Andrei Platonov: Chevengur

"Chevengur" is a unique novel by A. P. Platonov (1899-1951) that combines features of utopia and dystopia, magical realism, and philosophical parable. The text also traces ideas of religious sectarianism and Russian futurism.
The protagonist, Alexander Dvanov, comes of age in the impoverished Russian provinces against the backdrop of the Revolution and the Civil War.
Setting out in search of communism, the young man arrives in a town called Chevengur. Its inhabitants are convinced that the communist Paradise is imminent. They rest from long years of oppression, subsist on scavenged food, practice the communalization of wives, and deal brutally with bourgeois elements. Thanks to the revolution, the townspeople have begun to dream, and the human soul has become the most important profession of all.
But the long-awaited new life brings no happiness; disillusionment leads to waves of violence, and the social order established in Chevengur gradually disintegrates…

Author: Andrei Platonov

Pages: 480 (newsprint). Paperback

Dimensions: 180x115x20 mm 

Series: Azbuka-Classics