While anticipating the work of Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco, 14 Krasnykh izbushek [The Fourteen Little Red Huts, 1933] is as bold in its political satire as Bertolt Brecht at his best. Along with the short novel Kotlovan [The Foundation Pit, 1930] and the play Sharmanka [The Hurdy-Gurdy, 1930] it is one of Platonov’s most impassioned, and penetrating, responses to Stalin’s assault on the Soviet peasantry – the catastrophes of the collectivization of agriculture (1930) and the ensuing Terror Famine (1932-33).
Between 1929 and 1932, along with other writers, Platonov was sent on a number of journeys through central and southern Russia. Unlike his colleagues, he wrote honestly …
2393 words
Citation: Chandler, Robert. "14 Krasnykh izbushek". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 July 2016 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=14449, accessed 22 November 2024.]