Yesenin dark alleys. Ivan Bunin, "Dark Alleys": analysis

Caucasus

In Moscow, on the Arbat, mysterious love meetings take place, and the married lady comes rarely and not for long, suspecting that her husband guesses and is watching her. Finally, they agree to leave together for the Black Sea coast in the same train for 3-4 weeks. The plan succeeds and they leave. Knowing that her husband will follow, she gives him two addresses in Gelendzhik and Gagra, but they do not stop there, but hide in another place, enjoying love. The husband, not finding her at any address, locks himself in a hotel room and shoots himself in whiskey from two pistols at once.

No longer a young hero lives in Moscow. He has money, but he suddenly decides to study painting and he even has some success. One day, a girl unexpectedly comes to his apartment, who introduces herself as the Muse. She says that she heard about him as an interesting person and wants to get to know him. After a short conversation and tea, Muse suddenly kisses him for a long time on the lips and says - today it’s no longer possible, until the day after tomorrow. From that day on, they already lived as newlyweds, were always together. In May, he moved to an estate near Moscow, she constantly went to him, and in June she moved completely and began to live with him. Zavistovsky, a local landowner, often visited them. One day the main character came from the city, but there was no Muse. I decided to go to Zavistovsky, to complain that she was not there. When he came to him, he was surprised to find her there. Coming out of the landowner's bedroom, she said - it's all over, the scenes are useless. Shaking, he went home.

Composition

The book of stories "Dark Alleys" was collected for eight years, from 1937 to 1945. Seventy-year-old Bunin, an eternal youth whitened with gray hair, a famous Russian writer, writes out from Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace: “Love does not understand death. Love is life,” words that can serve as an epigraph, a through theme and a tuning fork of “Dark Alleys”.

Six of the eight years allotted to him by life for writing the cycle fell on the Second World War. Refusing to leave for America, he settled in Grasse, at Villa Jeannette. The house was located on top of a hill. The garden that surrounded him turned into a forest. Bunin writes down his impressions: “Today is a particularly magnificent day. He looked through the windows of his lantern. All the valleys and mountains around in a sunny blue haze... To the right, along our stone staircase, two oleanders with small sharp leaves bloom with small pinkish flowers. And loneliness, loneliness, as always ... "Yes, and the war around, and old age, and relentless need. “We live worse and worse,” he writes in March 1941, “truly on the food of St. Anthony, but this food is becoming ridiculously expensive.”

And out of poverty, wild loneliness, hopelessness, hunger, cold, dirt, pain and suffering, a painfully tender and beautiful book grows.

But where does the name "Dark Alleys" come from? Bunin recalled that once a book of poems by the poet Ogarev fell into his hands, where in the poem "An Ordinary Tale" he came across the lines:

All around rosehip scarlet blossomed

There was an alley of dark lindens ...

These lines evoked in Ivan Andreevich's soul memories of Russian autumn, bad weather, the old military ... Following the memories, a story was born, which Bunin called with words taken from the poem: "Dark Alleys."

Bunin often recalled the words of Tolstoy, which he once said to him: "There is no happiness in life, there are only lightning bolts - appreciate them, live by them."

Bunin worked hard on the book. This work saved his soul and consciousness from the chaos and horror of the world. In this realm of hatred, he erected a temple of love with his own hands.

The inhabitants of Villa Jeannette were witnesses to how obsessed Bunin was with his book. There were weeks when he literally did not tear himself away from his desk, rewrote the stories several times, collecting the names and surnames of the characters, and came up with titles.

And, finally, an entry in the diary on May 9, 1944: “One in the morning. I got up from the table - it remains to finish a few pages of "Clean Monday" ... Lord, prolong my strength for my lonely poor life in this beauty and work.

So, at the end of his days, Bunin accomplishes his lonely feat ... And his book “Temyne ​​Alley” has become that integral part of Russian and world literature, which, while people are alive on earth, varies the “Song of Songs” of the human heart in different ways.

