What a problem with dark alleys. Dark alleys analysis of the story

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Dark Alleys was painted in 1937-1949. Built on a single theme - love, they represent not only a single whole, but also a certain stage in Bunin's work. The stories of "Dark Alleys" seemed to have poured out of everything that was created directly in front of them, and absorbed the lyricism, organically inherent in the writer's talent. The uniqueness, originality, extraordinary frankness of the book made it a masterpiece of the writer's later work and became for many the work with which the name of Bunin is associated.

The study of IA Bunin's cycle "Dark Alleys" is of great interest, since it is associated with the solution of many important problems of modern literary criticism, in particular, the solution of the problem of the prose cycle.

The choice of the topic is due to the fact that it involves considering the history of the development of the cycle as a genre phenomenon in Russian literature and the history of the study of the cycle in literary criticism. In addition, this topic allows you to turn to the work of I. A. Bunin of the late, emigrant period and identify some problems associated with the peculiarities of the novelistic cycle.

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City Department of Education

Saransk city district

MOU "Yalginsky secondary school"

City scientific and practical conference

"Schoolchildren of the city - science of the XXI century"

Research
"Dark alleys" by I. A. Bunin: problems of the originality of the novelistic cycle

Performed: 11th grade student

Botova Julia

Supervisor: literature teacher

Khalzova N.S.

Saransk, 2010

Introduction 3

1. The prose cycle as a genre phenomenon 5

1.1. Scientific controversy about the composition and structure of the cycle 5

2. Cycle-forming factors in "Dark alleys" I. A. Bunin 10
2.1 Thematic unity of stories from cycle 10

Introduction

We have studied critical and research literature on this topic or directly related to it. The first responses to a new, original work appeared during the life of I. A. Bunin. The first serious response to the cycle after the author's death was an article by G. Adamovich, in which he spoke out against critical statements about the "Dark Alleys" that existed at that time. G. Adamovich denies the opinion that the range of Bunin's creativity has narrowed and his addiction to love stories borders on the obsession of an obsession.

In the 1960s and 70s, little was written about "Dark Alleys"; A notable phenomenon against this background can be called the work of MI Iofiev, which analyzes the works of both the pre-revolutionary period of creativity and the period of emigrants. The researcher turned directly to the entire cycle "Dark Alleys". There are interesting remarks in the work of LK Dolgopolov, who included Bunin's book in a number of remarkable cycles of the "Silver Age". Large studies devoted to the work of Bunin, including the cycle "Dark Alleys", have appeared in the last 10-15 years. Among them are the works of O. N. Mikhailov, A. A. Saakyants, L. A. Smirnova. At the moment, there is no monograph on our topic. Interesting remarks about the cycle "Dark Alleys" can be found in the articles of recent years by O. V. Slivitskaya, I. Sukhikh and others.

Relevance of the topicdue to the fact that, being created in the 30-40s of the XX century, "Dark Alleys" were not sufficiently studied due to the historical conditions in our country. And such an issue as the cyclical nature of this work has begun to be developed by researchers only in recent years.

The purpose of the work is the consideration of "Dark alleys" as a novelistic cycle, the identification of its features.

In accordance with this topic, we have set specific tasks:

to reveal the problem of originality of the novelistic cycle "Dark Alleys";
determine in the controversy around the structure and composition of the cycle;
identify the cycling factors in the book.

Research methods:structural, linguo-stylistic, biographical.

Work structure:the work consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion, a list of sources used.

1. The prose cycle as a genre phenomenon

1.1 Scientific controversy about the composition and structure of the cycle "Dark Alleys"

The cycle of stories "Dark Alleys" was written by I. Bunin in exile. His prose of this period is distinguished by a deeply subjective vision of the world. His stories of this time are characterized by an appeal to memory, to the past, to the emotions of a person inextricably linked with an irreversible world. Most of the stories in the book "Dark Alleys" were created by the writer in a very difficult time - during the Second World War, in occupied France.

Communication with the world was maintained with the help of letters that Bunin received and wrote almost daily. Boris Nikolaevich and Vera Andreevna Zaitsevs, Mark Aleksandrovich Aldanov, Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Teffi, Fyodor Avgustovich Stepun - the letters of these people, scattered across different continents, found each other even in the conditions of war and the post-war period. In one of his letters in 1952 to F. A. Stepun, philosopher, sociologist, literary critic, historian I. A. Bunin presents the composition and structure of the collection.

"The Book" Dark Alleys "

Dark alleys. Caucasus. Ballad. Styopa. Muse. Late hour. Rusya. Gorgeous. Fool. Antigone. Emerald. The guest. Wolves. Business Cards. Zoya and Valeria. Tanya. In Paris. Galya Ganskaya. Henry. Natalie. In a familiar street. River tavern. Kuma. Start. "Dubki". Young lady Klara. "Madrid". Second coffee pot. Iron Wool. Cold autumn. Steamship "Saratov". Crow. Camargue. One hundred rupees. Revenge. Swing. Clean Monday. Chapel.

Bunin considered almost two-thirds of the listed stories in the book to be the most and especially valuable. And this manifested the attitude of the writer to "Dark Alleys" as to "the last literary joy", the best of everything he wrote.

"When we are alone for a long time, we fill the void with ghosts" - I invent stories most of all for this reason ", -Bunin wrote to his closest people. (From a letter to the Zaitsevs dated July 14, 1944). It was these “little stories,” “gagging,” as he called them, that made up a tragic book about love, death, separation, the irreversibility of the past.

“This whole book is called according to the first story -“ Dark Alleys ”- in which the“ heroine ”reminds her first lover how he once read her poems about“ Dark Alleys ”(“ Around the scarlet rosehip bloomed, There were dark linden alley. .. ")(An inaccurate quote from the poem "An Ordinary Story" by N. P. Ogarev) - Defining the main pathos of the cycle, Bunin writes:"And all the stories in this book are only about love, about its" dark "and most often very gloomy and cruel alleys."(From a letter to Teffi, 23 February 1944).

