Who is the novel War and Peace dedicated to? History of writing and printing "War and Peace" Chapter XVI

Novel "War and Peace" L.N. Tolstoy devoted seven years of intense and hard work. September 5, 1863 A.E. Bers, father of Sofya Andreevna, wife of L.N. Tolstoy, sent from Moscow to Yasnaya Polyana a letter with the following remark: "Yesterday we talked a lot about 1812 on the occasion of your intention to write a novel relating to this era." It is this letter that the researchers consider to be the “first accurate evidence” dating the beginning of the work of L.N. Tolstoy over "War and Peace". In October of the same year, Tolstoy wrote to his relative: “I have never felt my mental and even all my moral forces so free and so capable of work. And I have this job. This work is a novel from the time of 1810 and the 20s, which has completely occupied me since the autumn ... I am now a writer with all the strength of my soul, and I write and think, as I have never written and thought before.

The manuscripts of "War and Peace" testify to how one of the world's largest creations was created: over 5,200 finely written sheets have been preserved in the writer's archive. From them you can trace the entire history of the creation of the novel.

Initially, Tolstoy conceived a novel about a Decembrist who returned after a 30-year exile in Siberia. The action of the novel began in 1856, shortly before the abolition of serfdom. But then the writer revised his plan and moved on to 1825 - the era of the Decembrist uprising. But soon the writer left this beginning and decided to show the youth of his hero, which coincided with a formidable and glorious time. Patriotic War 1812. But Tolstoy did not stop there, and since the war of 1812 was inextricably linked with 1805, he began his entire work from that time. Having moved the beginning of the action of his novel half a century into the depths of history, Tolstoy decided to lead not one, but many heroes through the most important events for Russia.

Your intention - to capture in art form half a century of history countries - Tolstoy called "Three pores". The first time is the beginning of the century, its first decade and a half, the youth of the first Decembrists who went through the Patriotic War of 1812. The second time is the 20s with their main event - the uprising on December 14, 1825. The third time is the 50s, the end of the Crimean War, unsuccessful for the Russian army, the sudden death of Nicholas I, the amnesty of the Decembrists, their return from exile and the time of waiting for changes in the life of Russia.

However, in the process of working on the work, the writer narrowed the scope of his original idea and focused on the first period, touching only on the beginning of the second period in the epilogue of the novel. But even in this form, the idea of ​​the work remained global in scope and demanded the exertion of all forces from the writer. At the beginning of his work, Tolstoy realized that the usual framework of the novel and the historical story would not be able to accommodate all the richness of the content he had conceived, and began to persistently look for a new one. art form he wanted to create literary work quite an unusual type. And he succeeded. "War and Peace", according to L.N. Tolstoy is not a novel, not a poem, not a historical chronicle, this is an epic novel, new genre prose, which, after Tolstoy, became widespread in Russian and world literature.

During the first year of work, Tolstoy worked hard on the beginning of the novel. According to the author himself, many times he started and stopped writing his book, losing and gaining hope to express in it everything that he wanted to express. Fifteen variants of the beginning of the novel have been preserved in the writer's archive. The idea of ​​the work was based on Tolstoy's deep interest in history, in philosophical and socio-political issues. The work was created in an atmosphere of passions boiling over the main issue of that era - the role of the people in the history of the country, about its fate. While working on the novel, Tolstoy sought to find the answer to these questions.

In order to truthfully describe the events of the Patriotic War of 1812, the writer studied a huge amount of materials: books, historical documents, memoirs, letters. “When I write history,” Tolstoy pointed out in the article “A few words about the book“ War and Peace ”, “I like to be true to reality to the smallest detail.” While working on the work, he collected a whole library of books about the events of 1812. In the books of Russian and foreign historians, he did not find a true description of events, nor a fair assessment historical figures. Some of them unrestrainedly praised Alexander I, considering him the winner of Napoleon, others exalted Napoleon, considering him invincible.

Rejecting all the works of historians who portrayed the war of 1812 as a war of two emperors, Tolstoy set himself the goal of truthfully covering the events great era and showed the war of liberation waged by the Russian people against foreign invaders. From the books of Russian and foreign historians, Tolstoy borrowed only authentic historical documents: orders, orders, dispositions, battle plans, letters, etc. He included letters from Alexander I and Napoleon, which the Russian and French emperors exchanged before the start of the 1812 war, into the text of the novel; disposition battle of austerlitz, developed by General Weyrother, as well as the disposition of the Battle of Borodino, compiled by Napoleon. The chapters of the work also include letters from Kutuzov, which confirm the characterization given to the field marshal by the author.

When creating the novel, Tolstoy used the memoirs of contemporaries and participants in the Patriotic War of 1812. So, from "Notes on 1812 by Sergei Glinka, the first warrior of the Moscow militia", the writer borrowed materials for scenes depicting Moscow during the war; in the “Works of Denis Vasilyevich Davydov” Tolstoy found the materials underlying the partisan scenes of “War and Peace”; in the "Notes of Alexei Petrovich Yermolov" the writer found a lot of important information about the actions of Russian troops during their foreign campaigns of 1805-1806. Tolstoy also discovered a lot of valuable information in the notes of V.A. Perovsky about his stay in captivity by the French, and in the diary of S. Zhikharev "Notes of a Contemporary from 1805 to 1819", on the basis of which the Moscow life of that time is described in the novel.