Other writings on this work

"Unforgettable" in the cycle of stories by I. A. Bunin "Dark Alleys" Analysis of the story by I. A. Bunin "The Chapel" (From the cycle "Dark Alleys") Every love is a great happiness, even if it is not divided (according to the story by I.A. Bunin "Dark Alleys") Bunin's heroes live under a rock star The unity of the cycle of stories by I. A. Bunin "Dark Alleys" Ideological and artistic originality of Bunin's book "Dark Alleys" Love in the works of I. A. Bunin The motive of love "like a sunstroke" in the prose of I. A. Bunin Features of the theme of love in the cycle of I. A. Bunin "Dark Alleys". Poetry and tragedy of love in I. A. Bunin's story "Dark Alleys" The problem of love in the story of I. A. Bunin "Dark alleys" Review of the story by I.A. Bunin "Raven" The originality of the disclosure of the love theme in one of the works of Russian literature of the XX century. (I.A. Bunin. "Dark alleys".) The theme of love in the story by I. A. Bunin "Dark Alleys" The theme of love in the cycle of stories by I. A. Bunin "Dark Alleys" The philosophy of love in the cycle of I. A. Bunin "Dark Alleys" The theme of love in Bunin's story "Dark Alleys" The story of I.A. Bunin "Dark Alleys" (perception, interpretation, evaluation) Reflections on the story of I. A. Bunin "Late hour" Analysis of Bunin's book of short stories "Dark Alleys" The unity of the cycle of stories "Dark Alleys" The story of I. A. Bunin "Late hour"

The story (like the entire collection) got its name from two lines of Nikolai Ogaryov's poem "": "All around the rose hips bloomed scarlet / There was an alley of dark lindens ...". "Rosehip" is an alternative name for the collection, which Bunin himself preferred.

• Caucasus(November 12 Paris, 1937, No. 6077, November 14.

Bunin says in the notes “The Origin of My Stories”: “I wrote this story, remembering how once - about forty years ago - I left Moscow along the Bryansk road with the wife of an officer, with whom he was in touch and whom he saw off at the Bryansk railway station in Kyiv , to her parents, not knowing that I was already sitting on the train, going with her to Tikhonov's Hermitage. She was a charming, merry, young, pretty woman with dimples on her cheeks when smiling, resolutely nothing like the one written in "Kavkaz", entirely, except for the memory of the station, invented; I have never been on the Caucasian coast either - I was only in Novorossiysk and Batum, I saw the other coast only from the steamer. “And her husband could well have shot himself exactly as in the story, if he had found out about her betrayal.”

• Ballad(February 3) publ. into gas. "Latest News", Paris, 1938, No. 6175, February 20.

In the notes “The Origin of My Stories”, Bunin writes that some of his “writings” are “especially dear to him, seem especially delightful - and here is the Ballad among them. And meanwhile, to write it, like many other stories ... I was prompted by the need for money ... God gave me to quickly invent something completely beautiful (with the fictional wanderer Masha, the main charm of the story, with her marvelous night vigil, marvelous speech) ”(Bunin, vol. 9, pp. 371–372). According to Bunin, ““ Ballad ” was invented completely, from word to word - and immediately, at one o’clock: somehow I woke up in Paris with the thought that I definitely needed something<дать>in "Latest News", should there; drank coffee, sat down at the table - and suddenly, for no apparent reason, he began to write, not knowing himself what would happen next. And the story is wonderful.”

• Styopa(October 5) publ. into gas. "Latest News", Paris, 1938, No. 6419, 23 October.

About the origin of the idea of ​​this story, Bunin wrote: “For some reason, it seemed that I was going on a cross-country droshky from the estate of my brother Evgeny (on the border of the Tula province) seven miles away to the Boborykino station in pouring rain. Then - twilight, the inn of the merchant Alisov (young and childless), and some man who stopped near this inn and on the porch, cleaning the dirt from his high boots with a whip. Everything else just kind of happened by itself - unexpectedly. Bunin says that he wanted to somehow end “this unexpected terrible and blissful event in a half-childish life ... of a sweet, pitiful girl, so wonderfully and also completely unexpectedly invented, but he felt that he must certainly end somehow well, piercingly, - and suddenly, without thinking, I was lucky enough to end just like that.

