Platonov, Andrey
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
Working name of Russian author Andrew Platonovich Klimentov (1899-1951), best known for his mainstream fiction, in particular his portrayals of ordinary humans caught in the gears of totalizing (but savagely ineffective) Technology. One of the most talented figures active in the first decades after the 1917 Revolution, he was regarded with suspicion by "official" literary critics and much of his work did not appear in Russia for many years, including his two powerful fictional analyses of Utopia-building, Chevengur (written 1928-1929; 1972 France; trans Anthony Olcott 1978) and Kotlovan (written ??: 1969 UK; part trans Thomas P Whitney as The Foundation Pit 1973; full trans Mirra Ginsburg 1975). "Lunnaia Bomb" ["The Moon Bomb"] (1921), "Potomki Solntsa" ["The Sun Descendants"] (1926) and "Efirnyi Trakt" ["The Ether Road"] (written 1928-1930; 1967) are good examples of the Hard SF of the period, although they are marked by Platonov's uniquely sophisticated language and by some unusual anticipations, including future "machineless" technologies with "herds of electrons, bred like domestic animals". [VG]
Andrey Platonovich Klimentov
born Yamskaya Slobodah, Russia: 28 August 1899
died Moscow: 5 January 1951
works
- Chevengur (Paris: YMCA Press, 1972) [written 1928-1929: binding unknown/]
- Chevengur (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Ardis, 1978) [trans by Anthony Olcott of the above: hb/]
- Kotlovan. Povest' (London: Flegon Press, 1969) [hb/]
- The Foundation Pit (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Ardis, 1973) [abridged trans by Thomas P Whitney of the above: hb/]
- The Foundation Pit (New York: E P Dutton, 1975) [full trans by Mirra Ginsburg of the above: hb/]
- Collected Works (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Ardis, 1978) [coll: trans by various hands from various sources: properly a "selected" works: hb/]
links
previous versions of this entry