While working on the work, Tolstoy also used materials from newspapers and magazines from the era of the Patriotic War of 1812. He spent a lot of time in the manuscript department of the Rumyantsev Museum and in the archives of the palace department, where he carefully studied unpublished documents (orders and instructions, reports and reports, Masonic manuscripts and letters from historical figures). Here he got acquainted with the letters of the maid of honor imperial palace M.A. Volkova to V.A. Lanskoy, letters from General F.P. Uvarov and others. In letters that were not intended for publication, the writer found precious details depicting the life and characters of his contemporaries in 1812.

Tolstoy spent two days in Borodino. Having traveled around the battlefield, he wrote to his wife: “I am very pleased, very, - with my trip ... If only God would give health and tranquility, and I will write this battle of Borodino which hasn't happened yet." Between the manuscripts of "War and Peace" there is a sheet with notes made by Tolstoy at the time when he was on the Borodino field. “The distance is visible for 25 miles,” he wrote, sketching the horizon line and noting where the villages of Borodino, Gorki, Psarevo, Semenovskoye, Tatarinovo are located. On this sheet, he noted the movement of the sun during the battle. While working on the work, these brief notes Tolstoy unfolded the Borodino battle into unique pictures, full of movement, colors and sounds.

Throughout the seven years of hard work that the writing of War and Peace required, Tolstoy did not leave his spiritual uplift and creative burning, and that is why the work has not lost its significance to this day. More than a century has passed since the appearance in print of the first part of the novel, and invariably "War and Peace" is read by people of all ages - from young people to the elderly. During the years of work on the epic novel, Tolstoy stated that "the goal of the artist is not to undeniably resolve the issue, but to make you love life in countless, never exhausted all its manifestations." Then he admitted: “If I were told that what I am writing will be read by today's children in twenty years and will cry and laugh over it and love life, I would devote my whole life and all my strength to it.” Many such works were created by Tolstoy. "War and Peace", dedicated to one of the bloodiest wars of the 19th century, but affirming the idea of ​​the triumph of life over death, occupies an honorable place among them.

17.12.2013

145 years ago in Russia there was the largest literary event The first edition of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace was published. Separate chapters of the novel were published earlier - Tolstoy began publishing the first two parts in Katkov's Russkiy Vestnik a few years earlier, but the "canonical", complete and revised version of the novel came out only a few years later. Over a century and a half of its existence, this world masterpiece and bestseller has acquired a mass of scientific research, and reader legends. Here are some interesting facts about the novel that you may not have known.

How did Tolstoy himself evaluate War and Peace?

Leo Tolstoy was very skeptical about his "main works" - the novels "War and Peace" and Anna Karenina. So, in January 1871, he sent Fet a letter in which he wrote: “How happy I am ... that I will never write verbose rubbish like War.” Nearly 40 years later, he has not changed his mind. On December 6, 1908, an entry appeared in the writer's diary: "People love me for those trifles - War and Peace, etc., which seem very important to them." There is even more recent evidence. In the summer of 1909, one of the visitors to Yasnaya Polyana expressed his admiration and gratitude to the by then universally recognized classic for the creation of War and Peace and Anna Karenina. Tolstoy's answer was: "It's like someone came to Edison and said:" I respect you very much because you dance the mazurka well. I attribute meaning to very different books of mine."

Was Tolstoy sincere? Perhaps there was a share of the author's coquetry, although the whole image of Tolstoy the thinker strongly contradicts this conjecture - he was too serious and unfeigned person.

"War and Peace" or "War and Peace"?

The name "War of the World" is so familiar that it has already eaten into the subcortex. If you ask any more or less educated person what is the main work of Russian literature of all time, a good half will say without hesitation: "War and Peace." Meanwhile, the novel had different variants titles: "1805" (even an excerpt from the novel was published under this title), "All's well that ends well" and "Three pores".

Associated with the title of Tolstoy's masterpiece famous legend. Often they try to beat the title of the novel. Claiming that the author himself put some ambiguity into it: either Tolstoy had in mind the opposition of war and peace as an antonym of war, that is, tranquility, or he used the word “peace” in the meaning of community, community, land ...

But the fact is that at the time when the novel saw the light of day, such ambiguity could not exist: two words, although they were pronounced the same, were written differently. Before the spelling reform of 1918, in the first case it was written "mir" (peace), and in the second - "mir" (Universe, society).

There is a legend that Tolstoy allegedly used the word “mir” in the title, but all this is the result of a simple misunderstanding. All lifetime editions of Tolstoy's novel were published under the title "War and Peace", and he himself wrote the title of the novel in French as "La guerre et la paix". How could the word “world” sneak into the name? This is where the story splits. According to one version, this is the name that was written with his own hand on the document submitted by Leo Tolstoy to M.N. Lavrov, an employee of the Katkov printing house at the first full publication novel. It is quite possible that there really was a mistake by the author. And so the legend was born.