• Muse(October 17) publ. into gas. "Latest News", Paris, 1938, No. 6426, 30 October.

Bunin wrote: “Three versts from our estate, in the village of Ozerki, in Yelets district, on the high road to Yelets, there was an estate that once belonged to my mother, then to the landowner Logofet, and in my youth to his impoverished son, a drunkard, red-haired , skinny. I occasionally visited him, I was once on a moonlit winter evening, in a house lit only by the moon, for some reason - it is always unknown why - sometimes I recalled some moment of that evening and kept wanting to add something to it, insert him into some kind of story that was not made up at all. I remembered all this one day, at the end of October 1938 in Beausoleil (above Monte Carlo), and suddenly the plot of The Muse came to mind - how and why, I don’t understand at all: here, too, everything is completely invented, - besides, that I once often and for a long time lived in Moscow on the Arbat in the rooms of the Capital, and in my youth I was on a winter evening at Logofet. “I remembered the Stolitsa Hotel on the Arbat, in which I lived more than once and for a long time, unexpectedly replaced myself in it with some kind of person who decided to become an artist, and I just can’t remember why, where this strange Muse Graf came from - never like did not met. The artist's life in the dacha, days and nights near Moscow - some similarity (much more poetic reality) of that short time when I was visiting the writer Teleshov at the dacha. “But Zavistovsky is also fictional, - only his estate is not invented, which actually once belonged to our mother ...”.

• Late hour(October 19) publ. into gas. "Latest News", Paris, 1938, No. 6467, 11 December.

The plot of the story is based on Bunin's recollection of meetings with V.V. Pashchenko in the city of Yelets. Some details of the plot coincide with the facts of Bunin's biography. "Late Hour" was written after the final viewing of what I called "Lika" so badly. Bunin considered this story one of the best in the book "Dark Alleys" from among those that were written before May 1940; he wrote: “Reread my stories for a new book. Best of all is "Late Hour", then, perhaps, "Styopa", "Ballad".

Part II

• Russia(September 27) publ. in The New Journal, New York, 1942, No. 1, April-May.

• Gorgeous(September 28 New York, 1946, No. 26, April-May.

The original title is "Mom's Chest".

• fool(September 28) publ. in the magazine "Housewarming", New York, 1946, No. 26, April-May.

The original title is "On the pavement street."

• Antigone(October 2, Paris, 1946.

• Emerald(October 3) publ. in the collection "Dark Alleys", Paris, 1946.

• the guest(October 3) publ. in the collection "Dark Alleys", Paris, 1946.

In the manuscript, the story is titled "Pasha" - after the name of the heroine, who in the final version of the text is called Sasha. There are words in the manuscript that the author later excluded from the text - Adam Adamych says: “Ah, yes, you can go anywhere with your body! Even pink, something, you know, from the Flemish school,” etc. In the final version of the story, he calls her “Flemish Eve.” The prototype of Adam Adamych is B.P. Shelikhov, editor of the Orlovsky Vestnik newspaper, in which Bunin collaborated in his youth.

• Wolves(October 7) publ. into gas. "New Russian Word", New York, 1942, No. 10658, April 26

• Business Cards(October 5 Paris, 1946.

