Modern Russian classics. Tass news agency
Essay text
At the beginning of 1906, Andreev’s story “The Governor” was published in the Social Democratic magazine Pravda. The story takes place in the provinces, but a hint of the events of January 9 in St. Petersburg is easily discernible. Central character works is guilty of shooting a workers' demonstration. However, the author is not interested in events, but state of mind a governor executing himself in an internal court. Painful self-analysis brings him to the point where he himself goes to meet death, to the bullets of terrorists.
Progressive criticism (Gorky, Lunacharsky), while generally appreciating the story, noted the deliberateness of some situations in it (the governor's waking dream), abstract humanistic compassion for the culprit of the death of the workers, and sweetness (the image of a high school student). It is difficult, however, to agree with those critics who see “the author’s sympathy for a repentant sinner” in the schoolgirl’s sugary letter.
There is also a motive in the story of the governor’s awareness of the inevitability of retribution; it is no coincidence that the work ends with the symbolic image of the “formidable Law-Avenger.” This is perhaps the main thing in the story, although it is expressed vaguely and vaguely. The theme of retribution against the tsarist gendarmes is reflected in many works of both Russian and Ukrainian literature, and the story “The Governor” occupies one of the prominent places in this regard. Some researchers believe that he, to some extent, was the impetus for the creation of M. Kotsyubinsky’s sketch “The Unknown”. What is striking is the commonality not only of the theme, but also artistic techniques: revealing human psychology before execution. However, these works differ very significantly from one another: Andreev shows the experiences of a governor sentenced to death by terrorists, while Kotsyubinsky shows the confession of a terrorist on the eve of the murder of a tsar’s dignitary.
It is hardly worthwhile, however, to contrast Andreev’s story and Kotsyubinsky’s sketch so sharply, as P. Kolesnik does, for example. After all, if the Unknown, by killing the governor, fulfilled the will of the people, then the character of Andreev’s story was condemned to death by the people. The most merciless judges of the governor were people of the most difficult life - women, wives and mothers of workers from the most impoverished Kanatnaya street: “Perhaps it was in a woman’s head that the idea arose that the governor should be killed.”
The solution to the theme is different between Andreev and Kotsyubinsky, but both writers often resorted to similar techniques. In “The Governor” and in such works by Kotsyubinsky as Unknown, 220, and Laughter, there are elements of symbolism and expressionism. We will not always find in them a clear motivation for actions. Writers resort to conventional techniques, showing sudden, outwardly unmotivated changes in the hero’s consciousness. So, Pan Chubinsky (“Laughter” Kotsyubinsky), looking closely at the maid Varvara, suddenly understood her difficult life and justified her hatred of the owners. So the Andreevsky governor suddenly admitted that shooting the hungry was not a state necessity. And yet, with some similarities creative manner, Kotsyubinsky’s stories are polemical in relation to Andreev’s, because they primarily emphasize the idea of \u200b\u200bjust revenge of the people, while for Andreev it is primarily important psychological moment, the experiences of a person in general, outside of his social connections.
Andreev L.N. - biography
Andreev Leonid Nikolaevich (1871 - 1919), prose writer, playwright.
Born on August 9 (21 NS) in the city of Orel in the family of an official. At the age of six he learned to read “and read extremely a lot, everything that came to hand.” At the age of 11 he entered the Oryol gymnasium, from which he graduated in 1891. early childhood“I felt a passionate attraction to painting,” I painted a lot, but since there were no schools or teachers in Orel, “the whole thing was limited to fruitless amateurism.” Despite such a strict assessment of Andreev’s own painting, his paintings were subsequently exhibited at exhibitions next to the works of professionals and reproduced in magazines. In his youth he did not think of becoming a writer.
