The film is good to be quiet. June Bookshelf: S. Chbosky "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (1999)
The film “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” was released in 2012. The film turned out to be so successful that it was awarded the “Independent Spirit” award, and was also included in the top ten films of 2012.
In the film “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” the actors became one of the factors that gave the film love and recognition from the audience. The main roles in the film were played by Laurent Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller.
The plot of the film
The action takes place in 1991 and 1992. In The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the plot revolves around Charlie, a teenager who has just recently suffered the death of two people. The hero is depressed and unable to cope with the loss of his beloved aunt and best friend.
Charlie's life begins to change when he accidentally hears about a guy who is great at listening and understanding other people's problems. Charlie decides to take a desperate step and writes a letter to an unknown person, in which he shares all his experiences.
Charlie soon meets Patrick and Sam, who bring bright colors into the teenager's life.
The film “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”: actors and roles
The performers of the main and supporting roles in the film “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” perfectly managed to convey the atmosphere of the past decade. The characters in the film turned out to be identical to those written by Stephen Chbosky in his novel.
Charlie Kelmekis
In the film “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” actor Logan Lerman played the main role. His hero Charlie Kelmekis only recently lost two loved ones. The teenager's best friend and aunt passed away one after another.
Charlie has serious problems communicating with other people. Because of this, he hides his grief within himself. It is difficult for him to open up even to his parents. But Charlie finds his salvation in a mysterious man to whom he can write letters. A stranger will listen and not judge. Only to him does Charlie admit that he was thinking about suicide.
Soon after the first letter, the main character meets new acquaintances. At a football match, a teenager meets Sam. A beautiful and smart girl immediately attracts Charlie's attention. He tries to make friends with her. And Charlie succeeds.
The girl quickly becomes Charlie's friend. She and her half-brother Patrick introduce Kelmekis to their company. For many months, Charlie feels alive again. But, like the young man, his new friends have dozens of their own problems.
In the film “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” the actors and roles are distributed in such a way that the viewer has no doubts about the experiences of teenagers. It's easy to believe that Lerman's character has suicidal tendencies and that it is difficult for him to find a common language with other people.
Sam
World-class actors also starred in the film “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” The role of Sam was played by Emma Watson. Her character meets Charlie at a football match. Teenagers quickly find a common language.
After some time, Charlie confesses his feelings to Sam. But the girl is already dating Craig, so she invites the guy to remain friends. Charlie agrees, and a strong friendship begins between him, Sam and Patrick.
Charlie later finds out that Sam and Patrick are half-brother and sister. The girl's mother remarried Patrick's father. The teenagers were able to make friends, and now they are each other's most loyal allies. Sam brings Charlie to various parties and introduces him to people. Including Mary Elizabeth.
At the end of the school year, Sam has a falling out with Craig. The couple breaks up. And in the fall, Sam and Patrick leave for another city to continue their studies at college.
Patrick
In the film The Perks of Being a Wallflower, actor Ezra Miller played the role of Patrick, Charlie's new best friend. He met the main character at labor classes that teenagers attend together. Soon Patrick's half-sister Sam joins their company. Together the trio walks, has fun, and discusses eternal topics. Sam and Patrick take Charlie out into the world: they introduce him to girls, arrange dates, support him at school.
Patrick admits to Charlie that he is gay. Later it becomes known that the young man is dating Brad, the star of the school. But when Brad's father finds out about this, he beats his son. Brad turns away from Patrick.
One day at a party after spending the night with Mary Elizabeth, Charlie cannot contain his feelings and kisses Sam in front of everyone. Classmates do not accept the young man’s actions. Charlie is showered with condemnation and contempt. Everyone he knows turns away from him. And the teenager himself decides to stop communicating with Sam and Patrick.
The friendship is restored when Charlie stands up for Patrick, who is being beaten up in the school cafeteria because of his affair with Brad. The trio walks around the city together again and thinks about the future.
Mr. Anderson
In the film “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” actor Paul Rudd played one of the supporting roles. In the film, he tried on the image of a teacher of English literature. Mr. Anderson was able to not only understand the student. Within a few months, he managed to become a friend to a troubled teenager.