Bunin called this story "poignant". He recalled: “In June 1914, my brother Julius and I sailed along the Volga from Saratov to Yaroslavl. And on the very first evening, after supper, when my brother was walking on the deck, and I was sitting under the window of our cabin, some sweet, embarrassed and nondescript, small, thin, still quite young, but already withered woman came up to me and said that she knew from the portraits who I was, that she was "so happy" to see me. I asked her to sit down, began to ask who she was, where she came from - I don’t remember what she answered - something very insignificant, from the district - I began involuntarily and, of course, without any purpose to be kind to her, but then my brother came up, silently and looked at us hostilely, she became even more embarrassed, hurriedly said goodbye to me and left, and my brother said to me: “I heard how you spread feathers in front of her, it’s disgusting!” For some reason I remembered all this one day four years ago in the fall and immediately…”

• Zoya and Valeria(October 13) publ. in "Russian collection", Paris, 1946.

There are lines in the autograph that were not included in the final text, referring to Zoya: "And she was completely devoid of modesty - or rather, with instinctive cunning, pretended not to have it." About Titov, the autograph says: "... he was so self-confident, self-satisfied, tall, handsome, elegantly dressed, shining with linen and gold pince-nez."

• Tanya(October 22) publ. in the collection "Dark Alleys", Paris, 1943.

• In Paris(October 26) publ. in the collection "Dark Alleys", Paris, 1943.

• Galya Ganskaya(October 28) publ. in "New Journal", New York, 1946, No. 13

Bunin gave the hero of the story some features of his friend, artist and writer P. A. Nilus (1869–1943); the story of Gali Ganskaya is fictional. On May 10, 1946, Bunin wrote to M. A. Aldanov about the sanctimonious nit-picking of the story: “Galya is no good without “erotica” (...) Ah, these blockheads and hypocrites.”

• Henry(November 10) publ. in the collection "Dark Alleys", Paris, 1946.

The heroine of the story depicts, according to V. N. Muromtseva-Bunina, the journalist and writer Max Lee; she wrote “novels together with her husband, if I am not mistaken, their surname is Kowalski. These novels were published in Vestnik Evropy. Bunin considered this story his creative success; he wrote in his diary on November 11, 1940: “Late yesterday evening I finished “Heinrich” (started 6, wrote 7 and 9) ... “Heinrich” re-read, scribbling and inserting something, this morning. It seems that he succeeded so much that he ran in excitement around the area in front of the house when he finished.

• Natalie(April 4) publ. in "New Journal", New York, 1942, No. 2

About the origin of the story, Bunin wrote: “It somehow occurred to me: Gogol invented Chichikov, who travels and buys“ dead souls ”, and so shouldn’t I invent a young man who went in search of love adventures? And at first I thought it was going to be a series of pretty funny stories. And it turned out completely, completely different ... ". In his diary, Bunin wrote about “Natalie”: “No one wants to believe that everything in her from word to word is invented, as in almost all of my stories, both past and present. Yes, and I wonder at myself - how all this was invented - well, at least in Natalie. And it seems that I won’t be able to invent and write like that any more” (entry in my diary on September 20, 1942).

Part III

• In a familiar street(May 25 Paris, 1945, No. 26, November 9.

In this newspaper, a whole page was completely devoted to the 75th anniversary of Ivan Bunin. In the story, Bunin quotes (inaccurately) excerpts from Ya.P. Polonsky "".

• river inn(October 27) publ. in "New Journal", New York, 1945, No. 1

The edition of this story was published as a separate brochure in the design of M.V. Dobuzhinsky (1875-1957), in the amount of one thousand numbered copies. Bunin wrote to M.A. Aldanov from Paris on October 11, 1945: “I’m a little ashamed of the “luxurious” edition of the River Inn - there is something good in it about the Volga, in general about“ holy Russia ”, but after all, this is not the best“ pearl ”in my “crown”, although it was this “tavern” that brought me a lot of praise (I read it to many here). The criticism was different. M.A. Aldanov wrote to Bunin on December 26, 1945 about the stories “Tanya”, “Natalie”, “Heinrich” and others: “... everything is decidedly excellent, no one will write like that. The description of the Volga in the "River Tavern" and the tavern is the height of perfection.

• Kuma(September 25) publ. in the collection "Dark Alleys", Paris, 1946.

