Ringo Starr real name. Biography of Ringo Starr

Can rightfully be considered one of the best books Russian literature. Gogol's language is so fascinating that you literally cannot tear yourself away from the book. The writer’s magnificent speech makes literary critics to this day regret the impossibility of ever seeing the second volume of this work.

Many generations of researchers of the Russian writer’s work have been asking the question: why did Gogol burn the second volume of “ Dead souls"? There are several possible answers to this question.

Option one: the second volume did not exist

This version is based on the fact that no one has seen the handwritten version of the second volume. The only witness to her burning is Semyon, Gogol's servant. According to him, the writer told him to bring the manuscript and, throwing it into the fireplace, set the paper on fire. Semyon allegedly asked him not to burn the book, to which Nikolai Vasilyevich replied that it was none of his business.

The servant's illiteracy and young age make this version taken lightly. However, the evidence of contemporaries and studies of draft materials lead us to believe that the second volume existed. Therefore, the version that Gogol burned the second volume is quite realistic.

Option two: the writer destroyed the draft version of the second volume, and the manuscript went to Count A.P. Tolstoy

This option, like the first, is also unlikely and is based on data from the same Semyon, Gogol’s servant. Even if we assume that Tolstoy decided to hide the existence of the manuscript, for such for a long time it would definitely fall into the hands of researchers of the writer’s work. However, this version very simply explains why Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls: he was getting rid of unnecessary paper.

Option three: the writer burned the second volume of the book, being in a not entirely sane state

It must be said that the writer early age He was prone to depression and had seizures quite often. It is known that in the winter of 1852 on his state of mind negatively affected by the death of his friend's wife. The writer was very afraid of death. Perhaps he burned his work in an excited emotional state, believing, for example, that his creation was not good enough. This version is more plausible and explains why Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls, but at present it is not the most popular.

Option four: Gogol burned the manuscript by mistake, confusing it with drafts

As mentioned above, the information received from Gogol’s servant, although not entirely accurate, is close to the truth. It is known that one morning the writer shared with Count Tolstoy, with whom he lived, that, intending to burn some of the things he had prepared for this, he burned everything. He also shared that the destroyed notebooks contained a lot of useful information.

According to this version, Nikolai Vasilyevich was pleased with his work. Of course, he had moments of despair, but this is typical of every person, especially a creative one. In this case, the answer to the question why Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls sounds incredibly simple: he made a mistake and destroyed something he didn’t want.

A little about the genre of the work and its title

Having considered the versions of why the author destroyed his work, let’s try to understand his genre features. So, why did Gogol call " Dead Souls"poem. At first glance, this definition of the genre seems strange. When we hear the word "poem", we remember the Iliad and the Odyssey. At first glance, it seems to us that there is nothing in common between " Dead souls"and Homer's creation is not. However, researchers of Gogol's work find evidence that these works really belong to the same genre. In particular, Korobochka is a kind of personification of the nymph Calypso, whose remote estate resembles an abandoned island. In the image of Sobakevich you can recognize the Cyclops Polyphemus - a giant who lives in dens. Odysseus and Chichikov begin to travel at the will of the elements that control them. The first is powerless before the forces of nature, the second - before human nature.

Gogol's author's confession

It is a known fact that the idea of this poem belonged to A.S. Pushkin, who admired Gogol’s talent for describing portraits of people and gave Nikolai Vasilyevich his idea. The author of “Dead Souls” was so carried away by his work that he decided to write three whole volumes. According to the author's plan, the second and third parts were supposed to present us positive characters and show the moral growth of the main character - Chichikov.

Initially, the author planned to write a novel, but due to large quantity lyrical turns, Gogol came to understand the need to call “Dead Souls” nothing more than a poem. This definition of the genre of the work by the writer himself once again suggests that he could not destroy it of his own free will, since he valued his brainchild too much. Most likely, this really was a mistake.

So, we looked at the versions of why the author destroyed his brainchild. However, drafts remained. The most popular are the first five chapters of the destroyed volume. They were supposed to be published in 2010, but this did not happen. I would like to express the hope that sooner or later the draft version of the second volume will see the light of day.

Gogol lived by his creativity, for his sake he doomed himself to poverty. All his property was limited to “the smallest suitcase.”

The second volume of "Dead Souls" main work the writer's life, the result of his religious quest, was due to be completed soon. It was a work in which he put the whole truth about Russia, all his love for it. “My work is great, my feat is saving!” - Gogol said to his friends.

However, in the life of the writer there came crucial moment…

It all started in January 1852, when E. Khomyakova, the wife of Gogol’s friend, died. He considered her most worthy woman. And after her death he confessed to his confessor, Archpriest Matthew (Konstantinovsky): “The fear of death came over me.” From that moment on, Nikolai Vasilyevich constantly thought about death and complained of loss of strength.

