Review of Bunin's story " Cold fall» from the cycle « Dark alleys". Ivan Bunin wrote this cycle in exile when he was seventy years old. Despite the fact that Bunin spent long time in exile, the writer has not lost the sharpness of the Russian language. This can be seen in this series of stories. All stories are devoted to love, only in each of them the author showed different facets of love. In this cycle there is love, both as a carnal attraction and as a sublime feeling. Compositionally, the story "Cold Autumn" is divided into two parts. Before and after the death of the beloved protagonist. The line dividing the story and the life of the heroine into two parts is drawn very clearly and precisely. The heroine talks about her past in such a way that it seems to the reader that all events take place in currently. This illusion arises due to the fact that the author describes everything in such small details that the reader's eyes appear whole picture having form, color and sound. The story "Cold Autumn", in my opinion, can be called historical, although the story in this story has been changed. In the first part of the story, events develop rapidly, reaching the climax of the story. On June 15, the crown prince was killed, on Peter's day at dinner, he was declared the fiance of the main character, and on July 19, Germany declared war ... In my opinion, it was no coincidence that the author put ellipsis in this place. He is declared a groom and immediately an idyll of happy is drawn in the reader's head family life, but in the next phrase war is declared. And all dreams and hopes are shattered in an instant. Further, the author focuses on the farewell party. He was called to the front. In September, he comes to say goodbye before leaving. This evening the father of the bride says: “Amazingly early and cold autumn! This phrase is pronounced as a statement of fact. At the end of the story, the heroine will say that that cold autumn, that autumn evening Everything she had in her life. This evening is described in great detail, every action of the heroes is described. That evening, the main characters went for a walk in the garden, and this walk is the culmination of the story and the life of the heroine. Before a walk in the hallway, the fiance of the main character recalls Fet's poems: What a cold autumn! Put on your shawl and hood... But the hero does not begin this poem from the beginning. He recalls the beginning of the poem a little later. Look - among the blackening pines As if a fire is rising ... The heroes of the story under the word fire mean the moonrise, but to us readers of this day, it is clear that the fire symbolizes a world and personal catastrophe. World catastrophe is World War, and for Russia, the collapse continues after the war. In the seventeenth year there is a revolution.

Review of Bunin's "The Gentleman from San Francisco"

"The gentleman from San Francisco" I.A. Bunin

The beginning of the 20th century, a time very eventful for Russia with such events as revolutions and wars.

Even then, Bunin was called one of the best craftsmen words in Russia. He writes such works as Chang's Dreams, Easy breath”, “Grammar of love”. In 1915, Bunin wrote, perhaps, one of his most striking works, The Gentleman from San Francisco.

The story was originally called "Death on Capri". Bunin connected his idea with the story German writer Thomas Mann "Death in Venice", but even more with memories of the unexpected death of an American who came to Capri. However, as Ivan Alekseevich himself admitted, “he invented both San Francisco and everything else” while living on his estate. cousin in the Yelets district of the Oryol province. + The story begins on the ship Atlantis. The main character is a gentleman from San Francisco. Bunin does not give him a name. This is due to the fact that no one remembered him, that there are many like him. The gentleman goes "to the Old World for two whole years, with his wife and daughter, solely for the sake of entertainment." He has a planned route, money, desires. He feels and behaves like a master in every respect. But is it really so? No. For his fifty-eight years, he never learned to live, love, feel, enjoy life, therefore, no matter how hard he tries, or attends all cultural and entertainment events, he does not get any pleasure. Here he is “pleasant, but bored, like snow-lit museums or cold, wax-smelling churches, in which the same thing is everywhere: a majestic entrance, covered with a heavy leather curtain, and inside - a huge emptiness, silence ... ". So is the master himself: on the outside he is elegant, well-groomed, handsome, but inside is empty, soulless. For him, there is no family, joys or troubles, a beloved woman. There are no surprises or surprises in his life, everything is measured in him, scheduled by day, hour and second. And he pretends to be happy. It is very symbolic love couple, who was paid to pretend to play love for good money on one ship or another.