• Start(October 23) publ. in the collection "Dark Alleys", Paris, 1946.

• "Oaks"(October 30) publ. in the collection "Dark Alleys", Paris, 1946.

• Miss Clara(April 17) publ. in the collection "Dark Alleys", Paris, 1946.

• "Madrid"(April 26) publ. in the magazine "Housewarming", New York, 1945, No. 21.

Bunin agreed with those who called "Madrid" and "The Second Coffee Pot" "philanthropic stories", and said at the same time: "... writing about the girl in Madrid, and about" Katya, be silent! laughed, felt something like an attack of tender, joyful tears. Bunin wrote about these stories on October 1, 1945. S. Yu. Pregel: “... after all, there is such a charm of the Russian female soul; both of these stories still touch me to this day…” Bunin also wrote about them to M. A. Aldanov on September 3, 1945: “... they are so pure, simple-hearted, their “heroines”, in my opinion, are simply charming.”

• Second coffee pot(April 30) publ. in the magazine "Housewarming", New York, 1945, No. 21.

In The Origin of My Stories, Bunin wrote: “Completely invented. More than once I thought of writing something like "Notes of an Artist", in the imagination flashed this one, then the other, fragmentarily. Somehow, something flashed from which the “Coffee pot” was invented. ” The story mentions real people: Russian artists - G.F. Yartsev (1858–1918), K.A. Korovin (1861–1939), S.P. Kuvshinnikov (1847–1907), F.A. Malyavin (1869–1940) - and journalist, literary and theater critic S.S. Goloushev (pseudonym Glagol; 1855–1920).

• Iron Wool(May 1) publ. in the collection "Dark Alleys", Paris, 1946.

The story is based on folklore. In Russian folk tales there are motifs reminiscent of the plot of Bunin's story. The fairy tale "Animal Milk" tells about an iron wool bear, an evil persecutor of people.

• Cold fall(May 3) publ. into gas. "Russian News", Paris, 1945, No. 1, May 18.

• Chapel(July 2) publ. in the collection "Dark Alleys", Paris, 1946.

• Spring in Judea() publ. into gas. "Russian News", Paris, 1946, No. 49, April 19.

This story gave its name to Bunin's last lifetime collection, published in New York in 1953.

• Accommodation(March 23) publ. in the collection “Spring in Judea. Rose of Jericho, New York, 1953

The original title of the story is "At the Inn". While working on the story, Bunin, in order to feel Spain, to find the right colors, read Don Quixote by Cervantes. He wrote to N. A. Taffy on March 6, 1949: “... now I am overcoming Don Quixote ... in the vain hope of clinging to at least something Spanish ...”.

Adaptations

Theatrical performances

Screen adaptations

• 1982 - Two voices (short story "Dark Alleys")
• 1989 - Non-urgent spring (based on the stories "Non-urgent spring", "Rus", "Prince in princes", "Flies", "Cranes", "Caucasus", the story "Sukhodol", diary entries)
• 1988 - Grammar of Love (based on the stories "Tanya", "In Paris", "Cold Autumn", "Grammar of Love")
• 1990 - Cold Autumn (based on the story of the same name)
• 1991 - Dark alleys (according to the story "Rusya")
• 1994 - Initiation into love (based on the stories "Light Breath", "Cold Autumn", "Swing")
• 1994 - Summer of Love (according to the story "Natalie")
• 1995 - Meshchersky (based on the stories "Natalie", "Tanya", "In Paris")
• 1996 - An ordinary story (based on the story "Dark Alleys")
• 1999 - Clean Monday (according to the stories "Clean Monday", "Chapel")

