Famous Russian writers. famous writers

Russian writers and poets, whose works are considered classics, today are world famous. The works of these authors are read not only in their homeland - Russia, but all over the world.

Great Russian writers and poets

A well-known fact that has been proven by historians and literary critics: the best works of Russian classics were written during the Golden and Silver Ages.

The names of Russian writers and poets, who are among the world classics, are known to everyone. Their work has forever remained in world history as an important element.

The work of Russian poets and writers of the "Golden Age" is the dawn in Russian literature. Many poets and prose writers developed new directions, which subsequently became increasingly used in the future. Russian writers and poets, the list of which can be called endless, wrote about nature and love, about light and unshakable, about freedom and choice. The literature of the Golden Age, as well as later of the Silver Age, reflects the attitudes not only of writers to historical events, but of the whole people as a whole.

And today, looking through the thickness of the centuries at the portraits of Russian writers and poets, every progressive reader understands how bright and prophetic their works were, written more than a dozen years ago.

Literature is divided into many topics that formed the basis of the works. Russian writers and poets spoke about war, about love, about peace, opening up completely to every reader.

"Golden Age" in Literature

The "golden age" in Russian literature begins in the nineteenth century. The main representative of this period in literature, and specifically in poetry, was Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, thanks to whom not only Russian literature, but the whole of Russian culture as a whole acquired its special charm. Pushkin's work contains not only poetic works, but prose stories.

Poetry of the "Golden Age": Vasily Zhukovsky

The beginning of this time was laid by Vasily Zhukovsky, who became a teacher for Pushkin. Zhukovsky opened such a direction for Russian literature as romanticism. Developing this direction, Zhukovsky wrote odes, which were widely known for their romantic images, metaphors and personifications, the lightness of which was not in the directions used in Russian literature of the past.

Mikhail Lermontov

Another great writer and poet for the "Golden Age" of Russian literature was Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov. His prose work “A Hero of Our Time” gained great fame at one time, because it described Russian society as it was in that period of time, which Mikhail Yuryevich writes about. But all readers of Lermontov's poems fell in love even more: sad and sad lines, gloomy and sometimes terrible images - the poet managed to write all this so sensitively that every reader is still able to feel what worried Mikhail Yuryevich.

Prose of the Golden Age

Russian writers and poets have always been distinguished not only by their extraordinary poetry, but also by their prose.

Lev Tolstoy

One of the most significant writers of the "Golden Age" was Leo Tolstoy. His great epic novel "War and Peace" became known to the whole world and is included not only in the lists of Russian classics, but also of the world. Describing the life of Russian secular society during the Patriotic War of 1812, Tolstoy was able to show all the subtleties and features of the behavior of St. Petersburg society, which for a long time since the beginning of the war did not seem to participate in the all-Russian tragedy and struggle.

Another novel by Tolstoy, which is still read both abroad and in the homeland of the writer, was the work "Anna Karenina". The story of a woman who fell in love with a man with all her heart and went through unprecedented difficulties for the sake of love, and soon suffered betrayal, fell in love with the whole world. A touching story about love, which can sometimes drive you crazy. The sad end became a unique feature for the novel - it was one of the first works in which the lyrical hero not only dies, but deliberately interrupts his life.

Fedor Dostoevsky

In addition to Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky also became a significant writer. His book "Crime and Punishment" has become not just a "Bible" of a highly moral person with a conscience, but also a kind of "teacher" for someone who has to make a difficult choice, foreseeing all the outcomes of events. The lyrical hero of the work not only made the wrong decision that ruined him, he took on a lot of torment that haunted him day and night.

In the work of Dostoevsky there is also the work "Humiliated and Insulted", which accurately reflects the whole essence of human nature. Despite the fact that a lot of time has passed since the moment of writing, those problems of mankind, which Fedor Mikhailovich described, are still relevant today. The protagonist, seeing all the insignificance of the human "darling", begins to feel disgust for people, for everything that people of the rich strata are proud of, which are of great importance for society.

Ivan Turgenev

Another great writer of Russian literature was Ivan Turgenev. Writing not only about love, he touched upon the most important problems of the world around him. His novel "Fathers and Sons" clearly describes the relationship between children and parents, which remains exactly the same today. Misunderstanding between the older generation and the younger is an age-old problem of family relations.

Russian Writers and Poets: The Silver Age of Literature

The Silver Age in Russian literature is considered to be the beginning of the twentieth century. It is the poets and writers of the Silver Age that acquire special love from readers. Perhaps this phenomenon is due to the fact that the lifetime of writers is closer to our time, while Russian writers and poets of the "Golden Age" wrote their works, living on completely different moral and spiritual principles.

Poetry of the Silver Age

The bright personalities that distinguish this literary period were, undoubtedly, poets. Many directions and currents of poetry appeared, which were created as a result of the division of opinions about the actions of the Russian authorities.

Alexander Blok

The gloomy and sad work of Alexander Blok was the first to appear at this stage of literature. All Blok's poems are permeated with longing for something extraordinary, something bright and bright. The most famous poem is “Night. Street. Flashlight. Pharmacy” perfectly describes Blok’s worldview.

Sergey Yesenin

One of the brightest figures of the Silver Age was Sergei Yesenin. Poems about nature, love, the transience of time, one's "sins" - all this can be found in the poet's work. Today there is not a single person who would not find a poem by Yesenin that can please and describe the state of mind.

Vladimir Mayakovsky

If we talk about Yesenin, then I immediately want to mention Vladimir Mayakovsky. Sharp, loud, self-confident - that was exactly what the poet was. The words that came out from under the pen of Mayakovsky, and today amaze with their power - Vladimir Vladimirovich perceived everything so emotionally. In addition to harshness, in the work of Mayakovsky, who did not go well in his personal life, there is also love poetry. The story of the poet and Lily Brik is known throughout the world. It was Brik who discovered in him all the most tender and sensual, and Mayakovsky, in return for this, seemed to idealize and deify her in his love lyrics.

Marina Tsvetaeva

The personality of Marina Tsvetaeva is also known to the whole world. The poetess herself had peculiar character traits, which is immediately evident from her poems. Perceiving herself as a deity, she even in her love lyrics made it clear to everyone that she was not one of those women who are able to offend themselves. However, in her poem “How many have fallen into this abyss,” she showed how unhappy she had been for many, many years.

Prose of the Silver Age: Leonid Andreev

A great contribution to fiction was made by Leonid Andreev, who became the author of the story "Judas Iscariot". In his work, he presented the biblical story of the betrayal of Jesus a little differently, exposing Judas not just as a traitor, but as a person suffering from his envy of people who were loved by everyone. Lonely and strange Judas, who found rapture in his tales and tales, always received only ridicule in his face. The story tells about how easy it is to break a person’s spirit and push him to any meanness if he has neither support nor close people.

Maksim Gorky

For the literary prose of the Silver Age, the contribution of Maxim Gorky is also important. The writer in each of his works hid a certain essence, having understood which, the reader realizes the full depth of what worried the writer. One of these works was the short story "Old Woman Izergil", which is divided into three small parts. Three components, three life problems, three types of loneliness - all this was carefully veiled by the writer. A proud eagle thrown into the abyss of loneliness; noble Danko, who gave his heart to selfish people; an old woman who has been looking for happiness and love all her life, but never found it - all this can be found in a short, but extremely vital story.