The same Father Matthew demanded that he leave his literary works and, finally, think about his spiritual state, moderate your appetite and start fasting. Nikolai Vasilyevich, listening to the advice of his confessor, began to fast, although he did not lose his usual appetite, so he suffered from lack of food, prayed at night, and slept little.

From the point of view of modern psychiatry, it can be assumed that Gogol had psychoneurosis. Whether Khomyakova’s death affected him so much or whether there was some other reason for the writer’s development of neurosis is unknown.

But it is known that in childhood Gogol had seizures, which were accompanied by melancholy and depression, so strong that he once said: “Hanging or drowning seemed to me like some kind of medicine and relief.”

And in 1845, in a letter to N.M. Yazykov, Gogol wrote: “My health has become rather poor... Nervous anxiety and various signs of complete disintegration throughout my body frighten me.”

It is possible that exactly the same “unsticking” prompted Nikolai Vasilyevich to commit the strangest act in his biography. On the night of February 11-12, 1852, he called Semyon to him and ordered him to bring a briefcase in which notebooks with the continuation of “Dead Souls” were kept. Under the servant’s pleas not to destroy the manuscript, Gogol put the notebooks in the fireplace and set them on fire with a candle, and said to Semyon: “It’s none of your business! Pray!

In the morning Gogol, apparently amazed by his own impulse, said to Count Tolstoy: “That’s what I did! I wanted to burn some things that had been prepared for a long time, but I burned everything. How strong the evil one is - this is what he has brought me to! And I understood and presented a lot of useful things there... I thought I would send out a notebook to my friends as a souvenir: let them do what they wanted. Now everything is gone."

The poem (the author designated this genre of his work) by N.V. Gogol “Dead Souls” one of classical works Russian literature. And the story that happened with the second volume of this work is known even to those who have never opened the first volume. Literary scholars (despite disagreements regarding the “strength” or “weakness” of the second volume) agree on one thing: Gogol’s destruction of the second volume of Dead Souls, which he had already written, is one of the most serious losses in our literature. Question: Why did Gogol burn the second one? volume of the dead shower?", arose immediately after the incident, and there is still no single and unambiguous answer to it. And with the burning itself, not everything is clear. As they say, was there a boy?

Version one: Gogol did not burn anything, since the second volume of Dead Souls did not exist

This version is based on the fact that no one saw the finished manuscript of the second volume of the poem, and the only witness to the burning was Gogol’s servant Semyon. It is from his words that we know what happened that night. Allegedly, the writer ordered Semyon to bring a briefcase in which notebooks with the continuation of Dead Souls were kept. Gogol put the notebooks in the fireplace and set them on fire with a candle, and in response to the servant’s pleas not to destroy the manuscript, he said: “It’s none of your business! Pray! Semyon was quite young, illiterate and quite capable of spouting nonsense (to put it simply). This version is not taken seriously by most researchers. The surviving drafts of the work and the testimony of contemporaries give reason to assert that the “white” version did exist.

Version two: Gogol burned the drafts, and the manuscript of the second volume of Dead Souls came (after the writer’s death) to Count A.P. Tolstoy, with whom Gogol lived at that time.

This version is also based on the unreliability of the testimony of Semyon's servant and is also considered unlikely. A. Tolstoy had no reason to hide the manuscript, but even if he had done this, in the intervening time the manuscript would certainly have “resurfaced.”

Version three: Gogol really burned the second volume of Dead Souls, because he was dissatisfied with it and was in a clouded state of mind.

This version seems more likely, since mental health the writer at that moment was far from brilliant. Since childhood, Gogol suffered from seizures, accompanied by melancholy and depression. In January 1852, E. Khomyakova, the wife of Gogol’s friend, died and this event had an extremely detrimental effect on the writer. The writer was tormented by a constant fear of death, and his confessor urged him to give up literary work, which Gogol himself considered his only calling. Of course, it is difficult to make diagnoses now, but it is obvious that the writer’s mind was, if not darkened, then on the verge of darkening. It is likely that in a fit of self-flagellation he could consider his work insignificant and not worthy of being published. However, dominant on this moment another version is considered.

Version four: Gogol wanted to burn the drafts, however, being in a state of complete mental exhaustion, he confused them with the white version.

It is believed that Semyon’s story, if not absolutely accurate, is close to the truth, but the writer had no intention of burning the final version. Supporters of this version cite Gogol’s words, which he said to Count Tolstoy the next morning: “That’s what I did! I wanted to burn some things that had been prepared for a long time, but I burned everything. How strong the evil one is - that’s what he pushed me to do! And I was there I understood and presented a lot of useful information... I was thinking of sending out a notebook to my friends as a souvenir: let them do what they wanted. Now everything is gone." It is also believed that in general, with the exception of moments of depression, Gogol was satisfied with what he wrote. Although when working on the second volume, the meaning of the work in the writer’s mind grew beyond the boundaries of its own literary texts, which made the plan practically impossible to implement.