While in exile, Bunin could publish his stories only in foreign publishing houses. Friends of Bunin made attempts to print stories in the USA and France. But the fate of his last book was "extremely sad." The stories at that time were of little interest to publishers, while Bunin had then only "a small novel, too small for a separate publication." The writer reasoned like this:“If the publisher is interested, and the publication will be more or less worthwhile, and most importantly not fraudulent, and will pay something in advance, then you can add to this little novel, under the cover of Natalie, roman, several stories, also love stories, of which 25, that have been written by me lately in my "transalpine seclusion."(From a letter to the Zaitsevs dated November 8, 1943). ...

Neither France nor the USA was published in this form, but in New York in 1943 the first volume of the book "Dark Alleys" was published, which included the "little novel" "Natalie" along with other love stories. The book consisted of two sections and included the following works:

Dark alleys. Caucasus. Ballad. April. Styopa. Muse. Late hour.
Rusya. Tanya. In Paris. Natalie.

According to Bunin, who sent other stories to the publishers, the book should have included the following works: "Mom's Chest", "On the Pavement Street", "Antigone", "Smaragd", "Guest", "Business Cards", "Wolves", "Zoya and Valeria", "Galya Ganskaya", "Henry", "Three rubles", "On such a night ...", "Three rubles", "Lita", "April".

The Novaya Zemlya publishing house, which published Bunin's Dark Alleys (New York, 1943), accompanied the book with an afterword: Dark Alleys are published without the author's proofreading. Unfortunately, the publishing house does not have the opportunity to get in touch with I. A. Bunin. Meanwhile, it was forced to divide the book of the famous writer into two volumes. This volume contains only half of the stories that make up this book. Its author, of course, does not bear any responsibility for its section and for other shortcomings that the publication may have. The editorial board of Novaya Zemlya considers itself obliged to inform the readers of this in the hope that they, like Ivan Alekseevich Bunin himself, will take into account the exceptional conditions of our time. May 1943. From the publisher. " ...

It is easy to imagine how Bunin reacted to the publication of texts without the author's proofreading, who was, by his own admission,"Idiotic, psychopathic about his lyrics"(From a letter to M.A.Aldanov dated July 31, August 1, 1947) and understood that"Sometimes ten wrong or unnecessary words spoil all the music."Having received the book in 1945, Bunin exclaims in one of his letters to Aldanov:“I am very sorry that I decided on thisedition! And then there's the "afterword" of the publishing house: "We'll publish the rest of the stories as a separate book." Deliver me, God, I am very afraid - what if they will publish the truth! In no case do I want this! "(Dated August 16, 1945).

The second edition of "Dark Alleys" took place in 1946 in Paris.

Bunin excluded the story "April" from the first section. The composition of the second section has been significantly expanded in comparison with the first edition of the book. In the second edition, the story "Mother's Chest" was called "Beauty", the story "On the street pavement" - "Fool"; the composition of the section has been changed. The story "Three rubles" was removed from the book. The story "Lita" was not published at all during Bunin's lifetime. For the first time, a third section appeared, which included 18 stories.

Dark alleys. Caucasus. Ballad. Styopa. Muse. Late hour.
Rusya. Gorgeous. Fool. Antigone. Emerald. The guest. Wolves. Business Cards. Zoya and Valeria. Tanya. In Paris. Galya Ganskaya. Henry. Natalie.
In a familiar street. River tavern. Kuma. Start. "Dubki". Young lady Klara. "Madrid". Second coffee pot. Iron Wool. Cold autumn. Steamship "Saratov". Crow. Camargue. One hundred rupees. Revenge. Swing. Clean Monday. Chapel.

In addition to publishing "Dark Alley" in the form of a book, individual works that make up it were printed independently. The stories "Caucasus", "Ballad", "Styopa", "Muse", "Late Hour" were published in Paris in 1937. In 1942 - "Russia", "Wolves", "In Paris", "Natalie". 1945 - Madrid, Second Coffee Pot, River Tavern, Dubki, Saratov Steamer, Clean Monday. In 1946 - "Galya Ganskaya", "Revenge".

Literary criticism has not finally solved the problem of the composition of the cycle "Dark Alleys".

The question of including or not including in the cycle of later stories - "In Spring, in Judea" (1946) and "Lodging for the Night" (1949), deserves a special discussion.

Firstly, it should be noted that already in 1943 (during the first edition) "Dark Alleys", according to the author's plan, were a BOOK, although most of the stories included in the subsequent edition were not written (the entire third section in the second edition - 1946 - written after May 1943). Nevertheless, the stories that supplemented the book by the will of the author organically entered the cycle.

Secondly, Bunin was very attentive to the choice of stories included in the cycle, the composition of the book, the place of stories within each section. Apparently, with the advent of new stories, the concept of the book also changed. As a result, as we have already said, the stories "April" and "Three rubles" were excluded from the book. The stories "On such a night ..." and "Lita", which were sent to the United States for the first edition, were not included in the book (at the behest of the publishers, who published only a small part of the stories) and never appeared in the second edition (already, apparently at the behest of the author). Thus, it can be assumed that the stories "In Spring, in Judea" and "Lodging for the Night", written after the second edition of the book, supplemented its general concept, soas ON THE AUTHOR'S WILL they should have been included in the book during its subsequent editions. In the 1946 edition, Bunin made handwritten corrections and wrote on one of the pages: “At the end of this book (following the chronology) it is necessary to add“ Spring, in Judea ”and“ Overnight ”. The texts of these stories are taken from my collections (the same titles), published by the Chekhov Publishing House in New York. "

This edition of "Dark Alley" - the first in Russia - marked the beginning of a tradition that continues to this day: the stories "In Spring, in Judea" and "Lodgings" are formally included in the cycle, but are not touched upon in the research of scientists. And the stories "Young Lady Klara", "Guest", "Iron Wool" are not included in the edition, but are considered in the works of scientists.

From this point of view, the opinion of I. Sukhikh is characteristic: "The later stories" In Spring, in Judea "and" Lodgings ", included in posthumous editions according to the author's desire, do not have a permanent place and generally seem alien in the collection."