Another important work in Gorky's work was the play "At the Bottom". The life of people who are below the poverty line - that's what became the basis of the play. The descriptions that Maxim Gorky gave in his work show how much even very poor people, who basically do not need anything, just want to be happy. But the happiness of each of the characters is in different things. Each of the characters in the play has its own values. In addition, Maxim Gorky wrote about the "three truths" of life that can be applied in modern life. Lies for good; no pity for the person; the truth necessary for man - three views on life, three opinions. The conflict, which remains unresolved, leaves each character, as well as each reader, to make his own choice.


Now the current generation sees everything clearly, marvels at the delusions, laughs at the foolishness of its ancestors, it is not in vain that this chronicle is scribbled with heavenly fire, that every letter screams in it, that a piercing finger is directed from everywhere at him, at him, at the current generation; but the current generation laughs and arrogantly, proudly begins a series of new delusions, which will also be laughed at by descendants later. "Dead Souls"

Nestor Vasilyevich Kukolnik (1809 - 1868)
For what? Like an inspiration
Love the given subject!
Like a true poet
Sell ​​your imagination!
I am a slave, a day laborer, I am a merchant!
I owe you, sinner, for gold,
For your worthless piece of silver
Pay the divine price!
"Improvisation I"


Literature is a language that expresses everything that a country thinks, wants, knows, wants and needs to know.


In the hearts of the simple, the feeling of the beauty and grandeur of nature is stronger, more alive a hundred times than in us, enthusiastic storytellers in words and on paper."Hero of our time"



Everywhere there is sound, and everywhere there is light,
And all the worlds have one beginning,
And there is nothing in nature
No matter how love breathes.


In days of doubt, in days of painful reflections on the fate of my homeland, you alone are my support and support, O great, powerful, truthful and free Russian language! Without you, how not to fall into despair at the sight of everything that happens at home? But one cannot believe that such a language was not given to a great people!
Poems in prose "Russian language"



So, complete your dissolute escape,
Prickly snow flies from the bare fields,
Driven by an early, violent blizzard,
And, stopping in the forest wilderness,
Gathering in silver silence
Deep and cold bed.


Listen: shame on you!
It's time to get up! You know yourself
What time has come;
In whom the sense of duty has not cooled down,
Who has an incorruptible heart,
In whom is talent, strength, accuracy,
Tom shouldn't sleep now...
"Poet and Citizen"



Is it possible that even here they will not allow and will not allow the Russian organism to develop nationally, by its organic strength, but certainly impersonally, servilely imitating Europe? But what to do with the Russian organism then? Do these gentlemen understand what an organism is? Separation, "split" from their country leads to hatred, these people hate Russia, so to speak, naturally, physically: for the climate, for the fields, for the forests, for the order, for the liberation of the peasant, for Russian history, in a word, for everything, hate for everything.


Spring! the first frame is exposed -
And noise broke into the room,
And the blessing of the nearby temple,
And the talk of the people, and the sound of the wheel ...


Well, what are you afraid of, pray tell! Now every grass, every flower rejoices, but we hide, we are afraid, just what kind of misfortune! The storm will kill! This is not a storm, but grace! Yes, grace! You are all thunder! The northern lights will light up, it would be necessary to admire and marvel at the wisdom: “the dawn rises from the midnight countries”! And you are horrified and come up with: this is for war or for the plague. Whether a comet is coming, I would not take my eyes off! Beauty! The stars have already looked closely, they are all the same, and this is a new thing; Well, I would look and admire! And you are afraid to even look at the sky, you are trembling! From everything you have made yourself a scarecrow. Eh, people! "Storm"


There is no more enlightening, soul-purifying feeling than the one that a person feels when he gets acquainted with a great work of art.


We know that loaded guns must be handled with care. But we do not want to know that we must treat the word in the same way. The word can both kill and make evil worse than death.


There is a well-known trick of an American journalist who, in order to increase the subscription to his magazine, began to print in other publications the most brazen attacks on himself from fictitious persons: some printed him out as a swindler and perjurer, others as a thief and murderer, and still others as a debauchee on a colossal scale. He did not skimp on paying for such friendly advertisements, until everyone thought - yes, it’s obvious that this is a curious and remarkable person when everyone shouts about him like that! - and began to buy up his own newspaper.
"Life in a Hundred Years"

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov (1831 - 1895)
I ... think that I know the Russian person in his very depths, and I do not put myself in any merit for this. I did not study the people from conversations with St. Petersburg cabbies, but I grew up among the people, on the Gostomel pasture, with a cauldron in my hand, I slept with him on the dewy grass of the night, under a warm sheepskin coat, and on the Panin’s swaying crowd behind circles of dusty manners ...


Between these two colliding titans - science and theology - there is a stunned public, quickly losing faith in the immortality of man and in any deity, quickly descending to the level of a purely animal existence. Such is the picture of the hour illuminated by the radiant midday sun of the Christian and scientific era!
"Isis Unveiled"


Sit down, I'm glad to see you. Cast away all fear
And you can keep yourself free
I give you permission. You know one of these days
I was elected king by the people,
But it's all the same. They confuse my thought
All these honors, greetings, bows...
"Crazy"


Gleb Ivanovich Uspensky (1843 - 1902)
- What do you need abroad? - I asked him at a time when in his room, with the help of servants, his things were being packed and packed for shipment to the Varshavsky railway station.
- Yes, just ... to come to your senses! - He said confusedly and with a kind of dull expression on his face.
"Letters from the Road"


Is it really a matter of going through life in such a way as not to offend anyone? This is not happiness. Hurt, break, break, so that life boils. I am not afraid of any accusations, but a hundred times more than death I am afraid of colorlessness.


Verse is the same music, only combined with the word, and it also needs a natural ear, a sense of harmony and rhythm.


You experience a strange feeling when, with a light touch of your hand, you make such a mass rise and fall at will. When such a mass obeys you, you feel the power of a person ...
"Meeting"

Vasily Vasilyevich Rozanov (1856 - 1919)
The feeling of the Motherland should be strict, restrained in words, not eloquent, not chatty, not “waving your arms” and not running forward (to show yourself). The feeling of the Motherland should be a great ardent silence.
"Solitary"


And what is the secret of beauty, what is the secret and charm of art: in a conscious, inspired victory over torment or in the unconscious anguish of the human spirit, which sees no way out of the circle of vulgarity, squalor or thoughtlessness and is tragically condemned to appear self-satisfied or hopelessly false.
"Sentimental Remembrance"


Since my birth I have been living in Moscow, but by God I don’t know where Moscow came from, why it is, why, why, what it needs. In the Duma, at meetings, I, along with others, talk about urban economy, but I don’t know how many miles in Moscow, how many people there are, how many are born and die, how much we receive and spend, for how much and with whom we trade ... Which city is richer: Moscow or London? If London is richer, then why? And the jester knows him! And when some question is raised in the thought, I shudder and the first one starts shouting: “Submit to the commission! To the commission!


Everything new in the old way:
The modern poet
In a metaphorical outfit
Speech is poetic.

But others are not an example for me,
And my charter is simple and strict.
My verse is a pioneer boy
Lightly dressed, barefoot.
1926


Under the influence of Dostoevsky, as well as foreign literature, Baudelaire and Poe, my passion began not for decadence, but for symbolism (even then I already understood their difference). A collection of poems, published at the very beginning of the 90s, I entitled "Symbols". It seems that I was the first to use this word in Russian literature.

Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov (1866 - 1949)
The run of changeable phenomena,
Past those flying, speed up:
Merge into one sunset of accomplishments
With the first gleam of gentle dawns.
From the lower life to the origins
In a moment, a single review:
In the face of a single smart eye
Take your twins.
Immutable and wonderful
Blessed Muse gift:
In the spirit of the form of slender songs,
There is life and heat in the heart of the songs.
"Thoughts on Poetry"


I have a lot of news. And all are good. I'm lucky". I am writing. I want to live, live, live forever. If you only knew how many new poems I have written! More than a hundred. It was crazy, a fairy tale, new. I am publishing a new book, completely different from the previous ones. She will surprise many. I changed my understanding of the world. No matter how funny my phrase sounds, I will say: I understood the world. For many years, perhaps forever.
K. Balmont - L. Vilkina



Man is the truth! Everything is in man, everything is for man! Only man exists, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain! Human! It's great! It sounds... proud!

"At the bottom"


I'm sorry to create something useless and no one needs now. A collection, a book of poems at the present time is the most useless, unnecessary thing ... I do not mean by this that poetry is not needed. On the contrary, I affirm that poetry is necessary, even necessary, natural and eternal. There was a time when whole books of poetry seemed necessary to everyone, when they were read in full, understood and accepted by everyone. This time is past, not ours. The modern reader does not need a collection of poems!


Language is the history of a people. Language is the path of civilization and culture. Therefore, the study and preservation of the Russian language is not an idle occupation with nothing to do, but an urgent need.


What nationalists, patriots these internationalists become when they need it! And with what arrogance they sneer at the "frightened intellectuals" - as if there is absolutely no reason to be frightened - or at the "frightened townsfolk", as if they have some great advantages over the "philistines". And who, in fact, are these townsfolk, "prosperous philistines"? And who and what do the revolutionaries care about, if they so despise the average person and his well-being?
"Cursed Days"


In the struggle for their ideal, which is “freedom, equality and fraternity”, citizens must use such means that do not contradict this ideal.
"Governor"



“Let your soul be whole or split, let your understanding of the world be mystical, realistic, skeptical, or even idealistic (if you are unhappy before that), let the techniques of creativity be impressionistic, realistic, naturalistic, the content be lyrical or fabulous, let there be a mood, an impression - whatever you want, but, I beg you, be logical - may this cry of the heart be forgiven me! – are logical in design, in the construction of the work, in syntax.
Art is born in homelessness. I wrote letters and stories addressed to a distant unknown friend, but when a friend came, art gave way to life. Of course, I'm not talking about home comfort, but about life, which means more than art.
"We are with you. Diary of love"


An artist can do nothing more than open his soul to others. It is impossible to present him with predetermined rules. He is still an unknown world, where everything is new. We must forget what captivated others, here it is different. Otherwise, you will listen and not hear, you will look without understanding.
From Valery Bryusov's treatise "On Art"


Alexei Mikhailovich Remizov (1877 - 1957)
Well, let her rest, she was exhausted - they exhausted her, alarmed her. And as soon as it's light, the shopkeeper will rise, she will begin to fold her goods, she will grab a blanket, she will go, pull out this soft bedding from under the old woman: she will wake the old woman, raise her to her feet: it's not light, it's good to get up. It's nothing you can do. In the meantime - grandmother, our Kostroma, our mother, Russia!

"Whirlwind Rus'"


Art never speaks to the crowd, to the masses, it speaks to the individual, in the deep and hidden recesses of his soul.

Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin (Ilyin) (1878 - 1942)
How strange /.../ How many cheerful and cheerful books there are, how many brilliant and witty philosophical truths - but there is nothing more comforting than Ecclesiastes.


Babkin dared, - read Seneca
And, whistling carcasses,
Take it to the library
In the margins, noting: "Nonsense!"
Babkin, friend, is a harsh critic,
Have you ever thought
What a legless paraplegic
Light chamois is not a decree? ..
"Reader"


A critic's word about a poet must be objectively concrete and creative; the critic, while remaining a scientist, is a poet.

"Poetry of the word"




Only great things are worth thinking about, only great tasks should be set by the writer; set boldly, without being embarrassed by your personal small forces.

Boris Konstantinovich Zaitsev (1881 - 1972)
“It’s true, there are both goblin and water ones here,” I thought, looking in front of me, “or maybe some other spirit lives here ... A mighty, northern spirit that enjoys this wildness; maybe real northern fauns and healthy, blond women roam in these forests, eating cloudberries and lingonberries, laughing and chasing each other.
"North"


You need to be able to close a boring book...leave a bad movie...and part with people who don't value you!


Out of modesty, I will be careful not to point out the fact that on the day of my birth the bells were rung and there was a general rejoicing of the people. Evil tongues associated this jubilation with some great holiday that coincided with the day of my birth, but I still don’t understand what else is there to do with this holiday?


That was the time when love, good and healthy feelings were considered vulgar and a relic; no one loved, but all were thirsty and, like poisoned ones, fell to everything sharp, tearing apart the insides.
"The Road to Calvary"


Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky (Nikolai Vasilyevich Korneichukov) (1882 - 1969)
- Well, what's wrong, - I say to myself, - at least in a short word for now? After all, exactly the same form of farewell to friends exists in other languages, and there it does not shock anyone. The great poet Walt Whitman, shortly before his death, said goodbye to readers with a touching poem "So long!", which means in English - "Bye!". The French a bientot has the same meaning. There is no rudeness here. On the contrary, this form is filled with the most gracious courtesy, because here the following (approximately) meaning is compressed: be prosperous and happy until we see each other again.
"Live Like Life"


Switzerland? This is a mountain pasture for tourists. I've traveled all over the world myself, but I hate those ruminant bipeds with a Badaker for a tail. They chewed through the eyes of all the beauties of nature.
"Island of Lost Ships"


Everything that I wrote and will write, I consider only mental rubbish and do not respect my literary merits. And I wonder and wonder why apparently smart people find some meaning and value in my poems. Thousands of poems, whether mine or those poets whom I know in Russia, are not worth one chanter of my bright mother.


I am afraid that Russian literature has only one future: its past.
Article "I'm afraid"


For a long time we have been looking for such a task, similar to lentils, so that the combined rays of the work of artists and the work of thinkers directed by it to a common point would meet in a common work and could ignite and turn even the cold substance of ice into a fire. Now such a task - a lentil that guides together your stormy courage and the cold mind of thinkers - has been found. This goal is to create a common written language...
"Artists of the World"


He adored poetry, tried to be impartial in his judgments. He was surprisingly young at heart, and perhaps even in mind. He always looked like a child to me. There was something childish in his clipped head, in his bearing, more like a gymnasium than a military one. He liked to portray an adult, like all children. He loved to play the “master”, the literary bosses of his “humil”, that is, the little poets and poetesses who surrounded him. Poetic children loved him very much.
Khodasevich, "Necropolis"



Me, me, me What a wild word!
Is that one over there really me?
Did mom love this?
Yellow-gray, semi-gray
And omniscient like a snake?
You have lost your Russia.
Did you resist the elements
Good elements of gloomy evil?
No? So shut up: took away
Your fate is not without a reason
To the edge of an unkind foreign land.
What's the point of groaning and grieve -
Russia must be earned!
"What You Need to Know"


I never stopped writing poetry. For me, they are my connection with the time, with the new life of my people. When I wrote them, I lived by those rhythms that sounded in the heroic history of my country. I am happy that I lived in these years and saw events that had no equal.


