The works of classical literature, undoubtedly, are the foundations of the foundations: they contain the culture, history, philosophy of the people about which the authors narrated in their works. In the niche of world classical literature, Russian literature occupies a rather significant place: a huge number of works by Russian authors are read with pleasure abroad. We will try to consider the 15 most iconic works of Russian classical literature that everyone should be familiar with.
A.S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin"
The most famous novel in verse tells us an unusual love story between the main character, Eugene Onegin and Tatyana. Their feelings are born at different times and affect the characters in different ways: having fallen in love first, Tatyana, after an explanation with her beloved, withdraws into herself, but, in fact, remains herself. Onegin, however, a feeling that flared up much later changes him beyond recognition. He appears before the reader full of passion and tenderness, having lost his former coldness and pride, and capable of a real, sincere, human feeling. Against the backdrop of the main storyline, the remaining actions of the novel unfold, during which the Russian poet poses a huge number of important problems, such as the social, everyday and cultural way of the entire Russian society of the early 19th century.
A.N. Ostrovsky "Dowry"
An immortal play that tells about the sad fate of Russian women, the heartlessness of rich people and the philistine character of small people. It was superbly filmed by E. Ryazanov.
Stories by A.P. Chekhov
Chekhov wrote many stories, both funny and tragic. The main character of Chekhov is an ordinary person with his daily affairs and worries. The stories "Rothschild's Violin", "Ward No. 6", "The Cure for Binge", "The Man in the Case", "Tears Invisible to the World", etc. tell us that no one else understood the soul of a Russian person like Chekhov. Despite the genre, Chekhov's stories are a gem of Russian literature.
A.S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit"
The main idea of Griboedov's comedy is expressed in the title of the work. The main character, Chatsky, who has returned from abroad, arrives at the house of the nobleman Famusov to see his daughter Sophia, his former lover. This is where his rather unpleasant meeting with the entire “Famus society” takes place: Famusov himself, Sofya, Molchalin, Skalozub, who live fenced off from the world with their stereotypes and long-outdated views of the world. Progressive, educated, who looked at the world in a different way, they instantly take Chatsky as crazy and dangerous to society. The problem of a person who stands out from the stereotypical crowd and because of this is not accepted by society, so sharply posed by Griboyedov, is still relevant to this day.
L.N. Tolstoy "Anna Karenina"
The main storyline of this novel is a tragic love story between the married Anna Karenina and officer Vronsky. The meeting of her true love changes Anna's life, she is ready to sacrifice everything for her, but does not see a reciprocal gesture in her direction from her lover. The heroine, forced to fight with her own feelings and public contempt, decides to throw herself under the train. The problematics of the work are questions about marriage, love and family, which concern modern society no less than at the time of writing this novel.
L.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace"
Tolstoy's epic novel describes the life of Russian society during the Patriotic War with Napoleon, hence the name of the novel. Scenes of war are replaced by scenes of peaceful life, where hundreds of acting heroes reveal to readers their character, their spiritual qualities and life values. Among the huge number of heroes, Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky stand out against the background of the rest, whose names are known even to those who are not familiar with this novel. The first is soft, fearful of committing wrong deeds, non-conflict later becomes a Decembrist. Bolkonsky, presented at the beginning of the novel as cold, tired of the whole society around him, is revealed as a sensitive nature, capable of a feat for the sake of his homeland and a strong feeling towards his beloved woman. This novel, of course, deserves the attention of any connoisseur of literature for its variety of issues raised and all the brightness and contrast of the described social life.
F.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment"
The plot of the socio-psychological novel is based on the murder of an old pawnbroker by Rodion Raskolnikov and his further state of mind, the search for an answer to the question "is he a trembling creature or has a right." The problem of poverty raised by the author immediately catches the eye of the reader, which, in part, pushes Raskolnikov to a terrible act. But here the author's idea borders on faith in goodness and love, on the ability to forgive and on those bright feelings that should suppress cruelty in the struggle for power.
M.A. Sholokhov "Quiet Flows the Don"
Sholokhov's novel touches upon the life of the Cossacks, their traditions, customs and values. Their cruel, strict mores of life make the Cossacks special, and the forbidden love of Grigory and Aksinya unfolding against this background is unusual, contrary to all rules, rebellious, but sincere to the core.
N.V. Gogol "Inspector"
Gogol's well-known comedy "The Inspector General" sets as its primary goal the ridicule of the city authorities, who, having learned about the arrival of the auditor, were seriously worried, and then, in his presence, began to openly kowtow in front of him, missing only one important detail - Khlestakov, accepted them for the auditor, turned out to be the most common sly and deceiver from the street. The problems of bribery, neglect of one's duties, pettiness and cowardice are brought to the fore in Gogol's comedy.
N.V. Gogol "Dead Souls"
The book tells about the adventures of Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, the protagonist of the poem, a former collegiate adviser posing as a landowner. Chichikov arrives in an unnamed town, a certain provincial "city N" and immediately tries to gain confidence in all the inhabitants of the city of any importance, which he successfully succeeds. The hero becomes an extremely welcome guest at balls and dinners. The townspeople of the unnamed city are unaware of Chichikov's true goals. And its purpose is to buy up or gratuitously acquire dead peasants, who, according to the census, were still registered as living with local landlords, and then register them in their own name as living.