Even in the editions of recent years, the tradition of excluding three stories - "The Young Lady Klara", "The Guest", "Iron Wool" - persists, and this has become so accepted that it is already perceived as the author's intention. An example of this is the annotation to one of the editions of Bunin's works: “The volume was composed of prose works written by Bunin after leaving Russia. Among them, the book "Dark Alleys" (published in full) and other stories ... ", which brought Bunin worldwide fame, were published, and 37 stories were published.The situation with the 1982 edition is even more incomprehensible: the compiler A.K.Baboreko included 37 stories in the 3-volume collected works, although he writes in the comments: “The thirty-eight stories that made up the collection“ Dark Alleys ”were written in 1937-1945”. That is, not theoretically included in the collection, the stories "Spring, in Judea" and "Lodging" in the 3rd volume of the edition were printed. But other stories were not published - "The Young Lady Klara", "The Guest", "Iron Wool" - apparently for reasons of morality.

In a 6-volume collection of works by Bunin in 1988, editors Y. Bondarev, O. Mikhailov, V. Rynkevich included 40 stories in the cycle "Dark Alleys". But already in the 1991 edition, the same ON Mikhailov, in his commentary on the book by IA Bunin "Selected Works", writes: "Thirty-seven short stories of this collection give a magnificent variety of unforgettable female images ..." and includes 37 stories.

40 stories of the cycle were published in 1994, and the compilation, preface to the publication and notes belong to the same ON Mikhailov.

We believe that the cycle is deliberate creative act, that is, we consider author's cycle, therefore, we consider 40 stories included in the book "Dark Alleys", including "Spring, in Judea" and "Lodging for the Night", which meet the requirements of the unity of the cycle - their correspondence to the cycle-forming factors.

Based on the above facts, we can make the assumption that the cycle "Dark Alleys" was compiled according to the author's intention, that the composition and structure is based on the author's concept. We will try to determine the main content of this concept in the next sections of our work.

2. Cycle-forming factors in "Dark alleys" by I. A. Bunin

1.1. Thematic unity of the stories of the cycle

In an article in 1955, G. Adamovich testifies how this book was accepted: "Many respectable people shook their heads in sorrow and, without denying the artistic merits of the stories, were surprised at their themes, their character ...". Most researchers agree that all the themes of the cycle can ultimately be reduced to the theme of love and death, but each scientist considers it in his own way.

Speaking about love in the cycle "Dark Alleys", L. Smirnova notes that Bunin is inclined to emphasize the chance, sometimes even frivolity of the first embrace, caused by a sensual impulse. "But if such an impulse leads to deep excitement, tenderness, admiration, self-forgetfulness, then inevitably ends with" love that remains somewhere in the heart for life. "

In many stories, according to L. Smirnova, Bunin "writes about the distortion, the death of the natural gift of love."

In one case, an adult, a talented artist ("Galya Ganskaya") regards the seduction of young Gali Ganskaya as a trifle. Out of revenge on the man who rejected her, thoughtlessly, selfishly, he gives himself up to Valery Levitsky ("Zoya and Valeria").

In another case, the Bunin version of stories about corrupt women who habitually and resignedly, not even without satisfaction, perform the duties of their humiliating craft is frightening ("Madrid", "The Second Coffee Pot").

"And those who, apart from carnal, animal instincts, do not experience anything (" Ballad "," Styopa "," Muse "," Antigone "," Overnight ") were awarded with absolutely inhuman appearance."

Citing an excerpt from Bunin's letter ("And is this only depravity, and not something a thousand times different, almost terrible ..."), L. Smirnova then asks: that spiritual illnesses of the individual and society do not manifest themselves? Bunin conveyed his thoughts in those stories that talk about "remarkable natures", about the struggle between light and dark beginnings of life ("Natalie", "Clean Monday") ".

In the cycle of stories "Dark Alleys" Bunin does not tell different love stories at all, but creates a mosaic picture here, where each link is independently and at the same time necessary to recreate the general state of the world. It is catastrophic not at all because of some mysterious, fatal inseparability of love and death. And because of the completely real destruction of spiritual values, their "replacement" with hasty and frivolous pleasures.

O. Mikhailov says about another reason for the closeness of love and death: "Their involvement seemed to be a particular manifestation of the general catastrophic nature of being, the fragility of existence itself." The scientist says about love as a "light breath", "a short dazzling flash that illuminates the soul of lovers to the bottom:" ... the theme of pure and beautiful love passes through the book through the book. Unusual strength and sincerity of feeling is characteristic of the heroes of these stories. "

The philosophy of love in the true sense of the word, from Mikhailov's point of view, is "a natural fusion of the frankly sensual and ideal," therefore the impression is created: "the spirit penetrates into the flesh and ennobles it." We agree with the opinion of O. N. Mikhailov and consider the view of L. A. Smirnova not entirely correct, who considers the ideal and the sensual not in unity, but in confrontation and only in the victory of "high feelings" over "purely fleshly pleasures" sees the overcoming of man "the imperfections of one's consciousness" ("Natalie").

AA Saakyants writes about the "harmony of two opposing principles": "Bunin is attracted by genuine earthly love, which, as he believes, is a fusion, indissolubility of" earth "and" heaven, "a kind of absolute love."

The modern researcher of "Dark Alley" I. Sukhikh writes: "The sun and the luminaries of his world are driven by love-passion, the undivided unity of the spiritual and the carnal, a feeling that does not know about morality and responsibilities, about duty, about the future, recognizing only the right to meet, to a fight between him and her, into a painful sweet mutual torture and pleasure. "

In the scientific literature there are different points of view on the nature of the doom of love in Bunin's stories.

O. V. Slivitskaya states: "If fate sends love, which by the highest human standards is love, that is, a personal, human feeling, including Eros (which is also poetic as a tense manifestation of life), but also much more, then this love strengthens the feeling of life so much that by itself it is no longer able to satisfy and exhaust it. So in turns the feeling of life grows, rising to an unbearable acuteness. An excess of life leads to death, because the "extremes" converge. Therefore ... and the hero of the Bunin story is his falling in love with Natalie pushed her to Sonya ... And that means a catastrophic resolution of the situation is inevitable. "

O.N. also speaks about the impossibility of a long existence of such love. Mikhailov: "Something external, which does not even require explanation, is ready to invade and stop what is happening if love itself cannot exhaust itself," - so ON. Mikhailov also defines the motive of "Dark Alley" as the basis - “hidden and existing independently of the love story. It is he who determines the final tonality of the work. "Another motive in the stories of" Dark Alley "-" the ups and downs of love, its ebb and flow, its surprises and whims "- against the background of the first, tragic." This is not just rock (like antique), written "to the kind" of heroes - death and ruindo not flow out of love, they invade from the outside and independently of it. It is rather fate ... "5, 236]. I. Sukhikh says about fate:" Separation, like a clockwork, is built into the happiest meeting. Crazy destiny stands at every corner. "