All the people sent to us are our reflection. And they were sent so that we, looking at these people, correct our mistakes, and when we correct them, these people either change too or leave our lives.


In the wide field of Russian literature in the USSR, I was the only literary wolf. I was advised to dye the skin. Ridiculous advice. Whether a painted wolf or a shorn wolf, he still does not look like a poodle. They treated me like a wolf. And for several years they drove me according to the rules of a literary cage in a fenced yard. I have no malice, but I am very tired ...
From a letter from M. A. Bulgakov to I. V. Stalin, May 30, 1931.

When I die, my descendants will ask my contemporaries: "Did you understand Mandelstam's poems?" - "No, we did not understand his poems." "Did you feed Mandelstam, did you give him shelter?" - "Yes, we fed Mandelstam, we gave him shelter." "Then you are forgiven."

Ilya Grigorievich Erenburg (Eliyahu Gershevich) (1891 - 1967)
Maybe go to the Press House - there is one sandwich with caviar and a debate - "about the proletarian choral reading", or to the Polytechnic Museum - there are no sandwiches, but twenty-six young poets read their poems about the "locomotive mass". No, I will sit on the stairs, shivering from the cold and dream that all this is not in vain, that, sitting here on the step, I am preparing the distant sunrise of the Renaissance. I dreamed both simply and in verse, and the result was boring iambs.
"The extraordinary adventures of Julio Jurenito and his students"

According to the ranking of the Internet database Index Translationum UNESCO, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy and Anton Chekhov are the most frequently translated Russian writers in the world! These authors are ranked second, third and fourth respectively. But Russian literature is also rich in other names who have made a huge contribution to the development of both Russian and world culture.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Not only a writer, but also a historian and playwright, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a Russian writer who made his name in the post-Stalin era and the debunking of the cult of personality.

In some way, Solzhenitsyn is considered the successor of Leo Tolstoy, since he was also a great truth-seeker and wrote large-scale works about people's lives and social processes that took place in society. Solzhenitsyn's works were based on a combination of autobiographical and documentary.

His most famous works are The Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. With the help of these works, Solzhenitsyn tried to draw the attention of readers to the horrors of totalitarianism, which modern writers have not yet written about so openly. Russian writers that period; wanted to tell about the fate of thousands of people who were subjected to political repression, were sent to camps innocent and were forced to live there in conditions that can hardly be called human.

Ivan Turgenev

Turgenev's early work reveals the writer as a romantic who felt nature very subtly. And the literary image of the “Turgenev girl”, which has long been presented as a romantic, bright and vulnerable image, is now something of a household name. At the first stage of his work, he wrote poems, poems, dramatic works and, of course, prose.

The second stage of Turgenev's work brought the author the most fame - thanks to the creation of the "Notes of a Hunter". For the first time, he honestly portrayed the landowners, revealed the theme of the peasantry, after which he was arrested by the authorities, who did not like such work, and sent into exile to the family estate.

Later, the writer's work is filled with complex and multifaceted characters - the most mature period of the author's work. Turgenev tried to reveal such philosophical themes as love, duty, death. At the same time, Turgenev wrote his most famous work, both here and abroad, called "Fathers and Sons" about the difficulties and problems of relations between different generations.

Vladimir Nabokov

Creativity Nabokov completely runs counter to the traditions of classical Russian literature. The most important thing for Nabokov was the play of the imagination, his work became part of the transition from realism to modernism. In the author's works, one can distinguish the type of a characteristic Nabokov's hero - a lonely, persecuted, suffering, misunderstood person with a touch of genius.

In Russian, Nabokov managed to write numerous stories, seven novels (Mashenka, The King, the Queen, the Jack, Despair, and others) and two plays before leaving for the United States. From that moment on, the birth of an English-language author takes place, Nabokov completely abandons the pseudonym Vladimir Sirin, with which he signed his Russian books. Nabokov will work with the Russian language only once more - when he will translate his novel Lolita, which was originally written in English, for Russian-speaking readers.

It was this novel that became the most popular and even notorious work of Nabokov - not too surprising, because it tells about the love of a mature forty-year-old man for a teenage girl of twelve years. The book is considered quite shocking even in our free-thinking age, but if there are still disputes about the ethical side of the novel, then it is perhaps simply impossible to deny Nabokov's verbal skill.

Michael Bulgakov

Bulgakov's creative path was not at all easy. Deciding to become a writer, he abandons his career as a doctor. He writes his first works, "Fatal Eggs" and "Diaboliad", having settled down to work as a journalist. The first story evokes rather resonant responses, since it resembled a mockery of the revolution. Bulgakov's story "The Heart of a Dog", which denounces the authorities, was generally refused to be published and, moreover, the manuscript was taken away from the writer.

But Bulgakov continues to write - and creates the novel "The White Guard", which is based on a play called "Days of the Turbins". The success did not last long - in connection with another scandal over the works, all performances based on Bulgakov were removed from shows. The same fate would later befall Bulgakov's latest play, Batum.

The name of Mikhail Bulgakov is invariably associated with The Master and Margarita. Perhaps it was this novel that became the work of a lifetime, although it did not bring him recognition. But now, after the death of the writer, this work is also a success with foreign audiences.

This piece is like nothing else. We agreed to designate that this is a novel, but which one: satirical, fantastic, love-lyrical? The images presented in this work amaze and impress with their uniqueness. A novel about good and evil, about hatred and love, about hypocrisy, money-grubbing, sin and holiness. At the same time, during the life of Bulgakov, the work was not published.

It is not easy to remember another author who could so deftly and aptly expose all the falsehood and dirt of the bourgeoisie, the current government and the bureaucratic system. That is why Bulgakov was subjected to constant attacks, criticism and bans from the ruling circles.

Alexander Pushkin

Despite the fact that not all foreigners associate Pushkin with Russian literature, unlike most Russian readers, it is simply impossible to deny his legacy.

The talent of this poet and writer truly knew no bounds: Pushkin is famous for his amazing poems, but at the same time he wrote excellent prose and plays. Pushkin's work has received recognition not only now; his talent was recognized by others Russian writers and the poets of his contemporaries.

The theme of Pushkin's work is directly related to his biography - the events and experiences that he went through in his life. Tsarskoye Selo, Petersburg, time in exile, Mikhailovskoye, Caucasus; ideals, disappointments, love and affection - everything is present in the works of Pushkin. And the most famous was the novel "Eugene Onegin".

Ivan Bunin

Ivan Bunin is the first writer from Russia to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The work of this author can be divided into two periods: before emigration and after.

Bunin was very close to the peasantry, the life of the common people, which had a great influence on the author's work. Therefore, among it, the so-called village prose is singled out, for example, "Dry Valley", "Village", which became one of the most popular works.

Nature also plays a significant role in Bunin's work, which inspired many great Russian writers. Bunin believed: she is the main source of strength and inspiration, spiritual harmony, that every person is inextricably linked with her, and in her lies the key to unraveling the mystery of being. Nature and love have become the main themes of the philosophical part of Bunin's work, which is mainly represented by poetry, as well as novels and short stories, for example, "Ida", "Mitina's Love", "Late Hour" and others.

