Lane (Södertörn Univ., Sweden) should be commended for taking on a subject as complex as Andrey Platonov (1899–1951), whose ideas, language, and views of history—whether taken individually or together—have challenged readers for decades. Lane examines Platonov's works to see how he reconciles the disastrous effects of the Russian Revolution with its Utopian promise. . . Accordingly, this welcome exegesis of Platonov's works will appeal to those well-acquainted with Platonov and philosophers such as Heidegger, Blanchot, and Bataille and to less-sophisticated students of Russian literature. Her translations are good as are her notes, which appear at the end of each chapter. The ample list of references will lead anyone interested in Platonov to fertile ground for further study. Lane's study will be invaluable to Russianists, historians of the Russian Revolution, and anyone interested in Utopian ideals and their hidden capacity for tyranny. Summing Up: Recommended. Ambitious upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, researchers, and faculty.

Choice Reviews

Lane’s broader commitment to seeing Platonov through a distinct philosophical prism is productive and perceptive, and may well serve to stimulate further debate.

Slavic Review

Lane’s idea that what makes Platonov distinctive is his search for revolutionary consciousness in literature as such—as a mode of ironic distance, alienation, or a frustrated alternative to life itself—is interesting and generally consonant with the view prevalent in other scholarship on Platonov. The readings she offers are also eloquently sensitive to Platonov’s existential themes. . . . Lane’s reading of Platonov on the broader plane of twentieth-century thought is welcome—and deserves to be expanded upon.

The Russian Review

Tora Lane does much to bring out the complexity, the subtlety and the hopefulness of Platonov’s work, helping the reader to understand why so many Russian writers and critics see Platonov as the greatest Russian prose-writer of the last century.

Robert Chandler, English translator of Andrey Platonov's "The Foundation Pit" and "Soul and Other Stories" and Vasily Grossman's "Life and Fate and Stalingrad"

Andrey Platonov is arguably one of the greatest, aesthetically most original and politically most interesting writers of twentieth century world literature. By stereoscopically examining Platonov’s aesthetics as well as the Soviet idea of communism, Tora Lane reveals with brilliance, precision and erudition the originality of Platonov’s style and social vision. This is an important book not just for its analysis of Platonov but also for its deep insights into the Russian Revolution and the existential and political energies released by early Soviet communism.

Stefan Jonsson, Linköping University, author of Crowds and Democracy