Thus, in the scientific literature there is no unambiguous view of the nature of the doom of love in the stories of the cycle. The feeling of life, strengthened by love, leads to death - this opinion of O. V. Slivitskaya is probably close to the view of A. A. Sahakyants: "... love is short-lived. Moreover, the stronger it is, the more unusual it is, the sooner it is destined for it. break off. " The opposite point of view - about the independence of death and destruction from love - belongs to O. Mikhailov. I. Sukhikh speaks of the deliberate doom of any meeting. L. Smirnova reflects on the suicide of some of the heroes of Bunin's stories ("Galya Ganskaya", "Zoya and Valeria"): In fact, an instant flash of unbearable, incompatible with life, pain is conveyed here. "

Speaking about “fate”, O. Mikhailov asserts that here “Bunin’s idea of the general catastrophic nature of being, the fragility of everything that seemed to be firmly established, unshakable, and, ultimately, sounds reflected and indirectly, echoes of great social upheavals, is reflected here, which brought the new, twentieth century to humanity. " L. Dolgopolov agrees with him: “... Bunin does not just write about unhappy, tragic love. Russian features are generalized to the features of all European, and the very drama of fate is presented as a characteristic feature of the era as a whole. "

A.A. Sahakyants explains the writer's view of love as a lightning: "his" poetic, emotional nature "flashed and disappeared. "Bunin, by the nature of his nature, acutely felt all the instability, fragility, drama of life itself ... and therefore love in this unreliable, albeit beautiful world, turned out to be, in his view, the most fragile, short-lived, doomed."

The words that can serve, according to AA Sahakyants, "an epigraph, a cross-cutting theme and a tuning fork of" Dark alleys "are the words from" War and Peace "by Leo Tolstoy:" Love does not understand death. Love is life. "

The researcher calls Bunin's cycle "an encyclopedia of love." "The most different moments and shades of feelings arising between a man and a woman occupy the writer; he peers, listens, guesses, tries to imagine the whole 'gamut' of complex relations between the hero and the heroine. They are very different, the most unexpected. Poetic, sublime experiences in stories." Russia "," Late Hour "," Cold Autumn. "Contradictory, unexpected, sometimes cruel feelings (" Muse "). Sufficiently primitive drives and emotions (stories" Kuma "," Beginning ") - up to animal instinct (" Young Lady Klara "," Iron Wool) ".

Speaking about love as a "lightning" of happiness, Sahakyants notes that such love can illuminate the entire memory and life of a person. “So, through her whole life, Nadezhda, the owner of the inn, carried her love for the" master "who once seduced her, in the story" Dark Alleys ". For twenty years Rusu cannot forget "he", once a young tutor in her family ... And the heroine of the story "Cold Autumn" ... believes that in her life there was only that cold autumn evening, and the rest is just "unnecessary dream"" .

Reflecting on the pages of the story "Tanya", the author of the article notes that "to bind, to destroy oneself forever" for the hero does not mean marriage with a maid, but that "to bind oneself forever" even with a beloved woman means "to kill Love itself, to turn feelings into a habit, a holiday - on weekdays, excitement - into serenity. " Other researchers also speak about the reasons for the separation of the heroes in Bunin's cycle.

I. Sukhikh designates the "mystery of the female soul" as the main theme of the book. Most of all, in his opinion, the author is interested in the mystery of the Woman, the mystery of the Eternal Femininity. The author of the article argues with A. A. Saakyants: "The opinion of the book as an" encyclopedia of love "seems, however, exaggerated. The definition found by Bunin back in the sixteenth year is more precise: not an encyclopedia, but a grammar of love, not accumulation and striving for completeness, but on the contrary , a search in a variety of private, unique stories for a certain formula, paradigm, archetype that defines and explains everything. " Late Bunin writes about the incomprehensible. But for him it does not exist in the lilac sheen of black soil, not in a Stranger with bottomless blue eyes onon the far bank, and in the wife of the secretary of the zemstvo district council, accidentally met on the Volga steamer.

"In" Dark Alleys "there is no happy and long love ... Lust - this is how a person is - is satisfied quickly. Love also does not last long. Sunstroke has, as a rule, two outcomes: parting (for a long time or forever) or death (parting forever ).

They part forever in "Step", "Muse", "Business cards", "Tanya", "Clean Monday".

They die even more often - they die during childbirth, in the war, they simply close their eyes in a subway car, commit suicide, kill wives, mistresses, prostitutes. ... The world of "Dark alleys" is ruled by love and death.

Despite the noted tragic connection between love and death, many scholars speak of a bright impression from the stories of the cycle. G. Adamovich says about Bunin and his cycle "Dark Alleys": "By the end of his life he became, as it were, less distracted than he was before, and with greater than before, exclusiveness or persistence began to peer into the source and root of being, leaving its shell. " Such a source, according to Adamovich, was for Bunin “love is a great happiness, a“ gift of the gods, ”even if it is not shared. That is why Bunin’s book breathes with happiness, because it is imbued with gratitude for life, for a world in which, with all his it happens to imperfections. "

L. Smirnova, in her study of Bunin's work, also writes about the joy given by love. “Bunin writes about the unforgettable, which has left a deep mark in the human soul. Often, the very moment of remembrance, of a sad touch of joy that has long since ceased, is sealed. It is given by love, but a special, sensual memory retains for life, forcing over the years to perceive in a different way much of what is "left behind."

Thanks to this sensual memory of what was once felt, touched, the past, overshadowed by young, strong feelings, is drawn as a truly finest hour, merges with smells, sounds, colors of nature. Or, on the contrary, the earthly and heavenly elements predict misfortune with a thunderstorm, autumn cold. In such a "frame" love is perceived as a part of a large harmonious world, correspondingly irresistible, eternal in its truth, but always experienced by a person as a discovery.

On a thematic basis, we propose the following conditional classification of stories included in the cycle "Dark Alleys".

1. Love "heavenly"

"Late Hour", "Cold Autumn", "Russia", "Dark Alleys", "Tanya", "Clean Monday", "Henry", "Natalie", "In Paris", "Galya Ganskaya", "Chapel".

