Closer to mid-February, it seems that even love vibes are in the air. And if you have not felt this mood yet, the gray sky and the cold wind spoil all the romance - will help you best classic about love!
Antoine Francois Prevost, The Story of the Chevalier de Grieux and Manon Lescaut (1731)
This story takes place in the scenery of Regency France after death. Louis XIV. The story is told on behalf of a seventeen-year-old boy, a graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy in northern France. Having successfully passed the exams, he is going to return to his father's house, but by chance he meets an attractive and mysterious girl. This is Manon Lesko, who was brought to the city by her parents to give to the monastery. Cupid's arrow pierces the heart of the young gentleman, and he, forgetting everything, persuades Manon to run away with him. Thus begins the eternal and beautiful love story of the Chevalier de Grieux and Manon Lescaut, which will inspire entire generations of readers, writers, artists, musicians, directors.
Author love story- Abbé Prevost, whose life tossed between monastic seclusion and secular society. His fate is complex, interesting, his love for a girl of a different faith - forbidden and passionate - formed the basis of a fascinating and scandalous (for its era) book.
"Manon Lescaut" is the first novel where, against the background of a reliable image of material and everyday realities, a subtle and penetrating psychological portrait of the characters is drawn. The fresh, winged prose of Abbé Prevost is unlike all previous French literature.
This is a story that tells about several years in the life of de Grieux, during which the impulsive, sensitive, thirsty for love and freedom young man manages to turn into a man with great experience and a difficult fate. The beautiful Manon also grows up: her spontaneity and frivolity is replaced by a depth of feelings and a wise outlook on life.
“Despite the cruelest fate, I found my happiness in her eyes and in firm confidence in her feelings. Truly I have lost everything that other people honor and cherish; but I owned the heart of Manon, the only good that I honored.
A novel about clean and eternal love, which arises from the air, but the strength and purity of this feeling is enough to change the heroes and their destinies. But will this power be enough to change the life around?
Emily Bronte "Wuthering Heights" (1847)
Debuting in the same year, each of the Bronte sisters presented their novel to the world: Charlotte - "Jane Eyre", Emily - "Wuthering Heights", Ann - "Agnes Grey". Charlotte's novel made a sensation (it, like any book of the most famous Bronte, could be in this top), but after the death of the sisters, it was recognized that Wuthering Heights is one of the best works that time.
The most mystical and reserved of the sisters, Emily Bronte, has created a poignant novel about madness and hatred, about strength and love. Contemporaries considered him too rude, but they could not help but fall under his magical influence.
The story of generations of two families unfolds against the picturesque backdrop of the Yorkshire fields, where the mad wind and inhuman passions rule. Central characters- freedom-loving Catherine and impulsive Heathcliff, obsessed with each other. Their complex characters, different social status, exceptional destinies - all together form a canon. love story. But this book is more than just an early Victorian love story. According to modernist Virginia Woolf, “the thought that is at the basis of manifestations human nature there are forces that elevate her and raise her to the foot of greatness, and puts Emily Brontë's novel in a special, prominent place among similar novels.
Thanks to " Wuthering Pass"The beautiful fields of Yorkshire became a nature reserve, and we inherited, for example, such masterpieces as the film of the same name with Juliette Binoche, the popular ballad "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" performed by Celine Dion, as well as touching quotes:
What doesn't remind you of her? I can’t even look under my feet, so that her face does not appear here on the floor slabs! It is in every cloud, in every tree - it fills the air at night, during the day it appears in the outlines of objects - her image is everywhere around me! The most ordinary faces, male and female, my own features, all tease me with semblance. The whole world is a terrible freak show, where everything reminds me that she existed and that I lost her.
Leo Tolstoy "Anna Karenina" (1877)
There is a well-known legend about how it was discussed in the circle of writers that there are no good love stories in literature. Tolstoy started up at these words and accepted the challenge, saying that he would write good romance about love in three months. And he did write. True, for four years.