Despite the fact that Gogol burned the manuscript final version of the second volume of the poem, rough notes remain. Currently the most complete manuscript the first five chapters of the second volume belong to an American businessman Russian origin Timur Abdullaev. She had to go in Complete collection works and letters of the writer, published in 2010, but for unknown reasons this did not happen. However, the question: “Why did Gogol burn the second volume of Dead Souls” has not been fully resolved, although there is the most likely version.

“Dead Souls” is a landmark work in the works of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. In it, he wanted to show Russia without embellishment, with its problems and shameful sins. Gogol himself valued his work very highly and assigned it big hopes, hoping to convey my thoughts and sincere experiences to the people. However, only the first volume was published. The writer destroyed the second volume. Let us consider further why he burned the second volume of Dead Souls.

The fate of the second volume of “Dead Souls”

I would like to immediately note that by the time he worked on the second part of his main work, Gogol was in a very difficult state with psychological point vision. Nervous, very difficult in character, distrustful, secretive, Nikolai Vasilyevich lived hard, often being in a state of depression and nervousness.

After the death of one of his close acquaintances (and perhaps not only for this reason), the writer complained to friends about his manic fear of death. He felt exhausted, exhausted, and began to have trouble sleeping.

On one of these sleepless, torment-filled nights from February 11 to 12, 1852, Gogol ordered his young servant Semyon to bring a suitcase with manuscripts to continue the work. After this, the writer threw all the notebooks into a burning fireplace and burned volume 2 of Dead Souls.

Later, with colossal bitterness, he will tell his friend, Count Tolstoy, that he destroyed the continuation of the story due to an unforgivable mistake, which the devil seemed to push him into.

In addition, there are other versions of what happened:

In fact, there was no full second part. Gogol never wrote it, and therefore simply came up with the idea of burning manuscripts.
Nikolai Vasilyevich was unable to write a second part that could compete in genius with the first. Therefore, he decided to destroy the book, not daring to present it to the public.
Prone to mystification, religious, Gogol considered such an act of burning symbolic, bringing best work your life on the altar of God.
The emperor ordered him to make a continuation of the work. In it, the writer had to show officials who had already come to their senses and repented. But such an idea contradicted the way the writer himself wanted to present the story, and therefore Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls.
A lover of fame, who knows how to attract attention, Nikolai Vasilyevich may have decided to simply add hype to his book. After all, nothing worries as much as the unknown. And in this case, his idea was a success, since the treasured second volume is discussed today almost more often than the published work.

You can also read in some sources that the story was stolen from the writer by ill-wishers, and the story about the burning was invented in order to hide the real truth.

Most of people whose profession is the study of literature, in particular Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, agree that on the night of approximately February 11-12, one and a half hundred years ago, the great Ukrainian classic burned the second volume of his work under the slightly creepy title “Dead Souls.” Why did he do this and why did Gogol burn the second volume?

A wide variety of opinions and guesses - why Gogol burned “dead souls”

There are several points of view on what happened that winter night. The first says that there was no second volume initially; something else was burned, some drafts, manuscripts, possibly left over from the first volume. The second was originally a fiction.

Others believe that the second volume of the novel actually burned in the fireplace then, but this was nothing more than an unfortunate accident. And although another classic, Bulgakov, said that manuscripts do not burn, in reality it turned out differently. Nikolai Vasilyevich had no choice but to resign himself and accept this as fate. Creative people, are known to be superstitious.

There are also literary critics who believe that the idea of the second and subsequent third volume was so grandiose that it was simply impossible to realize it, and as a result, the writer burned all his attempts in his heart. But there was no finished second volume. He could not positively regenerate the main character - Chichikov.

Nowadays, the opinion is becoming increasingly widespread that already at the time of writing the second volume, Gogol simply ceased to admire Ukraine, which was then called Little Russia, as well as the Cossacks. Consequently, the source of inspiration for the second volume disappeared, and the writer destroyed his pathetic attempts, realizing that he would not write anything worthwhile. But such an assumption is not based on anything concrete; there is not a single fact indicating that Nikolai Gogol did not love his homeland literally until his last breath.

Mystics generally consider the work itself to be a satanic book, because, they say, the writer paid for such a title, what is the second volume when dark forces intervened. But this fable is just as far from the truth as the previous assumption. The fact is that in the plot there was nothing magical, just like there was nothing mystical, it was about the most ordinary hack work of officials. They passed off the dead as living.

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