ABSTRACT
Reading Platonov, one constantly expects to be astonished, whether by his infamously perverse use o f language, his unremitting examination o f alienation, or his extraordinary breadth o f allusion and intertextuality.2 Such astonishment is often felt in terms o f inadequacy or even impossibility, whether o f understanding, interpretation or trans lation. Yet the last decade or so has seen much significant scholarship on Platonov: critics have sought to elucidate aspects o f Platonovs works;3 more and more o f Platonovs texts are now available in reliable editions, often with excellent commentaries;4 and a series of translations has granted Platonov an authoritative (British) English voice.5
