE LIFE AND WORK OF A.P. PLATONOV

Platonov A.P. Notebooks: Materials for the biography / Compiled, prepared. text, preface and note N. Kornienko. - M.: IMLI RAS, 2006. - 418 p.
Andrey Platonov: The World of Creativity: [Sat.] / Comp. N. Kornienko, E. Shubina. - M.: Sovrem. writer, 1994. - 430 p.
Creativity of Andrey Platonov: Research and materials; Bibliography. - St. Petersburg: Nauka, 1995. - 356 p.

Babinsky M.B. How to read fiction: A manual for students, applicants, teachers: Based on the example of the works of M. Bulgakov (“The Master and Margarita”) and A. Platonov (“The Hidden Man”, “The Pit”, etc.) - M.: Valent, 1998. - 128 p. .
Vasiliev V.V. Andrey Platonov: Essay on life and work. - M.: Sovremennik, 1990. - 285 p. - (B-ka “For lovers of Russian literature”).
Geller M.Ya. Andrey Platonov in search of happiness. - M.: MIK, 1999. - 432 p.
Lasunsky O.G. Resident of his hometown: The Voronezh years of Andrei Platonov, 1899-1926. - Voronezh: Center for Spiritual Revival of the Chernozem Region, 2007. - 277 pp.: ill.
Mikheev M.Yu. Into the world of Platonov through his language: Sentences, facts, interpretations, guesses. - M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 2003. - 408 p.: ill.
Svitelsky V.A. Andrey Platonov yesterday and today. - Voronezh: Rus. Literature, 1998. - 156 p.
Chalmaev V.A. Andrey Platonov: To help teachers, high school students and applicants. - M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 2002. - 141 p. - (Rereading the classics).
Chalmaev V.A. Andrey Platonov: To the hidden person. - M.: Sov. writer, 1989. - 448 p.
Shubin L.A. Searches for the meaning of separate and common existence: About Andrei Platonov. - M.: Sov. writer, 1987. - 365 p.
Yablokov E.A. Unregulated intersections: About Platonov, Bulgakov and many others. - M.: Fifth Country, 2005. - 246 p. - (The latest research into Russian culture).

CM.

SCREEN Adaptations of A.P. Platonov's Works

- ART FILMS -

Lonely voice of a man. Based on the story “The Potudan River”, as well as the stories “The Hidden Man” and “The Origin of the Master”. Scene Yu.Arabova. Dir. A. Sokurov. USSR, 1978-1987. Cast: T. Goryacheva, A. Gradov and others.
Father. Based on the story "The Return". Dir. I. Solovov. Comp. A. Rybnikov. Russia, 2007. Cast: A. Guskov, P. Kutepova and others.
The birthplace of electricity: A short story from the film anthology “The Beginning of an Unknown Century.” Scene and director L. Shepitko. Comp. R. Ledenev. USSR, 1967. Cast: E. Goryunov, S. Gorbatyuk, A. Popova and others.

- CARTOONS -

Erik. Dir. M. Titov. Production designer M. Cherkasskaya. Comp. V. Bystryakov. USSR, 1989.
Cow. Dir. A.Petrov. USSR, 1989.

Andrey Platonov (real name Andrey Platonovich Klimentov) (1899-1951) - Russian Soviet writer, prose writer, one of the most original Russian writers in style of the first half of the 20th century.

Andrey was born on August 28 (16), 1899 in Voronezh, in the family of a railway mechanic Platon Firsovich Klimentov. However, traditionally his birthday is celebrated on September 1st.

Andrei Klimentov studied at a parish school, then at a city school. At the age of 15 (according to some sources, already at 13) he began working to support his family. According to Platonov: “We had a family... 10 people, and I am the eldest son - one worker, except for my father. My father... could not feed such a horde.” “Life immediately turned me from a child into an adult, depriving me of my youth.”

Until 1917, he changed several professions: he was an auxiliary worker, a foundry worker, a mechanic, etc., which he wrote about in early stories“The Next One” (1918) and “Seryoga and Me” (1921).

Participated in the civil war as a front-line correspondent. Since 1918, he published his works, collaborating with several newspapers as a poet, publicist and critic. In 1920, he changed his last name from Klimentov to Platonov (the pseudonym was formed on behalf of the writer’s father), and also joined the RCP (b), but a year later at will left the party.