But that, as they say, is history. And Anna Karenina is a novel that is included in the school curriculum. Such school reading. And so, every decent graduate at the exit learns that “All happy families are alike…”, and in the Oblonsky house "everything is mixed..."
Meanwhile, Anna Karenina is a truly great book about great love. Today it is generally accepted (thanks, including to the cinema) that this is a novel about the pure and passionate love of Karenina and Vronsky, which became Anna's salvation from her boring tyrant husband and her own death.
But for the author himself, this is, first of all, a family novel, a novel about love, which, having connected the two halves, develops into something more: a family, children. This, according to Tolstoy, is the main purpose of a woman. Because there is nothing more important, and most importantly, more difficult than raising a child, maintaining a real strong family. This idea in the novel is personified by the union of Levin and Kitty. This family, which Tolstoy wrote off in many ways from his union with Sofya Andreevna, becomes a reflection of the ideal union of a man and a woman.
The Karenins, on the other hand, are an “unhappy family,” and Tolstoy devoted his book to an analysis of the causes of this misfortune. However, the author does not indulge in moralizing, accusing the sinful Anna of destroying a decent family. Leo Tolstoy, "a connoisseur of human souls", creates complex work where there is no right or wrong. There is a society that influences the heroes, there are heroes who choose their own path, and there are feelings that the heroes do not always understand, but which they give in full.
On this I round off my literary analysis because much has already been written about this and better. I will just express my thought: be sure to re-read the texts from school curriculum. And not only from school.
Reshad Nuri Gyuntekin "King - songbird" (1922)
The question of which works from Turkish literature have become world classics can be confusing. The novel "The Songbird" deserves such recognition. Reshad Nuri Guntekin wrote this book at the age of 33, it became one of his first novels. These circumstances make us even more surprised at the skill with which the writer portrayed the psychology of a young woman, social problems provincial Turkey.
Fragrant and original book captures from the first lines. This diary entries beautiful Feride, who remembers her life and her love. When this book first came to me (and it was during my puberty), the tattered cover showed off "Chalikushu - a singing bird." Even now this translation of the name seems to me more colorful and sonorous. Chalykushu is the nickname of the restless Feride. As the heroine writes in her diary: "…my real name, Feride, became official and was used very rarely, like a festive outfit. I liked the name Chalykush, it even helped me out. As soon as someone complained about my tricks, I just shrugged my shoulders, as if saying: “I have nothing to do with it ... What do you want from Chalykushu? ..”.
Chalykushu lost her parents early. She is sent to be raised by relatives, where she falls in love with her aunt's son, Kamran. Their relationship is not easy, but young people are drawn to each other. Suddenly, Feride learns that her chosen one is already in love with another. In feelings, the impulsive Chalykushu fluttered out of the family nest towards real life, which met her with a hurricane of events ...
I remember how, after reading a book, I wrote quotes in my diary, realizing every word. It is interesting that you change over time, but the book remains the same poignant, touching and naive. But it seems that in our 21st century independent women, gadgets and social networks A little naivete doesn't hurt:
“A person lives and is tied by invisible threads to the people who surround him. Separation sets in, the threads stretch and break like the strings of a violin, making dull sounds. And every time the threads break at the heart, a person experiences the most acute pain.
David Herbert Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover (1928)
Provocative, scandalous, frank. Banned for over thirty years after first publication. The hardened English bourgeoisie did not tolerate the description of sex scenes and "immoral" behavior main character. In 1960, a high-profile trial took place, during which the novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover" was rehabilitated and allowed for publication when the author was no longer alive.
Today, the novel and its storyline hardly seem so provocative to us. Young Constance marries the Baronet Chatterley. After their marriage, Clifford Chatterley is sent to Flanders, where he receives multiple wounds during the battle. He is permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Connie's married life (as her husband affectionately calls her) has changed, but she continues to love her husband, caring for him. However, Clifford understands that it is hard for a young girl to spend all her nights alone. He allows her to have a lover, the main thing is that the candidate is worthy.
“If a man has no brains, he is a fool; if there is no heart, he is a villain; if there is no bile, he is a rag. If a man is not able to explode, like a tightly stretched spring, there is no masculine nature in him. This is not a man, but a good boy.