According to another version, the legend could have appeared later as a result of a misprint made during the publication of the novel edited by P. I. Biryukov. In the edition published in 1913, the title of the novel is reproduced eight times: on title page and on the first page of every volume. Seven times "peace" is printed and only once - "peace", but on the first page of the first volume.
About the sources of "War and Peace"

When working on the novel, Leo Tolstoy approached his sources very seriously. He read a lot of historical and memoir literature. In Tolstoy's "list of used literature" there were, for example, such academic publications as: the multi-volume "Description of the Patriotic War in 1812", the history of M. I. Bogdanovich, "The Life of Count Speransky" by M. Korf, "Biography of Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov" M P. Shcherbinina. The writer and materials of the French historians Thiers, A. Dumas Sr., Georges Chambray, Maximilien Foix, Pierre Lanfre used. There are studies on Freemasonry and, of course, the memoirs of the direct participants in the events - Sergei Glinka, Denis Davydov, Alexei Yermolov and many others, there was also a solid list of French memoirists, starting with Napoleon himself.

559 characters

The researchers calculated the exact number of heroes of "War and Peace" - there are exactly 559 of them in the book, and 200 of them are quite historical figures. Many of the rest have real prototypes.

In general, working on surnames fictional characters(coming up with names and surnames for half a thousand people is already a lot of work), Tolstoy used the following three main ways: he used real surnames; modified real surnames; created completely new surnames, but based on real models.

Many episodic heroes of the novel wear quite historical surnames- the book mentions the Razumovskys, Meshcherskys, Gruzinskys, Lopukhins, Arkharovs and others. But the main characters, as a rule, have quite recognizable, but still fake, encrypted surnames. The reason for this is usually cited as the writer's unwillingness to show the connection of the character with any specific prototype, from which Tolstoy took only some features. Such, for example, are Bolkonsky (Volkonsky), Drubetskoy (Trubetskoy), Kuragin (Kurakin), Dolokhov (Dorokhov) and others. But, of course, Tolstoy could not completely abandon fiction - for example, on the pages of the novel there are names that sound quite noble, but still not related to a particular family - Peronskaya, Chatrov, Telyanin, Desal, etc.

Real prototypes of many heroes of the novel are also known. So, Vasily Dmitrievich Denisov is a friend of Nikolai Rostov, the famous hussar and partisan Denis Davydov became his prototype.
An acquaintance of the Rostov family, Maria Dmitrievna Akhrosimova, was written off from the widow of Major General Nastasya Dmitrievna Ofrosimova. By the way, she was so colorful that she appeared in another famous work - Alexander Griboyedov almost portrayed her in his comedy Woe from Wit.

Her son, breter and reveler Fyodor Ivanovich Dolokhov, and later one of the leaders partisan movement embodied the features of several prototypes at once - the war heroes of the partisans Alexander Figner and Ivan Dorokhov, as well as the famous duelist Fyodor Tolstoy-American.

The old prince Nikolai Andreevich Bolkonsky, an elderly nobleman of Catherine, was inspired by the image of the writer's maternal grandfather, a representative of the Volkonsky family.
But Princess Maria Nikolaevna, the daughter of the old man Bolkonsky and the sister of Prince Andrei, Tolstoy saw in Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya (in the marriage of Tolstoy), his mother.

Screen adaptations

We all know and appreciate the famous Soviet adaptation of "War and Peace" by Sergei Bondarchuk, which was released in 1965. The production of War and Peace by King Vidor in 1956 is also known, the music for which was written by Nino Rota, and the main roles were played by Hollywood stars first magnitude Audrey Hepburn (Natasha Rostova) and Henry Fonda (Pierre Bezukhov).

And the first adaptation of the novel appeared just a few years after the death of Leo Tolstoy. The silent picture of Pyotr Chardynin was published in 1913, one of the main roles (Andrey Bolkonsky) in the film was played by famous actor Ivan Mozzhukhin.

Some numbers

Tolstoy wrote and rewrote the novel for 6 years, from 1863 to 1869. According to the researchers of his work, the author manually rewrote the text of the novel 8 times, and rewrote individual episodes more than 26 times.

The first edition of the novel: twice as short and five times as interesting?

Not everyone knows that in addition to the generally accepted one, there is another version of the novel. This is the very first edition that Leo Tolstoy brought to Moscow in 1866 to the publisher Mikhail Katkov for publication. But this time Tolstoy could not publish the novel.

Katkov was interested in continuing to print it in pieces in his Russian Bulletin. Other publishers did not see any commercial potential in the book at all - the novel seemed too long and "irrelevant" to them, so they offered the author to publish it at his own expense. There were other reasons: Sofya Andreevna demanded that her husband return to Yasnaya Polyana, who could not cope alone with running a large household and looking after children. In addition, in the Chertkovo library that had just opened for public use, Tolstoy found a lot of materials that he certainly wanted to use in his book. And therefore, postponing the publication of the novel, he worked on it for another two years. However, the first version of the book did not disappear - it was preserved in the writer's archive, was reconstructed and published in 1983 in the 94th volume. Literary heritage Publishing house "Science".