In 1921, his first journalistic book, Electrification, was published, and in 1922, a book of poems, Blue Depth. In 1924, he graduated from the polytechnic and began working as a land reclamation worker and electrical engineer.

In 1926, Platonov was recalled to work in Moscow at the People's Commissariat for Agriculture. He was sent to engineering and administrative work in Tambov. In the same year they wrote “Epiphanian Gateways”, “Ethereal Route”, “City of Grads”, which brought him fame. Platonov moved to Moscow, becoming a professional writer.

Gradually Platonov's attitude towards revolutionary changes changes until they are rejected. His prose ( "City of Gradov", "Doubting Makar" etc.) often caused rejection of criticism. In 1929, A.M. received a sharply negative assessment. Gorky and Platonov’s novel “Chevengur” was banned from publication. In 1931, the published work “For Future Use” caused sharp condemnation by A. A. Fadeev and I. V. Stalin. After this, Platonov practically stopped being published. Stories "Pit", "Juvenile Sea", the novel "Chevengur" was released only in the late 1980s and received worldwide recognition.

In 1931-1935, Andrei Platonov worked as an engineer in the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry, but continued to write (the play "High voltage", story "Juvenile Sea"). In 1934, the writer and a group of colleagues traveled to Turkmenistan. After this trip, the story “Jan”, the story “Takyr”, the article "On the first socialist tragedy" and etc.

In 1936-1941, Platonov appeared in print mainly as a literary critic. He publishes in magazines under various pseudonyms." Literary critic", "Literary Review", etc. Working on a novel "Journey from Moscow to St. Petersburg"(his manuscript was lost at the beginning of the war), writes children's plays "Granny's Hut", "Good Titus", "Step-Daughter".

In 1937, his story “The Potudan River” was published. In May of the same year, his 15-year-old son Platon was arrested, having returned from imprisonment in the fall of 1940, terminally ill with tuberculosis, after the troubles of Platonov’s friends. In January 1943 he died.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War the writer and his family are evacuated to Ufa, where a collection of his war stories is being published "Under the skies of the Motherland". In 1942, he volunteered to go to the front as a private, but soon became a military journalist, front-line correspondent for Red Star. Despite suffering from tuberculosis, Platonov did not leave the service until 1946. At this time, his war stories appeared in print: "Armor", "Spiritualized People"(1942), "No Death!" (1943), "Aphrodite" (1944),"Towards the Sunset"

(1945), etc.

For Platonov’s story “Return” (original title “Ivanov’s Family”), published at the end of 1946, the writer was subjected to new attacks from critics the following year and was accused of slandering the Soviet system. After this, the opportunity to publish his works was closed for Platonov.

At the end of the 1940s, deprived of the opportunity to earn a living by writing, Platonov was engaged in literary adaptation of Russian and Bashkir fairy tales, which were published in children's magazines.

Platonov died on January 5, 1951 in Moscow from tuberculosis, which he contracted while caring for his son. His book was published in 1954"The Magic Ring and Other Tales" . With Khrushchev's "thaw", his other books began to be published (the main works became known only in the 1980s). However, all of Platonov’s publications in Soviet period

Some works of Andrei Platonov were discovered only in the 1990s (for example, the novel written in the 30s "Happy Moscow").

One of the most notable Russian writers XX century - Andrey Platonov. The list of works by this author allows you to thoroughly study national history first half of the 20th century.

Andrey Platonov

Andrei Platonov, whose list of works is well known to every schoolchild, became famous after the release of the novels “The Pit” and “Chevengur”. But besides them there were many significant works.

The writer himself was born in Voronezh in 1899. Served in the workers' and peasants' Red Army, in Civil War took part as a war correspondent. He began publishing his works in 1919.

In 1921, his first book was published, which was called "Electrification". His poems also appeared in a collective collection. And in 1922, his son Plato was born and a collection of poems, “Blue Clay,” was published.

In addition to writing, he was engaged in hydrology. In particular, he developed his own projects for hydrofication of the region in order to protect fields from drought.