Rudd's character, Mr. Anderson, notices the teenager's craving for books. He often advises him to read works that can help him understand the people around him. Anderson is one of the few who notices Charlie's inner turmoil. When Charlie has a nervous breakdown after Sam and Patrick leave, he is sincerely worried about the teenager's condition.
Aunt Helen
The film features a non-chronological narrative. Charlie remembers his aunt throughout the film. She played the role of Helen in the film "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."
At first, it seems that Helen was a ray of light in her nephew's life. From the memories it becomes clear that the woman always supported the teenager and helped him cope with difficulties.
But after a nervous breakdown, the boy turns to psychologists for help. During the sessions, it becomes clear that Helen was seducing her underage nephew.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower was a breakthrough film. The characters in the film turned out to be bright and memorable. The picture shows how important the support of loved ones is in difficult periods of life.
Year of book publication: 1999
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is a book that has gained enormous popularity among teenagers in the United States. How it spread from hand to hand due to the fact that it was withdrawn from the library collections of schools and city libraries. The reason for this was the mention of sex and drugs in the novel. Despite this, at the moment, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” book has been published in more than 30 languages of the world, and its total circulation has exceeded 2 million copies. At the same time, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is so popular to read that filmmakers paid attention to the book. And in 2012, according to the script of Stephen Chbosky himself, the book was filmed under the same name.
The plot of the book “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” in brief
The novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is based on letters from the main character, Charlie, to an unknown recipient. In them, he describes the events that happened to him over the course of one year: his first love, new friends and first sexual experiences. At the same time, he deliberately changes the names of his friends and does not indicate addresses.
It all started with meeting Patrick and Sam. They were half brother and sister. Patrick attends labor classes with Charlie, and he met Sam on the football field. He really liked the girl, and he confesses his feelings to her. But Sam advises him to forget about her. After all, she has a boyfriend, Craig. Meanwhile, Patrick introduces Charlie to his company. Here he tries drugs against his own will and also has his first sexual experience. At the same time, Sam still remains in his heart.
Meanwhile, he finds out that Patrick is gay. He is friends with Bob and Bob's parents are not happy about this connection. Especially when Bob's father catches them together. After this, they are forced to separate, and Bob's friends start a fight with Patrick. Seeing this, the main character of Stephen Chbosky's book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" "switches off" and saves Patrick. But after graduating from school, the brother and sister leave for another city. As a final farewell, you can read in Chbosky's book The Perks of Being a Wallflower how Sam kisses Charlie in recognition of their feelings. But the departure of his friends became a terrible trauma for the main character. Against this background, Charlie has a nervous breakdown, which he has to be treated in a mental hospital.
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower” book on the Top books website
In our ratings, Chbosky’s novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” has been represented in fairly high positions for several seasons now. At the same time, the interest in reading “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is quite stable and allows us to talk about the readers’ interest in the book not being occasional. Thanks to this, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky can be represented in our site’s ratings for more than one season.
Description
The book tells the life story of a boy, “Charlie,” who writes letters to his anonymous friend. Charlie describes the life of a teenager in which he faces bullying, drugs, and sexual harassment. Due to its abundance of sexual content, the book is regularly included in the American Librarians Association's list of banned books.
SONG FROM TRAILER
Imagine Dragons – It's Time
Actors
Charlie -Logan Lerman 
Friends
Sam - Emma Watson 
Patrick - Ezra Miller 
Mary Elizabeth - Mae Whitman 
Alice - Erin Wilhelmi
Bob - Adam Hagenbunch 
Michael-Owen Campbell 
Charlie Bill's Teacher - Paul Rudd 
Other characters
Brad -Johnny Simmons 
Nicholas Brown - Derek
Craig - Reece Thompson 
Susan-Julia Garner 
Family
Mom-Kate Walsh
Dad - Dylan McDermott 
Brother - Zane Holtz 
Sister-Nina Dobrev 
Aunt Helen - Melanie Lynskey 
Charlie's reading list
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
The novel by American writer Harper Lee is written from the perspective of an eight-year-old girl and tells about the life of the modest family of Atticus Finch. The novel takes place in 1935 in a small American town.