Here is what the head of a well-known publishing house, Igor Zakharov, who published it in 2007, wrote about this version of the novel:

"1. Twice as short and five times more interesting.
2. Almost no philosophical digressions.
3. A hundred times easier to read: the entire French text is replaced by Russian in the translation of Tolstoy himself.
4. Much more peace and less war.
5. Happy ending...».

Well, it's our right to choose...

Elena Veshkina

A work has been completed on which, according to Tolstoy, he "worked for seven years" with "painful and joyful perseverance and excitement" and in which he "tried to write the history of the people." Critical reviews, which began to appear immediately after the publication of the novel began in the Russky Vestnik magazine, increased with the release of each volume of a separate edition of War and Peace. Tolstoy was not indifferent to them. By his own admission, while publishing War and Peace, he knew "that it was full of flaws, but knew that it would have the same success that it had." However, this confidence of the author did not last long. On September 13, 1871, he confessed that praise had a harmful effect on him, that he was "too inclined to believe their justice" and that he "with great difficulty only recently managed to eradicate in himself that nonsense" that the success of the book had produced in him. And a year and a half later, in response to the reviews of relatives about War and Peace, Tolstoy wrote: “... don’t think that I’m speaking insincerely – War and Peace are now disgusting to me all! The other day I had to look into it to decide whether to correct it for the new edition, and I cannot express to you the feeling of repentance, shame that I experienced when looking over many places! A feeling like that which a person experiences when he sees the traces of an orgy in which he participated. “One thing consoles me that I was fond of this orgy with all my heart, and thought that there was nothing else besides this.”

At the beginning of 1873, the third edition of the "Works of L. N. Tolstoy" in eight volumes was being prepared for publication, in which the last four volumes were devoted to the novel "War and Peace". Resumed for new edition creative work Tolstoy. In this regard, it is interesting to recall how, in his old age, Tolstoy said that he does not reread his published works, and if any page accidentally comes across, it always seems to him: "it all needs to be redone." This is what happened with War and Peace.

Getting busy preparing the novel for a new edition. Tolstoy decided to re-read it critically "and black out the superfluous - what needs to be completely blacked out, what needs to be taken out by printing separately." Then he wrote to H. N. Strakhov: “Give me advice if you have time to look through the last three volumes. Yes, if you remember that it’s not good, remind me. I'm afraid to touch it because there's so much bad stuff in front of my eyes that it's as if I want to write again on this underpainting. If, remembering what needs to be changed, and after looking at the last three volumes of the reasoning, you would write to me: this and that must be changed and the reasoning should be thrown out from page such and such to page such and such, you would very, very oblige me.

The letter to N. N. Strakhov was not sent, and in March 1873 Tolstoy himself began work, leading it simultaneously with the creation of the novel Anna Karenina. In mid-May, Tolstoy sent Strakhov a new letter asking for help. He wrote to him about his work: “I exclude all reasoning and French and would terribly wish for your advice. Can I send it to you for viewing when I'm done?" H. N. Strakhov gladly accepted Tolstoy's proposal, but until the end of June Tolstoy himself continued to work, only notifying H. H. Strakhov of the nature of the corrections. “I began to look through,” he wrote on May 31, “and did the main thing, that is, I threw out some arguments completely, and some, such as, for example, about the Battle of Borodino, about the fire of Moscow, the reasoning of the epilogue, etc., I made separately and I want to print as separate articles. Another thing I did was to translate All French in Russian; but I haven’t finished volumes 4, 5 and 6 yet and in some places threw out bad things.

On June 22, he sent from there to H. H. Strakhov the revised six volumes of the first edition for review. “I am sending you...,” Tolstoy wrote, “I don’t know if it’s a corrected, but probably soiled and tattered copy of War and Peace, and I beg you... to review my corrections and tell me your opinion—whether it’s good or bad (if you find what is bad, I give you the right to destroy the amendment and correct what you know and notice as bad). I sometimes felt sorry for the destruction of French, but in general, it seems to me, it is better without French. The arguments of the military, historical and philosophical, it seems to me, taken out of the novel, facilitated it and are not without interest separately. However, if you find any of them superfluous, throw them out.

In addition to text corrections, Tolstoy changed the distribution of volumes. Instead of six volumes of the first and second editions of 1868-1869, War and Peace was divided into four volumes for the new edition. On this occasion, Tolstoy wrote to Strakhov that he was "indecisive" about the fact that he "connected 6 parts into 4", and asked Strakhov "to decide how best: with the old division or in a new way." It is not known what Strakhov advised, but the novel was published in a new edition in four volumes. “I’m afraid that the calligraphic side is bad and impossible for a printing house — I couldn’t do better with the Samara flies and the heat,” Tolstoy wrote in the same letter and asked, if necessary, to give in correspondence or transfer the corrections to a blank copy. He reported that the original was not needed in the printing house. later than the end July, and expressed the hope that Strakhov would review and send it. “I feel all the shamelessness of my request to you,” Tolstoy wrote in conclusion, “but I also hope for your affection for me and passion for War and Peace, which I very rarely liked when I re-read it, and for the most part aroused annoyance and shame".