M.Yu. Lermontov "A Hero of Our Time"
It will be about the spiritual world of man. This topic is well disclosed thanks to the contradictory image of Pechorin. This person is not of the most pleasant character, not always noble deeds, but also a very difficult fate. Someone may condemn him for his treatment of Bela, Maxim Maksimych and Princess, someone sympathizes with him, especially after his monologue about the hardship of his fate in "Princess Mary". Pechorin is a person who is in deep conflict with society, but at the same time, a person who cannot but arouse admiration from this same society by the strength of his personality.
I.S. Turgenev "Fathers and Sons"
The novel became a landmark for its time, and the image of the protagonist Yevgeny Bazarov was perceived by young people as an example to follow. Such ideals as uncompromisingness, lack of reverence for authorities and old truths, the priority of the useful over the beautiful, were perceived by the people of that time and were reflected in Bazarov's worldview.
I.S. Turgenev "Notes of a hunter"
The classic hunted a lot in the Oryol province. There he met different people, he followed the life of the Russian people, which he describes in his book. This collection of short stories published in 1847-1851 in the Sovremennik magazine and published as a separate edition in 1852. Three stories were written and added by the author to the collection much later.
M.A. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita"
The main problem of the novel "The Master and Margarita" is the search for truth, the search for oneself, one's personality, one's direction, one's life path. Truth is represented here by the Master's novel, but the one who comprehends and finds the truth inevitably becomes mentally ill. One of the main ideas in the novel is also the struggle between good and evil, which affects all the heroes of the novel, intertwining the genres of science fiction, satire and philosophy. Although the novel was published in Soviet times, it has become an unconditional classic.
M.A. Bulgakov "Heart of a Dog"
The story "The Heart of a Dog" is based on the story of how Professor Preobrazhensky decides to transplant a human pituitary gland and ovaries to a homeless dog. His fantastic experiment ends with the transformation of a cute stray dog into a disgusting representative of the proletariat Sharikov. The problem of the proletariat, by the way, is one of the main problems of the story. The post-revolutionary structure of society, which causes undisguised irritation of Preobrazhensky, makes the reader think deeply.
Literature as an art form is extremely diverse. But each of its genres has its best, so to speak, exemplary works. These books make up an array of classical literature, they will never go out of fashion, they will be understandable and close to people from different countries and eras.
About the classics
So, we have already found out that classical literature is the best, most talented works created in certain periods. The very concept of classics arose at the end of antiquity. Then it was understood as certain writers who, thanks to their authority, were models for the masters of the word, as well as in the field of obtaining various knowledge.
The Greeks certainly considered the famous Homer to be the first classical writer. . Already in the ancient times of the classical period of Hellas, his works "Odyssey" and "Iliad" were considered absolute standards of the dramatic genre, which no one will be able to achieve.
At the end of the ancient era in Europe, a list of canonical works begins to take shape - those texts that were used for educational purposes. In various cultural centers, the list of names in this list varied, although to a small extent. The backbone of the canon was everywhere composed by the same authors.
Only at the end of the Middle Ages, not only ancient authors, but also writers who lived in later eras began to be classified as classics.. The list of classical literature began to gradually expand. These works were considered practically impersonal, they were the common property of mankind.
A more modern interpretation of the classics arises during the European Renaissance When literature moves away from religion, there is a secularization of all spheres of public life. Then the Greek writers were considered the greatest authorities.
Over time, interest in antiquity increased so much that such a cultural trend as classicism arose. Its essence was to imitate the best examples of Greek art.
Gradually, in addition to the narrow concept of the classics, which included Greek literature, a broader interpretation appeared, which included all the best works of literature in a particular genre.
Best Books of Classical Literature
In this category, there are many wonderful works that are worth reading. Something closer to modern man, something not so much. But all classical literature has significant artistic and universal value . However, there are the best of the best, which in the modern world are considered to be simply mandatory for acquaintance with any educated person:
- Lev Tolstoy ;
- Fedor Dostoevsky ;
- Victor Hugo ;
- Erich Maria Remarque ;
- Ernest Hemingway ;
- Mikhail Bulgakov and many others.
Theodore Dreiser
This book by the famous American writer tells the story of the life of Clyde Griffiths. He set himself the goal of achieving success, climbing up the social ladder.
To do this, Griffiths uses absolutely any methods, be it meanness, betrayal, or even a crime. Novel , who is dressed in the form of a detective, in fact touches on a number of important philosophical and social issues relating to modern society .
William Somerset Maugham
In this famous creation classic of british literature tells of a tragic love story unfolding in an exotic setting . A young and promising bacteriologist Walter Fane falls madly in love with the windy and superficial girl Kitty. The young lady agrees to marriage only from the consideration that "it's time."
Since Kitty does not love her husband, she quickly starts an affair on the side in Hong Kong, where the couple moved after the wedding. When Walter finds out about the betrayal, he decides to take revenge on his wife in the most cruel way. Further, the plot becomes more and more tragic and ends with the death of Walter.
Well, do not waste time and start reading the best works of classical prose, which, by the way, are available on our website in free online access.
Surely, many believe that classical works, by definition, are long, boring, have many years of writing, and therefore are not always clear to the modern reader. This is a common mistake. After all, in fact, the classic is everything that is not subject to time. The themes revealed in such works are relevant for any age. And if a 19th-century author were to write such a book now, it would again become a bestseller. The best classics are brought to your attention. They conquered millions of readers. And even those who claim to be dissatisfied with the creation of the author, believe me, did not remain indifferent.
1.
The novel consists of two different, but intertwined parts. The time of the first is modern Moscow, the second is ancient Jerusalem. Each part is filled with events and characters - historical, fictional, as well as scary and amazing creatures.
2.