Jerome D. Salinger - The Catcher in the Rye 
The hero of the story by modern American prose writer Jerome David Salinger is a teenager just entering life who does not want to obey the sanctimonious laws of the adult world. With youthful intransigence, he rebels against them and himself acutely experiences the conflicts created.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
One of the most famous US prose writers of the 20th century, Francis Scott Fitzgerald announced to the world the beginning of a new century - the “Jazz Age”, and was one of the first to speak on behalf of the “lost generation”. He wrote about the “American dream”, personified it, but reality turned into a tragedy, and an early death cut short the life of the darling of fate. The hero of the novel "The Great Gatsby" made a fortune for himself, achieved power, but neither money nor power made him happy.
William Shakespeare - Hamlet 
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, falls into despair when his widowed mother marries his uncle. The appearance of his father's ghost opens Hamlet's eyes to his uncle's secret dealings...
Henry David Thoreau - Walden, or Life in the Woods 
The book is divided into 18 essays in which Thoreau shares with the reader his observations of the sounds and smells of the forest and water at different times of the year, talks about his relationships with ants, marmots and other forest inhabitants, quotes the entire old poem by Thomas Carew and excerpts from his own poems .
Ayn Rand - Source 
The main characters of the novel - architect Howard Roark and journalist Dominique Francon - defend the freedom of creative individuals in the fight against a society that values “equal opportunities” for everyone. Together and alone, with each other and against each other, but always in defiance of the crowd. They are individualists, their mission is to create and transform the world. Through the twists and turns of the heroes' destinies and a fascinating plot, the author conveys the main idea of the book - the EGO is the source of human progress.
Jack Kerouac - On the Road 
Jack Kerouac gave a voice to an entire generation in literature, during his short life he managed to write about 20 books of prose and poetry and became the most famous and controversial author of his time. All beatniks and hipsters learned to write from his books - to write not what you know, but what you see, firmly believing that the world itself will reveal its nature. It was the novel “On the Road” that brought Kerouac worldwide fame and became a classic of American literature. The first editor of this book liked to remember that he had never been given a stranger manuscript. Hefty as a lumberjack, Kerouac brought to the editorial office a roll of paper 147 meters long without a single punctuation mark. It was a story about the fate and pain of an entire generation, structured like a jazz improvisation.
William Burroughs - Naked Lunch 
One of the greatest books of nonconformist culture in the entire history of its existence.
One of the most significant books of the 20th century, which changed the face of modern prose.
"Naked Lunch" is the first novel by William Burroughs, which immediately placed the author among the living classics of English-language literature.
A strange, cruel and whimsical book that combines motifs of naturalism, visionaryism, surrealism, fantasy and psychedelia.
"The thread that connects the day has been severed" ... and the unorthodox ways in which William Burroughs proposes to connect it, even now, can cause shock to the average person and inspiration to the sophisticated reader.
Albert Camus - The Outsider 
Arthur Meursault, a Frenchman permanently residing in Algeria, kills an Arab on the beach. He is arrested and appears in court...
Francis Scott Fitzgerald - This Side of Heaven
The young, talented and boundlessly ambitious Francis Scott Fitzgerald published his first novel, This Side of Paradise, in 1920. And this book was not only the fruit of his literary creativity, but also an ideally thought-out step on the path to success. Discharged after World War I and in love with Zelda Sayre, Fitzgerald was so eager to marry his beloved that he was willing to do anything to win over her parents. The book, originally called “The Romantic Egoist,” absorbed many of the autobiographical features of the writer’s fate and brought him his first and resounding success. The story of Emory Blaine, a young and equally ambitious American capable of going to great lengths to achieve his goals, became the personification of the “Jazz Age,” its aspirations and disappointments. As Fitzgerald himself said, “An author must write for the youth of his generation, for the critics of the next, and for the professors of all subsequent ones.”