radio shows

• 1956 - Dark Alleys (read by Elena Polevitskaya), Raven (read by Vasily Toporkov)
• 1979 - "Dark Alleys" (read by Andrey Popov) listen, "Muse" (read by Vyacheslav Tikhonov) listen, "Rusya" (read by Igor Gorbachev)
• 1971 - "In Paris" (read by Emmanuil Kaminka) listen
• 1980 - "Wolves" (read by Viktor Khokhryakov), "Swing" (read by Nikita Podgorny)
• 1989 - “In the circle of Bunin” (based on the stories “Natalie”, “Cold Autumn”, “Dark Alleys”) (dir. Alexei Batalovperformed by: Alexei Batalov, Vsevolod Larionov, Iya Savvina, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Lyudmila Polyakova, Evgenia Simonova, Igor Kostolevsky, Lev Lyubetsky, Maria Postnikova, Mikhail Pogorzhelsky, Igor Vernik, Olga Shlykova, Mikhail Davydko, Alexei Borzunov, Sergey Buntman) listen
• 1990 - “Clean Monday” (dir. Alexander Valensky, read by Georgy Taratorkin) listen, “Late Hour” (read by Anatoly Adoskin) listen, “Cold Autumn” (read by Marina Pastukhova)
• 1995 - "In Paris" (dir. Alexei Batalov, cast: Vsevolod Larionov, Alexei Batalov, Maria Postnikova) listen
• 1997 - "The Raven" (read by Viktor Zozulin)
• 2002 - "Tanya" (dir. Vladimir Shvedov, cast: Boris Ivanov, Yanina Lisovskaya, Alexander Bykov, Olga Chuvaeva)
• 2002 - “Dark Alleys”, “Natalie”, “Steamboat Saratov” (read Alexander Kotov, Nina Luneva)
• 2006 - "Clean Monday" (read by Stanislav Landgraf) listen
• 2006 - "Natalie" (dir. Boris Erin, read: Olga Vasilyeva, Dmitry Nazarov)
• 2007 - "Natalie" (dir. Galina Dmitrenko, cast: Vyacheslav Zakharov, Marianna Mokshina, Maria Meshcheryakova, Natalya Vinogradova, Vladimir Krylov, Evgeny Baranov) listen
• 2007 - “Sins of Love” (stories “Dark Alleys”, “Steamboat Saratov”, “Kuma”, “Beauty”, “Overnight”, “Revenge”, “Tanya”) (dir. Boris Erin, read by: Olga Vasilyeva , Dmitry Nazarov)
• 2008 - “Sins of Love” (stories “In Paris”, “Galya Ganskaya”, “Heinrich”, “Madrid”, “Clean Monday”) (dir. Boris Erin, read by: Olga Vasilyeva, Dmitry Nazarov)
• 2008 - “On such a night” (based on the stories “Galya Ganskaya”, “In the Night Sea”, “Dark Alleys”) (dir. Evgenia Babich, cast: Tatyana Aksyuta, Tatyana Veselkina, German Yushko, Alexander Kotov, Nina Konovalova, Alexander Galevsky, Vitaly Stremovsky, Alexander Bordukov, Oleg Forostenko) listen