At the age of 26, having graduated from the Faculty of Law of Moscow University, he was planning to become a sworn attorney and took this activity very seriously, but unexpectedly received an offer from a lawyer he knew to take the place of a court reporter in the Moskovsky Vestnik newspaper. Having received recognition as a talented reporter, literally two months later he moved to the Kurier newspaper. Thus began the birth of the writer Andreev: he wrote numerous reports, feuilletons, and essays. The very first story, “Bargamot and Garaska” (1898), published in “Courier,” attracted the attention of readers and delighted Gorky. The plots of many works of this time were directly suggested by life, for example, the story “Petka at the Dacha” (1899). In 1889 - 99 new stories by L. Andreev appeared, including " Grand slam" and "Angel", which are distinguished from the first stories (based on incidents from life) by the author's interest in chance, chance in human life. In 1901, the St. Petersburg publishing house "Znanie", headed by Gorky, published "Stories" by L. Andreev, among which famous story- "Lived once". The success of the writer, especially among young people, was enormous. Andreev was worried about increasing alienation and loneliness modern man, his lack of spirituality - the stories “The City” (1902), “In the Grand Slam” (1899). Ranny Andreev is concerned with topics fatal accident, madness and death - “Thought” (1902), “The Life of Vasily of Fiveysky” (1903), “Ghosts” (1904). In 1904, at the height of Russo-Japanese War, Andreev writes the story "Red Laughter", which determined new stage in his work. The madness of war is expressed in the symbolic image of the Red Laughter, which begins to dominate the world. During the revolution of 1905, Andreev provided assistance to the revolutionaries, for which he was arrested and imprisoned. However, he was never a convinced revolutionary. His doubts were reflected in his work: the play “To the Stars,” imbued with revolutionary pathos, appeared simultaneously with the story “It Was So,” which skeptically assessed the possibilities of the revolution. In 1907 - 10 such modernist works as “Sava”, “Darkness”, “Tsar Hunger” were published. philosophical dramas- “Human Life”, “Black Masks”, “Anatema”. During these years, Andreev began to actively collaborate with the modernist almanacs of the publishing house "Rosehovnik". In the 1910s, none of Andreev’s new works became literary event, nevertheless, Bunin writes in his diary: “Still, this is the only one modern writers, to whom I am attracted, whose every new thing I read it right away." Andreev's last major work, written under the influence of world war and revolution, is "Notes of Satan." October revolution Andreev did not accept. At that time he lived with his family at a dacha in Finland and in December 1917, after Finland gained independence, he found himself in exile. Andreev died on September 12, 1919 in the village of Neivola in Finland.
Ancient Greece
Homer "Odyssey" and "Iliad"
Did Homer really write these poems? Was he blind? And did it exist in principle? These and other questions still remain unanswered, but they fade in the face of the eternity and value of the texts themselves. The epic Iliad, which tells the story of Trojan War, for a long time was better known than the Odyssey, and in to a greater extent influenced European literature. But the wanderings of Odysseus, written in simple language, is almost a novel, perhaps the first that has come down to us.
Great Britain
Charles Dickens "The Adventures of Oliver Twist"
A groundbreaking novel featuring real life without embellishment, Dickens composed it at the age of 26. He didn’t have to strain his imagination much: main character who lived in poverty is the author himself, whose family went bankrupt when future writer was just a child. And Dickens even took the surname of the main villain Feigin from life, borrowing, however, from his best friend.
The release of Oliver Twist had the effect of a bomb exploding in England: society, in particular, vied with each other to discuss - and condemn - child labor. Thanks to the novel, readers learned that literature can serve as a mirror.
Jane Austen "Pride and Prejudice"
A cornerstone text for British literature, as classic as Eugene Onegin in Russia. A quiet, homely young lady, Austen wrote Pride when she was very young, but published it only 15 years later, after the success of Sense and Sensibility. The Austen phenomenon, among other things, is that almost all of her novels are classics, but "Pride and Prejudice" stand out from the general background by the presence of one of the most amazing couples in world literature - Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Darcy is a common noun; without him, Britain is not Britain. In general, “Pride and Prejudice” is the very case when the sign “ women's novel"causes not a grin, but admiration.