John Knowles - A Separate Peace 
The action takes place in an elite American boarding school, the characters are 17-year-old boys of pre-conscription age in 1943
List of songs from the book
Asleep - The Smiths
Vapor Trail - Ride
Scarborough Fair - Simon and Garfunkel
A Whiter Shade of Pale- Procol Harum
Time of No Reply- Nick Drake
Dear Prudence - The Beatles
Gypsy-Suzanne Vega
Nights in White Satin-The Moody Blues
Daydream - The Smashing Pumpkins
Dusk-Genesis
MLK-U2
Blackbird - The Beatles
Landslide-Fleetwood Mac
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
Another Brick in the Wall, Part II-y Pink Floyd
Something - The Beatles
School's Out- Alice Cooper
Autumn Leaves - Nat King Cole
Broken Wings - Mr. Mister
I'm Going Home - Tim Curry as Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show
, more Composer Michael Brook Editing Mary Jo Markey Cameraman Andrew Dunn Translators Maria Junger, Alexander Novikov Dubbing directors Yaroslava Turylev, Alexander Novikov Screenwriter Stephen Chbosky Artists Inbal Weinberg, Gregory A. Weimerskirch, David S. Robinson , more
Did you know that
- The film is based on the novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky (1999). The author of the novel also acted as screenwriter and director of the film.
- In an interview, Emma Watson said that she agreed to star in this film because director Stephen Chbosky told her that it would not only be one of the main roles in her life, but in addition, she would spend the summer of her life and also meet some of her best friends. Watson also said that this statement turned out to be true.
- Steve Chbosky decided Emma Watson would be perfect for his film after seeing her performance in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), in the scene where Ron breaks her heart and Harry comforts her.
- Emma Watson admitted that she refuses to watch her kiss scene and The Ricky Horror Picture Show.
- Ezra Miller auditioned via Skype. Moreover, he was so charismatic that within five hours of the audition he was given the role.
- In the book, Patrick and Mary were smokers, and Charlie himself smoked for some time. This was removed from the film in order to achieve a PG-13 rating.
- Although the film doesn't pay much attention to this, Charlie is not that different in age from Sam and Patrick, which may be the reason why they get along so well. This is only mentioned in the book, but Charlie stayed a second year due to emotional problems, so they must only be one year older than him.
- The novel takes place in 1991-1992. The film does not specify a specific year, but it can be noted that not a single character uses cell phones or the Internet.
- During filming, a scene was also filmed in which Charlie's sister Candace tells him that she is pregnant, after which he takes her to an abortion, which she then has. However, this scene did not make it into the final cut to avoid an adult rating.
- In the film's DVD and Blu-ray commentary track, director Stephen Chbosky mentions that Dead Poets Society (1989) and The Breakfast Club (1985) are two of his favorite films that greatly influenced him growing up.
- During filming, Ezra Miller was 17 years old, about the same age as his character. Logal Lerman was 18 years old, almost two years older than his character. Emma Watson turned 21 during filming, so she was significantly older than her character, as well as the eldest of the trio.
- Emma Watson's first major role since Harry Potter.
USA USA
"The perks of Being a Wallflower"(English) The Perks of Being a Wallflower ) is an American film, an adaptation of the epistolary novel of the same name by Stephen Chbosky, who acted as the director of the film. It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on September 8, 2012. Premiere in Russia - September 20. The film received the Independent Spirit Award for best debut film and was included in the top ten best films of the year according to the US National Board of Film Critics.
Plot
The events in the film take place from August 25, 1991 to June 22, 1992. Epilogue - August 23, 1992.
The main character is Charlie, an introverted teenager. After the death of two people close to him, Aunt Helen and his best friend Michael, he is in a depressed state. One day, entering the classroom, Charlie overhears her classmates talking about a guy who knows how to listen and understand. Plus, he didn't sleep with any of them at the party, even though he had the opportunity. Having found out the address of this guy, Charlie began to write letters to him, expressing his experiences and thoughts, without indicating his address, and changed the names to others and similar ones.
Charlie talks about the strange suicide of his best friend Michael, a new friend in the person of his English teacher, his sister and her boyfriend, and his family. Later, Charlie talks about Patrick taking labor classes with him. Everyone called Patrick “No way.”