Throughout the story, it can be seen that Bunin uses mainly black, white, red, gold colors in describing the life of rich people. This is no coincidence. After all, it was in these colors that royalty dressed. For example, a red robe with gold embroidered lilies and a black and white ermine. + A gentleman from San Francisco is one of the many passengers on the big ship Atlantis, "a huge hotel with all amenities - with a night bar, with oriental baths, with its own newspaper", - on top of which all the cream of society amuse and have fun, in including the gentleman from San Francisco himself.

All this takes place in the middle of the ocean, symbolizing the endlessly flowing life, unpredictable in its turns. He “was scary, but they didn’t think about him,” “the siren on the forecastle kept screaming with furious anger, but few of the diners heard the siren - it was drowned out by the sounds of a beautiful orchestra.” Siren - a symbol of world chaos, "music" - calm harmony.

The gentleman arrives in Naples, and nature itself begins to interfere with his plans: the sun "deceived", sowed rain, something terrible happened everywhere. But nothing shakes the master, and he and his family go to Capri. And there, as expected, everyone treats him like a master. He is settled in the most refined hotel, "the most beautiful and skillful maid is assigned", "the most prominent of the lackeys." He gets all the very best, but this is as long as he is able to pay.

And so he dies, dies, only having begun to "live". But death does not fit into the image of a rich hotel at all. “If there hadn’t been a German in the reading room, they would have quickly and deftly managed to hush up this terrible incident in the hotel, instantly, in reverse, they would have dashed off by the legs and by the head of the gentleman from San Francisco to hell - and not a single soul from the guests would have known that he did." The master dies in "the smallest, worst, dampest and coldest" room.

The story ends in the same place where it began - "Atlantis". Here everyone is still having fun, dancing and having fun, only our master from San Francisco is not there, he does not return home in first class, now he is hidden from human eyes in the womb of the ship - in the hold, he lies in a tarred coffin. + A vision of the Devil arises, observing "a ship, many-tiered, many-pipe, created by the pride of a New Man with an old heart."

More works

Glazunova Veronica

REVIEW OF THE STORY "CLEAN MONDAY"

External events of the story" Clean Monday"does not differ in great complexity and fits perfectly into the theme of the Dark Alleys cycle. This is a story about the beautiful young love of two nameless people - a man and a woman.

Like most of Bunin's works, "Clean Monday" is an attempt by the author to describe and convey to the reader his understanding of the phenomenon of love, which many great writers did before and after Bunin, but at the same time everyone found something special in love that distinguishes it from others feelings. For
Bunin, any real, sincere love is a great happiness for a person, even if it ends in death or separation. " Sunstroke" - here best definition love in the understanding of Bunin, it comes suddenly, sharply and radically changing the worldview of a person, his view of surrounding reality. But when the happiness of love passes, only pain remains - a person is no longer able to return to former life. "Happiness has no tomorrow; he does not have yesterday either; it does not remember the past, does not think about the future; he has a present - and that is not a day, but an instant, ”writes Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev in the story“ Asya ”. In my opinion, Turgenev's concept of love is similar to Bunin's.

But the story "Clean Monday" is not only a story about love, problems of morality, necessity life choice, honesty to yourself.

Bunin draws these two young people as handsome, self-confident: "We were both rich, healthy, young and so good-looking that in restaurants, at concerts they saw us off with their eyes." The author emphasizes that material and physical well-being is by no means a guarantee of happiness. Happiness is in the soul of a person, in his self-consciousness and attitude. "Our happiness, my friend,
- the heroine quotes the words of Platon Karataev, - like water in a nonsense: you pull - it puffed up, but you pull it out - there is nothing.

Beloved on Clean Monday - Absolutely different people. He, despite his attractiveness and education, is an ordinary person, not distinguished by a special strength of character. She is indeed a whole, rare "chosen" nature. And she cares about serious moral questions, problem of choice later life.