Nikolay Gogol

After graduating from the Nizhyn Gymnasium, Nikolai Gogol's first literary experience was the poem "Hans Küchelgarten", which was not very successful. However, this did not bother the writer, and he soon began working on the play "Marriage", which was published only ten years later. This witty, colorful and lively work smashes modern society to smithereens, which has made prestige, money, power its main values, and left love somewhere in the background.

Gogol was deeply impressed by the death of Alexander Pushkin, which affected others as well. Russian writers and artists. Shortly before this, Gogol showed Pushkin the plot of a new work called "Dead Souls", so now he believed that this work was a "sacred testament" to the great Russian poet.

Dead Souls has become an excellent satire on Russian bureaucracy, serfdom and social ranks, and this book is especially popular among readers abroad.

Anton Chekhov

Chekhov began his creative activity by writing short essays, but very bright and expressive. Chekhov is best known for his humorous stories, although he wrote both tragicomic and dramatic works. And most often foreigners read Chekhov's play called "Uncle Vanya", the stories "The Lady with the Dog" and "Kashtanka".

Perhaps the most basic and famous hero of Chekhov's works is the "little man", whose figure is familiar to many readers even after the "Station Master" by Alexander Pushkin. This is not a single character, but rather a collective image.

Nevertheless, Chekhov’s little people are not the same: one wants to sympathize, to laugh at others (“The Man in the Case”, “Death of an Official”, “Chameleon”, “Scumbag” and others). The main problem of this writer's work is the problem of justice ("Name Day", "Steppe", "Leshy").

Fedor Dostoevsky

Dostoevsky is best known for his works Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov. Each of these works is famous for its deep psychology - indeed, Dostoevsky is considered one of the best psychologists in the history of literature.

He analyzed the nature of human emotions, such as humiliation, self-destruction, murderous rage, as well as states that lead to insanity, suicide, and murder. Psychology and philosophy are closely linked in Dostoyevsky's portrayal of his characters, intellectuals who "feel ideas" in the depths of their souls.

Thus, Crime and Punishment reflects on freedom and inner strength, suffering and madness, illness and fate, the pressure of the modern urban world on the human soul, and raises the question of whether people can ignore their own moral code. Dostoevsky, together with Leo Tolstoy, are the most famous Russian writers in the whole world, and Crime and Punishment is the most popular of the author's works.

Lev Tolstoy

With whom do foreigners associate famous Russian writers So it is with Leo Tolstoy. He is one of the undeniable titans of world fiction, a great artist and person. Tolstoy's name is known all over the world.

There is something Homeric in the epic scope with which he wrote War and Peace, but unlike Homer, he depicted war as a senseless massacre, the result of the vanity and stupidity of the leaders of the nation. The work "War and Peace" became, as it were, a kind of result of everything that Russian society experienced during the period of the 19th century.

But the most famous all over the world is Tolstoy's novel called "Anna Karenina". It is readily read both here and abroad, and readers are invariably captured by the story of the forbidden love of Anna and Count Vronsky, which leads to tragic consequences. Tolstoy dilutes the narrative with a second storyline - the story of Levin, who devotes his life to his marriage to Kitty, housekeeping and God. Thus the writer shows us the contrast between Anna's sin and Levin's virtue.

And you can watch a video about famous Russian writers of the 19th century here:


Take it, tell your friends!

Read also on our website:

show more

Should you read fiction? Maybe this is a waste of time, because such an activity does not bring income? Perhaps this is a way to impose other people's thoughts and program them for certain actions? Let's answer the questions in order...

Aksakov Ivan Sergeevich (1823-1886) - poet and publicist. One of the leaders of Russian Slavophiles. The most famous work: the fairy tale "The Scarlet Flower".

Aksakov Konstantin Sergeevich (1817-1860) - poet, literary critic, linguist, historian. Inspirer and ideologist of Slavophilism.

Aksakov Sergei Timofeevich (1791-1859) - writer and public figure, literary and theater critic. Wrote a book about fishing and hunting. Father of writers Konstantin and Ivan Aksakov.

Annensky Innokenty Fedorovich (1855-1909) - poet, playwright, literary critic, linguist, translator. Author of plays: "King Ixion", "Laodamia", "Melanippa the Philosopher", "Famira Kefared".

Baratynsky Yevgeny Abramovich (1800-1844) - poet and translator. Author of poems: "Eda", "Feasts", "Ball", "Concubine" ("Gypsy").

Batyushkov Konstantin Nikolaevich (1787-1855) - poet. Also the author of a number of well-known prose articles: "On the character of Lomonosov", "Evening at Kantemir" and others.

Belinsky Vissarion Grigoryevich (1811-1848) - literary critic. He headed the critical department in the publication "Domestic Notes". Author of numerous critical articles. He had a great influence on Russian literature.

Bestuzhev-Marlinsky Alexander Alexandrovich (1797-1837) - Byronist writer, literary critic. Published under the pseudonym Marlinsky. Published the almanac "Polar Star". He was one of the Decembrists. Author of prose: "Test", "Terrible fortune-telling", "Frigate Hope" and others.

Vyazemsky Petr Andreevich (1792-1878) - poet, memoirist, historian, literary critic. One of the founders and the first head of the Russian Historical Society. Close friend of Pushkin.

Venevetinov Dmitry Vladimirovich (1805-1827) - poet, prose writer, philosopher, translator, literary critic Author of 50 poems. He was also known as an artist and musician. Organizer of the secret philosophical association "Society of Philosophy".

Herzen Alexander Ivanovich (1812-1870) - writer, philosopher, teacher. The most famous works: the novel “Who is to blame?”, the stories “Doctor Krupov”, “The Magpie-Thief”, “Damaged”.

Glinka Sergei Nikolaevich (1776-1847) - writer, memoirist, historian. The ideological inspirer of conservative nationalism. Author of the following works: "Selim and Roxana", "Virtue of Women" and others.

Glinka Fyodor Nikolaevich (1876-1880) - poet and writer. Member of the Decembrist Society. The most famous works: the poems "Karelia" and "The Mysterious Drop".

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich (1809-1852) - writer, playwright, poet, literary critic. Classic of Russian literature. Author of Dead Souls, the cycle of stories Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, the stories The Overcoat and Viy, the plays The Inspector General and The Marriage, and many other works.

Goncharov Ivan Alexandrovich (1812-1891) - writer, literary critic. Author of the novels: "Oblomov", "Cliff", "Ordinary History".

Griboyedov Alexander Sergeevich (1795-1829) - poet, playwright and composer. He was a diplomat, died in the service in Persia. The most famous work is the poem "Woe from Wit", which served as the source of many catchphrases.

Grigorovich Dmitry Vasilyevich (1822-1900) - writer.

Davydov Denis Vasilyevich (1784-1839) - poet, memoirist. Hero of the Patriotic War of 1812. Author of numerous poems and military memoirs.

Dal Vladimir Ivanovich (1801-1872) - writer and ethnographer. Being a military doctor, he collected folklore along the way. The most famous literary work is the Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language. Dahl tinkered with the dictionary for over 50 years.

Delvig Anton Antonovich (1798-1831) - poet, publisher.

Dobrolyubov Nikolai Alexandrovich (1836-1861) - literary critic and poet. Published under pseudonyms -bov and N. Laibov. Author of numerous critical and philosophical articles.

Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich (1821-1881) - writer and philosopher. Recognized classic of Russian literature. Author of works: "The Brothers Karamazov", "Idiot", "Crime and Punishment", "Teenager" and many others.