Some time later, Charlie meets Sam at a school football game; he later finds out that she is Patrick's half-sister. Charlie tells Sam how he feels, but Sam has a boyfriend, Craig, and advises her to forget about her. Then Patrick tells Charlie about the relationships between guys and girls. Patrick and Sam introduce Charlie to Bob and the whole party. Charlie tries drugs against his will.
The life of the main character changes greatly after these acquaintances. Charlie has his first sexual experience with Mary Elizabeth, but unfortunately he cannot forget Sam. Patrick reveals that he is gay and he is dating Brad. Their relationship later ends because Brad's father caught them together.
One day, Brad's friends trip Patrick, and he falls in front of the entire dining room. A fight ensues, which Charlie witnesses. He passed out, and when he came to his senses, he saw that he had saved Patrick. Charlie and Sam and Patrick's friendship is renewed.
Sam and Patrick finish school and leave to study in another city. On the last evening, Sam and Charlie kiss, thereby confessing their feelings to each other. Against the backdrop of worries about the departure of his friends, Charlie again remembers Aunt Helen and blames himself for her death. Charlie's psyche cannot stand it, and the young man has a nervous breakdown. At the hospital, Charlie agrees to sessions with a psychologist and increasingly remembers his childhood, during which he admits to the psychologist that his aunt seduced him. The psychologist later tells Charlie's parents about this, and they give him support.
At the end of the film, Charlie, Sam and Patrick pass under that very tunnel, which has become for them a part of themselves and a part of eternity.
Cast
| Cast | Character | |
|---|---|---|
| Logan Lerman | Charlie- son of Mrs. Kelmekis and Mr. Kelmekis, brother of Chris and Candice, nephew of Aunt Helen, former best friend of Michael. Now he is in love with Sam and is dating her. | |
| Emma Watson | Sam- Patrick's half-sister (on her mother's side), Craig's ex-girlfriend. Dating Charlie. | |
| Ezra Miller | Patrick- half-brother Sam (on his mother's side). Patrick is Brad's gay ex-boyfriend. | |
| Mae Whitman | Mary Elizabeth- Buddhist and punk, Charlie's first girlfriend, unrequitedly in love with him, Alice's best friend. | |
| Erin Wilhelmi | Alice- Mary Elizabeth's best friend. Alice comes from a rich family. This girl loves vampires and wants to act in films. | |
| Julia Garner | Susan- Charlie's old friend, but they haven't been in touch lately. | |
| Johnny Simmons | Brad- gay, Patrick's ex-boyfriend. | |
| Reece Thompson (English)Russian | Craig- Sam's ex-boyfriend. | |
| Paul Rudd | Mr Anderson- teacher of English literature. | |
| Tom Savini | Mr. Callahan- labor teacher. | |
| Kate Walsh | Mrs Kelmekis- wife of Mr. Kelmekis, mother of Chris, Charlie and Candace. | |
| Dylan McDermott | Mr Kelmekis- husband of Mrs. Kelmekis, father of Chris, Charlie and Candace. | |
| Melanie Lynskey | Helen- Aunt of Chris, Charlie and Candace. | |
| Zane Holtz | Chris- son of Mr. and Mrs. Kelmekis, older brother of Charlie and Candace, nephew of Aunt Helen, university student. | |
| Nina Dobrev | Candace- daughter of the Kelmekis, sister of Charlie and Chris, niece of Aunt Helen, Derek's girlfriend. |
Soundtrack
| № | Name | Music | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Could It Be Another Change?" | The Samples | 3:27 |
| 2. | "Come On Eileen" | Dexys Midnight Runners | 4:12 |
| 3. | "Tugboat" | Galaxie 500 | 3:54 |
| 4. | "Temptation" | New Order | 5:22 |
| 5. | "Evensong" | The Innocence Mission | 3:40 |
| 6. | "Asleep" | The Smiths | 4:10 |
| 7. | "Low" | Cracker | 4:34 |
| 8. | "Teen Age Riot" | Sonic Youth | 6:57 |
| 9. | "Dear God" | XTC | 3:36 |
| 10. | "Pearly-Dewdrops" Drops | Cocteau Twins | 4:10 |
| 11. | "Charlie's Last Letter" | Michael Brook | 1:48 |
| 12. | "Heroes" | David Bowie | 6:08 |
Music
| № | Name | Music | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "First Day" | Michael Brook | 2:32 |
| 2. | "Home Again" | Michael Brook | 1:40 |
| 3. | "Charlie Speaks" | Michael Brook | 2:03 |
| 4. | "Candace" | Michael Brook | 1:46 |
| 5. | "Charlie's Gifts" | Michael Brook | 0:55 |
| 6. | "Kiss Breakdown" | Michael Brook | 5:12 |