Notes

Links

• Michael Edelstein. Library student-philosopher. - M.: Higher school school project. magazine "Znamya" № 1, 2005
• Diana Myshalova. Essays on Russian Literature Abroad. - Novosibirsk, "Nauka", 1995. - 223 p.
• Rosa Fedoulova-Touja. On some features of the language of I. Bunin (Dark alleys). Revue des études slaves; Paris, 1983.
• Alexander Zakurenko."Dark alleys". About the stories of Ivan Bunin. Literary and philosophical journal "Topos", 11/14/2005
• Balandina N.V. Linguistic and stylistic features of I. A. Bunin’s story “Dark Alleys” // Slovo. Grammar. Speech. - M., 2001. - Issue 3. - S. 105-116.
• Balandina N.V. Linguistic means and their interaction in a prose text: (I. A. Bunin's story "Dark Alleys") // Problems of Russian Linguistics. - M., 2005. - Issue. 12: Traditions and trends in modern grammatical science. - S. 187-192.
• Blagasova G. M. The dual beginning in Bunin's concept of love ("Dark Alleys") // Creativity of I. A. Bunin and Russian literature of the 19th-20th centuries. - Belgorod, 2000. - Issue. 2. - S. 15-20.
• Blagasova G. M. The role of colors, sounds, smells in the book of I. A. Bunin "Dark Alleys" / G. M. Blagasova, L. S. Kolesnikova // Actual problems of studying literature at the crossroads of eras. - Belgorod, 2007. - C. 165-168.
• Glinina O. G."Dark alleys" and the problem of cyclization in the work of I. A. Bunin // "Russian literary journal". - 1999. No. 12. S. 81-91.
• Grechnev V. Ya. A cycle of stories by I. Bunin "Dark Alleys": (psychological notes) // "Russian Literature". - 1996. No. 3. S. 226-235.
• L. I. Donetskikh The name of the cycle as a generalized symbol: (“Dark Alleys” by I. Bunin) / L. I. Donetskikh, E. L. Grudtsina // Bulletin of the Udmurt University. - Izhevsk, 1996. - N 7. - S. 182-188.
• L. I. Donetskikh Folklore traditions in the aesthetics of the cycle "Dark Alleys" by I. Bunin // Uchen. app. Kazan State University. - Kazan, 1998. - T. 135. - S. 202-208.
• Ilyin I. A. About darkness and enlightenment. Book of art criticism: Bunin, Remizov, Shmelev. - M., 1991. - S. 3-79.
• Karpov I.P. Prose by Ivan Bunin. - M., 1999.
• Karpov I.P. Authorial Consciousness in Russian Literature of the 20th Century (I. Bunin, M. Bulgakov, S. Yesenin, V. Mayakovsky). - Yoshkar-Ola, 1994. - S. 28-41.
• Myshalova D.V. Is Bunin a realist? On the poetics of the cycle "Dark Alleys" // "Frontiers". - 1994. - No. 171. - S. 124-130.
• Yu. V. Podkovyrin The appearance of the characters in the value-semantic structure of the cycle of I. A. Bunin "Dark Alleys" // Siberian Philological Journal, No. 1, 2006. - P. 24-31
• Rodionova N. A. Types of portrait characteristics in the fiction of I. A. Bunin: (linguistic-stylistic aspect): Abstract of the thesis. dis. … cand. philol. Sciences. - Ufa, 1999.
• Saakyants A. Prose of late Bunin // I. A. Bunin. Collected works: In 6 volumes. T. 5. M, 1988.
• Slivitskaya O.V. On the nature of Bunin's "external depiction" // Russian Literature. - 1994. No. 1. S. 72-80.
• Slivitskaya O.V. Plot and descriptive in short stories by I. A. Bunin // Russian Literature. - 1999. No. 1. S. 89-110.
• Slivitskaya O.V. The feeling of death in Bunin's world // Russian Literature. - 2002. No. 1. S. 64-78.
• Hassan W. Erotic functions of clothing in the cycle of short stories by I. Bunin "Dark Alleys" // Russian Literature of the 20th Century in the Context of European Culture. - Tallinn, 1998. S. 119-135.
• Width E.A. Portrait as a means of artistic representation: (On the example of the stories of I. A. Bunin "Heinrich", "Steamboat" Saratov "") // Creativity of I. A. Bunin and Russian literature of the XIX-XX centuries - Belgorod, 2000. Issue 2. pp. 90-95.

Bunin's cycle of short stories "Dark Alleys" is the best written by the author in his entire creative career. Despite the simplicity and accessibility of Bunin's style, the analysis of the work requires special knowledge. The work is studied in the 9th grade 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 “Dark Alleys” according to the plan.

Brief analysis

Year of writing– 1938.

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

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

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

genre- short story (novella).

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 details of the writer's biography. In N. Ogaryov's poem "An Ordinary Tale" 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 title of a cycle of stories. All of them are united by one theme - bright, fateful, memorable for a lifetime of love.