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What forces move the people? They are the result of the actions of individuals - kings, generals - or such a feeling as patriotism, or is there a third force that determines the direction of history. The main characters are painfully looking for the answer to this question.
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The novel is based on the experience that Dostoevsky received in hard labor. Student Raskolnikov, who lived in poverty for several months, is convinced that a humane goal will justify the most terrible act, even the murder of a greedy and useless old money-lender.
4.
A novel that was ahead of its time and came out long before the emergence of such a cultural phenomenon as postmodernism. The main characters of the work - 4 sons born from different mothers - symbolize those irrepressible elements that can lead to the death of Russia.
5.
Should I stay with my husband, who was always indifferent to her inner world and never loved her, or should I give myself with all my heart to the one who made her feel happy? Throughout the novel, the heroine, the young aristocrat Anna, suffers from such a choice.
6.
The poor young prince is returning by train home to Russia. On the way, he meets the son of one of the rich merchants, who is obsessed with a passion for one girl, a kept woman. In the metropolitan society, obsessed with money, power and manipulation, the prince turns out to be an outsider.
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Despite the name, the work itself has nothing to do with mysticism, which is mainly inherent in the work of this writer. In the tradition of "severe" realism, the life of landowners in the Russian provinces is described, where a former official comes to pull off his scam.
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The young Petersburg rake, having had enough of love and secular entertainment, leaves for the village, where a friendship is struck up with a poet who is in love with one of the daughters of a local nobleman. The second daughter falls in love with the rake, but he does not return her feelings.
9.
The famous Moscow surgeon decides to conduct a very risky experiment on a stray dog in his large apartment, where he receives patients. As a result, the animal began to turn into a human. But at the same time he acquired all human vices.
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People come to the provincial town who, it would seem, cannot be connected with anything. But they know each other because they belong to the same revolutionary organization. Their goal is to arrange a political revolt. Everything goes according to plan, but one revolutionary decides to quit the game.
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Iconic work of the 19th century. In the center of the story is a student who does not accept traditional public morality and opposes everything old, non-progressive. For him, only scientific knowledge is valuable, which can explain everything. Except love.
12.
By profession he was a doctor, by vocation he was a writer, whose talent was fully revealed when creating short humorous stories. They quickly became classics all over the world. In them, in an accessible language - the language of humor - human vices are revealed.
13.
This work is on a par with Gogol's poem. In it, the main character is also a young adventurer who is ready to promise everyone what, in principle, is impossible to do. And all for the sake of a treasure, which a few more people know about. And no one is going to share it.
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After a three-year separation, young Alexander returns to the house of his beloved Sophia to propose to her. However, she refuses him and says that she now loves another. The rejected lover begins to blame the society in which Sophia grew up.
15.
What should a real nobleman do if the life of a young noble girl depends on him? Sacrifice yourself, but do not drop the honor. This is what the young officer directs when the fortress in which he serves is attacked by the impostor tsar.
16.
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Terrible poverty and hopelessness suffocate the old inhabitant of Cuba. One day he, as usual, goes to sea, not hoping for a big catch. But this time, a large prey comes across his hook, with which the fisherman fights for several days, not giving her the opportunity to leave.
17.
Ragin selflessly serves as a doctor. However, his zeal is coming to naught, he sees no reason to change life around him, because it is impossible to cure the madness that reigns around him. The doctor begins daily visits to the ward where the mentally ill are kept.
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What is more destructive - to do nothing and only indulge in dreams about how it is worth living, or to get up from the couch and start realizing your plans? The young and lazy landowner Ilya Ilyich at first occupied the first position, but after falling in love, he woke up from his sleepy state.
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You can write magnificent works not only about the life of a big city, but also about the life of a small Ukrainian farm. During the day, the usual rules apply here, and at night power passes to supernatural forces that can both help and at the same time destroy.
20.
A talented surgeon settles illegally in Paris, but he is not prevented from practicing medicine. Before moving, he lived in Germany, from which he fled, but at the same time he let his beloved die. In the new place, he quickly begins another romance.
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The Russian tutor goes on a journey with the family in which he serves. At the same time, he is secretly in love with the girl Polina. And so that she understands all his nobility, he begins to play roulette in the hope of getting big money. And he succeeds, but the girl does not accept the winnings.
22.
The world of family comfort, nobility and true patriotism is breaking down under the onslaught of a social catastrophe in Russia. The fleeing Russian officers settle in Ukraine and hope that they will not fall under the rule of the Bolsheviks here. But one day the defense of the city weakens, and the enemy goes on the offensive.
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A cycle of small works that are written in a different artistic manner. Here you can find a romantic duelist, and sentimental stories about eternal love, and a harsh picture of reality in which money rules, and because of them a person can lose the most important thing.
24.
What Pushkin did not succeed in his time, Dostoevsky succeeded. The work is completely a correspondence between a poor official and a young girl who also has a small income. But at the same time, the heroes are not poor in soul.
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A story about the invincibility and resilience of a man who does not want to be someone's loyal soldier. For the sake of freedom, Hadji Murad goes over to the side of the imperial troops, but he does this in order to save not himself, but his family, which is held captive by the enemy.
26.
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In these seven works, the author leads us through the streets of St. Petersburg, which was built with the help of strength and ingenuity in a swampy area. Deception and violence hide under its harmonious façade. The inhabitants are confused by the city itself, giving them false dreams.
27.
This collection of short stories is the first major work that won recognition for the author. It is based on personal observations while hunting on his mother's estate, where Turgenev learned of the mistreatment of peasants and the injustice of the Russian system.
28.