| 7. | "Acid" | Michael Brook | 3:12 |
| 8. | "Charlie's First Kiss" | Michael Brook | 3:34 |
| 9. | "Shard" | Michael Brook | 2:47 |
Filming
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Excerpt characterizing It's good to be quiet
In 1808, Emperor Alexander traveled to Erfurt for a new meeting with Emperor Napoleon, and in high society in St. Petersburg there was a lot of talk about the greatness of this solemn meeting.In 1809, the closeness of the two rulers of the world, as Napoleon and Alexander were called, reached the point that when Napoleon declared war on Austria that year, the Russian corps went abroad to assist their former enemy Bonaparte against their former ally, the Austrian emperor; to the point that in high society they talked about the possibility of a marriage between Napoleon and one of the sisters of Emperor Alexander. But, in addition to external political considerations, at this time the attention of Russian society was especially keenly drawn to the internal transformations that were being carried out at that time in all parts of public administration.
Life, meanwhile, the real life of people with their essential interests of health, illness, work, rest, with their interests of thought, science, poetry, music, love, friendship, hatred, passions, went on as always, independently and without political affinity or enmity with Napoleon Bonaparte, and beyond all possible transformations.
Prince Andrei lived in the village for two years without a break. All those enterprises on estates that Pierre started and did not bring to any result, constantly moving from one thing to another, all these enterprises, without showing them to anyone and without noticeable labor, were carried out by Prince Andrei.
He had, to a high degree, that practical tenacity that Pierre lacked, which, without scope or effort on his part, set things in motion.
One of his estates of three hundred peasant souls was transferred to free cultivators (this was one of the first examples in Russia); in others, corvee was replaced by quitrent. In Bogucharovo, a learned grandmother was written out to his account to help mothers in labor, and for a salary the priest taught the children of peasants and courtyard servants to read and write.
Prince Andrei spent half of his time in Bald Mountains with his father and son, who was still with the nannies; the other half of the time in the Bogucharov monastery, as his father called his village. Despite the indifference he showed Pierre to all the external events of the world, he diligently followed them, received many books, and to his surprise he noticed when fresh people came to him or his father from St. Petersburg, from the very whirlpool of life, that these people, in knowledge of everything that is happening in foreign and domestic politics, they are far behind him, who sits in the village all the time.
In addition to classes on names, in addition to general studies of reading a wide variety of books, Prince Andrei was at this time engaged in a critical analysis of our last two unfortunate campaigns and drawing up a project to change our military regulations and regulations.
In the spring of 1809, Prince Andrei went to the Ryazan estates of his son, whom he was guardian.
Warmed by the spring sun, he sat in the stroller, looking at the first grass, the first birch leaves and the first clouds of white spring clouds scattering across the bright blue sky. He didn’t think about anything, but looked around cheerfully and meaninglessly.
We passed the carriage on which he had spoken with Pierre a year ago. We passed a dirty village, threshing floors, greenery, a descent with remaining snow near the bridge, an ascent through washed-out clay, stripes of stubble and green bushes here and there, and entered a birch forest on both sides of the road. It was almost hot in the forest; there was no wind to be heard. The birch tree, all dotted with green sticky leaves, did not move, and from under last year’s leaves, lifting them, the first green grass and purple flowers crawled out. The small spruce trees scattered here and there along the birch forest with their coarse, eternal greenness were an unpleasant reminder of winter. The horses snorted as they rode into the forest and began to fog up.