2. Love "earthly"

Hobby ("Business Cards", "Madrid", "Smaragd", "In od
familiar street "," The Raven "," Muse "," Zoya and Valeria "," Wolves "," River
tavern "," Revenge "," Second coffee pot "," Caucasus "," Swing ").

Passion ("Dubki", "Kuma", "Antigone", "Camargue", "Spring in Judea", "Steamer" Saratov ").

Lust ("Stepa", "Young Lady Klara", "Guest", "Fool", "Iron Wool", "Ballad", "Lodging", "Beginning").

3. Love "heavenly" - sublime, poetic. She gave happiness - short, unforgettable. It is love that time did not destroy, love that death did not conquer. (Cold autumn)

The heroine of the story "Cold Autumn" recalls the late evening of one very cold and early autumn - then she said goodbye to her beloved, who was leaving for the war. She describes in detail this piece of the past: glass fogged up from the heat in the house, and pure ice stars, sparkling "brightly and sharply", and "the air is completely wintry." And the heroine does not speak about her love, but recalls what she felt and thought then (“it was getting harder in my soul, I responded indifferently,” she replied, “frightened by my thought,” she cried bitterly ”) - the sadness of parting against the light background, illuminating eventhis separation of love ... The description of the subsequent thirty-year life takes less place in the story than this evening, because only he WAS in life, the rest is "an unnecessary dream."

In Late Hour, as in some other stories, the hero travels into the past. The old, familiar city, streets, monastery, bazaar - everything is the same. And the lace of memories of what was here once upon a time is woven, at the same late hour.

What the hero sees, as if in a mirror, is reflected in his memory. It is reflected associatively: behind every object there is a picture, behind every step there is a path to the past ... And the lace of the story is woven like a patterned motley shadow: the present is the past, the present is the past ..."And ahead, on the hill, the city is darkening with gardens. A fire tower sticks out over the garden. My God, what an unspeakable happiness it was! It was during the night fire that I first kissed your hand, and you squeezed mine in response ..." in the shade, stepped on the spotted sidewalk - it was transparently covered with black silk lace. She had the same evening dress, very elegant, long and slender. " "And the night was almost the same as that one. Only that was at the end of August, when the whole city smells of apples, which lie in the mountains in the bazaars, and so warm that it was a pleasure to walk in one blouse, belted with a Caucasian strap ..."... And the eternal star in the eternalthe world was the same radiant as before, but now it is “dumb, motionless”, because the world has changed: there was no longer the radiant flicker of her eyes - the only thing that was for him in the world then.

In addition to "heavenly" love, Bunin also portrays "earthly" love - so different: frivolous, promising, desperate, strange, insane (or thoughtless), inexplicable, instinctive. Love is varied, life is not encompassing ...

The story "Kuma" is reminiscent of Chekhov's plays: an outwardly calm course of life with its private dramas. There is no description traditional for Bunin (except for a short description of a night with constant quiet rain), the story of betrayal is conveyed in the dialogue of the heroes. And traditional for the beginning of the play -"Evening at the end of June. The samovar has not yet been removed from the table on the terrace. The hostess is cleaning berries for jam. A friend of her husband, who has come to visit the country for several days, smokes and looks at her well-groomed round hands, naked to the elbows. (A connoisseur and gatherer of the ancients Russian icons, a graceful and dry build man with a small trimmed mustache, with a lively look, dressed as for tennis.) "... And the banal story would have ended very trite, if not for the hero's last phrase:"And there I, in these patent leather boots, in an Amazon and in a bowler hat, will probably hate her fiercely right away."... The hero's awareness of the vulgarity of the situation, of the useless connection and its continuation - in a bitter, angry confidence in disappointment.

Thus, Bunin managed to show different sides of love - and very often it is associated with death. This theme, present in every story, unites them into a single cycle.

In the scientific literature there are different points of view on the image of the author in the cycle "Dark Alleys". The scientist V. V. Krasnyanskiy believes that in the 30-50s the author's style changed and these stylistic features "are predetermined by the different correlation between the sphere of the author's speech and the speech of the characters," the construction of the author's image ". The scientist compares two stories by Bunin, similar in theme and composition - "The Grammar of Love" (1915) and "Dark Alleys" (1938).

In the first story, the author is close to the lyrical hero, "Bunin begins to describe as if from the person of the character, the landscape description is permeated with the subjective plan of the character. In" Dark Alley "the author's remoteness from the characters is manifested not only in the fact that the author and the main character never get close , but equally distant from all the characters in the story. In the "Grammar of Love" the author is close to the main character, but does not approach the sphere of the third character.

Portraits of heroes in these stories are given differently. In the "Grammar of Love" the main character - "a certain Ivlev" - is designated conventionally as a lyrical hero; portraits of other characters are given subjectively, through his perception.

In "Dark Alleys", on the contrary: the portrait characteristics of both the coachman and the main character are given outwardly objectified: the hero is "a slender old military man, in a large cap and a gray Nicholas overcoat with a stand-up beaver collar, still black-browed, but with a white mustache that was connected to with the same sideburns ... "and another character - the coachman:" A strong man in a tightly belted army jacket sat on the tarantass box, serious and dark-faced, with a rare resin beard, looking like an old robber ... "

Thus, the story "The Grammar of Love" is a transitional step from the lyrical story of the early period (90-900s) to the objectified narration in the late novel by Bunin (ZO-50s), V.V. Krasnyansky believes.

Speaking about the author's image in the story "Caucasus", researcher O. V. Slivitskaya notes that the narration is "entrusted to the author": explained by the fact that, although the narrator was not a witness of these events, he could have been aware of them.But where did such rare but convex details come from, like those that on his last day the husband bathed, put on a snow-white jacket, drank coffee with chartreuse and shot himself from two pistols? author, namely Bunin. Because these details do not "serve" the event and do not enhance its tragic meaning, and do not contrast with it. They also have something independent of events and free from narrow th aesthetic goal, something that testifies to the beauty and sweetness of being, which goes back to the world of Bunin in its entirety ... ".

Thus, O.V. Slivitskaya clearly distinguishes between the narrator and the author. Meanwhile, there is also the problem of distinguishing between the protagonist and the narrator. I. Sukhikh speaks about this: "The Bunin narrator and the main character alternate and diverge."