Germany
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe "Faust"
The 82-year-old Goethe finished the last, second part of Faust six months before his death. He began working on the text when he was twenty-five. Goethe put all the meticulousness, efficiency and attention to detail inherited from his pedantic father into this ambitious work. Life, death, world order, good, evil - “Faust,” like “War and Peace,” in its own way is a comprehensive book in which everyone will find answers to any answers.
Erich Maria Remarque "Arc de Triomphe"
“One of the two always leaves the other. The whole question is who will get ahead of whom,” “Love does not tolerate explanations. She needs actions” - Remarque’s novel is one of those books that are divided into quotes. The love story in Paris besieged by the Germans turned the heads of more than one generation of readers, and the author’s romance with Marlene Dietrich, and persistent rumors that it was Dietrich who became the prototype of Joan Madou, only add to the charm of this beautiful book.
Russia
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky “Crime and Punishment”
Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote this novel forcedly, due to the need for money: gambling debts, the death of his brother Mikhail, which left his family without funds. The plot of Crime and Punishment was "inspired" by the case of Pierre François Lacière, a French intellectual murderer who believed that society was to blame for his actions. Dostoevsky composed in parts, each of which was published in the magazine “Russian Messenger”. Later, the novel was published as a separate volume, in a new edition, abridged by the author, and began independent life. Today “Crime and Punishment” is part of the world classics, one of the symbols of Russian literature and culture in general, translated into many languages and filmed many times (up to the manga comic of the same name).
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy “War and Peace”
The epic four-volume masterpiece, written over several sessions, ultimately took Tolstoy almost six years to complete. “War and Peace” is inhabited by 559 characters, the names of the main ones - Bezukhov, Natasha Rostova, Bolkonsky - have become household names. This novel is a large-scale (many believe that it is completely exhaustive) statement about everything in the world - war, love, state, etc. The author himself quickly lost interest in War and Peace, calling the book “wordy” a few years later, and at the end of his life simply “nonsense.”
Colombia
Gabriel Garcia Marquez "One Hundred Years of Solitude"
The Buendia family saga is the second most popular text on Spanish all over the world (the first is “Don Quixote” by Cervantes). Sample of the genre " magical realism", which has become a kind of brand uniting completely different authors, such as Borges, Coelho and Carlos Ruiz Zafon. “One Hundred Years of Solitude” was written by 38-year-old Marquez in a year and a half; To write this book, the father of two children quit his job and sold his car. The novel was published in 1967, at first it sold poorly, but eventually gained world fame. The total circulation of “One Hundred Years” today is 30 million, Marquez is a classic, a laureate of everything in the world, including Nobel Prize, a symbolic writer who has done more for his native Colombia than anyone. It is thanks to Marquez that the world knows that in Colombia there are not only drug lords, but also
I'll quit smoking on Monday. On next week I'll start running and join the gym. This weekend I'll clean up my room and find a job. We should do something else, right?
2019 has fallen on our shoulders. It's time to get off the couch, open your eyes, drink mineral water and finally start. I have compiled for you 2 lists of books of world and Russian literature, which you should read at least in 2016, if you have not done so earlier. Let's start, perhaps, with the “boring” Russian classics. Listen!
Fyodor Dostoevsky "The Dream of a Funny Man"
Have you also thought about suicide at least once in your life? If not, then this is not a reason to ignore Dostoevsky’s story. Everyone knows this author purely from the book “Crime and Punishment,” however, in my opinion, in order to fully understand the essence of Dostoevsky, one should start with the story “Dream” funny man" How can one understand the essence of human existence before the last shot in the head? How can you exchange paradise for world wars and hatred of your neighbor? And the main thing is how not to pull the trigger. The end of the story can be entitled with the expression “Cherchez la femme”; if you understand why, then everything was not in vain.
Anton Chekhov "Ward number 6"
Do you think Russian classics go better with a glass of vodka? I have a subjective opinion on this matter, but what about the views of Comrade Gromov? How to combine reading books, a glass of vodka, a psychiatric hospital and two brilliant people with completely different and at the same time identical views on existence in this world? This kind of oxymoron permeates the entire story about sad truth Merry Chekhov. Have you already figured out what to drink with your literature?