During one of the walks in the forest, Connie meets a new gamekeeper. It is he who will teach the girl not only the art of love, but also awaken real deep feelings in her.
David Herbert Lawrence - classic English Literature, author at least famous books"Sons and Lovers", "Women in Love", "Rainbow", he also wrote essays, poems, plays, travel prose. He created three versions of Lady Chatterley's Lover. The last version, which satisfied the author, was published. This novel brought him fame, but Lawrence's liberalism and the proclamation of freedom moral choice the person sung in the novel could be appreciated only many years later.
Margaret Mitchell Gone with the Wind (1936)
Aphorism "When a woman can't cry, it's scary", and the image itself strong woman written by the American writer Margaret Mitchell, who became famous thanks to the only novel. There is hardly a person who has not heard about the bestseller Gone with the Wind.
"Gone with the Wind" - a story civil war between the northern and southern states of America in the 60s, during which cities and destinies collapsed, but something new and beautiful could not but be born. This is the story of the growing up of young Scarlett O'Hara, who is forced to take responsibility for the family, learn to manage her feelings and achieve simple female happiness.
This is that successful love story when, in addition to the main and rather superficial theme, it gives something else. The book grows with the reader: open in different time, it will be perceived each time in a new way. One thing remains unchanged in it: the anthem of love, life and humanity. And unexpected and open final inspired several writers to create sequels to the love story, the most famous being Alexander Ripley's Scarlett or Donald McCaig's Rhett Butler's People.
Boris Pasternak "Doctor Zhivago" (1957)
A complex symbolist novel by Pasternak, written in no less complex and rich language. A number of researchers point to the autobiographical nature of the work, but the events or characters described bear little resemblance to the real life of the author. Nevertheless, this is a kind of "spiritual autobiography", which Pasternak characterized as follows: “I am currently writing a long novel in prose about a man who constitutes a kind of resultant between Blok and me (and Mayakovsky and Yesenin, perhaps). He will die in 1929. From him there will be a book of poems, which is one of the chapters of the second part. The time embraced by the novel is 1903-1945.
The main theme of the novel is reflections on the future of the country and the fate of the generation to which the author belonged. Historical events play an important role for the heroes of the novel, it is the whirlpool of a complex political situation that determines their lives.
The main characters of the book are the doctor and poet Yuri Zhivago and Lara Antipova, the hero's beloved. Throughout the novel, their paths accidentally crossed and separated, seemingly forever. What really captivates in this novel is the inexplicable and immense love that the characters carried through their whole lives.
The culmination of this love story is a few winter days in the snow-covered estate of Varykino. It is here that the main explanations of the characters take place, here Zhivago writes his best poems dedicated to Lara. But even in this abandoned house, they can not hide from the noise of war. Larisa is forced to leave in order to save the life of herself and her children. And Zhivago, going mad with loss, writes in his notebook:
From the threshold a man looks
Not recognizing at home.
Her departure was like an escape
There are signs of destruction everywhere.
Chaos is everywhere in the rooms.
He measures ruin
Doesn't notice because of tears
And a migraine attack.
There is some noise in my ears in the morning.
Is he in memory or dreaming?
And why does he mind
All the thought of the sea climbs? ..
"Doctor Zhivago" is a novel marked by Nobel Prize, a novel whose fate, like the fate of the author, turned out to be tragic, a novel that is still alive today, like the memory of Boris Pasternak, is a must-read.
John Fowles "The French Lieutenant's Mistress" (1969)
One of Fowles' masterpieces, which is a shaky interweaving of postmodernism, realism, the Victorian novel, psychology, allusions to Dickens, Hardy and other contemporaries. A novel that is central work English literature of the 20th century, is considered one of the main books about love.
The canvas of the story, like any plot of a love story, looks simple and predictable. But Fowles is a postmodernist, influenced by existentialism and passionate about historical sciences, created a mystical and deep love story from this story.