Bunin himself insisted on the inventiveness of most of the plots of "Dark Alleys":"... And suddenly the plot of" The Muse "came to my mind - how and why, I do not understand at all: here it is also completely invented ..." - "Ballad" was invented from word to word - and at once in one hour ... " - "In" New Journal "(second book) -" Natalie ". And again, again: no one wants to believe that everything in it, from word to word, is "invented, as in all almost my stories, both past and present."... In 1947, Bunin admitted:"... God only knows where it [the invention] came from when I took up the pen, very, very oftenstill not knowing at all what would come out of the story he had begun, how it would end (and very often ended, completely unexpectedly for me, with some clever shot, which I did not expect). How can I after this, after such my joy and pride, not be upset when everyone thinks that I am writing "from nature", what happened to me, or what I knew, saw! ".

Thus, Bunin denied the autobiography of his stories. Nevertheless, A.A. Sahakyants finds autobiographical traits that Bunin endowed his heroes with. So, the hero of the story "Tanya" Pyotr Alekseevich said: "I have no home ... I have been traveling from place to place all my life ... I live in rooms in Moscow ..." - and A.A. Sahakyants notes: "An autobiographical detail: Bunin did not have his own house, his apartment, he lived with friends, relatives, in hotels."

The hero of the story "Henry", a poet, "young, vigorous, dry-bred", said: "And I hated all these Fra Angelico, Garlandayo, trecento, quatra-cento and even Beatrice and Sukholikiy Dante in a woman's head" - A. A. Sahakyants quotes V.N. Muromtseva-Bunina, who, recalling a trip to Italy in 1909, writes that Bunin once "began to say that he was so tired of lovers of Italy, who began to rave about trecento, quattrocento, that" I'm about to hate Fra-Angelico, Giotto and even Beatrice himself, along with Dante. "" There are also statements of the hero close to Bunin in this story: "" Wives of men, the network of deception by man! This "network" is something truly inexplicable, divine and devilish, and when I write about it , I try to express it, they accuse me of shamelessness, of low motives ... Vile souls! " . (VI Odoevtseva quotes Bunin's words: "... and they, idiots, believe that this is pornography and, moreover, senile powerless sensuality." and those who have reached Bunin himself, let us leave on the conscience of those who considered it necessary and possible to do them ... ". Buninsky's hero continues:"Well said in one old book: "The writer has such a full right to be bold in his verbal images of love and its faces, which at all times was given in this case to painters and sculptors: only vile souls see vile even in beautiful or terrible".

IA Bunin is the first Russian writer to receive the Nobel Prize, who has achieved popularity and fame at the world level, has admirers and associates, but ... deeply unhappy, because since 1920 he was torn away from his homeland and yearned for her. All the stories of the period of emigration are imbued with a sense of longing and nostalgia.

Inspired by the lines of the poem "An Ordinary Story" by N. Ogarev: "Around the scarlet rosehip blooming / There was a dark linden alley", Ivan Bunin carried the idea of writing a cycle of stories about love about subtle human feelings. Love is different, but it is always a strong feeling that changes the lives of the heroes.

The story "Dark Alleys": a summary

The story "Dark Alleys", which is of the same name and is the main one, was published on October 20, 1938 in the New York edition of "New Earth". The main character, Nikolai Alekseevich, accidentally meets Nadezhda, whom he seduced and abandoned many years ago. For the hero then it was only an affair with a serf girl, but the heroine seriously fell in love and carried this feeling through her whole life. After the novel, the girl received freedom, began to earn her own living, in the present she owns an inn and "gives money in growth." Nikolai Alekseevich ruined Nadezhda's life, but was punished: his beloved wife left him just as despicably as he once did, and his son grew up a scoundrel. The heroes are parting, now forever, Nikolai Alekseevich understands what love he missed. However, the hero, even in his thoughts, cannot overcome social conventions and imagine what would have happened if he had not abandoned Nadezhda.

Bunin, "Dark Alleys" - audiobook

Listening to the story "Dark Alleys" is unusually pleasant, because the poetry of the author's language is also manifested in prose.

The image and characteristics of the main character (Nikolai)

The image of Nikolai Alekseevich evokes antipathy: this person does not know how to love, he sees only himself and public opinion. He is afraid of himself, Nadezhda, no matter what happens. But if everything is outwardly decent, you can do whatever you want, for example, break the heart of a girl for whom no one will intercede. Life punished the hero, but did not change him, did not add firmness of spirit. His image personifies habit, everyday life.

The image and characteristics of the main character (Hope)

Much stronger is Nadezhda, who was able to survive the shame of the affair with the "master" (although she wanted to commit suicide, but got out of this state), and also managed to learn how to earn money on her own, and in an honest way. Kucher Klim notes the intelligence and justice of a woman, she “gives money for growth” and “gets rich”, but does not profit from the poor, but is guided by justice. Nadezhda, despite the tragedy of her love, kept it in her heart for many years, forgave her offender, but did not forget. Her image is the soul, the sublimity, which is not in origin, but in personality.

The main idea and the main theme of the story "Dark Alleys"

Love in "Dark Alleys" by Bunin is a tragic, fatal, but no less important and wonderful feeling. It becomes eternal, because it remains forever in the memory of both heroes, it was the most precious and brightest in their life, although it was gone forever. If a person has ever loved like Nadezhda, he has already experienced happiness. Even if this love ended tragically. The life and fate of the heroes of the story "Dark Alleys" would be completely empty and gray without such a bitter and sick, but still amazing and vivid feeling, which is a kind of litmus test that checks a human personality for fortitude and moral purity. Hope passes this test, but Nikolai does not. This is the idea of the work. You can read more about the theme of love in the work here:

Bunin's cycle of stories "Dark Alleys" is the best that the author has written in his entire creative career. Despite the simplicity and accessibility of the Bunin style, the analysis of the work requires special knowledge. The work is studied in grade 9 in literature lessons, its detailed analysis will be useful in preparing for the exam, writing creative works, test tasks, drawing up a story plan. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with our version of the analysis of the "Dark Alley" according to the plan.

Brief analysis

Year of writing– 1938.