In the mid-20s, Platonov worked fruitfully in Tambov. The list of the writer’s works is supplemented by such works as “Ethereal Route”, “City of Grads”, “Epiphanian Gateways”.

The following are his most significant works for Russian literature- these are “Kotlovan” and “Chevengur”. These are very unexpected and innovative works that differ modern language. Both works were created in a fantastic spirit, they describe the utopian construction of a new communist society, the formation of a new generation of people.

"Epiphanian Gateways"

"Epifanskye Locks" appeared in 1926. The action takes place in Peter's Russia. At the center of the story is the English engineer William Perry, a master of lock construction. He calls his brother to Russia to help him fulfill the new imperial order. The British need to build a ship canal that would connect the Oka and Don rivers.

Whether the brothers will be able to carry out this plan is the subject of Platonov’s story.

"Chevengur"

In 1929, Platonov wrote one of his most famous works is a socio-philosophical novel "Chevengur".

The actions of this work have already been transferred to contemporary writer Russia. In the south, war communism and the New economic policy. Main character- Alexander Dvanov, who lost his father. Father drowned himself, dreaming of better life, so Alexander has to live with a foster parent. These events described in the novel are largely autobiographical; the fate of the author himself developed in a similar way.

Dvanov goes in search of his communism. On this path he encounters many of the most different people. Platonov revels in their description. The works, the list, the most famous of them are presented in this article, but “Chevengur” stands out even against this background.

Dvanov encounters the revolutions of Kopenkin, who resembles the medieval character Don Quixote. Her own Dulcinea also appears, which becomes Rosa Luxemburg.

Finding truth and truth in a new world, even with knights errant, turns out to be not at all easy.

"Pit"

In 1930, Platonov created the dystopian story "The Pit". Communism is already being built here literally this word. A group of builders receives instructions to build a common proletarian house, a building that should become the basis of a utopian city of the future in which everyone will be happy.

Andrey Platonov describes their work in detail. The works listed in this article are a must read if you want to get to know this original author better. The story "The Pit" can greatly help you with this.

The construction of a common proletarian house is interrupted suddenly, even at the foundation pit stage. The matter cannot move forward. Builders realize that creating something on the ruins of the past is useless and futile. Moreover, the end does not always justify the means.

In parallel, the story of a girl Nastya, who was left homeless, is told. She is a bright embodiment of the living future of the country, those residents who should live in this house when it is built. In the meantime, she lives at a construction site. She doesn’t even have a bed, so the builders give her two coffins, which were previously taken from the peasants. One of them serves as her bed, and the second as a toy box. In the end, Nastya dies without seeing the construction of a utopian house.

In this story, Andrei Platonov sought to show the cruelty and senselessness of the totalitarian system. A list of this author's works often reflects this one point of view. This story contains the entire history of Bolshevism during collectivization, when people were fed only with promises of a bright future.

"Potudan River"

Platonov's short works, a list of which is also in this article, are of great interest to readers. These include primarily the story "The Potudan River".

It tells the story of Red Army soldier Nikita Firsov, who returns on foot from service to his homeland. Everywhere he meets signs of hunger and need. He goes out to the distance and notices the first lights of his hometown. At home he is met by his father, who was no longer expecting his son from the front, and changed his mind about many things after the death of his wife.

The meeting of father and son after a long separation takes place without unnecessary sentimentality. Nikita soon notices that his father is being bothered serious problems. He is on the very edge of poverty. There is practically no furniture left in the house, even though my father works in a carpentry workshop.

The next morning Nikita meets his childhood friend Lyubov. She is the daughter of a teacher, their house was always clean and tidy, they seemed to be the main intellectuals. For this reason alone, he had long ago given up the idea of ​​asking for her hand in marriage. But now everything has changed. Poverty and devastation came to this house. Everything around has changed.

"Return"

One of the last significant works Platonov - the story "Return". This time the events after the end of the Great Patriotic War are described.

Captain Ivanov returns from the front. At the station he meets young Masha and comes to her hometown. At this time, his wife and two children, with whom he was separated for 4 years, are waiting for him at home. When he finally gets to his home, he discovers amazing picture. 12-year-old Petya is in charge of everything, Ivanov feels out of place, he cannot fully rejoice at his return.