Alexander Solzhenitsyn: works, brief description

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

One of the writers of the 20th century, whose work today is of particular interest to researchers, is Alexander Solzhenitsyn. The works of this author are considered primarily in the socio-political aspect. Analysis of Solzhenitsyn's works is the subject of this article.

Book themes

Solzhenitsyn's work is the history of the Gulag Archipelago. The peculiarity of his books is the depiction of man's opposition to the forces of evil. Alexander Solzhenitsyn is a man who went through the war, and at the end of it was arrested for "treason." He dreamed of literary creativity and sought to study as deeply as possible the history of the revolution, because it was here that he sought inspiration. But life threw him other stories. Prisons, camps, exile and an incurable disease. Then miraculous healing, worldwide fame. And finally, expulsion from the Soviet Union.

So, what did Solzhenitsyn write about? The works of this writer are a long way of self-improvement. And it is given only in the presence of a huge life experience and a high cultural level. A true writer is alwaysis a little above life. He seems to see himself and those around him from the outside, somewhat detached.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn has come a long way. He saw the world, getting into which, a person has little chance of surviving both physically and spiritually. He survived. Moreover, he was able to reflect this in his work. Thanks to a rich and rare literary gift, the books created by Solzhenitsyn became the property of the Russian people.

Artworks

The list includes the following novels, novellas and short stories:

• "One day of Ivan Denisovich".
• Matryonin Dvor.
• "The incident at the Kochetkov station."
• Zakhar Kalita.
• Young growth.
• "Don't care."
• GULAG Archipelago.
• "In the first circle".

Before the first publication of his works, Solzhenitsyn was engaged in literary work for more than twelve years. The works listed above are only a part of his creative heritage. But these books should be read by every person for whom Russian is native. The themes of Solzhenitsyn's works are not concentrated on the horrors of camp life. This writer, like no other in the 20th century, was able to portray the real Russian character. A character that strikes with its resilience, based on some natural and deep ideas about life.

A day in the life of a prisoner

The camp theme has become close to the Soviet people. The most monstrous thing about it is that it was forbidden to discuss it. MoreMoreover, even after 1953, fear did not allow talking about the tragedy that occurred in every third family. Solzhenitsyn's work One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich brought into society a kind of ethics forged in the camps. In whatever situation a person finds himself, he should not forget about his dignity. Shukhov - the hero of Solzhenitsyn's story - does not live every camp day, but tries to survive. But the words of the old prisoner, which he heard back in forty-three, sunk into his soul: “The one who licks bowls dies.”

Solzhenitsyn in this story combines two points of view: the author and the hero. They are not opposite. They have a certain common ideology. The differences in them are the level of generalization and the breadth of the material. Solzhenitsyn manages to distinguish between the thoughts of the hero and the reasoning of the author with the help of stylistic means.

The author of "Ivan Denisovich" has returned a simple Russian peasant to literature. The hero of Solzhenitsyn lives, relying on simple folk wisdom, without thinking more than necessary, and without reflecting.

Readers of the literary magazine Novy Mir did not remain indifferent to Ivan Denisovich. The publication of the story resonated in society. But before getting on the pages of the periodical, it was necessary to go through a difficult path. And here, too, the simple Russian character won. The author himself in an autobiographical work claimed that "Ivan Denisovich" got into print, because the editor-in-chief of "New World" was none other than a man from the people - Alexander Tvardovsky. Yes, and the main critic of the country - Nikita Khrushchev - was interested in "camp life through the eyes of a simpleman.”

Righteous Matryona

Preserve humanity in conditions that are less conducive to understanding, love, disinterestedness… Such is the problem to which Solzhenitsyn's work "Matryona Dvor" is devoted. The heroine of the story is a lonely woman, misunderstood by her husband, adopted daughter, neighbors with whom she has been living side by side for half a century. Matrena has not accumulated property, but at the same time she works for free for others. She does not harbor anger at anyone and does not seem to see all those vices that overwhelm the souls of her neighbors. It is on people like Matrena, according to the author, that the village, and the city, and all our land rest.

History of writing

After the exile, Solzhenitsyn lived for almost a year in a remote village. Worked as a teacher. He rented a room from a local resident, who became the prototype of the heroine of the story "Matryona Dvor". The story was published in 1963. The work was highly appreciated by both readers and critics. The editor-in-chief of Novy Mir, A. Tvardovsky, noted that an illiterate and simple woman named Matryona earned the interest of readers thanks to her rich spiritual world.

In the Soviet Union, only two stories were published by Solzhenitsyn. The works "In the First Circle", "The Gulag Archipelago" were published for the first time in the West.

Artistic study

In his work, Solzhenitsyn combined the study of reality and a writer's approach. While working on The Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn used the testimonies of more than two hundred people. Works about camp life and inhabitantssharashki are based not only on their own experience. When reading the novel The Gulag Archipelago, sometimes you don’t understand that this is a work of art or a scientific work? But the result of the study can only be statistical data. Solzhenitsyn's own experience and the stories of acquaintances allowed him to summarize all the material he had collected.

The originality of the novel

The Gulag Archipelago consists of three volumes. In each of them, the author describes different periods in the history of the camps. On the example of special cases, the technology of arrest, investigation is given. The sophistication with which the employees of the Lubyanka institution worked is amazing. In order to accuse a person of what he did not do, the special services performed a series of complex manipulations.

The author makes the reader feel like a camp dweller. The novel "The Gulag Archipelago" is a mystery that attracts and attracts. Acquaintance with the psychology of a person, mutilated by constant fear and terror, forms in readers a persistent hatred for the totalitarian regime in all its manifestations.

A person who turns into a prisoner forgets about moral, political and aesthetic principles. The only goal is to survive. Especially terrible is the change in the psyche of a prisoner brought up in idealistic, lofty ideas about his own place in society. In a world of cruelty and unscrupulousness, it is almost impossible to be a man, and not to be one means to break yourself forever.

In the literary underground

For many years Solzhenitsyn created his works and then burned them. The content of the destroyed manuscripts was kept only in his memory. The positive aspects of underground activity for the writer, according to Solzhenitsyn, are that the author is freed from the influence of censors and editors. But after twelve years of continuous writing of stories and novels that remained unknown, his lonely work began to stifle him. Leo Tolstoy once said that a writer should not publish his books during his lifetime. Because it's immoral. Solzhenitsyn argued that one can agree with the words of the great classic, but still every author needs criticism.