Chevengur

"Chevengur" can be thought of as two interconnected parts. The first is a Bildungsroman—a coming-of-age tale—about the maturation and personal formation of the main character, Alexander Dvanov. Gradually rising social tension leads to bloody revolutionary events and the Civil War. The second part unfolds in "CheVeNGuRe"—the Extraordinary, Military, Invincible (Independent) Heroic fortified region. A group of idealists attempts to leap straight into a bright communist future in a single city, skipping the painstaking process of work and creation. Utopian ideas of the earthly paradise collide with the harsh necessity of everyday labor and Christian apocalypticism, resulting in an all-consuming chaos, dizzying absurdity, and the collapse of human existence.

In 1929, seeking support, Andrei Platonov sent the manuscript of the novel to Maxim Gorky. From the reply letter it became clear that help was not to be expected: “For all the gentleness of your attitude to people, they in you are colored with irony; you present them to readers not so much as revolutionaries as ‘eccentrics’ and ‘half-mad’ people.” Fully "Chevengur" was published in our country only in 1988, already after Platonov’s death. It is one of the most mysterious and important novels of 20th-century Russian magical realism—one that still hasn’t lost its relevance today.

Listen to the audiobook performed by the incomparable Maxim Sukhanov. Platonov’s prose has an astonishing, wonderfully beautiful, and very dramatic style. And when in a single project the talents of writer and actor come together, both gifts begin to interact and reinforce each other.

Maxim Sukhanov is a master at creating any image, but in his work the author always remains the main one. The precision of thought, the funny and terrifying simplicity of every word in Platonov’s text in the actor’s performance—makes you cry, laugh, and rejoice together with the wonderful heroes, the builders of a fantastic earthly paradise.