The protagonist is the son of a landowner whose property was confiscated by a corrupt and treacherous general. After the death of his father, the hero becomes a criminal. To achieve the ultimate goal - revenge - he resorts to more cunning means: he seduces the daughter of his enemy.
29.
This classic war novel is written from the perspective of a young German soldier. The hero is only 18 years old, and under the pressure of his family, friends and society, he enters military service and goes to the front. There he witnesses such horrors that he dares not tell anyone.
30.
Mischievous and energetic Tom enjoys childish pranks and games with his friends. One day, at the city cemetery, he witnesses a murder committed by a local tramp. The hero makes a vow that he will never talk about it, and so begins his journey into adulthood.
31.
The story of a miserable Petersburg official who was robbed of his expensive overcoat. No one wants to help him return the thing, from which the hero eventually becomes seriously ill. Even during the life of the author, critics adequately appreciated the work from which all Russian realism was born.
32.
The novel is on a par with another work of the author - "The Call of the Ancestors". Much of White Fang is also written from the point of view of the dog whose name appears in the title. This allows the author to show how animals see their world and how they see a person.
33. $
The novel tells the story of 19-year-old Arkady - the illegitimate son of a landowner and a maid - as he struggles to make amends and "become a Rothschild" despite Russia still being tied to its old value system.
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A novel about how the hero, who is very broken and disappointed due to a failed marriage, returns to his estate and finds his love again - only to lose it. This reflects the main theme: a person is not destined to experience happiness, except as something ephemeral.
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A dark and fascinating tale tells of the struggle of an indecisive, aloof hero in a world of relative values. The innovative work introduces the moral, religious, political and social themes that dominate the author's later masterpieces.
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The narrator arrives in Sevastopol, which is under siege, and makes a detailed inspection of the city. As a result, the reader has the opportunity to study all the features of military life. We get to the dressing station, where horror reigns, and to the most dangerous bastion.
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The work is partly based on the life experience of the author, who took part in the war in the Caucasus. A nobleman, disillusioned with his privileged life, enlists in the army to escape the superficiality of everyday life. A hero in search of a full life. 38.$
The author's first social novel, which is partly an artistic introductory word for those who belonged to the previous era, but lived at a time when political and social movements began. This era has already been forgotten, but it is worth remembering.
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One of the greatest and most successful dramatic works. A Russian aristocrat and her family return to their estate to see how the public auction is going, where their house and huge garden are put up for debt. The old masters lose in the fight against the new trends of life.
40. $
The hero was sentenced to death on charges of killing his wife, but was subsequently exiled to Siberian penal servitude for 10 years. Life in prison is hard for him - he is an intellectual and experiences the anger of other prisoners. Gradually, he overcomes disgust and experiences a spiritual awakening.
41. $
On the eve of his wedding, a young aristocrat learns that his fiancee had an affair with the king. It was a blow to his pride, so he renounces everything worldly and takes the vows as a monk. So pass long years of humility and doubt. Until he decides to become a hermit.
42.
A manuscript falls into the hands of the editor, which tells about a young and depraved man who worked as a forensic investigator. He becomes one of the "corners" in the love triangle in which the married couple is involved. The outcome of the story is the murder of his wife.
43.
A work banned until 1988, in which, through the fate of a military doctor, the story of a people who perished in the turmoil of the revolution is told. From the general madness, the hero, together with his family, runs deep into the country, where he meets the one he does not want to let go.
44.
The protagonist, like all his friends, is a war veteran. He is a poet at heart, but works for a friend who runs a small tombstone business. This money is not enough, and he receives additional income by giving private lessons and playing the organ in a local mental hospital.
45. $
In a foreign war, Frederic falls in love with a nurse and tries to seduce her, after which their relationship begins. But one day the hero is wounded by a fragment of a mortar shell, and he is sent to a Milan hospital. There, away from the war, he is healed - both physically and mentally.
46. $
During breakfast, the barber discovers a human nose in his bread. With horror, he recognizes it as the nose of a regular visitor who bears the rank of collegiate assessor. In turn, the injured official discovers the loss and submits an absurd ad to the newspaper.
47.
The protagonist, a boy, striving for independence and freedom, escapes from his alcoholic father by faking his own death. And so begins his journey through the south of the country. He meets a runaway slave and they float down the Mississippi River together.
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The plot of the poem is based on the events that really took place in St. Petersburg in 1824. The political, historical and existential questions that the author formulates with dazzling power and conciseness continue to be the subject of controversy among critics.
49. $
In order to save his beloved, who was forcibly taken away by an evil sorcerer, the warrior Ruslan will have to go on an epic and dangerous journey, facing many fantastic and terrible creatures. This is a dramatic and witty retelling of Russian folklore.
50. $
The most famous play describes a family of aristocrats who struggle to find any meaning in their lives. The three sisters and their brother live in a remote province, but they struggle to return to the sophisticated Moscow where they grew up. The play captures the decline of the "masters of life".
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The hero is obsessed with an all-consuming love for one princess, who hardly knows about his existence. One day, a society lady receives an expensive bracelet for her birthday. The husband finds a secret admirer and asks him to stop compromising a decent woman.
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In this classic literary representation of gambling, the author explores the nature of the obsession. Secret and otherworldly clues alternate with the story of a fiery Herman who wants to make his fortune at the card table. The secret of success is known to one old woman.
53. $
Muscovite Gurov is married and has a daughter and two sons. However, he is not happy in family life and often cheats on his wife. Resting in Yalta, he sees a young lady walking along the embankment with her little dog, and is constantly looking for opportunities to get to know her.