History of creation- the story was written in exile. Homesickness, fond memories, escape from reality, war and hunger - served as the impetus for writing the story.

Theme- love, lost, forgotten in the past; broken destinies, the theme of choice and its consequences.

Composition- traditional for a short story, a story. Consists of three parts: the arrival of the general, the meeting with the former lover and a hasty departure.

genre- story (short story).

Direction- realism.

History of creation

In "Dark Alleys" the analysis will be incomplete without the history of the creation of the work and knowledge of some of the details of the biography of the writer. In N. Ogarev's poem "An Ordinary Story", Ivan Bunin borrowed the image of dark alleys. This metaphor impressed the writer so much that he endowed it with his own special meaning and made it the name of a cycle of stories. All of them are united by one theme - a bright, fateful love that will be remembered for a lifetime.

The work, included in the cycle of stories of the same name (1937-1945), was written in 1938, when the author was in exile. During the Second World War, hunger and poverty persecuted all inhabitants of Europe, the French city of Grasse was no exception. It is there that all the best works of Ivan Bunin are written. A return to memories of the wonderful times of his youth, inspiration and creative work gave the author strength to survive the separation from his homeland and the horrors of war. These eight years away from home have become the most productive and most important in Bunin's creative career. Mature age, wonderful beauty of landscapes, rethinking of historical events and life values - became the impetus for the creation of the most important work of the master of the word.

In the most terrible times, the best, subtle, piercing stories about love were written - the cycle "Dark Alleys". In the soul of every person there are places where he rarely looks, but with special trepidation: the brightest memories, the most “dear” experiences are stored there. It is these “dark alleys” that the author had in mind when he gave the title to his book and the story of the same name. The story was first published in New York in 1943 in the New Earth edition.

Theme

Leading theme- the theme of love. Not only the story "Dark Alleys", but all the works of the cycle are based on this wonderful feeling. Bunin, summing up his life, was firmly convinced that love is the best that can be given to a person in life. It is the essence, beginning and meaning of everything: a tragic or a happy story - there is no difference. If this feeling flashed in a person's life, then he did not live it in vain.

Human destinies, the irrevocability of events, a choice that had to be regretted are the leading motives in Bunin's story. The one who loves always wins, he lives and breathes his love, it gives him the strength to move on.

Nikolai Alekseevich, who made his choice in favor of common sense, only at the age of sixty realizes that his love for Nadezhda was the best event in his life. The theme of choice and its consequences is clearly revealed in the plot of the story: a person lives his life with the wrong ones, remains unhappy, fate returns the betrayal and deception that he committed in his youth in relation to a young girl.

The conclusion is obvious: happiness consists in living in harmony with your feelings, and not in spite of them. The problem of choice and responsibility for one's own and someone else's fate is also touched upon in the work. The problematic is wide enough, despite the small volume of the story. It is interesting to note the fact that in Bunin's stories, love and marriage are practically incompatible: emotions are swift and bright, they arise and disappear as quickly as everything in nature. Social status is meaningless where love reigns. It equalizes people, makes ranks and estates meaningless - love has its own priorities and laws.

Composition

Compositionally, the story can be divided into three parts.

The first part: the hero's arrival at the inn (descriptions of nature and the surrounding area prevail here). Meeting with a former lover - the second semantic part - mainly consists of dialogue. In the last part, the general leaves the inn - flees from his own memories and his past.

Main events- the dialogue between Nadezhda and Nikolai Alekseevich is built on two absolutely opposite views on life. She - lives with love, finding comfort and joy in it, keeps the memories of youth. In the mouth of this wise woman, the author puts the idea of a story - what the work teaches us: "everything passes, but not everything is forgotten." In this sense, the heroes are opposite in their views, the old general mentions several times that “everything goes away”. That is how his life passed, senseless, joyless, in vain. Critics received the cycle of stories with enthusiasm, despite its courage and frankness.

main characters

genre

Dark Alley belongs to the genre of the story, some researchers of Bunin's work tend to consider them short stories.

The theme of love, unexpected sharp endings, the tragedy and drama of the plots - all this is characteristic of Bunin's works. It is necessary to note the lion's share of lyricism in the story - emotions, past, experiences and spiritual searches. The general lyrical orientation is a distinctive feature of Bunin's stories. The author has a unique ability - to fit a huge time period into a small epic genre, to reveal the soul of a character and make the reader think about the most important things.

The artistic means that the author uses are always varied: precise epithets, vivid metaphors, comparisons and personifications. The technique of parallelism is also close to the author, quite often nature emphasizes the state of mind of the characters.

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Bunin Ivan Alekseevich is one of the best writers in our country. The first collection of his poems appeared in 1881. Then he wrote the stories "To the End of the World", "Tanka", "News from the Motherland" and some others. In 1901, a new collection "Listopad" was published, for which the author received the Pushkin Prize.

Popularity and recognition come to the writer. He meets M. Gorky, A. P. Chekhov, L. N. Tolstoy.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Ivan Alekseevich creates stories "Zakhar Vorobyov", "Pines", "Antonov apples" and others, which depict the tragedy of a disadvantaged, impoverished people, as well as the ruin of the estates of the nobles.

and emigration

Bunin took the October Revolution negatively, as a social drama. He emigrated to France in 1920. Here he wrote, in addition to other works, a cycle of short stories entitled "Dark Alleys" (we will analyze the story of the same name from this collection just below). The main theme of the cycle is love. Ivan Alekseevich reveals to us not only the bright sides of it, but also the dark ones, as evidenced by the name itself.

Bunin's fate was both tragic and happy. In his art, he reached unsurpassed heights, the first Russian writer to receive the prestigious Nobel Prize. But he was forced to live thirty years in a foreign land, with longing for the Motherland and spiritual closeness with her.

Collection "Dark alleys"

These experiences served as an impetus for the creation of the cycle "Dark Alleys", which we will analyze. This collection, in a truncated form, first appeared in New York in 1943. In 1946, the next edition was published in Paris, which included 38 stories. The collection differed sharply in its content from the way the theme of love was habitually covered in Soviet literature.

Bunin's view of love

Bunin had his own view of this feeling, different from others. Its ending was one - death or parting, no matter how much the heroes loved each other. Ivan Alekseevich believed that it looked like a flash, but this is precisely what is wonderful. Over time, love is replaced by affection, which gradually turns into everyday life. Bunin's heroes are deprived of this. They only experience a flash and part, enjoying it.