Back in the spring, having accepted Tolstoy’s proposal, H. N. Strakhov wrote to him about the upcoming work: “Besides, I don’t trust you in the highest degree; You will certainly make oversights; I'm much more careful than you." Of course, we are talking about minor typos and omissions. Having received the book at the end of June, H. N. Strakhov worked on the novel for about two months, and, as Tolstoy found out in Moscow, returning from Samara, everything except the fourth volume was handed over to the printer by August 22. H.N. Strakhov informed Tolstoy about the nature of his work at the end of August that, no matter how much he “thought and re-read”, he did not “decide to cross out almost nothing”, and, having “made many minor corrections”, especially in the last, fourth , volume, he "crossed out in just two places two, three lines each - where the need was completely obvious."

N. N. Strakhov also suggested deleting in the second part of the epilogue, which in the 1873 edition is entitled “Questions of History”, “the last paragraph, XII, where there is a comparison of the revolution in history with the revolution in astronomy produced by the Copernican system”, and also pointed out to the fact that at the beginning of the same part "the discussion about power is extremely extended and not entirely accurate."

Although Tolstoy said more than once at that time that he now did not like War and Peace much, and gave Strakhov the right to do what he found necessary "in the sense of destroying everything," which seemed to him "superfluous, contradictory, obscure", however, learning about the cuts, regretted that they were made. “It seems to me (I'm probably mistaken) that there is nothing superfluous,” Tolstoy answered H. N. Strakhov. “It cost me a lot of work, so I regret it.” With the corrections proposed by H. N. Strakhov in the second part of the epilogue (“Questions of History”), Tolstoy agreed and expressed regret that he did not throw out and shorten what H. N. Strakhov “quite rightly” found “stretched and inaccurate - about power. I remember that this passage was long and clumsy,” Tolstoy wrote. He also agreed to "throw out" "Paragraph XII". However, these changes were not made.

At the end of August, everything was handed over to the printing house, and between November 11 and 17, 1873, the third edition of Leo Tolstoy's Works was published. In the new edition, "War and Peace" is divided into four volumes, and within each volume a continuous division into chapters is given, without the division into parts that was in the first and second editions. As an epilogue, only Ch. V-XVI of the first part of the epilogue, now numbered I-XII.

Many historical and philosophical discussions, which were a kind of prelude to individual parts of the novel, are excluded. Military-historical and historical-philosophical reasoning, starting with vol. IV of the first edition (from vol. III present, ed.), as well as the first four chapters of the first part of the epilogue and the entire second part of the epilogue, are included in the appendix, where they are combined under the general title “ Articles on the Campaign of 1812", and each chapter or group of chapters received its own title and independent numbering of chapters.

According to this edition	According to the 1873 edition.
	"Articles on the Campaign of 1812"
T. III, part 2, ch. I	I. Plan of the campaign of 1812.
	II. How the Battle of Borodino really happened.
» » Ch. XXVII	III. Napoleon's orders for the Battle of Borodino.
» » Ch. XXVIII	IV. On the participation of Napoleon's will in the Battle of Borodino.
» part 3, ch. II	V. On the retreat to Filey.
	VI. Leaving Moscow by residents.
	VII. About the Moscow fire.
T. IV, part 2, ch. I and II	VIII. flank march.
» » Ch. III, IV, VII	IX. Tarutino battle.
» » Ch. VIII-X	X. Activities of Napoleon in Moscow.
» » Ch. XVIII—XIX	XI. Retreat of the French from Moscow.
» h. 3, ch. I	XII. Victories and their consequences.
	XIII. The spirit of the army and guerrilla warfare.
» » Ch. XVI—XVIII	XIV. Flight of Napoleon.
	XV. Persecution of the French by the Russians.
» part 4, ch. IV-V	XVI. Kutuzov.
	XVII. Berezinsky crossing.
Epilogue, Part 1, Chapters I—IV	XVIII. On the Significance of Alexander and Napoleon.
	XIX. Questions of history.

In addition to changes in the composition of the novel, Tolstoy made stylistic and semantic corrections in the new edition and, most importantly, throughout the novel, the French text was replaced by Russian. Perhaps Tolstoy made these changes, taking into account critics' comments about too many French texts and about overloading the work with philosophical reasoning. A copy of the edition of 1868-1869, personally corrected by Tolstoy for the edition of 1873, did not reach us, only two recent volumes, fifth and sixth.

Whether Tolstoy took any part in the publications of War and Peace after 1873 is not known.

In the fourth edition of the "Works of L. N. Tolstoy", published in 1880, "War and Peace" was printed according to the edition of 1873. In 1886, two editions of the "Works of L. N. Tolstoy" were published, the fifth and sixth.