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This collection is in some way the culmination of the work that he did throughout his life. The stories were written on the eve of a terrible world war in the context of a collapsing Russian culture. The action of each work concentrates on a love theme.
55. $
The story is told from the point of view of an anonymous narrator who reminisces about his youth, in particular his stay in a small town west of the Rhine. Critics consider the hero a classic "extra person" - indecisive and undecided about his place in life.
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Four laconic plays, later known as "Little Tragedies", were written at the moment of the rise of creative forces, and their influence cannot be overestimated. Being the author's transcription of plays by Western European authors, "Tragedies" offer readers topical problems.
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This story takes place in Europe, in a hedonistic society during the Roaring Twenties. A rich schizophrenic girl falls in love with her psychiatrist. As a result, a whole saga of troubled marriages, love affairs, duels and incest unfolds.
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Some scholars distinguish three poems in the work of this author, in which one original idea is embodied. One of them is, of course, Mtsyri. The main character is a 17-year-old monk who was forcibly taken away from his village as a child, and one day he escapes.
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A completely young mongrel runs away from her permanent owner and finds herself a new one. It turns out to be an artist who performs in a circus with numbers in which animals participate. Therefore, for a smart little dog, his own separate number is immediately invented.
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In this story, among its many themes, such as Europeanized Russian society, adultery and provincial life, the theme of a woman, or rather, planning a murder by a woman, comes to the fore. The title of the piece is a reference to Shakespeare's play.
61. Leo Tolstoy - Fake Coupon
Schoolboy Mitya is in desperate need of money - he needs to repay the debt. Depressed by this situation, he follows the evil advice of his friend, who showed him how to change the denomination of the banknote. This act sets off a chain of events that affects the lives of dozens of other people.
62.
The most outstanding work of Proust, which is known for its length and the theme of involuntary memories. The novel began to take shape as early as 1909. The author continued to work on it until his last illness, which forced him to stop working.
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The voluminous poem tells the story of seven peasants who set out to ask various sections of the village population if they are happy. But wherever they went, they were always given an unsatisfactory answer. Of the planned 7-8 parts, the author wrote only half.
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The story of the sad life of a young girl who lived in extreme poverty and became an orphan in an instant, but she is adopted by a wealthy family. When she meets her new half-sister, Katya, she instantly falls in love with her and the two soon become inseparable.
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The protagonist is a classic Hemingway hero: a violent guy, an underground liquor dealer who smuggles weapons and transports people from Cuba to the Florida Keys. He risks his life to dodge the Coast Guard's bullets and manages to outsmart her.
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During a train ride, one of the passengers overhears a conversation going on in the compartment. When one woman argues that marriage should be based on true love, he asks her: what is love? In his opinion, love quickly turns into hatred, and tells his story.
67. Leo Tolstoy - Notes of the marker
The narrator is a simple marker, a person who keeps score and arranges balls on a billiard table. If the game goes well and the players come across not stingy, then he gets a good reward. But one day a very gambling young man appears in the club.
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The protagonist is looking for peace in Polissya, which should cheer him up. But in the end he gets one unbearable boredom. But one day, having gone astray, he comes across a hut, where an old woman and her beautiful granddaughter are waiting for him. After such a magical meeting, the hero becomes a frequent guest here.
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In the center of attention is a janitor of high stature and powerful physique. He falls in love with a young washerwoman and wants to marry her. But the lady decides differently: the girl goes to the eternally drunk shoemaker. The hero finds his consolation in caring for a small dog.
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One evening, the three sisters shared their dreams with each other: what would they do if they became the wives of the king. But the prayers of only the third sister were heard - Tsar Saltan marries her and orders her to give birth to an heir by a certain date. But envious sisters begin to mischief.
Now the current generation sees everything clearly, marvels at the delusions, laughs at the foolishness of its ancestors, it is not in vain that this chronicle is scribbled with heavenly fire, that every letter screams in it, that a piercing finger is directed from everywhere at him, at him, at the current generation; but the current generation laughs and arrogantly, proudly begins a series of new delusions, which will also be laughed at by descendants later. "Dead Souls"
For what? Like an inspiration
Love the given subject!
Like a true poet
Sell your imagination!
I am a slave, a day laborer, I am a merchant!
I owe you, sinner, for gold,
For your worthless piece of silver
Pay the divine price!
"Improvisation I"
Literature is a language that expresses everything that a country thinks, wants, knows, wants and needs to know.
In the hearts of the simple, the feeling of the beauty and grandeur of nature is stronger, more alive a hundred times than in us, enthusiastic storytellers in words and on paper.
"Hero of our time"
Everywhere there is sound, and everywhere there is light,
And all the worlds have one beginning,
And there is nothing in nature
No matter how love breathes.
In days of doubt, in days of painful reflections on the fate of my homeland, you alone are my support and support, O great, powerful, truthful and free Russian language! Without you, how not to fall into despair at the sight of everything that happens at home? But one cannot believe that such a language was not given to a great people!
Poems in prose "Russian language"
So, complete your dissolute escape,
Prickly snow flies from the bare fields,
Driven by an early, violent blizzard,
And, stopping in the forest wilderness,
Gathering in silver silence
Deep and cold bed.
Listen: shame on you!
It's time to get up! You know yourself
What time has come;
In whom the sense of duty has not cooled down,
Who has an incorruptible heart,
In whom is talent, strength, accuracy,
Tom shouldn't sleep now...