An aristocrat, a wealthy young man named Charles Smithson, along with his chosen one, meet Sarah Woodruff on the seashore - once "the mistress of the French lieutenant", and now - a maid who avoids people. Sarah appears reclusive, but Charles manages to connect with her. During one of the walks, Sara opens up to the hero, talking about her life.
“Even your own past does not seem to you to be something real - you dress it up, try to whitewash or denigrate it, you edit it, patch it up somehow ... In a word, turn it into fiction and put away on the shelf - this is your book, your novelized autobiography. We are all running from reality. This is the main distinguishing feature homo sapiens".
A difficult but special relationship is established between the characters, which will develop into a strong and fatal feeling.
The variability of the endings of the novel is not only one of the main techniques postmodern literature, but also reflects the idea that in love, as in life, everything is possible.
And for lovers acting Meryl Streep: A 1981 film of the same name directed by Karel Reisch starring Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep. The film, which received several film awards, has become a classic. But watching it, like any film based on a literary work, is better after reading the book itself.
Colin McCullough "The Thorn Birds" (1977)
Colleen McCullough wrote more than ten novels in her lifetime, historical cycle"Lords of Rome", a series of detective stories. But she was able to occupy a prominent place in Australian literature and thanks to just one novel - "The Thorn Birds".
seven parts fascinating history big family. Several generations of the Cleary clan who move to Australia to settle here and from simple poor farmers to become prominent and successful family. The central characters of this saga are Maggie Cleary and Ralph de Bricassar. Their story, which unites all the chapters of the novel, tells about eternal struggle duty and feeling, reason and passion. What will the heroes choose? Or will they have to stand up different sides and defend your choice?
Each of the parts of the novel is dedicated to one of the members of the Cleary family and subsequent generations. In the fifty years during which the action of the novel takes place, not only surrounding reality, but also life ideals. So Maggie's daughter - Fia, whose story opens in the last part of the book, no longer seeks to create a family, to continue her kind. So the fate of the Cleary family is in jeopardy.
The Thorn Birds is a finely crafted, filigree work about life itself. Colin McCullough managed to reflect complex overflows human soul, longing for the love that lives in every woman, passionate nature And inner strength men. Perfect long reading winter evenings under a blanket or hot days on a summer veranda.
“There is a legend about a bird that sings only once in its entire life, but it is the most beautiful in the world. One day she leaves her nest and flies to look for a thorn bush and will not rest until she finds it. Among the thorny branches she sings a song and throws herself at the longest, sharpest thorn. And, rising above the inexpressible torment, it sings so, dying, that both the lark and the nightingale would envy this jubilant song. The only, incomparable song, and it comes at the cost of life. But the whole world freezes, listening, and God himself smiles in heaven. For all the best is bought only at the cost of great suffering ... At least, so the legend says.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez Love in the Time of Plague (1985)
I wonder when the famous expression appeared that love is a disease? However, it is this truth that becomes the impetus for understanding the work of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which proclaims that "... the symptoms of love and the plague are the same". And the most important thought of this novel is contained in another quote: “If you meet your true love, then she will not go anywhere from you - not in a week, not in a month, not in a year.”
This happened to the heroes of the novel "Love in the Time of Plague", the plot of which revolves around a girl named Fermina Daza. In her youth, Florentino Arisa was in love with her, but, considering his love only a temporary hobby, she marries Juvenal Urbino. Urbino's profession is a doctor, and his life's work is the fight against cholera. However, Fermina and Florentino are destined to be together. When Urbino dies, the feelings of longtime lovers flare up with new force, painted in more mature and deep tones.
Back(Russian) is a broad concept, and everyone puts their own meaning into it. If you ask readers what associations it evokes in them, then the answers will be different. For some, this is the basis of the library fund, someone will say that the works of classical Russian literature are a kind of sample with high artistic merit. For schoolchildren, this is everything that is studied at school. And they will all be absolutely right in their own way. So what exactly is classical literature? Russian literature, today we will talk only about it. ABOUT foreign classics we will talk in another article.