Zhemchuzhnikov Alexander Mikhailovich (1826-1896) - poet. Together with his brothers and writer Tolstoy A.K. created the image of Kozma Prutkov.

Zhemchuzhnikov Alexei Mikhailovich (1821-1908) - poet and satirist. Together with his brothers and writer Tolstoy A.K. created the image of Kozma Prutkov. Author of the comedy "Strange Night" and the collection of poems "Songs of Old Age".

Zhemchuzhnikov Vladimir Mikhailovich (1830-1884) - poet. Together with his brothers and writer Tolstoy A.K. created the image of Kozma Prutkov.

Zhukovsky Vasily Andreevich (1783-1852) - poet, literary critic, translator, founder of Russian romanticism.

Zagoskin Mikhail Nikolaevich (1789-1852) - writer and playwright. Author of the first Russian historical novels. Author of the works "Prankster", "Yuri Miloslavsky, or Russians in 1612", "Kulma Petrovich Miroshev" and others.

Karamzin Nikolai Mikhailovich (1766-1826) - historian, writer and poet. Author of the monumental work "History of the Russian State" in 12 volumes. His pen belongs to the story: "Poor Lisa", "Eugene and Julia" and many others.

Kireevsky Ivan Vasilyevich (1806-1856) - religious philosopher, literary critic, Slavophile.

Krylov Ivan Andreevich (1769-1844) - poet and fabulist. Author of 236 fables, many expressions of which have become winged. He published magazines: "Mail of Spirits", "Spectator", "Mercury".

Kuchelbecker Wilhelm Karlovich (1797-1846) - poet. He was one of the Decembrists. Close friend of Pushkin. Author of works: "The Argives", "The Death of Byron", "The Eternal Jew".

Lazhechnikov Ivan Ivanovich (1792-1869) - writer, one of the founders of the Russian historical novel. Author of the novels "Ice House" and "Basurman".

Lermontov Mikhail Yurievich (1814-1841) - poet, writer, playwright, artist. Classic of Russian literature. The most famous works: the novel "A Hero of Our Time", the story "Prisoner of the Caucasus", the poems "Mtsyri" and "Masquerade".

Leskov Nikolai Semenovich (1831-1895) - writer. The most famous works: "Lefty", "Cathedrals", "On knives", "Righteous".

Nekrasov Nikolai Alekseevich (1821-1878) - poet and writer. Classic of Russian literature. Head of the Sovremennik magazine, editor of the Domestic Notes magazine. The most famous works are: “Who should live well in Rus'”, “Russian women”, “Frost, Red nose”.

Ogarev Nikolai Platonovich (1813-1877) - poet. Author of poems, poems, critical articles.

Odoevsky Alexander Ivanovich (1802-1839) - poet and writer. He was one of the Decembrists. The author of the poem "Vasilko", the poems "Zosima" and "The Elder-Prophet".

Odoevsky Vladimirovich Fedorovich (1804-1869) - writer, thinker, one of the creators of musicology. He wrote fantastic and utopian works. Author of the novel "Year 4338", numerous stories.

Ostrovsky Alexander Nikolaevich (1823-1886) - playwright. Classic of Russian literature. Author of plays: "Thunderstorm", "Dowry", "Balzaminov's Marriage" and many others.

Panaev Ivan Ivanovich (1812-1862) - writer, literary critic, journalist. Author of works: "Mama's Boy", "Meeting at the Station", "Lions of the Province" and others.

Pisarev Dmitry Ivanovich (1840-1868) - literary critic of the sixties, translator. Many of Pisarev's articles were dismantled into aphorisms.

Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich (1799-1837) - poet, writer, playwright. Classic of Russian literature. Author: poems "Poltava" and "Eugene Onegin", the story "The Captain's Daughter", a collection of stories "Tales of Belkin" and numerous poems. He founded the literary magazine Sovremennik.

Raevsky Vladimir Fedoseevich (1795-1872) - poet. Member of the Patriotic War of 1812. He was one of the Decembrists.

Ryleev Kondraty Fedorovich (1795-1826) - poet. He was one of the Decembrists. Author of the historical poetic cycle "Duma". He published the literary almanac "Polar Star".

Saltykov-Shchedrin Mikhail Efgrafovich (1826-1889) - writer, journalist. Classic of Russian literature. The most famous works: "Gentlemen Golovlevs", "The Wise Gudgeon", "Poshekhonskaya Antiquity". He was the editor of the journal "Domestic Notes".

Samarin Yuriy Fedorovich (1819-1876) - publicist and philosopher.

Sukhovo-Kobylin Alexander Vasilyevich (1817-1903) - playwright, philosopher, translator. Author of plays: "Krechinsky's Wedding", "Deed", "Death of Tarelkin".

Tolstoy Alexei Konstantinovich (1817-1875) - writer, poet, playwright. Author of the poems: "The Sinner", "The Alchemist", the plays "Fantasy", "Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich", the stories "Ghoul" and "Wolf Foster". Together with the Zhemchuzhnikov brothers, he created the image of Kozma Prutkov.

Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich (1828-1910) - writer, thinker, educator. Classic of Russian literature. Served in the artillery. Participated in the defense of Sevastopol. The most famous works: "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina", "Resurrection". In 1901 he was excommunicated from the church.

Turgenev Ivan Sergeevich (1818-1883) - writer, poet, playwright. Classic of Russian literature. The most famous works: "Mumu", "Asya", "Noble Nest", "Fathers and Sons".

Tyutchev Fedor Ivanovich (1803-1873) - poet. Classic of Russian literature.

Fet Afanasy Afanasyevich (1820-1892) - lyric poet, memoirist, translator. Classic of Russian literature. Author of numerous romantic poems. He translated Juvenal, Goethe, Catullus.

Khomyakov Alexei Stepanovich (1804-1860) - poet, philosopher, theologian, artist.

Chernyshevsky Nikolai Gavrilovich (1828-1889) - writer, philosopher, literary critic. Author of the novels What Is to Be Done? and "Prologue", as well as the stories "Alferyev", "Small stories".

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich (1860-1904) - writer, playwright. Classic of Russian literature. Author of the plays "The Cherry Orchard", "Three Sisters", "Uncle Vanya" and numerous stories. Conducted a population census on Sakhalin Island.


Now the current generation sees everything clearly, marvels at the delusions, laughs at the foolishness of its ancestors, it is not in vain that this chronicle is scribbled with heavenly fire, that every letter screams in it, that a piercing finger is directed from everywhere at him, at him, at the current generation; but the current generation laughs and arrogantly, proudly begins a series of new delusions, which will also be laughed at by descendants later. "Dead Souls"

Nestor Vasilyevich Kukolnik (1809 - 1868)
For what? Like an inspiration
Love the given subject!
Like a true poet
Sell ​​your imagination!
I am a slave, a day laborer, I am a merchant!
I owe you, sinner, for gold,
For your worthless piece of silver
Pay the divine price!
"Improvisation I"


Literature is a language that expresses everything that a country thinks, wants, knows, wants and needs to know.


In the hearts of the simple, the feeling of the beauty and grandeur of nature is stronger, more alive a hundred times than in us, enthusiastic storytellers in words and on paper."Hero of our time"



Everywhere there is sound, and everywhere there is light,
And all the worlds have one beginning,
And there is nothing in nature
No matter how love breathes.