"Poet and Citizen"
Is it possible that even here they will not allow and will not allow the Russian organism to develop nationally, by its organic strength, but certainly impersonally, servilely imitating Europe? But what to do with the Russian organism then? Do these gentlemen understand what an organism is? Separation, "split" from their country leads to hatred, these people hate Russia, so to speak, naturally, physically: for the climate, for the fields, for the forests, for the order, for the liberation of the peasant, for Russian history, in a word, for everything, hate for everything.
Spring! the first frame is exposed -
And noise broke into the room,
And the blessing of the nearby temple,
And the talk of the people, and the sound of the wheel ...
Well, what are you afraid of, pray tell! Now every grass, every flower rejoices, but we hide, we are afraid, just what kind of misfortune! The storm will kill! This is not a storm, but grace! Yes, grace! You are all thunder! The northern lights will light up, it would be necessary to admire and marvel at the wisdom: “the dawn rises from the midnight countries”! And you are horrified and come up with: this is for war or for the plague. Whether a comet is coming, I would not take my eyes off! Beauty! The stars have already looked closely, they are all the same, and this is a new thing; Well, I would look and admire! And you are afraid to even look at the sky, you are trembling! From everything you have made yourself a scarecrow. Eh, people! "Storm"
There is no more enlightening, soul-purifying feeling than the one that a person feels when he gets acquainted with a great work of art.
We know that loaded guns must be handled with care. But we do not want to know that we must treat the word in the same way. The word can both kill and make evil worse than death.
There is a well-known trick of an American journalist who, in order to increase the subscription to his magazine, began to publish in other publications the most brazen attacks on himself from fictitious persons: some printed him out as a swindler and perjurer, others as a thief and murderer, and still others as a debauchee on a colossal scale. He did not skimp on paying for such friendly advertisements, until everyone thought - yes, it’s obvious that this is a curious and remarkable person when everyone shouts about him like that! - and began to buy up his own newspaper.
"Life in a Hundred Years"
I ... think that I know the Russian person in his very depths, and I do not put myself in any merit for this. I did not study the people from conversations with St. Petersburg cabbies, but I grew up among the people, on the Gostomel pasture, with a cauldron in my hand, I slept with him on the dewy grass of the night, under a warm sheepskin coat, and on the Panin’s swaying crowd behind circles of dusty manners ...
Between these two colliding titans - science and theology - there is a stunned public, quickly losing faith in the immortality of man and in any deity, quickly descending to the level of a purely animal existence. Such is the picture of the hour illuminated by the radiant midday sun of the Christian and scientific era!
"Isis Unveiled"
Sit down, I'm glad to see you. Cast away all fear
And you can keep yourself free
I give you permission. You know one of these days
I was elected king by the people,
But it's all the same. They confuse my thought
All these honors, greetings, bows...
"Crazy"
- What do you need abroad? - I asked him at a time when in his room, with the help of servants, his things were being packed and packed for shipment to the Varshavsky railway station.
- Yes, just ... to come to your senses! - He said confusedly and with a kind of dull expression on his face.
"Letters from the Road"
Is it really a matter of going through life in such a way as not to offend anyone? This is not happiness. Hurt, break, break, so that life boils. I am not afraid of any accusations, but a hundred times more than death I am afraid of colorlessness.
Verse is the same music, only combined with the word, and it also needs a natural ear, a sense of harmony and rhythm.
You experience a strange feeling when, with a light touch of your hand, you make such a mass rise and fall at will. When such a mass obeys you, you feel the power of a person ...
"Meeting"
The feeling of the Motherland should be strict, restrained in words, not eloquent, not chatty, not “waving your arms” and not running forward (to show yourself). The feeling of the Motherland should be a great ardent silence.
"Solitary"
And what is the secret of beauty, what is the secret and charm of art: in a conscious, inspired victory over torment or in the unconscious anguish of the human spirit, which sees no way out of the circle of vulgarity, squalor or thoughtlessness and is tragically condemned to appear self-satisfied or hopelessly false.
"Sentimental Remembrance"
Since my birth I have been living in Moscow, but by God I don’t know where Moscow came from, why it is, why, why, what it needs. In the Duma, at meetings, I, along with others, talk about urban economy, but I don’t know how many miles in Moscow, how many people there are, how many are born and die, how much we receive and spend, for how much and with whom we trade ... Which city is richer: Moscow or London? If London is richer, then why? And the jester knows him! And when some question is raised in the thought, I shudder and the first one starts shouting: “Submit to the commission! To the commission!
Everything new in the old way:
The modern poet
In a metaphorical outfit
Speech is poetic.
But others are not an example for me,
And my charter is simple and strict.
My verse is a pioneer boy
Lightly dressed, barefoot.
1926
Under the influence of Dostoevsky, as well as foreign literature, Baudelaire and Poe, my passion began not for decadence, but for symbolism (even then I already understood their difference). A collection of poems, published at the very beginning of the 90s, I entitled "Symbols". It seems that I was the first to use this word in Russian literature.
The run of changeable phenomena,
Past those flying, speed up:
Merge into one sunset of accomplishments
With the first gleam of gentle dawns.
From the lower life to the origins
In a moment, a single review:
In the face of a single smart eye
Take your twins.
Immutable and wonderful
Blessed Muse gift:
In the spirit of the form of slender songs,
There is life and heat in the heart of the songs.
"Thoughts on Poetry"
I have a lot of news. And all are good. I'm lucky". I am writing. I want to live, live, live forever. If you only knew how many new poems I have written! More than a hundred. It was crazy, a fairy tale, new. I am publishing a new book, completely different from the previous ones. She will surprise many. I changed my understanding of the world. No matter how funny my phrase sounds, I will say: I understood the world. For many years, perhaps forever.