Russian literature
There is a generally accepted periodization of formation and development domestic literature. Its history is divided into the following time periods:
What works are called classics?
Many readers are sure that classical literature (Russian) is Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy - that is, the works of those writers who lived in the 19th century. It's not like that at all. The era of the Middle Ages and the 20th century can be classical. By what canons and principles to determine whether a novel or a story is a classic? First, a classic work must have a high artistic value to be a model for others. Secondly, it must have worldwide recognition, it must be included in the fund of world culture.
And you need to be able to distinguish between the concepts of classical and popular literature. A classic is something that has stood the test of time, and a popular work can be quickly forgotten. If its relevance continues for more than a dozen years, perhaps it will eventually become a classic as well.
Origins of Russian classical literature
At the end of the 18th century, the newly formed nobility of Russia split into two opposing camps: conservatives and reformers. Such a split was due to different attitudes towards the changes that took place in life: Peter's reforms, understanding of the tasks of the Enlightenment, the sore peasant question, attitude towards power. This struggle of extremes led to the rise of spirituality, self-consciousness, which gave rise to Russian classics. We can say that it was forged in the course of dramatic processes in the country.
Classical literature (Russian), having been born in the complex and contradictory 18th century, was finally formed in XIX century. Its main features are: national identity, maturity, self-awareness.
Russian classical literature of the 19th century
The growth of national consciousness played an important role in the development of the culture of that time. More and more educational institutions are opening, public importance literature, writers begin to pay much attention to their native language. even more made me think about what is happening in the country.
Karamzin's influence on the development of 19th century literature
Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, the greatest Russian historian, writer and journalist, was the most influential figure in the Russian cultures XVIII-XIX centuries His historical novels and the monumental "History of the Russian State" had a huge impact on the work of subsequent writers and poets: Zhukovsky, Pushkin, Griboedov. He is one of the great reformers of the Russian language. Karamzin put into use a large number of new words, without which we cannot imagine modern speech today.
Russian classical literature: a list of the best works
Select and list the best literary works- the task is difficult, because each reader has his own preferences and tastes. A novel that for one will be a masterpiece, another will seem boring and uninteresting. How, then, to compile a list of classical Russian literature that would satisfy the majority of readers? One way is to conduct surveys. On their basis, it is possible to draw conclusions about which work the readers themselves consider the best of the proposed options. These data collection methods are carried out regularly, although the data may vary slightly over time.
The list of the best creations of Russian classics, according to the versions of literary magazines and Internet portals, looks like this:
Under no circumstances should you consider this list reference. In some ratings and polls, not Bulgakov, but Leo Tolstoy or Alexander Pushkin may be in the first place, and some of the writers listed may not exist at all. Ratings are extremely subjective. It is better to make a list of your favorite classics for yourself and focus on it.
The Importance of Russian Classical Literature
The creators of Russian classics have always had a great social responsibility. They never acted as moralizers, did not give ready-made answers in their works. Writers set a difficult task for the reader and forced him to think about its solution. They raised in their works serious social and public problems which are of great importance to us today. Therefore, Russian classics remain as relevant today.
I will quit smoking on Monday. Next week I will start running and join the gym. At the weekend I'll clean up the room and find a job. You have to do more, right?
2019 has landed 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 familiarize yourself with at least in 2016, if you have not done so before. Let's start, perhaps, with the "boring" Russian classics. Listen!
Fyodor Dostoevsky "Dream of a Ridiculous Man"
Have you thought about suicide at least once in your life? If not, then this is no reason to bypass 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 to understand the essence of human existence before the last shot in the head? How to exchange paradise for world wars and hatred of one's neighbor? And most importantly - how not to pull the trigger. The end of the story can be titled with the expression "Cherchez la femme", if you understand why, then everything was not in vain.
Anton Chekhov "Ward number 6"
What do you think, Russian classics under a glass of vodka going better? 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? Such an oxymoron permeates the whole story about the sad truth of the cheerful Chekhov. Have you already figured out how to drink literature?