"War and Peace" is a great work. What is the history of the creation of the epic novel? L. N. Tolstoy himself more than once asked himself the question of why things happen in life like this, and not otherwise ... Indeed, why, for what and how creative process creation greatest work all times and peoples? After all, it took seven to write it for long years…

The history of the creation of the novel "War and Peace": the first evidence of the beginning of work

In September 1863, a letter arrives in Yasnaya Polyana from the father of Sofya Andreevna Tolstoy - A.E. Bersa. He writes that the day before he and Lev Nikolayevich had a long conversation about people's war against Napoleon and about that era in general - the count intends to start writing a novel dedicated to those great and memorable events in the history of Russia. The mention of this letter is not accidental, since it is considered "the first accurate evidence" of the beginning of the work of the great Russian writer on the novel "War and Peace". This is also confirmed by another document dated the same year a month later: Lev Nikolaevich writes to a relative about his new idea. He was already involved in work on an epic novel about the events of the beginning of the century and up to the 50s. How much moral strength and energy he needs to carry out what he has planned, he says, and how much he already possesses, he already writes and thinks about everything in the way that he "has never written or thought about."

First idea

The history of the creation of Tolstoy's novel "War and Peace" indicates that the writer's original intention was to create a book about difficult fate Decembrist, who returned in 1865 (the time of the abolition of serfdom) to his native land after many years of exile in Siberia. However, Lev Nikolayevich soon revised his idea and turned to the historical events of 1825 - the time. As a result, this idea was also abandoned: the protagonist's youth took place against the backdrop of the Patriotic War of 1912, a formidable and glorious time for the entire Russian people, which, in turn, was another link in the unbreakable chain of events of 1805. Tolstoy decided to start telling stories from the very beginning - the beginning of the 19th century - and revived the half-century history of the Russian state with the help of not one main character, but many vivid images.

The history of the creation of the novel "War and Peace" or "Three Pores"

We continue ... Undoubtedly, a vivid idea of ​​the writer's work on the novel is given by his story of creation ("War and Peace"). So, the time and place of the novel are determined. The author conducts the main actors- Decembrists, through three historically significant periods of time, hence the original title of the work "Three Pores".

The first part covers the period from the beginning of the 19th century until 1812, when the youth of the heroes coincided with the war between Russia and Napoleonic France. The second is the 20s, not without including the most important thing - the Decembrist uprising in 1825. And, finally, the third, final part - the 50s - the time of the return of the rebels from exile under the amnesty granted by the emperor against the backdrop of such tragic pages Russian history as an inglorious defeat in and death of Nicholas I.

Well, the novel, in its conception and scope, promised to be global and demanded a different art form, and it was found. According to Lev Nikolayevich himself, “War and Peace” is not historical chronicles, and not a poem, and not even just a novel, but a new genre in fiction - an epic novel, where the fates of many people and an entire nation are associated with grandiose historical events .

torment

Work on the work was very difficult. The history of creation ("War and Peace") suggests that many times Lev Nikolayevich took the first steps and immediately stopped writing. There are fifteen versions of the first chapters of the work in the writer's archive. What hindered? What haunted the Russian genius? The desire to fully express their thoughts, their religious and philosophical ideas, research, their vision of history, to give their assessments of those socio-political processes, the huge role not of emperors, not leaders, but of the whole people in the history of the country. This required a colossal effort of all mental strength. More than once he lost and regained hope to fulfill his plan to the end. Hence the idea of ​​the novel, and the names of the early editions: "Three Pores", "All's well that ends well", "1805". They seem to have changed more than once.

Patriotic War of 1812

Thus, the author’s long creative throwing ended in a narrowing of the time frame - Tolstoy focused all his attention on 1812, the war of Russia against the “Great Army” of the French Emperor Napoleon, and only in the epilogue touched on the birth of the Decembrist movement.

The smells and sounds of war... To convey them, it was necessary to study a huge amount of material. This and fiction of that time, and historical documents, memoirs and letters of contemporaries of those events, battle plans, orders and orders of military commanders ... He spared neither time nor effort. From the very beginning, he rejected all those historical chronicles that sought to portray the war as a battlefield between two emperors, extolling first one, then the other. The writer did not belittle their merits and their significance, but put the people and their spirit at the forefront.

As you can see, the work has incredible interesting story creation. "War and Peace" boasts another interesting fact. Between the manuscripts, another small, but nevertheless important document has been preserved - a sheet with the notes of the writer himself, made during his stay on it. On it, he captured the horizon line, indicating exactly where which villages were. Here you can also see the line of movement of the sun during the battle itself. All this, one might say, is bare sketches, sketches of what was later destined, under the pen of a genius, to turn into the real picture, depicting the great full of movement, life, extraordinary colors and sounds. Incredible and amazing, isn't it?

chance and genius

L. Tolstoy on the pages of his novel talked a lot about the laws of history. His conclusions are also applicable to life, they contain much that concerns a great work, in particular the history of creation. "War and Peace" went through many stages to become a real masterpiece.

Science says that chance and genius are to blame: chance suggested with the help of artistic means capture half a century of Russian history, and the genius - Leo Tolstoy - took advantage of it. But from this follow new questions about what this case is, what genius is. On the one hand, these are just words designed to explain what is actually inexplicable, and on the other hand, it is impossible to deny some of their suitability and usefulness, at least they denote "a certain degree of understanding of things."

Where and how the idea itself and the history of the creation of the novel "War and Peace" appeared - it is impossible to find out until the end, there are only bare facts, therefore we say "case". Further - more: we read the novel and cannot imagine that strength, that human or, rather, superhuman spirit, which was able to clothe the deepest philosophical thoughts and ideas in amazing shape That's why we say genius.