K. Balmont - L. Vilkina
Man is the truth! Everything is in man, everything is for man! Only man exists, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain! Human! It's great! It sounds... proud!
"At the bottom"
I'm sorry to create something useless and no one needs now. A collection, a book of poems at the present time is the most useless, unnecessary thing ... I do not mean by this that poetry is not needed. On the contrary, I affirm that poetry is necessary, even necessary, natural and eternal. There was a time when whole books of poetry seemed necessary to everyone, when they were read in full, understood and accepted by everyone. This time is past, not ours. The modern reader does not need a collection of poems!
Language is the history of a people. Language is the path of civilization and culture. Therefore, the study and preservation of the Russian language is not an idle occupation with nothing to do, but an urgent need.
What nationalists, patriots these internationalists become when they need it! And with what arrogance they sneer at the "frightened intellectuals" - as if there is absolutely no reason to be frightened - or at the "frightened townsfolk", as if they have some great advantages over the "philistines". And who, in fact, are these townsfolk, "prosperous philistines"? And who and what do the revolutionaries care about, if they so despise the average person and his well-being?
"Cursed Days"
In the struggle for their ideal, which is “freedom, equality and fraternity”, citizens must use such means that do not contradict this ideal.
"Governor"
“Let your soul be whole or split, let your understanding of the world be mystical, realistic, skeptical, or even idealistic (if you are unhappy before that), let the creative techniques be impressionistic, realistic, naturalistic, the content be lyrical or fabulous, let there be a mood, an impression - whatever you want, but, I beg you, be logical - may this cry of the heart be forgiven me! – are logical in design, in the construction of the work, in syntax.
Art is born in homelessness. I wrote letters and stories addressed to a distant unknown friend, but when a friend came, art gave way to life. Of course, I'm not talking about home comfort, but about life, which means more than art.
"We are with you. Diary of love"
An artist can do nothing more than open his soul to others. It is impossible to present him with predetermined rules. He is still an unknown world, where everything is new. We must forget what captivated others, here it is different. Otherwise, you will listen and not hear, you will look without understanding.
From Valery Bryusov's treatise "On Art"
Well, let her rest, she was exhausted - they exhausted her, alarmed her. And as soon as it's light, the shopkeeper will rise, she will begin to fold her goods, she will grab a blanket, she will go, pull out this soft bedding from under the old woman: she will wake the old woman, raise her to her feet: it's not light, it's good to get up. It's nothing you can do. In the meantime - grandmother, our Kostroma, our mother, Russia!
"Whirlwind Rus'"
Art never speaks to the crowd, to the masses, it speaks to the individual, in the deep and hidden recesses of his soul.
Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin (Ilyin) (1878 - 1942)
How strange /.../ How many cheerful and cheerful books there are, how many brilliant and witty philosophical truths - but there is nothing more comforting than Ecclesiastes.
Babkin dared, - read Seneca
And, whistling carcasses,
Take it to the library
In the margins, noting: "Nonsense!"
Babkin, friend, is a harsh critic,
Have you ever thought
What a legless paraplegic
Light chamois is not a decree? ..
"Reader"
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A critic's word about a poet must be objectively concrete and creative; the critic, while remaining a scientist, is a poet.
"Poetry of the word"
Only great things are worth thinking about, only great tasks should be set by the writer; set boldly, without being embarrassed by your personal small forces.
“It’s true, there are both goblin and water ones here,” I thought, looking in front of me, “or maybe some other spirit lives here ... A mighty, northern spirit that enjoys this wildness; maybe real northern fauns and healthy, blond women roam in these forests, eating cloudberries and lingonberries, laughing and chasing each other.
"North"
You need to be able to close a boring book...leave a bad movie...and part with people who don't value you!
Out of modesty, I will be careful not to point out the fact that on the day of my birth the bells were rung and there was a general rejoicing of the people. Evil tongues associated this jubilation with some great holiday that coincided with the day of my birth, but I still don’t understand what else is there to do with this holiday?
That was the time when love, good and healthy feelings were considered vulgar and a relic; no one loved, but all were thirsty and, like poisoned ones, fell to everything sharp, tearing apart the insides.
"The Road to Calvary"
- Well, what's wrong, - I say to myself, - at least in a short word for now? After all, exactly the same form of farewell to friends exists in other languages, and there it does not shock anyone. The great poet Walt Whitman, shortly before his death, said goodbye to readers with a touching poem "So long!", which means in English - "Bye!". The French a bientot has the same meaning. There is no rudeness here. On the contrary, this form is filled with the most gracious courtesy, because here the following (approximately) meaning is compressed: be prosperous and happy until we see each other again.
"Live Like Life"
Switzerland? This is a mountain pasture for tourists. I've traveled all over the world myself, but I hate those ruminant bipeds with a Badaker for a tail. They chewed through the eyes of all the beauties of nature.
"Island of Lost Ships"
Everything that I wrote and will write, I consider only mental rubbish and do not respect my literary merits. And I wonder and wonder why apparently smart people find some meaning and value in my poems. Thousands of poems, whether mine or those poets whom I know in Russia, are not worth one chanter of my bright mother.
I am afraid that Russian literature has only one future: its past.
Article "I'm afraid"
For a long time we have been looking for such a task, similar to lentils, so that the combined rays of the work of artists and the work of thinkers directed by it to a common point would meet in a common work and could ignite and turn even the cold substance of ice into a fire. Now such a task - a lentil that guides together your stormy courage and the cold mind of thinkers - has been found. This goal is to create a common written language...