In days of doubt, in days of painful reflections on the fate of my homeland, you alone are my support and support, O great, powerful, truthful and free Russian language! Without you, how not to fall into despair at the sight of everything that happens at home? But one cannot believe that such a language was not given to a great people!
Poems in prose "Russian language"



So, complete your dissolute escape,
Prickly snow flies from the bare fields,
Driven by an early, violent blizzard,
And, stopping in the forest wilderness,
Gathering in silver silence
Deep and cold bed.


Listen: shame on you!
It's time to get up! You know yourself
What time has come;
In whom the sense of duty has not cooled down,
Who has an incorruptible heart,
In whom is talent, strength, accuracy,
Tom shouldn't sleep now...
"Poet and Citizen"



Is it possible that even here they will not allow and will not allow the Russian organism to develop nationally, by its organic strength, but certainly impersonally, servilely imitating Europe? But what to do with the Russian organism then? Do these gentlemen understand what an organism is? Separation, "split" from their country leads to hatred, these people hate Russia, so to speak, naturally, physically: for the climate, for the fields, for the forests, for the order, for the liberation of the peasant, for Russian history, in a word, for everything, hate for everything.


Spring! the first frame is exposed -
And noise broke into the room,
And the blessing of the nearby temple,
And the talk of the people, and the sound of the wheel ...


Well, what are you afraid of, pray tell! Now every grass, every flower rejoices, but we hide, we are afraid, just what kind of misfortune! The storm will kill! This is not a storm, but grace! Yes, grace! You are all thunder! The northern lights will light up, it would be necessary to admire and marvel at the wisdom: “the dawn rises from the midnight countries”! And you are horrified and come up with: this is for war or for the plague. Whether a comet is coming, I would not take my eyes off! Beauty! The stars have already looked closely, they are all the same, and this is a new thing; Well, I would look and admire! And you are afraid to even look at the sky, you are trembling! From everything you have made yourself a scarecrow. Eh, people! "Storm"


There is no more enlightening, soul-purifying feeling than the one that a person feels when he gets acquainted with a great work of art.


We know that loaded guns must be handled with care. But we do not want to know that we must treat the word in the same way. The word can both kill and make evil worse than death.


There is a well-known trick of an American journalist who, in order to increase the subscription to his magazine, began to print in other publications the most brazen attacks on himself from fictitious persons: some printed him out as a swindler and perjurer, others as a thief and murderer, and still others as a debauchee on a colossal scale. He did not skimp on paying for such friendly advertisements, until everyone thought - yes, it’s obvious that this is a curious and remarkable person when everyone shouts about him like that! - and began to buy up his own newspaper.
"Life in a Hundred Years"

Nikolai Semenovich Leskov (1831 - 1895)
I ... think that I know the Russian person in his very depths, and I do not put myself in any merit for this. I did not study the people from conversations with St. Petersburg cabbies, but I grew up among the people, on the Gostomel pasture, with a cauldron in my hand, I slept with him on the dewy grass of the night, under a warm sheepskin coat, and on the Panin’s swaying crowd behind circles of dusty manners ...


Between these two colliding titans - science and theology - there is a stunned public, quickly losing faith in the immortality of man and in any deity, quickly descending to the level of a purely animal existence. Such is the picture of the hour illuminated by the radiant midday sun of the Christian and scientific era!
"Isis Unveiled"


Sit down, I'm glad to see you. Cast away all fear
And you can keep yourself free
I give you permission. You know one of these days
I was elected king by the people,
But it's all the same. They confuse my thought
All these honors, greetings, bows...
"Crazy"


Gleb Ivanovich Uspensky (1843 - 1902)
- What do you need abroad? - I asked him at a time when in his room, with the help of servants, his things were being packed and packed for shipment to the Varshavsky railway station.
- Yes, just ... to come to your senses! - He said confusedly and with a kind of dull expression on his face.
"Letters from the Road"


Is it really a matter of going through life in such a way as not to offend anyone? This is not happiness. Hurt, break, break, so that life boils. I am not afraid of any accusations, but a hundred times more than death I am afraid of colorlessness.


Verse is the same music, only combined with the word, and it also needs a natural ear, a sense of harmony and rhythm.


You experience a strange feeling when, with a light touch of your hand, you make such a mass rise and fall at will. When such a mass obeys you, you feel the power of a person ...
"Meeting"

Vasily Vasilyevich Rozanov (1856 - 1919)
The feeling of the Motherland should be strict, restrained in words, not eloquent, not chatty, not “waving your arms” and not running forward (to show yourself). The feeling of the Motherland should be a great ardent silence.
"Solitary"


And what is the secret of beauty, what is the secret and charm of art: in a conscious, inspired victory over torment or in the unconscious anguish of the human spirit, which sees no way out of the circle of vulgarity, squalor or thoughtlessness and is tragically condemned to appear self-satisfied or hopelessly false.
"Sentimental Remembrance"


Since my birth I have been living in Moscow, but by God I don’t know where Moscow came from, why it is, why, why, what it needs. In the Duma, at meetings, I, along with others, talk about urban economy, but I don’t know how many miles in Moscow, how many people there are, how many are born and die, how much we receive and spend, for how much and with whom we trade ... Which city is richer: Moscow or London? If London is richer, then why? And the jester knows him! And when some question is raised in the thought, I shudder and the first one starts shouting: “Submit to the commission! To the commission!


Everything new in the old way:
The modern poet
In a metaphorical outfit
Speech is poetic.

But others are not an example for me,
And my charter is simple and strict.
My verse is a pioneer boy
Lightly dressed, barefoot.
1926


Under the influence of Dostoevsky, as well as foreign literature, Baudelaire and Poe, my passion began not for decadence, but for symbolism (even then I already understood their difference). A collection of poems, published at the very beginning of the 90s, I entitled "Symbols". It seems that I was the first to use this word in Russian literature.

Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov (1866 - 1949)
The run of changeable phenomena,
Past those flying, speed up:
Merge into one sunset of accomplishments
With the first gleam of gentle dawns.
From the lower life to the origins
In a moment, a single review:
In the face of a single smart eye
Take your twins.
Immutable and wonderful
Blessed Muse gift:
In the spirit of the form of slender songs,
There is life and heat in the heart of the songs.
"Thoughts on Poetry"


I have a lot of news. And all are good. I'm lucky". I am writing. I want to live, live, live forever. If you only knew how many new poems I have written! More than a hundred. It was crazy, a fairy tale, new. I am publishing a new book, completely different from the previous ones. She will surprise many. I changed my understanding of the world. No matter how funny my phrase sounds, I will say: I understood the world. For many years, perhaps forever.
K. Balmont - L. Vilkina



Man is the truth! Everything is in man, everything is for man! Only man exists, everything else is the work of his hands and his brain! Human! It's great! It sounds... proud!

"At the bottom"


I'm sorry to create something useless and no one needs now. A collection, a book of poems at the present time is the most useless, unnecessary thing ... I do not mean by this that poetry is not needed. On the contrary, I affirm that poetry is necessary, even necessary, natural and eternal. There was a time when whole books of poetry seemed necessary to everyone, when they were read in full, understood and accepted by everyone. This time is past, not ours. The modern reader does not need a collection of poems!


Language is the history of a people. Language is the path of civilization and culture. Therefore, the study and preservation of the Russian language is not an idle occupation with nothing to do, but an urgent need.