The footman Peter said something to the coachman, the coachman answered in the affirmative. But apparently Peter had little sympathy for the coachman: he turned on the box to the master.
- Your Excellency, how easy it is! – he said, smiling respectfully.
- What!
- Easy, your Excellency.
"What is he saying?" thought Prince Andrei. “Yes, that’s right about spring,” he thought, looking around. And everything is already green... how soon! And the birch, and the bird cherry, and the alder are already starting... But the oak is not noticeable. Yes, here it is, the oak tree.”
There was an oak tree on the edge of the road. Probably ten times older than the birches that made up the forest, it was ten times thicker and twice as tall as each birch. It was a huge oak tree, two girths wide, with branches that had been broken off for a long time and with broken bark overgrown with old sores. With his huge, clumsy, asymmetrically splayed, gnarled hands and fingers, he stood like an old, angry and contemptuous freak between the smiling birch trees. Only he alone did not want to submit to the charm of spring and did not want to see either spring or the sun.
“Spring, and love, and happiness!” - as if this oak tree was saying, - “and how can you not get tired of the same stupid and senseless deception. Everything is the same, and everything is a lie! There is no spring, no sun, no happiness. Look there, the crushed dead spruce trees are sitting, always the same, and there I am, spreading out my broken, skinned fingers, wherever they grew - from the back, from the sides; As we grew up, I still stand, and I don’t believe your hopes and deceptions.”
Prince Andrei looked back at this oak tree several times while driving through the forest, as if he was expecting something from it. There were flowers and grass under the oak tree, but he still stood in the midst of them, frowning, motionless, ugly and stubborn.
“Yes, he is right, this oak tree is a thousand times right,” thought Prince Andrei, let others, young people, again succumb to this deception, but we know life - our life is over! A whole new series of hopeless, but sadly pleasant thoughts in connection with this oak tree arose in the soul of Prince Andrei. During this journey, he seemed to think over his whole life again, and came to the same old reassuring and hopeless conclusion that he did not need to start anything, that he should live out his life without doing evil, without worrying and without wanting anything.
On guardianship matters of the Ryazan estate, Prince Andrei had to see the district leader. The leader was Count Ilya Andreich Rostov, and Prince Andrei went to see him in mid-May.
It was already a hot period of spring. The forest was already completely dressed, there was dust and it was so hot that driving past the water, I wanted to swim.
Prince Andrei, gloomy and preoccupied with considerations about what and what he needed to ask the leader about matters, drove up the garden alley to the Rostovs’ Otradnensky house. To the right, from behind the trees, he heard a woman's cheerful cry, and saw a crowd of girls running towards his stroller. Ahead of the others, a black-haired, very thin, strangely thin, black-eyed girl in a yellow chintz dress, tied with a white handkerchief, ran up to the carriage, from under which strands of combed hair were escaping. The girl screamed something, but recognizing the stranger, without looking at him, she ran back laughing.
Prince Andrei suddenly felt pain from something. The day was so good, the sun was so bright, everything around was so cheerful; and this thin and pretty girl did not know and did not want to know about his existence and was content and happy with some kind of separate, certainly stupid, but cheerful and happy life. “Why is she so happy? what is she thinking about! Not about the military regulations, not about the structure of the Ryazan quitrents. What is she thinking about? And what makes her happy?” Prince Andrei involuntarily asked himself with curiosity.
Count Ilya Andreich in 1809 lived in Otradnoye still as before, that is, hosting almost the entire province, with hunts, theaters, dinners and musicians. He, like any new guest, was glad to see Prince Andrei, and almost forcibly left him to spend the night.
Throughout the boring day, during which Prince Andrei was occupied by the senior hosts and the most honorable of the guests, with whom the old count's house was full on the occasion of the approaching name day, Bolkonsky, looking several times at Natasha, who was laughing and having fun among the other young half of the company, kept asking himself: “What is she thinking about? Why is she so happy!”
