Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by narrativeleaves
A Escavação by Andrei Platonov
3.0
‘Could a bird be an accomplice of the kulaks?’
What a savage book. This is the kind of satire that bites—hard—and doesn’t let go. But perhaps, just perhaps, it pushes the absurdity a little too far. I think this would have been delightful as an absurdist play. As it stands, its irony is so thick, hysterical, and grotesque that it leaves little room for narrative, reflection, or description. Nastya is an amazing character, whose personality is conveyed entirely through dialogue (her ludicrous, Stalin-friendly tirades are extremely funny coming from the mouth of a little girl). And I adored the bear—mute, grizzled, and relentlessly hard-working. There is a lot to love in this novel. It is a passionate and insane creation, and I definitely appreciate its existence. However, it does feel a little overindulgent—like a delicious cake burdened with too many unreasonable disaccharides.
What a savage book. This is the kind of satire that bites—hard—and doesn’t let go. But perhaps, just perhaps, it pushes the absurdity a little too far. I think this would have been delightful as an absurdist play. As it stands, its irony is so thick, hysterical, and grotesque that it leaves little room for narrative, reflection, or description. Nastya is an amazing character, whose personality is conveyed entirely through dialogue (her ludicrous, Stalin-friendly tirades are extremely funny coming from the mouth of a little girl). And I adored the bear—mute, grizzled, and relentlessly hard-working. There is a lot to love in this novel. It is a passionate and insane creation, and I definitely appreciate its existence. However, it does feel a little overindulgent—like a delicious cake burdened with too many unreasonable disaccharides.