She refuses worldly life, from entertainment, secular society and, most importantly, from his love, and goes to the monastery for "Clean Monday", the first day of Great Lent. Undoubtedly, this is not a groundless impulse, she went to him for a very long time - she visited monasteries, churches, cemeteries.
Only in contact with the eternal, the spiritual, did she feel in her place. It may seem strange that she combined these activities with going to theaters, restaurants, reading fashion books, communicating with the bohemian society.
This can be explained by her youth, which is characterized by the search for herself, her place in life. Her consciousness is broken, the harmony of the soul is broken. She is intensely looking for something of her own, whole, heroic, selfless and finds her ideal in serving God. The present seems to her pathetic, untenable, and even love for young man cannot keep her in worldly life.

The story "Clean Monday" tells about self-improvement and the ascent of a person to new stages, to which nothing can be an obstacle, even such a feeling as love. Masterful concise manner
Bunin allows you to fit on several pages as much deep meaning as is the basis of a whole novel, and main character"Clean Monday" in importance can be compared with many female images of a large prose XIX century, for example, with Sonechka Marmeladova.

Glazunova Veronica

REVIEW OF THE STORY "CLEAN MONDAY"

The external events of the story "Clean Monday" are not very complex and fit perfectly into the theme of the "Dark Alleys" cycle. This is a story about the beautiful young love of two nameless people - a man and a woman.

Like most of Bunin's works, "Clean Monday" is an attempt by the author to describe and convey to the reader his understanding of the phenomenon of love, which many great writers did before and after Bunin, but at the same time everyone found something special in love that distinguishes it from others feelings. For Bunin, any real, sincere love is a great happiness for a person, even if it ends in death or separation. "Sunstroke" - this is the best definition of love in Bunin's understanding, it comes suddenly, dramatically and radically changing the worldview of a person, his view of the surrounding reality. But when the happiness of love passes, only pain remains - a person is no longer able to return to his former life. “Happiness has no tomorrow; he does not have yesterday either; it does not remember the past, does not think about the future; he has a present - and that is not a day, but an instant, ”writes Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev in the story“ Asya ”. In my opinion, Turgenev's concept of love is similar to Bunin's.

But the story "Clean Monday" is not only a story about love, the problems of morality, the need for a life choice, and honesty in front of oneself are also mixed with this.

Bunin draws these two young people as handsome, self-confident: "We were both rich, healthy, young and so good-looking that in restaurants, at concerts they saw us off with their eyes." The author emphasizes that material and physical well-being is by no means a guarantee of happiness. Happiness is in the soul of a person, in his self-consciousness and attitude. “Our happiness, my friend,” the heroine cites the words of Platon Karataev, “is like water in a nonsense: you pull it - it puffed up, but you pull it out - there’s nothing.”

Beloved on Clean Monday are completely different people. He, despite his attractiveness and education, is an ordinary person, not distinguished by a special strength of character. She is indeed a whole, rare "chosen" nature. And she is concerned about serious moral issues, the problem of choosing a future life.

She renounces worldly life, entertainment, secular society and, most importantly, her love, and goes to the monastery for "Clean Monday", the first day of Lent. Undoubtedly, this is not a groundless impulse, she went to him for a very long time - she visited monasteries, churches, cemeteries. Only in contact with the eternal, the spiritual, did she feel in her place. It may seem strange that she combined these activities with going to theaters, restaurants, reading fashion books, communicating with the bohemian society. This can be explained by her youth, which is characterized by the search for herself, her place in life. Her consciousness is broken, the harmony of the soul is broken. She is intensely looking for something of her own, whole, heroic, selfless and finds her ideal in serving God. The present seems to her pitiful, untenable, and even love for a young man cannot keep her in worldly life.

The story "Clean Monday" tells about self-improvement and the ascent of a person to new stages, to which nothing can be an obstacle, even such a feeling as love. Bunin's masterful laconic style allows one to fit on a few pages as much deep meaning as the basis of a whole novel, and the main character of Clean Monday can be compared in importance with many female images of large-scale prose of the 19th century, for example, with Sonechka Marmeladova.