Evgeny Zamyatin "We"
Yevgeny Zamyatin can be safely considered the founder of the great genre of dystopia. I'm sure if you chose him, then you simply must know such great anti-utopians as Orrwell and Huxley. If these names mean something to you, then without even thinking, get Zamyatin for yourself and start absorbing it with tablespoons. Military system, coupon relations and continuous capital letters. Instead of people. Instead of names. Instead of life.
Leo Tolstoy "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 strictly prohibited." Forget about the hackneyed book "War and Peace", you have a completely different side of Leo Tolstoy, which is worth all the volumes of a huge novel. Trying to find a 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 available to everyone, every time eluding us. If you found it in the story, and besides, you learned to live by it, my bow to you and white envy.
Ivan Goncharov "Oblomov"
That's something, and in the novel "Oblomov" to find yourself as easy as shelling pears. Alas. How beautiful is the contemplation of this life from the outside, when the stupid vanity of this world bypasses you. First love that somehow makes you get off the couch, obsessive friends, always trying to pull your lazy ass into the light - how absurd this whole "seething life" is. Avoid it, contemplate, think and dream, dream, dream! If you are a supporter of this statement, congratulations, your soul mate has been found in the protagonist of the novel Oblomov.
Maxim Gorky "Passion-face"
It was not by chance that Gorky's work received such symbolic name"Passion-face", because the story can not be read without trembling in the knees. If you love children too much, don't read. If you are impressionable and emotional - do not read. If girls with syphilis disgust you, don't read. In general, do not listen to me now, open the book and start 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 adult swords about impossible happiness.
Nikolai Gogol "Overcoat"
A small person against a huge terrible society, or how to lose everything that is dear to you, even if it is a simple overcoat. A stingy official, an unnecessary environment, a small happiness in exchange for a great disappointment and death as the only logical conclusion. It is on the example of Akaki Bashmachkin that we will consider a large weighty and significant problem of society - the theft of an overcoat.
Anton Chekhov "The Man in the Case"
How do you keep in touch with your work colleagues, classmates or friends? I will advise one great way to improve your communication skills - come to visit them and be 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, protect himself from the outside world. A man who even managed to shove his sincere love into a case 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 a big problem little man, only this time in Pushkin's The Bronze Horseman. Eugene, 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" for you. We break love, we break a city, we break a person, we add a drop to this symbolic image bronze horseman and we get perfect recipe one of best poems Pushkin.
Fyodor Dostoevsky "Notes from the Underground"
And the last one on the list of Russian classics will be the one with whom we, in fact, began - 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 deadly disease. Activity is the lot of the limited and stupid. If you like these interpretations, then you will like Dostoevsky, and if you also humiliated prostitutes at least once in your life, then the "underground" will become your favorite place to stay.
About the top 10 foreign classic books read the second part of the list of books for 2016. Love Russian classics.
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 Russian classical literature, which 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 rest of the 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 precious stone 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 it happens, its a pretty nasty encounter with everything" Famus Society”: by Famusov himself, Sophia, 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 tragic story love between married Anna Karenina and officer Vronsky. Meeting your 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. A heroine forced to fight own feelings and public contempt, decides to throw himself under a train. The problematics of the work are questions about marriage, love and family that 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 in the period Patriotic War with Napoleon, hence the title 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 strong feeling towards the woman he loves. This novel, certainly 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 its further state of mind, searching for an answer to the question "is he a trembling creature or has the 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 on the pictures of the life of the Cossacks, their traditions, customs and life values. Their cruel, strict morals of life make the Cossacks special, and unfolding against this background Forbidden love Gregory and Aksinya - extraordinary, contrary to all the rules, rebellious, but sincere to the core.
N.V. Gogol "Inspector"
Everyone famous comedy Gogol's "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 frankly grovel before him, having missed only one important detail- Khlestakov, taken by them for an auditor, turned out to be the most common cunning 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 spiritual world person. This topic is well disclosed thanks to the contradictory image of Pechorin. This man is not pleasant character, not always noble deeds, but also completely 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 by 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, 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 time, it has become an undisputed classic.