Consider the Analysis of the story that opens the cycle of the same name, starting with a brief description of the storyline.

The plot of the story "Dark Alleys"

Its plot is straightforward. General Nikolai Alekseevich, already an old man, arrives at the post station and meets here his beloved, whom he has not seen for about 35 years. Hope he does not immediately recognize. Now she is the hostess in which their first meeting once took place. The hero finds out that all this time she loved only him.

The story "Dark Alleys" continues. Nikolai Alekseevich is trying to justify himself before the woman for not visiting her for so many years. "Everything passes," he says. But these explanations are very insincere, clumsy. Nadezhda wisely answers the general, saying that everyone's youth passes away, but love does not. The woman reproaches her lover that he abandoned her heartlessly, so she many times wanted to lay hands on herself, but she realizes that now it is too late to reproach.

Let us dwell in more detail on the story "Dark Alleys". shows that Nikolai Alekseevich does not seem to feel remorse, but Nadezhda is right when she says that not everything is forgotten. The general, too, could not forget this woman, his first love. In vain he asks her: "Go away, please." And he says that if only God would forgive him, and Hope, apparently, has already forgiven him. But it turns out that no. The woman admits that she could not do this. Therefore, the general is forced to make excuses, to apologize to his former lover, saying that he was never happy, but he loved his wife without memory, and she abandoned Nikolai Alekseevich, cheated on him. He adored his son, had high hopes, but he turned out to be an impudent, mot, without honor, heart, conscience.

Is the old love still alive?

Let's analyze the work "Dark Alleys". Analysis of the story shows that the feelings of the main characters have not faded away. It becomes clear to us that the old love has survived, the heroes of this work still love each other. Leaving, the general admits to himself that this woman gave him the best moments of life. For the betrayal of his first love, fate avenges the hero. Nikolai Alekseevich ("Dark Alleys") does not find happiness in his family life. An analysis of his experiences proves this. He realizes that he missed the chance given once by fate. When the coachman tells the general that this mistress gives money at interest and is very "cool", although she is fair: if he did not return it on time, then blame yourself, Nikolai Alekseevich projects these words onto his life, reflects on what would if he hadn't abandoned this woman.

What prevented the happiness of the main characters?

At one time, class prejudices prevented the future general from joining the fate of a commoner. But love from the heart of the protagonist did not leave and prevented him from becoming happy with another woman, from raising a son worthily, as our analysis shows. "Dark Alleys" (Bunin) is a work that has a tragic connotation.

Hope also carried love through her whole life and in the end she also found herself alone. She could not forgive the hero for the suffering caused, since he remained the most dear person in her life. Nikolai Alekseevich was unable to violate the rules established in society, did not dare to act against them. After all, if the general married Nadezhda, he would have met with contempt and incomprehension of those around him. And the poor girl had no choice but to submit to fate. In those days, bright alleys of love between a peasant and a gentleman were impossible. This problem is already public, not personal.

The drama of the fate of the main characters

Bunin in his work wanted to show the drama of the fate of the main characters, who were forced to leave, being in love with each other. In this world, love turned out to be doomed and especially fragile. But she illuminated their whole life, forever remained in the memory of the best moments. This story is romantically beautiful, albeit dramatic.

In Bunin's work "Dark Alleys" (we are now analyzing this story), the theme of love is a cross-cutting motive. It permeates all creativity, thereby linking the emigre and Russian periods. It is she who allows the writer to correlate mental experiences with the phenomena of external life, as well as to approach the mystery of the human soul, proceeding from the influence of objective reality on him.

This concludes the analysis of "Dark Alleys". Everyone understands love in their own way. This amazing feeling has not yet been solved. The theme of love will always be relevant, since it is the driving force of many human actions, the meaning of our life. This conclusion is led, in particular, by our analysis. "Dark Alleys" by Bunin is a story that, even in its name, reflects the idea that this feeling cannot be fully understood, it is "dark", but at the same time beautiful.

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin was a man of both happy and tragic fate. Having reached incredible heights in literary art, he was the first Russian writer to receive the Nobel Prize.

Although Bunin was recognized as one of the outstanding masters of the word, he lived abroad for 30 years, longing for his homeland and still being in close spiritual proximity with her.
Thanks to these experiences in New York in 1943, the greatest collection of stories by I.A. Bunin's "Dark Alleys" in a truncated form, and in 1946 in Paris the second edition of this cycle took place. The edition consisted of 38 stories.

A collection of stories bears a similar title to one of his stories. The hero of the story, a young landowner, seduces a peasant woman named Nadezhda, then his life goes on as usual. Many years later, having already become a high-ranking military man, he travels through these places. In the mistress of the hut, which he drove into, he recognizes that very Hope. Hope, like him, is now old, but still beautiful.

The meeting of the heroes in love before is the plot basis of the work. Subtly conveying the experiences of the heroes, the author appears to be the greatest connoisseur of the human soul. Their brief dialogue contains a lot of emotional information.

In the story, we see an interesting difference in the behavior of the characters. The military Nikolai Alekseevich is already sixty years old, but he blushes like a young man who has done wrong before her. And Nadezhda, on the contrary, is gloomy and calm, her words give off bitterness: "Everything passes, but not everything is forgotten."

As it turns out later, the old man was punished with life, he was not happy leaving the young peasant woman. And, interestingly, the woman still loves her master. And he does not believe her, because he himself does not love and hardly loved. But, one way or another, when recalling youth, the hero is possessed by sensual memory.

Having retained her love for life, the heroine never got married, did not forgive him, and also remained unhappy. But she was avenged: the wife of Nikolai Alekseevich, who loved her without memory, cheated on him and left him.

Love in the story "Dark Alleys" does not end with a happy marriage, does not pass into the family. The love of Bunin's heroes is lightning-fast, instant, but sincere. And, despite the short duration, the feelings experienced by the heroes remain eternal in memory, since life itself is fleeting. And so the old man says with bitterness: "I think that I have lost in you the most precious thing that I had in my life."

All the works of I.A. Bunin is imbued with the theme of love. In his stories, he correlates the phenomena of external life with internal emotional experiences and penetrates the secrets of the human soul.