Boris Pilnyak (1894–1938)

I loved his stories but I just can’t finish this first, clearly experimental, novel (published in 1922). Pilnyak was heavily influenced by Bely but Bely was far better at this kind of Symbolist writing. Even so, Pilnyak was enormously popular in the 1920s and is considered a significant influence on Dubravka Ugrešić and Danilo Kiš, among others. It is certainly possible that part of the problem is the translation. Though it seems good to me, I can’t be certain. The novel has only been translated into English one other time to my knowledge. Fortunately, the translator (Alexander R. Tulloch) contributed an exceptionally helpful Afterword that discusses much of what Pilnyak did (or tried to do) and places him among other Russian modernists and Symbolists. As Tulloch explains:
“The very shape of this novel is anti-Western…. In order to depict the [Russian] Revolution in terms of an anti-Western rebellion, and at the same time portray its chaotic nature, it was necessary that the form of the novel should also bear as little resemblance as possible to anything in Western culture, and produce feelings of confusion and incomprehension in the reader. Thus at first sight, to the uninitiated reader, the novel resembles an unsystematic collection of random jottings, disjointed or unrelated camera shots of the violation and disorder which characterized the Revolution. And…characters do not develop in the ‘normal’ way—they are presented in an impressionistic manner. They have little or no psychology and appear only to portray different viewpoints of the Revolution, or as the various aspects of pre- and post-Revolutionary society….”​
Trying to present or recount the two-thirds I’ve read would be next to impossible. I do hope to return to this at some point, in part because from time to time I do feel like I have a sense of what Pilnyak is trying to do. But mostly it’s a slog and I don’t see it becoming easier.… (more)

I loved these stories. Pilnyak was one of the greatest stars in the Russian firmament in the 1920s. But he sabotaged himself and, indeed, his life by writing a thinly veiled story about the death in an operating room of a general whom Stalin considered a potential threat. And Pilnyak included a Stalin-like figure in the story. It did not reflect well (to say the least) and, despite his denials, it probably spelled the beginning of the end for him. Several years down the road he was shot in the back of the head. The story is included in this collection and it’s terrific. Most of the stories—and most are brilliant—reflect a nostalgia for traditional peasant life. The writing (at least in my translation) was simple and straightforward; he was not a superb stylist (so far as I can tell in translation) but he was a wonderful storyteller and a great writer.
P.S. Re Pilnyak: I should have added a line or two mentioning his style, which is not always a straightforward narrative. As the translators pointed out (in their very useful forward), Pilnyak emulated Andrei Bely. If you know anything about Bely or Petersburg, you'll know that Bely was very fond of...let's call them quirks of style, including repetition of entire paragraphs or shifts in time or the use of patterns. It can be slightly off-putting but it seems to be more present in some pieces and nearly absent in others. Pilnyak is not a symbolist but there can be stories where his quirks become, uh, intrusive (I thought). So, just a "warning"--or, perhaps, a word to the wise--that you may find his writing a little more challenging than a simple narrative.… (more)

Come un fiume la narrazione procede rivoltando detriti, i brandelli di vita . Quello che è a monte, all'inizio, un turbine di corrente lo porterà con sé facendolo riaffiorare, più in là, a valle. Il lettore rimane senza appiglio come pure i personaggi del romanzo, impegnati alla costruzione di una diga che modifichi il corso dell'Oka, della Storia e della loro esistenza, per costruire il Socialismo senza rimanerne travolti e spazzati via [Come capitò a Pil'njak stesso].
L'autore si sofferma sull'immane sproporzione di forze in campo, il Progresso dell'Umanità e dell'URSS che incurante stravolge le menti e le esistenze degli uomini. In particolare nel 1929 in Unione Sovietica non si viveva una vita individuale (sic! parole agghiaccianti e calzanti di Pil'njak) e per evolvere da semplice homo sapiens a homo sovieticus e per adeguare la propria individualità alla nuova Società nata dopo la Rivoluzione uno aveva solo una vita, la propria, che per forza di cose subiva un'accelerazione e una deformazione vorticosa.
Questo è il vortice che anche Pil'njak ha vissuto, che ci racconta e ci fa vivere, coinvolgendoci nel loro sconvolgimento. QUASI cinque stelle per me e per tutti gli appassionati di primo Novecento (se è sovietico, ancora meglio).… (more)