M.A. Bulgakov "Heart of a Dog"
At the heart of the story dog's heart"- a story about 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.
Being an active reader, I will try to take on the role of an assistant and sketch out a few ideas, making a list of the most recognized and most successful, from my point of view, works of both domestic and foreign literature. Most of these novels have already won, and continue to gain popularity, which means that these are exactly the books that you need to read in order to discover and know this magical, mysterious and so tempting world of literature.
- What to read from the classics? The relevance of the issue.
Usually a similar question arises among those who suddenly realized the need for self-education or decided to fill in their gaps from school course in Russian literature.
This is where it comes up main difficulty. Everyone wants to read something from the collection of world masterpieces. But is there such a thing as a literary masterpiece? Critics argue that unequivocally answer to this question impossible: someone likes Russian literature, and someone foreign, someone reads it to the holes, and someone cannot imagine an evening without an exciting love story.
Having visited one of the major second-hand bookshops in the capital, I asked the sellers what questions visitors most often ask. As it turned out, one of the most common requests is precisely the request for advice on what to read from the classics.
It turns out that in fact there are many who want it, literature of this kind is in demand, but low awareness sometimes scares away potential customers.
First of all, let's take a look at the novels. By the way, they should be understood as more short form presentation of current events than, for example, a story or a story. This type of narrative is characterized by the presence of only one storyline, and the number of characters is very limited.
I would highlight the following works:
- Augustine "Treatises"
- D. Swift "Gulliver's Travels"
- F. Kafka "Process"
- M. de Montaigne "Complete Essay"
- N. Hawthorne "Letter to Scarlet"
- G. Melville "Moby Dick"
- R. Descartes "Principles of Philosophy"
- Ch. Dickens "Oliver Twist"
- G. Flaubert "Madame Bovary"
- D. Austin "Pride and Prejudice"
- Aeschylus "Agamemnon"
- Sophocles "The Myth of Oedipus"
- Euripides "Medea"
- Aristophanes "Birds"
- Aristotle "Poetics"
- W. Shakespeare "Richard III", "Hamlet", "Dream in midsummer night"
- Molière "Tartuffe"
- W. Congreve "So do in the world"
- Henrik Johan Ibsen "A Doll's House"
Dreamers and romantics very often try to find answers to the questions posed in verses. What to read from the classics in the poetic genre? Many things. But I would especially highlight:
- Homer "Iliad" and "Odyssey"
- Horace "Odes"
- Dante Alighieri "Hell"
- W. Shakespeare "Sonnets"
- D. Milton" Lost heaven"
- W. Wordsworth "Favorites"
- S.T. Coleridge "Poems"
As for the works of our country, is there really nothing worthy? - Well, of course not! - If I were asked to answer the question of what to read from the Russian classics, I would, of course, recommend “Master and Margarita” by M. Bulgakov, “Mtsyri” by M. Lermontov, poems and poems by A. Pushkin.
3. Reading masterpieces of world literature. What does this give us?
Is it worth returning to this direction or is it better and more correct to pay more attention contemporary works? It is very, very difficult to answer this question unambiguously.
Sometimes opinions are divided just the same cardinally.
For example, opponents argue that it is already completely outdated, has lost its relevance, gradually turning into a kind of utopia. In turn, philologists and students linguistic universities defend the masterpieces of the world epic, insisting that without studying the history, culture and subtleties of the language, it is impossible to understand and comprehend our today's world.
Well, well ... Each side is right in its own way ... Probably, everyone will agree that, say, Homer's "Odyssey" is not the so-called tabloid reading for a vacation or an empty pastime. It is difficult to read a work of such a plan and you need to do it thoughtfully, slowly and without being distracted, comprehending and remembering the details. Not everyone can do it.
It is these books that can introduce the reader to the world of both native and foreign literature, help to better understand the traditions, culture and mentality of peoples. And they will also reveal all the charm and richness of the colors of the narrative language, thereby replenishing lexicon reading.
Undoubtedly, reading all the books mentioned in this article may take several years, but in any case, it certainly will not be time wasted.