The longer the series of “cases” that passes before us, the more the facets of the author’s genius shine, the closer we seem to be to revealing the secret of L. Tolstoy’s genius and some incomprehensible truth contained in the work. But this is an illusion. What to do? Lev Nikolaevich believed in the only possible understanding of the world order - the renunciation of knowledge of the ultimate goal. If we admit that the ultimate goal of creating a novel is inaccessible to us, if we renounce all the reasons, visible and invisible, that prompted the writer to take up writing a work, we will comprehend or at least admire and enjoy to the full its infinite depth, designed to serve common goals, not always available human understanding. As the writer himself said while working on the novel, the ultimate goal of the artist is not the undeniable resolution of issues, but leading and pushing the reader to love life in all its countless manifestations, so that he would cry and laugh along with the main characters.

"War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy is not just classic novel, but the real heroic epic whose literary value is incomparable with any other work. The writer himself considered it a poem, where private life of a person is inseparable from the history of the whole country.

It took Leo Tolstoy seven years to perfect his novel. Back in 1863, the writer more than once discussed plans to create a large-scale literary canvas with his father-in-law A.E. Bers. In September of the same year, the father of Tolstoy's wife sent a letter from Moscow, where he mentioned the writer's idea. Historians consider this date the official start of work on the epic. A month later, Tolstoy wrote to his relative that all his time and attention was occupied by new novel over which he thinks like never before.

History of creation

The initial idea of ​​the writer was to create a work about the Decembrists, who spent 30 years in exile and returned home. Starting point, described in the novel, was to be 1856. But then Tolstoy changed his plans, deciding to display everything from the beginning of the Decembrist uprising of 1825. And this was not destined to come true: the third idea of ​​the writer was the desire to describe the young years of the hero, which coincided with large-scale historical events: the war of 1812. The final version was the period from 1805. The circle of heroes was also expanded: the events in the novel cover the history of many personalities who have gone through all the hardships of different historical periods in the life of the country.

The title of the novel also had several variants. The “working” name was “Three Pores”: the youth of the Decembrists during the Patriotic War of 1812; The Decembrist uprising of 1825 and the 50s of the 19th century, when several important events in the history of Russia - the Crimean War, the death of Nicholas I, the return of the amnestied Decembrists from Siberia. In the final version, the writer decided to focus on the first period, since writing a novel even on such a scale required a lot of effort and time. So instead of an ordinary work, a whole epic was born, which has no analogues in world literature.

Tolstoy devoted the entire autumn and early winter of 1856 to writing the beginning of War and Peace. Already at that time, he repeatedly tried to quit his job, because, in his opinion, it was not possible to convey the whole idea on paper. Historians say that in the writer's archive there were fifteen options for the beginning of the epic. In the process of work, Lev Nikolayevich tried for himself to find answers to questions about the role of man in history. He had to study many chronicles, documents, materials describing the events of 1812. The confusion in the writer’s head was caused by the fact that all information sources assessed both Napoleon and Alexander I in different ways. Then Tolstoy decided for himself to move away from the subjective statements of strangers and display in the novel his own assessment of events based on true facts. From diverse sources, he borrowed documentary materials, records of contemporaries, newspaper and magazine articles, letters from generals, archival documents of the Rumyantsev Museum.

(Prince Rostov and Akhrosimova Marya Dmitrievna)

Considering it necessary to go directly to the scene, Tolstoy spent two days in Borodino. It was important for him to personally go around the place where large-scale and tragic events. He even personally made sketches of the sun on the field during different periods of the day.

The trip gave the writer an opportunity to feel the spirit of history in a new way; became a kind of inspiration for further work. For seven years, the work was on a spiritual upsurge and "burning". The manuscripts consisted of more than 5200 sheets. Therefore, "War and Peace" is easy to read even after a century and a half.

Analysis of the novel

Description

(Napoleon before the battle in thought)

The novel "War and Peace" touches upon a sixteen-year period in the history of Russia. The starting date is 1805, the final date is 1821. More than 500 characters are “employed” in the work. These are both real-life people, and fictional writers to add color to the description.

(Kutuzov before the Battle of Borodino is considering a plan)

The novel intertwines two main storylines: historical events in Russia and the personal life of the heroes. Real historical figures are mentioned in the description of Austerlitz, Shengraben, Borodino battles; the capture of Smolensk and the surrender of Moscow. More than 20 chapters are devoted specifically to the battle of Borodino, as the main decisive event of 1812.

(In the illustration, an episode of the Ball by Natasha Rostova from the film "War and Peace" 1967.)

In opposition to "wartime", the writer describes the personal world of people and everything that surrounds them. Heroes fall in love, quarrel, reconcile, hate, suffer ... In the confrontation of various characters, Tolstoy shows the difference in moral principles individuals. The writer is trying to tell that various events can change the worldview. One complete picture of the work consists of three hundred and thirty-three chapters of 4 volumes and another twenty-eight chapters placed in the epilogue.