What nationalists, patriots these internationalists become when they need it! And with what arrogance they sneer at the "frightened intellectuals" - as if there is absolutely no reason to be frightened - or at the "frightened townsfolk", as if they have some great advantages over the "philistines". And who, in fact, are these townsfolk, "prosperous philistines"? And who and what do the revolutionaries care about, if they so despise the average person and his well-being?
"Cursed Days"


In the struggle for their ideal, which is “freedom, equality and fraternity”, citizens must use such means that do not contradict this ideal.
"Governor"



“Let your soul be whole or split, let your understanding of the world be mystical, realistic, skeptical, or even idealistic (if you are unhappy before that), let the techniques of creativity be impressionistic, realistic, naturalistic, the content be lyrical or fabulous, let there be a mood, an impression - whatever you want, but, I beg you, be logical - may this cry of the heart be forgiven me! – are logical in design, in the construction of the work, in syntax.
Art is born in homelessness. I wrote letters and stories addressed to a distant unknown friend, but when a friend came, art gave way to life. Of course, I'm not talking about home comfort, but about life, which means more than art.
"We are with you. Diary of love"


An artist can do nothing more than open his soul to others. It is impossible to present him with predetermined rules. He is still an unknown world, where everything is new. We must forget what captivated others, here it is different. Otherwise, you will listen and not hear, you will look without understanding.
From Valery Bryusov's treatise "On Art"


Alexei Mikhailovich Remizov (1877 - 1957)
Well, let her rest, she was exhausted - they exhausted her, alarmed her. And as soon as it's light, the shopkeeper will rise, she will begin to fold her goods, she will grab a blanket, she will go, pull out this soft bedding from under the old woman: she will wake the old woman, raise her to her feet: it's not light, it's good to get up. It's nothing you can do. In the meantime - grandmother, our Kostroma, our mother, Russia!

"Whirlwind Rus'"


Art never speaks to the crowd, to the masses, it speaks to the individual, in the deep and hidden recesses of his soul.

Mikhail Andreevich Osorgin (Ilyin) (1878 - 1942)
How strange /.../ How many cheerful and cheerful books there are, how many brilliant and witty philosophical truths - but there is nothing more comforting than Ecclesiastes.


Babkin dared, - read Seneca
And, whistling carcasses,
Take it to the library
In the margins, noting: "Nonsense!"
Babkin, friend, is a harsh critic,
Have you ever thought
What a legless paraplegic
Light chamois is not a decree? ..
"Reader"


A critic's word about a poet must be objectively concrete and creative; the critic, while remaining a scientist, is a poet.

"Poetry of the word"




Only great things are worth thinking about, only great tasks should be set by the writer; set boldly, without being embarrassed by your personal small forces.

Boris Konstantinovich Zaitsev (1881 - 1972)
“It’s true, there are both goblin and water ones here,” I thought, looking in front of me, “or maybe some other spirit lives here ... A mighty, northern spirit that enjoys this wildness; maybe real northern fauns and healthy, blond women roam in these forests, eating cloudberries and lingonberries, laughing and chasing each other.
"North"


You need to be able to close a boring book...leave a bad movie...and part with people who don't value you!


Out of modesty, I will be careful not to point out the fact that on the day of my birth the bells were rung and there was a general rejoicing of the people. Evil tongues associated this jubilation with some great holiday that coincided with the day of my birth, but I still don’t understand what else is there to do with this holiday?


That was the time when love, good and healthy feelings were considered vulgar and a relic; no one loved, but all were thirsty and, like poisoned ones, fell to everything sharp, tearing apart the insides.
"The Road to Calvary"


Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky (Nikolai Vasilyevich Korneichukov) (1882 - 1969)
- Well, what's wrong, - I say to myself, - at least in a short word for now? After all, exactly the same form of farewell to friends exists in other languages, and there it does not shock anyone. The great poet Walt Whitman, shortly before his death, said goodbye to readers with a touching poem "So long!", which means in English - "Bye!". The French a bientot has the same meaning. There is no rudeness here. On the contrary, this form is filled with the most gracious courtesy, because here the following (approximately) meaning is compressed: be prosperous and happy until we see each other again.
"Live Like Life"


Switzerland? This is a mountain pasture for tourists. I've traveled all over the world myself, but I hate those ruminant bipeds with a Badaker for a tail. They chewed through the eyes of all the beauties of nature.
"Island of Lost Ships"


Everything that I wrote and will write, I consider only mental rubbish and do not respect my literary merits. And I wonder and wonder why apparently smart people find some meaning and value in my poems. Thousands of poems, whether mine or those poets whom I know in Russia, are not worth one chanter of my bright mother.


I am afraid that Russian literature has only one future: its past.
Article "I'm afraid"


For a long time we have been looking for such a task, similar to lentils, so that the combined rays of the work of artists and the work of thinkers directed by it to a common point would meet in a common work and could ignite and turn even the cold substance of ice into a fire. Now such a task - a lentil that guides together your stormy courage and the cold mind of thinkers - has been found. This goal is to create a common written language...
"Artists of the World"


He adored poetry, tried to be impartial in his judgments. He was surprisingly young at heart, and perhaps even in mind. He always looked like a child to me. There was something childish in his clipped head, in his bearing, more like a gymnasium than a military one. He liked to portray an adult, like all children. He loved to play the “master”, the literary bosses of his “humil”, that is, the little poets and poetesses who surrounded him. Poetic children loved him very much.
Khodasevich, "Necropolis"



Me, me, me What a wild word!
Is that one over there really me?
Did mom love this?
Yellow-gray, semi-gray
And omniscient like a snake?
You have lost your Russia.
Did you resist the elements
Good elements of gloomy evil?
No? So shut up: took away
Your fate is not without a reason
To the edge of an unkind foreign land.
What's the point of groaning and grieve -
Russia must be earned!
"What You Need to Know"


I never stopped writing poetry. For me, they are my connection with the time, with the new life of my people. When I wrote them, I lived by those rhythms that sounded in the heroic history of my country. I am happy that I lived in these years and saw events that had no equal.


All the people sent to us are our reflection. And they were sent so that we, looking at these people, correct our mistakes, and when we correct them, these people either change too or leave our lives.


In the wide field of Russian literature in the USSR, I was the only literary wolf. I was advised to dye the skin. Ridiculous advice. Whether a painted wolf or a shorn wolf, he still does not look like a poodle. They treated me like a wolf. And for several years they drove me according to the rules of a literary cage in a fenced yard. I have no malice, but I am very tired ...
From a letter from M. A. Bulgakov to I. V. Stalin, May 30, 1931.

When I die, my descendants will ask my contemporaries: "Did you understand Mandelstam's poems?" - "No, we did not understand his poems." "Did you feed Mandelstam, did you give him shelter?" - "Yes, we fed Mandelstam, we gave him shelter." "Then you are forgiven."

Ilya Grigorievich Erenburg (Eliyahu Gershevich) (1891 - 1967)
Maybe go to the Press House - there is one sandwich with caviar and a debate - "about the proletarian choral reading", or to the Polytechnic Museum - there are no sandwiches, but twenty-six young poets read their poems about the "locomotive mass". No, I will sit on the stairs, shivering from the cold and dream that all this is not in vain, that, sitting here on the step, I am preparing the distant sunrise of the Renaissance. I dreamed both simply and in verse, and the result was boring iambs.
"The extraordinary adventures of Julio Jurenito and his students"