"Artists of the World"
He adored poetry, tried to be impartial in his judgments. He was surprisingly young at heart, and perhaps even in mind. He always looked like a child to me. There was something childish in his clipped head, in his bearing, more like a gymnasium than a military one. He liked to portray an adult, like all children. He loved to play the “master”, the literary bosses of his “humil”, that is, the little poets and poetesses who surrounded him. Poetic children loved him very much.
Khodasevich, "Necropolis"
Me, me, me What a wild word!
Is that one over there really me?
Did mom love this?
Yellow-gray, semi-gray
And omniscient like a snake?
You have lost your Russia.
Did you resist the elements
Good elements of gloomy evil?
No? So shut up: took away
Your fate is not without a reason
To the edge of an unkind foreign land.
What's the point of groaning and grieve -
Russia must be earned!
"What You Need to Know"
I never stopped writing poetry. For me, they are my connection with the time, with the new life of my people. When I wrote them, I lived by those rhythms that sounded in the heroic history of my country. I am happy that I lived in these years and saw events that had no equal.
All the people sent to us are our reflection. And they were sent so that we, looking at these people, correct our mistakes, and when we correct them, these people either change too or leave our lives.
In the wide field of Russian literature in the USSR, I was the only literary wolf. I was advised to dye the skin. Ridiculous advice. Whether a painted wolf or a shorn wolf, he still does not look like a poodle. They treated me like a wolf. And for several years they drove me according to the rules of a literary cage in a fenced yard. I have no malice, but I am very tired ...
From a letter from M. A. Bulgakov to I. V. Stalin, May 30, 1931.
When I die, my descendants will ask my contemporaries: "Did you understand Mandelstam's poems?" - "No, we did not understand his poems." "Did you feed Mandelstam, did you give him shelter?" - "Yes, we fed Mandelstam, we gave him shelter." "Then you are forgiven."
Maybe go to the House of Press - there is one sandwich with caviar and a debate - "about the proletarian choral reading", or to the Polytechnic Museum - there are no sandwiches, but twenty-six young poets read their poems about the "locomotive mass". No, I will sit on the stairs, shivering from the cold and dream that all this is not in vain, that, sitting here on the step, I am preparing the distant sunrise of the Renaissance. I dreamed both simply and in verse, and the result was boring iambs.
"The extraordinary adventures of Julio Jurenito and his students"
All the romantic pathos that shrouded the Middle Ages is presented in Ivanhoe. Valiant knights, beautiful ladies, castle sieges and the political subtleties of vassal relations - all this found a place in the novel by Walter Scott.
In many ways, it was his creation that contributed to the romanticization of the Middle Ages. The author described the historical events that affect the period in the history of England after the Third Crusade. Of course, there were some serious artistic improvisations and fiction, but this made the story only more exciting and beautiful.
It was impossible not to include in this selection the most famous creation of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. For many schoolchildren, the study of "Dead Souls" is the highlight of the literature lessons.
Nikolai Gogol is one of the few classics who knew how to write about the problems of petty-bourgeois life and Russia as a whole in such a sarcastically direct tone. There is neither the epic heaviness of Tolstoy, nor the unhealthy psychologism of Dostoevsky. Reading is easy and enjoyable. However, hardly anyone will deny him the depth and subtlety of the observed phenomena.
The adventure novel "The Headless Horseman" is multi-layered: detective and love motives are intertwined in it. The plot intricacies create intrigue and keep you in suspense until the very last pages of the book. Who is this headless horseman? A ghost, a figment of the heroes' imagination, or someone's insidious trick? You are unlikely to fall asleep until you get an answer to this question.
Charles Dickens was extremely popular during his lifetime. People were waiting for his next novels in much the same way that we are now waiting for the release of some Transformers. The educated English public loved his books for their inimitable style and plot dynamism.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club is Dickens' funniest work. The adventures of English snobs, who proclaimed themselves to be researchers of human souls, are full of ridiculous and comical situations. Social issues, of course, are present here, but it is presented in such a simple form that it is simply impossible not to fall in love with the English classic after reading it.
Madame Bovary is rightfully considered one of the greatest novels of the world classics. This title does not detract from the fascination of Flaubert's creation - the defiant story of Emma Bovary's love adventures is bold and daring. After the publication of the novel, the writer was even brought to trial for insulting morality.
The psychological naturalism that permeates the novel allowed Flaubert to clearly reveal the problem that is relevant in any era - the convertibility of love and money.
The most famous work of Oscar Wilde touches the nerve with a deeply developed image of the protagonist. Dorian Gray, an aesthete and a snob, has an extreme beauty that contrasts with the internal ugliness that develops over the course of the story. You can revel in watching Gray's moral decline, allegorically reflected in the visual change in his portrait, for hours on end.
"An American Tragedy" is the underside of the American dream. The desire for wealth, respect, position in society, money is characteristic of all people, however, for the majority, the path to the top is closed by default for various reasons.
Clyde Griffiths - a native of the lower classes, who is trying with all his might to break into high society. He is ready to do anything for his dreams. But society, with its ideals of success as an absolute life goal, is itself a catalyst for the violation of morality. As a result, Clyde breaks the law in order to achieve his goals.
To Kill a Mockingbird is an autobiographical novel. Harper Lee described her childhood memories. The result is a story with an anti-racist message, written in simple and accessible language. Reading the book is useful and interesting, it can be called a textbook of morality.
Not so long ago, a continuation of the novel was published under the title " Go set a watchman". It turns inside out the images of the characters of the writer's classic work so much that cognitive dissonance cannot be avoided when reading.
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