First volume

The events of 1805 are described. In the "peaceful" part, life in Moscow and St. Petersburg is affected. The writer introduces the reader to the society of the main characters. The “military” part is the battles of Austerlitz and Shengraben. Tolstoy concludes the first volume with a description of how military defeats affected the peaceful life of the characters.

Second volume

(The first ball of Natasha Rostova)

This is a completely "peaceful" part of the novel, which touched upon the life of the characters in the period 1806-1811: the birth of Andrei Bolkonsky's love for Natasha Rostova; freemasonry of Pierre Bezukhov, the kidnapping of Natasha Rostova by Karagin, Bolkonsky's refusal to marry Natasha Rostova. The end of the volume is a description of a formidable omen: the appearance of a comet, which is a symbol of great upheavals.

Third volume

(In the illustration, an episode of the Borodino battle of their film "War and Peace" 1967.)

In this part of the epic, the writer refers to wartime: the invasion of Napoleon, the surrender of Moscow, the battle of Borodino. On the battlefield, the main male characters novel: Bolkonsky, Kuragin, Bezukhov, Dolokhov... The end of the volume is the capture of Pierre Bezukhov, who made an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Napoleon.

Fourth volume

(After the battle, the wounded arrive in Moscow)

The “military” part is a description of the victory over Napoleon and the shameful retreat of the French army. The writer also touches upon the period of the partisan war after 1812. All this is intertwined with the “peaceful” fates of the heroes: Andrei Bolkonsky and Helen pass away; love is born between Nikolai and Marya; think about life together Natasha Rostova and Pierre Bezukhov. And the main character of the volume is the Russian soldier Platon Karataev, in whose words Tolstoy tries to convey all the wisdom of the common people.

Epilogue

This part is devoted to describing the changes in the lives of the heroes seven years after 1812. Natasha Rostova is married to Pierre Bezukhov; Nicholas and Marya found their happiness; the son of Bolkonsky, Nikolenka, grew up. In the epilogue, the author reflects on the role of individuals in the history of the whole country, and tries to show the historical interconnections of events and human destinies.

The main characters of the novel

More than 500 characters are mentioned in the novel. The author tried to describe the most important of them as accurately as possible, endowing with special features not only of character, but also of appearance:

Andrei Bolkonsky - Prince, son of Nikolai Bolkonsky. Constantly looking for the meaning of life. Tolstoy describes him as handsome, reserved, and with "dry" features. He has a strong will. Dies as a result of a wound received at Borodino.

Marya Bolkonskaya - Princess, sister of Andrei Bolkonsky. Inconspicuous appearance and radiant eyes; piety and concern for relatives. In the novel, she marries Nikolai Rostov.

Natasha Rostova is the daughter of Count Rostov. In the first volume of the novel, she is only 12 years old. Tolstoy describes her as a girl of not very beautiful appearance (black eyes, big mouth), but at the same time “alive”. Her inner beauty attracts men. Even Andrei Bolkonsky is ready to fight for his hand and heart. At the end of the novel, she marries Pierre Bezukhov.

Sonya

Sonya is the niece of Count Rostov. In contrast to her cousin Natasha, she is beautiful in appearance, but much poorer in spirit.

Pierre Bezukhov is the son of Count Kirill Bezukhov. A clumsy massive figure, kind and at the same time a strong character. He can be harsh, or he can become a child. Interested in Freemasonry. He is trying to change the life of the peasants and influence large-scale events. Initially married to Helen Kuragina. At the end of the novel, he marries Natasha Rostova.

Helen Kuragin is the daughter of Prince Kuragin. Beauty, a prominent society lady. She married Pierre Bezukhov. Changeable, cold. Dies as a result of an abortion.

Nikolai Rostov is the son of Count Rostov and Natasha's brother. The successor of the family and the defender of the Fatherland. He took part in military campaigns. He married Marya Bolkonskaya.

Fedor Dolokhov is an officer, a member of the partisan movement, as well as a great swashbuckler and lover of ladies.

Counts of Rostov

The Rostov counts are the parents of Nikolai, Natasha, Vera, and Petya. A revered married couple, an example to follow.

Nikolai Bolkonsky - Prince, father of Marya and Andrei. In Catherine's time, a significant personality.

The author pays much attention to the description of Kutuzov and Napoleon. The commander appears before us as smart, unfeigned, kind and philosophical. Napoleon is described as a little fat man with an unpleasantly feigned smile. At the same time, it is somewhat mysterious and theatrical.

Analysis and conclusion

In the novel "War and Peace" the writer tries to convey to the reader " folk thought". Its essence is that everyone goodie has its own connection with the nation.

Tolstoy departed from the principle of telling a story in a novel in the first person. Evaluation of characters and events goes through monologues and author's digressions. At the same time, the writer leaves the reader the right to assess what is happening. A prime example the scene of the Battle of Borodino, shown as from the side historical facts, and the subjective opinion of the hero of the novel, Pierre Bezukhov. The writer does not forget about the bright historical personality- General Kutuzov.

The main idea of ​​the novel lies not only in the disclosure historical events but also in the ability to understand that you need to love, believe and live under any circumstances.