Evgeniy Zamyatin “We”
Evgeny Zamyatin can safely be considered the founder of the great genre of dystopia. I am sure that if you chose him, you simply must know such great dystopians as Orrwell and Huxley. If these names mean anything to you, then without even thinking, buy yourself Zamyatin and start devouring it by the tablespoonful. The construction system, coupon relations and all capital letters. Instead of people. Instead of names. Instead of life.
Leo Tolstoy "The Death of Ivan Ilyich"
On the cover of this book I would write in huge red letters: “Caution! Causes frustration, pain and awareness. Sentimental stupid people are strictly prohibited.” Forget about the hackneyed book "War and Peace", here is a completely different side of Leo Tolstoy, which is worth all the volumes of the huge novel. Trying to find deep semantic subtext in the story “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, you will miss the most important thing that lies on the surface. A banal, simple truth that is accessible to everyone, eludes us every time. If you found it in the story, and also learned to live by it, my bow and white envy to you.
Ivan Goncharov "Oblomov"
Here's something, and in the novel "Oblomov" it's easier than ever to find yourself. Alas. How wonderful it is to contemplate this life from the outside, when the stupid vanity of this world passes you by. The first love, which for some reason makes you get up from the sofa, obsessive friends who are always trying to drag your lazy ass into the world - how absurd this whole “bubbling life” is. Avoid it, contemplate, think and dream, dream, dream! If you are a like-minded person with this statement, congratulations, your soul mate has been found in the main character of the novel “Oblomov”.
Maxim Gorky "Passion-face"
It was no coincidence that Gorky’s work received such symbolic name“Passion-face”, because the story is impossible to read without trembling in the knees. If you love children too much, don't read. If you are impressionable and emotional, don’t read. If girls with syphilis absolutely disgust you, don’t read. In general, don’t listen to me now, open the book and begin to be afraid of the cruel realities of this life. The social bottom, dirt, vulgarity and yet truly happy, “pure” people in children's and adults' swords about impossible happiness.
Nikolai Gogol "The Overcoat"
A small man against a huge scary society, or how to lose everything that is dear to you, even if it’s a simple overcoat. A stingy official, an unnecessary environment, little happiness in exchange for great disappointment and death as the only logical conclusion. It is through the example of Akakiy Bashmachkin that we will consider a large, weighty and significant problem of society - the theft of an overcoat.
Anton Chekhov "Man in a Case"
How do you maintain relationships with your work colleagues, classmates or friends? I would recommend one great way to improve your communication skills - come visit them and remain silent. I give you a 100% guarantee that society will be delighted with you. An umbrella in a case, a watch in a case, a face in a case. A kind of shell behind which a person tries to hide, to protect himself from the outside world. A man who even managed to stuff his sincere love into a cover and protect it not only from the object of love, but also from himself. So what about maintaining relationships? Shall we keep quiet?
Alexander Pushkin “The Bronze Horseman”
And again we meet big problem little man, only this time in Pushkin’s work “The Bronze Horseman”. Evgeny, Parasha, Peter and a love story, it would seem, what could be more ideal for the plot romantic drama? But no, this is not “Eugene Onegin”. We break love, we break the city, we break a person, we add a drop to it symbolic image bronze horseman and get the perfect recipe for one of the best poems Pushkin.
Fyodor Dostoevsky "Notes from Underground"
And closing the list of Russian classics will be the one with whom we, in fact, started - the great beloved Dostoevsky. It is no coincidence that I put “Notes from the Underground” in the final place. After all, this work is not just exciting, it is wild in places, so to speak. Increased awareness of being is a fatal disease. Activity is the lot of the limited and stupid. If you like these interpretations, then Dostoevsky will suit your taste, and if you have also humiliated prostitutes at least once in your life, then the “underground” will become your favorite place to stay.
Read about the 10 best foreign classic books in the second part of the list of books for 2016. Love Russian classics.