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin is a wonderful Russian writer, a great man and difficult fate. He was a recognized classic domestic literature and also became the first Nobel laureate in Russia.

Bunin combined all the stories written from 1937 to 1944 into the book Dark Alleys. They are brought together by the motive of memories, the image of Russian nature. He writes about summer, autumn, day and night, grief, happiness, sometimes a brief moment of joy or pain. Bunin comes to the fore with an appeal to eternal themes love, death and nature.

One of the stories included in this collection is "Clean Monday". On it, I decided to dwell in more detail.

The external events of the story "Clean Monday" are not very complex and fit perfectly into the theme of the "Dark Alleys" cycle. The action takes place in 1913. A kind, handsome and frivolous young man (nameless, like his girlfriend) shares his memories here. Young people, he and she, met once at a lecture in a literary and artistic circle and fell in love with each other. They began to meet, spend together free time. He courted her and wanted more serious relationship but she was mysteriously silent, never letting him get out of control. He himself says that he always "tried not to think, not to think out" the actions of his beloved. No wonder that to understand the silent, mysterious, beautiful woman failed.

For the author, it was the main thing to convey to the reader all its exclusivity, and he succeeded in full. The eyes of a passionate admirer constantly "catch" the inexplicable behavior of his chosen one. She indulged in secular entertainment, allowed the man to caress, but refused to have a serious conversation with him. Even more strange was the parallel fascination with restaurants, theatrical "skits" and cathedrals, sacred books. The heroine, as it were, unites in her soul "styles" that are incompatible with each other. Dreams of reconciling them. That's how he wants to love that better one, and he can't. Their intimacy still happens, but after spending only one night together, the lovers part forever, because the heroine on Clean Monday, i.e. on the first day of the Easter fast in 1913, he makes the final decision to enter a monastery, parting with his past. But, hiding in the monastery, he continues to suffer there unattainable.

The story is virtuously and concisely written. Each stroke has an explicit and hidden meaning. What is the last, refined secular, black and velvet dressing of the heroine with her hairstyle of the Shamakhan queen worth! An unexpected and revealing combination. The girl always follows different ways vividly reminiscent of the differences surrounding it. Such symbolic meaning female image. It combined a craving for spiritual feat and to all the wealth of the world, doubts, sacrifice and longing for the ideal.

There is another meaning of the author's reflections in the story. The eternal contradictions of the human, more specifically, female nature, love, sublime and earthly, sensual, - the trials of the heroine determined. Her courage, ability to go through all the prohibitions and temptations help to discover the mysterious, irresistible power of instinct. But the warmer, the more sympathetic the author's attitude towards the young woman, the more she resists quite natural, although painful for her, inclinations.

In the theme of love, Bunin reveals himself as a man of amazing talent, a subtle psychologist who knows how to convey the state of the soul, wounded by love. The writer does not avoid complex, frank topics, depicting the most intimate human experiences in his stories. Over the centuries, many artists of the word dedicated their works to the great feeling of love, and each of them found something unique, individual to this theme. It seems to me that the peculiarity of Bunin the artist is that he considers love a tragedy, a catastrophe, madness, a great feeling, capable of both infinitely elevating and destroying a person.

Love is a mysterious element that transforms a person's life, giving his fate a uniqueness against the background of ordinary everyday stories, filling his earthly existence with a special meaning.

The extraordinary strength and sincerity of feeling are characteristic of the heroes of Bunin's stories. Love captures all the thoughts of a person, all his strength. In order for love not to run out of steam, it is necessary to part forever, which happens in all Bunin's stories. All his characters live in anticipation of love, looking for it, and most often, scorched by it, they die. The writer's love does not live long in the family, in marriage, in everyday life. A short, dazzling flash, illuminating the souls of lovers to the bottom, leads them to tragic end- death, suicide, separation. The theme of pure and beautiful feeling runs through all the work of the Russian writer. "All love is a great happiness, even if it is not divided" - these are the words from the story "Dark Alleys"

Bunin could be repeated by all the heroes of his stories.