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 haunted all the inhabitants of Europe, the French city of Grasse was no exception. It was there that all the best works of Ivan Bunin were written. Returning to memories of the wonderful times of youth, inspiration and creative work gave strength to the author to survive the separation from his homeland and the horrors of war. These eight years away from their homeland became the most productive and most important in Bunin's creative career. Mature age, wonderfully beautiful 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, poignant stories about love were written - the cycle "Dark Alleys". In the soul of every person there are places where he looks infrequently, but with special trepidation: the brightest memories, the most “dear” experiences are stored there. It was these “dark alleys” that the author had in mind when giving the title to his book and the story of the same name. The story was first published in New York in 1943 in the Novaya Zemlya edition.

Topic

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 thing that can be given to a person in life. It is the essence, the beginning and the meaning of everything: a tragic or happy story - there is no difference. If this feeling flashed through a person's life, it means that he did not live it in vain.

Human destinies, the irreversibility of events, the 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, realizes only at the age of sixty 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 people, remains unhappy, fate returns the betrayal and deceit that he allowed 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 defiance of them. The problem of choice and responsibility for one's own and others' fate is also touched upon in the work. The issue is quite broad, 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 vivid, they arise and disappear as quickly as everything in nature. Social status has no meaning where love reigns. It equalizes people, makes meaningless ranks and estates - love has its own priorities and laws.

Composition

Compositionally, the story can be divided into three parts.

The first part: the arrival of the hero at the inn (descriptions of nature and the surrounding area predominate here). Meeting with a former lover - the second semantic part - mainly consists of a dialogue. In the last part, the general leaves the inn - running 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 consolation and joy in it, keeps the memories of her youth. The author puts the idea of ​​a story into the mouth of this wise woman - what the work teaches us: “everything passes, but not everything is forgotten.” In this sense, the characters are opposite in their views, the old general mentions several times that “everything passes”. This is how his life passed, meaningless, joyless, wasted. Criticism took the cycle of stories enthusiastically, despite its courage and frankness.

main characters

genre

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

The theme of love, unexpected abrupt endings, tragic and dramatic plots - all this is characteristic of Bunin's works. It should be noted the lion's share of lyricism in the story - emotions, past, experiences and spiritual quest. 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, reveal the character's soul and make the reader think about the most important thing.

The artistic means used by the author are always varied: accurate 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.

Artwork test

Analysis Rating

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I. A. Bunin is the first of the Russian writers who received the Nobel Prize, who achieved popularity and fame at the world level, has fans and associates, but ... deeply unhappy, because since 1920 he was cut off from his homeland and yearned for her. All the stories of the period of emigration are imbued with a sense of melancholy and nostalgia.

Inspired by the lines of the poem “An Ordinary Tale” by N. Ogarev: “All around the scarlet rose hips bloomed / There was an alley of dark lindens,” Ivan Bunin had the idea to write a cycle of love stories about subtle human feelings. Love is different, but it is always a strong feeling that changes the lives of the characters.

The story "Dark Alleys": a summary

The story "Dark Alleys", of the same name to the cycle and being 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 just 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 got her freedom, began to earn her own living herself, currently owns an inn and "gives money on interest." Nikolai Alekseevich ruined Nadezhda's life, but was punished: his beloved wife left him as meanly as he himself had once done, and his son grew up a scoundrel. The heroes part, now forever, Nikolai Alekseevich understands what kind of 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 poetic nature of the author's language is also manifested in prose.

The image and characteristics of the protagonist (Nikolai)

The image of Nikolai Alekseevich causes antipathy: this person does not know how to love, he sees only himself and public opinion. He is afraid of himself, of Hope, no matter what happens. But if everything is outwardly decent, you can do whatever you like, 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 the habit, everyday life.

The image and characteristics of the main character (Hope)

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

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

Love in Bunin's "Dark Alleys" 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 bright in their lives, although 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 bright feeling, which is a kind of litmus test that tests a human personality for strength of mind 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: