Kuprin works about love to read. Kuprin's works

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was born August 26 (September 7), 1870 in the city of Narovchat, Penza province. From nobles. Kuprin's father is a collegiate registrar; mother from ancient family Tatar princes Kulunchakov.

He lost his father early; was brought up in the Moscow Razumovsky boarding school for orphans. In 1888. A. Kuprin graduated from the cadet corps, in 1890- Alexander Military School (both in Moscow); served as an infantry officer. After retirement with the rank of lieutenant in 1894 changed a number of professions: he worked as a land surveyor, a forest ranger, an estate manager, a prompter in a provincial acting troupe, etc. For many years he collaborated in newspapers in Kyiv, Rostov-on-Don, Odessa, Zhitomir.

The first publication is the story "The Last Debut" ( 1889 ). The story "Inquiry" 1894 ) opened a series of military stories and novels by Kuprin (“The Lilac Bush”, 1894 ; "Overnight", 1895 ; "Army Ensign", "Breguet", both - 1897 ; etc.), reflecting the writer's impressions of military service. Kuprin's trips around southern Ukraine were the material for the story "Moloch" ( 1896 ), in the center of which is the theme of industrial civilization, depersonalizing a person; the juxtaposition of the melting furnace with a pagan deity requiring human sacrifice is intended to warn of the dangers of worshiping technological progress. Literary fame was brought to A. Kuprin by the story "Olesya" ( 1898 ) - about the dramatic love of a savage girl who grew up in the wilderness and an aspiring writer who came from the city. Hero early works Kuprin is a person with a fine mental organization, who cannot withstand a collision with the social reality of the 1890s and a test of great feeling. Among other works of this period: "Polesye stories" "In the wilderness" ( 1898 ), "On the capercaillie" ( 1899 ), "Werewolf" ( 1901 ). In 1897. Kuprin's first book, Miniatures, was published. In the same year, Kuprin met I. Bunin, in 1900- with A. Chekhov; since 1901 participated in Teleshovskie "environments" - a Moscow literary circle that united writers of a realistic direction. In 1901 A. Kuprin moved to St. Petersburg; collaborated in the influential magazines "Russian wealth" and "World of God". In 1902 met M. Gorky; was published in the series of collections of the book publishing partnership "Knowledge" initiated by him, here in 1903 The first volume of Kuprin's stories was published. Wide popularity Kuprin brought the story "Duel" ( 1905 ), where an unsightly picture of army life with drill and semi-conscious cruelty reigning in it is accompanied by reflections on the absurdity of the existing world order. The publication of the story coincided with the defeat Russian fleet in the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905., which contributed to its public outcry. The story has been translated into foreign languages and opened the name of the writer to the European reader.

In the 1900s - the first half of the 1910s. the most significant works of A. Kuprin were published: the stories “At the Turn (Cadets)” ( 1900 ), "Pit" ( 1909-1915 ); stories "Swamp", "In the circus" (both 1902 ), "Coward", "Horse thieves" (both 1903 ), "Peaceful Life", "White Poodle" (both 1904 ), "Headquarters Captain Rybnikov", "River of Life" (both 1906 ), "Gambrinus", "Emerald" ( 1907 ), "Anathema" ( 1913 ); a cycle of essays about the fishermen of Balaklava - "Listrigons" ( 1907-1911 ). Admiration for strength and heroism, a keen sense of the beauty and joy of life encourage Kuprin to search for a new image - a whole and creative nature. The theme of love is devoted to the story "Shulamith" ( 1908 ; based on the biblical Song of Songs) and " Garnet bracelet» ( 1911 ) is a touching story about the unrequited and selfless love of a small telegraph operator for the wife of a high-ranking official. Kuprin tried himself in science fiction: the hero of the story "Liquid Sun" ( 1913 ) is a brilliant scientist who gained access to a source of super-powerful energy, but hides his invention for fear that it will be used to create a deadly weapon.

In 1911 Kuprin moved to Gatchina. In 1912 and 1914 traveled to France and Italy. With the outbreak of the First World War, he returned to the army, but the following year he was demobilized for health reasons. After February Revolution 1917 edited the Socialist-Revolutionary newspaper "Free Russia", collaborated for several months with the publishing house " world literature". After October revolution 1917, which he did not accept, returned to journalism. In one of the articles, Kuprin spoke out against the execution of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, for which he was arrested and briefly imprisoned ( 1918 ). The writer's attempts to collaborate with new government did not give the desired results. Having joined in October 1919 to the troops of N.N. Yudenich, Kuprin reached Yamburg (since 1922 Kingisepp), from there through Finland to Paris (1920 ). In exile were created: autobiographical story"Dome of St. Isaac of Dalmatia" ( 1928 ), the story “Janeta. Princess of Four Streets" ( 1932 ; separate edition - 1934 ), a series of nostalgic stories about pre-revolutionary Russia("The one-armed comedian", 1923 ; "Emperor's Shadow" 1928 ; "Tsar's guest from Narovchat", 1933 ), etc. The works of the emigrant period are characterized by idealistic images of monarchical Russia, patriarchal Moscow. Among other works: the story "The Star of Solomon" ( 1917 ), the story "The Golden Rooster" ( 1923 ), cycles of essays "Kyiv types" ( 1895-1898 ), “Blessed South”, “House Paris” (both - 1927 ), literary portraits, stories for children, feuilletons. In 1937 Kuprin returned to the USSR.

In the work of Kuprin, a wide panorama is given Russian life covering almost all segments of society 1890-1910s.; the traditions of everyday writing prose of the second half of the 19th century are combined with elements of symbolism. A number of works embodied the writer's attraction to romantic plots and heroic images. A. Kuprin's prose is distinguished by its pictorial character, authenticity in the depiction of characters, saturation with everyday details, colorful language, including argotism.

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin. Born August 26 (September 7), 1870 in Narovchat - died August 25, 1938 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Russian writer, translator.

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was born on August 26 (September 7), 1870 in county town Narovchat (now the Penza region) in the family of an official, hereditary nobleman Ivan Ivanovich Kuprin (1834-1871), who died a year after the birth of his son.

Mother, Lyubov Alekseevna (1838-1910), nee Kulunchakova, came from a family of Tatar princes (noblewoman, princely title Did not have). After the death of her husband, she moved to Moscow, where the future writer spent his childhood and adolescence.

At the age of six, the boy was sent to the Moscow Razumovsky boarding school (orphan), from where he left in 1880. In the same year he entered the Second Moscow Cadet Corps.

In 1887 he was released into the Alexander Military School. Subsequently, he will describe his "military youth" in the stories "At the Turning Point (Cadets)" and in the novel "Junkers".

Kuprin's first literary experience was poetry, which remained unpublished. The first work that saw the light was the story "The Last Debut" (1889).

In 1890, Kuprin, with the rank of second lieutenant, was released into the 46th Dnieper Infantry Regiment, stationed in the Podolsk province (in Proskurov). The life of an officer, which he led for four years, provided rich material for his future works.

In 1893-1894, in the St. Petersburg magazine "Russian Wealth", his story "In the Dark", stories " moonlit night” and “Inquiry”. Kuprin has several stories on the army theme: "Overnight" (1897), " Night shift"(1899)," Campaign.

In 1894, Lieutenant Kuprin retired and moved to Kyiv, having no civilian profession. In the following years, he traveled a lot around Russia, having tried many professions, eagerly absorbing life experiences that became the basis of his future works.

During these years, Kuprin met I. A. Bunin, A. P. Chekhov and M. Gorky. In 1901 he moved to St. Petersburg, began working as a secretary for the Journal for All. Kuprin's stories appeared in St. Petersburg magazines: "Swamp" (1902), "Horse thieves" (1903), "White Poodle" (1903).

In 1905, his most significant work, the story "Duel", was published, which was a great success. The writer’s speeches with the reading of individual chapters of the “Duel” became an event cultural life capital Cities. His other works of this time: the stories "Staff Captain Rybnikov" (1906), "The River of Life", "Gambrinus" (1907), the essay "Events in Sevastopol" (1905). In 1906 he was a candidate for deputy State Duma I convocation from the St. Petersburg province.

Kuprin's work in the years between the two revolutions opposed the decadent moods of those years: the cycle of essays "Listrigons" (1907-1911), stories about animals, the stories "Shulamith" (1908), "Garnet Bracelet" (1911), fantasy story"Liquid Sun" (1912). His prose became a prominent phenomenon in Russian literature. In 1911 he settled in Gatchina with his family.

After the outbreak of the First World War, he opened a military hospital in his house, and campaigned in the newspapers of citizens to take military loans. In November 1914 he was mobilized into the army and sent to Finland as an infantry company commander. Demobilized in July 1915 for health reasons.

In 1915, Kuprin completed work on the story "The Pit", in which he tells about the life of prostitutes in Russian brothels. The story was condemned for excessive, according to critics, naturalism. Nuravkin's publishing house, which published Kuprin's "Pit" in the German edition, was brought to justice by the prosecutor's office "for the distribution of pornographic publications."

I met the abdication of Nicholas II in Helsingfors, where he was undergoing treatment, and accepted it with enthusiasm. After returning to Gatchina, he was the editor of the newspapers Svobodnaya Rossiya, Volnost, Petrogradsky Leaf, and sympathized with the Social Revolutionaries. After the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks, the writer did not accept the policy of war communism and the terror associated with it. In 1918 he went to Lenin with a proposal to publish a newspaper for the village - "Earth". He worked at the publishing house "World Literature", founded. At this time he made a translation of Don Carlos. He was arrested, spent three days in prison, was released and put on the list of hostages.

On October 16, 1919, with the arrival of the Whites in Gatchina, he entered the rank of lieutenant in the North-Western Army, was appointed editor of the army newspaper "Prinevsky Territory", which was headed by General P. N. Krasnov.

After the defeat of the Northwestern Army, he went to Revel, and from there in December 1919 to Helsinki, where he stayed until July 1920, after which he went to Paris.

By 1930, the Kuprin family was impoverished and mired in debt. His literary fees were meager, and alcoholism accompanied all his years in Paris. Since 1932, his eyesight has been steadily deteriorating, and his handwriting has become much worse. Returning to the Soviet Union was the only solution to Kuprin's material and psychological problems. At the end of 1936, he nevertheless decided to apply for a visa. In 1937, at the invitation of the USSR government, he returned to his homeland.

Kuprin's return to the Soviet Union was preceded by an appeal by the Plenipotentiary of the USSR in France, V.P. Potemkin, on August 7, 1936, with a corresponding proposal to I.V. Stalin (who gave a preliminary "go-ahead"), and on October 12, 1936, with a letter to the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs N.I. Ezhov. Yezhov sent Potemkin's note to the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, which on October 23, 1936 decided: "to allow the writer A. I. Kuprin to enter the USSR" (voted "for" I. V. Stalin, V. M. Molotov, V. Ya. Chubar and A. A. Andreev; K. E. Voroshilov abstained).

He died on the night of August 25, 1938 from cancer of the esophagus. He was buried in Leningrad on the Literary bridges of the Volkovsky cemetery next to the grave of I. S. Turgenev.

Tales and novels by Alexander Kuprin:

1892 - "In the dark"
1896 - "Moloch"
1897 - "Army Ensign"
1898 - "Olesya"
1900 - "At the turning point" (The Cadets)
1905 - "Duel"
1907 - "Gambrinus"
1908 - Shulamith
1909-1915 - "Pit"
1910 - "Garnet bracelet"
1913 - "Liquid Sun"
1917 - "Star of Solomon"
1928 - "The Dome of St. Isaac of Dalmatia"
1929 - "The Wheel of Time"
1928-1932 - "Junkers"
1933 - "Janeta"

Alexander Kuprin's stories:

1889 - "Last Debut"
1892 - "Psyche"
1893 - "On a Moonlit Night"
1894 - “Inquiry”, “Slavic Soul”, “Lilac Bush”, “Unspoken Audit”, “To Glory”, “Madness”, “At the Departure”, “Al-Issa”, “Forgotten Kiss”, “About how Professor Leopardi gave me a voice"
1895 - "Sparrow", "Toy", "In the Menagerie", "The Petitioner", "Picture", "Terrible Minute", "Meat", "Untitled", "Overnight", "Millionaire", "Pirate", " Lolly", "Holy Love", "Curl", "Agave", "Life"
1896 - "Strange case", "Bonza", "Horror", "Natalya Davydovna", "Demigod", "Blessed", "Bed", "Fairy Tale", "Nag", "Alien Bread", "Friends", " Marianna", "Dog's Happiness", "On the River"
1897 - " Stronger than death”, “Charm”, “Caprice”, “First-born”, “Narcissus”, “Breguet”, “First comer”, “Confusion”, “Wonderful Doctor”, “Watchdog and Zhulka”, “Kindergarten”, “Allez! »
1898 - "Loneliness", "Wilderness"
1899 - "Night Shift", "Lucky Card", "In the Bowels of the Earth"
1900 - "The Spirit of the Age", "Dead Power", "Taper", "Executioner"
1901 - " sentimental romance”, “Autumn Flowers”, “On Order”, “Hiking”, “In the Circus”, “Silver Wolf”
1902 - "At rest", "Swamp"
1903 - "Coward", "Horse Thieves", "How I Was an Actor", "White Poodle"
1904 - “Evening Guest”, “Peaceful Life”, “Ugar”, “Zhidovka”, “Diamonds”, “Empty Cottages”, “White Nights”, “From the Street”
1905 - "Black Fog", "Priest", "Toast", "Headquarters Captain Rybnikov"
1906 - "Art", "Killer", "River of Life", "Happiness", "Legend", "Demir-Kaya", "Resentment"
1907 - "Delirium", "Emerald", "Small", "Elephant", "Tales", "Mechanical Justice", "Giants"
1908 - "Seasickness", "Wedding", "Last Word"
1910 - "In a family way", "Helen", "In the cage of the beast"
1911 - "Telegrapher", "Traction Manager", "King's Park"
1912 - Grass, Black Lightning
1913 - "Anathema", "Elephant Walk"
1914 - "Holy lies"
1917 - "Sashka and Yashka", "Brave Runaways"
1918 - Piebald Horses
1919 - "The Last of the Bourgeois"
1920 - "Lemon Peel", "Fairy Tale"
1923 - "One-Armed Commandant", "Fate"
1924 - "Slap"
1925 - "Yu-yu"
1926 - "The Daughter of the Great Barnum"
1927 - "Blue Star"
1928 - "Inna"
1929 - "Paganini's Violin", "Olga Sur"
1933 - "Night Violet"
1934 - " The Last Knights”, “Ralph”

Essays by Alexander Kuprin:

1897 - "Kyiv types"
1899 - "To the capercaillie"

1895-1897 - a series of essays "Dragoon Student"
"Dneprovsky seafarer"
"Future Patty"
"False Witness"
"Singer"
"Firefighter"
"Housekeeper"
"Tramp"
"Thief"
"Artist"
"Arrows"
"Hare"
"Doctor"
"Hanzhushka"
"Beneficiary"
"Card Provider"

1900 - Travel pictures:
From Kyiv to Rostov-on-Don
From Rostov to Novorossiysk. Legend of the Circassians. Tunnels.

1901 - "Tsaritsyno conflagration"
1904 - "In memory of Chekhov"
1905 - "Events in Sevastopol"; "Dreams"
1908 - "A little bit of Finland"
1907-1911 - a cycle of essays "Listrigons"
1909 - "Don't touch our tongue." About Russian-speaking Jewish writers.
1921 - “Lenin. Instant photo»

“I can’t live without Russia”

A. I. Kuprin

Kuprin's eventful life, his diverse work, his dramatic biography - all this makes up an extremely complex picture. Therefore, there is no need to repeat how much the work of Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin is loved in our country, how popular are his works “Moloch”, “Olesya”, “In the Circus”, “Duel”, “Pomegranate Bracelet”, “Listrigons”, “Gambrinus”, “ Juncker", "Janeta". It can be said with confidence that Kuprin the writer received truly national recognition in our country.

Amazing and tragic fate. Born on August 26 (September 7), 1870 in the provincial town of Narovchat, Penza province. Early orphanhood (his father, a petty official, died when the boy was a year old and his mother was forced to send her son to an orphanage school.) But, apparently, not only bitter memories were associated with years of study, especially teaching at the Alexander School, Kuprin had not only bitter memories: nevertheless it was youth, with friends, the first youthful hobbies, the first literary experiments. It was then that Kuprin fell in love with Moscow - this peculiar, unlike other city, the whole world - with patriarchal mores, the ambition of the capital infringed on the rights, its celebrities and its cute eccentrics, myths and legends and such an integral, unique appearance. During the years of teaching, Kuprin received a fairly complete education: among the subjects passed were Russian, German and French, mathematics, physics, geography, history, literature ("literature").

Literature for the future writer began with poetry and poetic translations. But he soon became disillusioned with poetry and switched to prose. Then the story "The Last Debut" was written. The Moscow poet, the kindest eccentric Liodor Ivanovich Palmin, who seemed to the nineteen-year-old cadet an old man, helped Kuprin to attach this work to the Russian satirical sheet. Kuprin experienced incredible happiness and pride (he described this episode of his life in the story "Printing Ink" and the novel "Junker"). However, the publication of the story had other consequences. The fact is that Kuprin completely forgot that the permission of the head of the school was needed to print the work. As a result, Kuprin ended up in a punishment cell, as company commander Drozd put it, "for ignorance of internal service."

In August 1980, second lieutenant Alexander Kuprin, released from the school "in the first category", is assigned to the service, on the southwestern border of Russia, in a remote province, so vividly described by him in the story "Wedding" and "Duel".

Years of service gave him material for such wonderful, hard-won works as the stories "Inquiry", "Accommodation", the story "Duel". In those years, Kuprin, obviously, had not yet seriously thought about becoming a professional writer, but continued literary work, which was for him, as it were, an outlet from the musty world in which he found himself, he published something in the provincial newspapers, and the story "In the Dark" was even accepted by the St. Petersburg magazine "Russian Wealth".

In 1990, Kuprin met A. Chekhov and M. Gorky; both of them played a big role in his fate, Kuprin highly valued their opinion, and treated Chekhov, who was much older, downright with reverence. Love is one of the main themes in Kuprin's work. The heroes of his works, “illuminated” by this bright feeling, are more fully revealed. In the stories of this remarkable author, love, as a rule, is disinterested and selfless. After reading a large number of his works, one can understand that with him she is always tragic, and she is obviously doomed to suffering.

In 1898, Kuprin created his first major significant work - the story "Olesya", very bright, sad, romantic, devoid of melodrama. Olesya's world is a world of spiritual harmony, a world of nature. He is a stranger to Ivan Timofeevich, a representative of the cruel, big city. Olesya attracts him with her “unusualness”, “there was nothing like local girls in her”, naturalness, simplicity and some kind of elusive inner freedom inherent in her image attracted him like a magnet. Olesya grew up in the forest. She could not read and write, but she possessed great spiritual wealth and strong character. Ivan Timofeevich is educated, but not decisive, and his kindness is more like cowardice. These two are completely different person fell in love with each other, but this love does not bring happiness to the heroes, its outcome is tragic. Ivan Timofeevich feels that he has fallen in love with Olesya, he would even like to marry her, but he is stopped by doubt: “I did not even dare to imagine what Olesya would be like, dressed in a fashionable dress, talking in the living room with the wives of my colleagues, torn out of the charming frame of an old forest, full of legends and mysterious forces. He realizes that Olesya cannot change, become different, and he himself does not want her to change. After all, to become different means to become like everyone else, and this is impossible. Poetizing life, not limited by modern social and cultural framework, Kuprin sought to show the clear advantages of a "natural" person, in whom he saw spiritual qualities lost in a civilized society. The meaning of the story is to affirm the high standard of man. Kuprin is looking for people in real, everyday life, obsessed with a high feeling of love, able to rise at least in dreams above the prose of life. As always, he turns his gaze to the "little" man. This is how the story "Garnet Bracelet" arises, which tells about refined all-encompassing love. This story is about hopeless and touching love. Kuprin himself understands love as a miracle, as a wonderful gift. The death of an official revived a woman who did not believe in love, which means that love still conquers death. In general, the story is devoted to the inner awakening of Vera, her gradual realization of the true role of love. To the sound of music, the soul of the heroine is reborn. From cold contemplation to a hot, quivering feeling of oneself, of a person in general, of the world - such is the path of the heroine, who once came into contact with a rare guest of the earth - love.

For Kuprin, love is a hopeless platonic feeling, and a tragic one at that. Moreover, there is something hysterical in the chastity of Kuprin's heroes, and in relation to a loved one, it is striking that a man and a woman seem to have changed their roles. This is characteristic of the energetic, strong-willed "Polessky witch" Olesya in relations with the "kind, but only weak Ivan Timofeevich" and the smart, prudent Shurochka - with the "pure and kind Romashov" ("Duel"). Underestimation of oneself, disbelief in one's right to possess a woman, a convulsive desire to withdraw - these features complete the Kuprin hero with a fragile soul that has fallen into a cruel world.

Closed in itself, such love has a creative creative power. “It so happened that I am not interested in anything in life: neither politics, nor science, nor philosophy, nor concern for the future happiness of people,” Zheltkov writes before his death to the subject of his generation, “... for me, all life consists only in you” . Zheltkov passes away without complaints, without reproaches, saying like a prayer: "Hallowed be thy name."

Kuprin's works, despite the complexity of situations and often a dramatic end, are filled with optimism and love of life. You close the book, and for a long time there is a feeling of something bright in your soul.

Interestingly, Chekhov did not like her - the romantic structure of this work turned out to be too alien to him, but Gorky highly appreciated her precisely for this quality, and Kuprin, for whom both writers were the greatest authorities, was greatly puzzled.

The energy of youth has not yet been exhausted to the end. In 1901, while in Moscow, he tries to join the troupe of the Moscow Art Theater, but fails, but he enters the circle of writers of the Moscow literary circle Sreda, which unites democratically minded realist writers. Finally, at the end of 1901, the vagrant life comes to an end: having received the head of the fiction department of the Journal for All, an oppositional liberal monthly that came out with a huge circulation at that time - eighty thousand copies, the writer settled in St. Petersburg, and a few months later he married twenty-year-old Maria Karlovna Davydova and becomes an employee of the magazine "The World of God". In the life of Kuprin begins new period- the period of journal work, settled life (except for trips to the Crimea), prosperity, literary fame, and after the release of "Duel" - glory. The story brought Kuprin loud fame. On the day he received up to fifty letters from readers, indignant and admiring, the novel was widely discussed in the press, one edition followed another. Oddly enough, the next few years of creativity for Kuprin were relatively unproductive. Of the significant works created in 1902-1904, perhaps only the stories "At Retirement", "Horse Thieves", "White Poodle" can be called. Kuprin participated in the selection of materials for the journal, reviewed the current fiction, after the death of Chekhov wrote memoirs about him. I spent a lot of time working in the magazine.

The writer and his family spent the autumn of 1905 in the Crimea, in Balaklava. At a charity evening in Sevastopol, he read Nazansky's monologue from "Duel"; there were many military men in the hall, a scandal broke out, which was extinguished by then unknown sailor Lieutenant Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt; a few days later he paid a visit to the Kuprins. And a month later, under the leadership of a new acquaintance Kuprin, an uprising broke out on the cruiser "Ochakov", and the writer was destined to witness the ruthless reprisal of troops loyal to the government against the rebels. He described the events terrible night in correspondence with the St. Petersburg newspaper Novaya Zhizn; after its publication, Vice-Admiral Chukhnin ordered Kuprin to be expelled from the limits of the Sevastopol city administration at forty-eight hours. However, "even before the eviction from Balaklava, Kuprin, at great risk to himself, managed to save a group of Ochakov sailors from the persecution of the gendarmes, who swam to the shore. From the secret apartment of the revolutionary E.D. Levenson, who had full confidence in Kuprin, he helped the sailors quietly go beyond city ​​and hide under the guise of workers in the estate of the composer Blaramberg". The writer dedicated the story "The Caterpillar" to this event in 1918. Democratic motives are clearly audible in other Kuprin's works, among which stand out satirical stories"Mechanical Justice", "Giants". In 1907, the wonderful story of the writer "Gambrinus" appears, which speaks of the strength of the human spirit, not broken by the dark forces, the revelry of which was inspired by tsarism.

In 1907, the marriage of Alexander Ivanovich with Maria Karlovna actually broke up, and Elizaveta Moritsovna Heinrich became his wife, who became a true friend of Kuprin, survived the most difficult years with him and was his guardian angel.

In 1909, Kuprin was actively working on the story "The Pit", dedicated to a rather risky topic at that time: the life of one of the brothels in a Russian provincial town. He sought to acquaint the reader with the life brothel as if from the inside, day after day, to show the mechanism of functioning of this unnatural commercial establishment, its object of sale and purchase - for fifty dollars, three rubles, five - becomes love. The writer depicted that sphere of reality, the existence of which was known to everyone, although few knew exactly how this dirty, corrupt world exists, what it is like for living people.

In the same year, I.A. Bunin and A.I. Kuprin were awarded the A.S. Pushkin Prize, awarded by the Academy of Sciences; it was already official recognition.

1910 passes in numerous moves, Kuprin continues to work on "The Pit". On the whole, the year was unproductive - "... Instead of writing" The Pit ", I write trifles ... What should I live on? I have already quarreled with everything.

In 1911, A.I. Kuprin sold the right to publish his Complete Works in nine volumes to the publishing house of A.F. Marx; a hundred thousandth fee speaks of the enormous popularity of the writer. Obviously, the money received from Marx did not last long - the house in Gatchina was bought by installments, and in 1915 Kuprin wrote: "I have nothing but debts. The house was mortgaged twice, many things, as they say," in repair ". In 1911, the story "Garnet Bracelet" was published, and in 1914 - "Telegrapher" and "Holy Lies", beautiful stories, lyrical, subtle, sad, showing that the soul of their author is alive and not covered with a crust of well-being, that he can love and sympathize with the same strength. Ksyusha grew up at the Kuprins, there were frequent guests; in spring, lilacs raged in Gatchina.

In November 1914 - the year of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his literary activity- Kuprin, at his own request, with the rank of lieutenant, went to the army, served in Finland, but already in May next year was declared unfit for service for health reasons. An infirmary was set up in the Kuprins' house, and Elizaveta Moritsovna and Ksenia began to provide all possible assistance to the wounded. After the end of the First World War and the defeat of the Whites in the Civil War, Kuprin left Russia in 1920.

Having lived for about 20 years in France, Kuprin was never able to adapt abroad. The financial situation of the Kuprin family was very difficult. The writer's earnings were of an accidental nature, Elizaveta Moritsovna had no commercial acumen, and her small enterprises did not work out. translated into French old, well-known works of Kuprin, but it was increasingly difficult to write new ones. And the longing for Russia... She oppressed Kuprin terribly. A feeling of nostalgia for the homeland, sadness about the departed youth, health, strength, and hope is imbued with the only major, significant work created by Kuprin abroad - the novel "Junker". This work, in fact, can hardly be attributed to the genre of the novel - it consists of a series of almost documentary memories of the years of being in a military school, very bright and lyrical, colored with warm Kuprin humor. In them, the "absurd, sweet country" appears before us so bright, cleared of everything that is not important, secondary ....

Kuprin's dream of returning home came true, but, alas, too late. Hardly perceiving his surroundings with difficulty, having become very thin, now looking not like the Tatar Khan, but like a typical Russian old man-intellectual, the terminally ill writer was able to fully taste the joy of returning to native land- despite the incredibly warm welcome arranged for him in Moscow. After two decades of absence, Kuprin came home to die. Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin died on August 25, 1938, having lived in home country a little over a year.

Dozens of books, detailed monographs, serious scientific papers, special articles, prefaces have been written about Kuprin, his work, his biography and fate.

Through the efforts of many people - literary experts, critics, memoirists - a portrait of a remarkable Russian artist, successor to the best classical, realistic traditions in our literature, a faithful and brilliant student of Leo Tolstoy - Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin.

© Librarian.Ru

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin was born on August 26, 1870 in the county town of Narovchat, Penza province. His father, a collegiate registrar, died at thirty-seven of cholera. The mother, left alone with three children and practically without a livelihood, went to Moscow. There she managed to arrange for her daughters in a boarding house "on a state budget", and her son settled with his mother in the Widow's House on Presnya. (The widows of military and civilians who had served for the benefit of the Fatherland for at least ten years were accepted here.) At the age of six, Sasha Kuprin was admitted to an orphanage school, four years later to the Moscow Military Gymnasium, then to the Alexander Military School, and after that he was sent to 46th Dnieper Regiment. Thus, early years the writer passed in a state-owned environment, the strictest discipline and drill.

His dream of a free life came true only in 1894, when, after his resignation, he arrived in Kyiv. Here, having no civilian profession, but feeling a literary talent in himself (as a cadet he published the story “The Last Debut”), Kuprin got a job as a reporter in several local newspapers.

The work was easy for him, he wrote, by his own admission, "on the run, on the fly." Life, as if in compensation for the boredom and monotony of youth, now did not skimp on impressions. In the next few years, Kuprin repeatedly changes his place of residence and occupation. Volyn, Odessa, Sumy, Taganrog, Zaraysk, Kolomna... Whatever he does: he becomes a prompter and actor in a theater troupe, a psalmist, a forest ranger, a proofreader and an estate manager; even studying to be a dental technician and flying an airplane.

In 1901, Kuprin moved to St. Petersburg, and here begins his new, literary life. Very soon he became a regular contributor to well-known St. Petersburg magazines - Russian Wealth, World of God, Magazine for Everyone. One after another, stories and novels are published: "Swamp", "Horse Thieves", "White Poodle", "Duel", "Gambrinus", "Shulamith" and unusually thin, lyrical work about love - "Garnet Bracelet".

The story "Garnet Bracelet" was written by Kuprin in the heyday of Silver Age in Russian literature, which was distinguished by an egocentric attitude. Writers and poets then wrote a lot about love, but for them it was more a passion than the highest pure love. Kuprin, despite these new trends, continues the tradition of Russian literature XIX century and writes a story about a completely disinterested, high and pure, true love which does not go “directly” from person to person, but through love for God. This whole story is a wonderful illustration of the hymn of love of the Apostle Paul: “Love endures long, is merciful, love does not envy, love does not exalt itself, is not proud, does not act outrageously, does not seek its own, is not irritated, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. ; covers everything, believes everything, hopes everything, endures everything. Love never ceases, although prophecy will cease, and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will be abolished. What does the hero of the story Zheltkov need from his love? He does not look for anything in her, he is happy only because she is. Kuprin himself noted in one letter, speaking about this story: "I have not written anything more chaste yet."

Kuprin’s love is generally chaste and sacrificial: the hero of the later story “Inna”, being rejected and excommunicated from home for a reason he does not understand, does not try to take revenge, forget his beloved as soon as possible and find solace in the arms of another woman. He continues to love her all the same selflessly and humbly, and all he needs is just to see the girl, even from a distance. Even having finally received an explanation, and at the same time learning that Inna belongs to another, he does not fall into despair and indignation, but, on the contrary, finds peace and tranquility.

In the story "Holy Love" - ​​all the same sublime feeling, the object of which is an unworthy woman, a cynical and prudent Elena. But the hero does not see her sinfulness, all his thoughts are so pure and innocent that he is simply not able to suspect the evil.

In less than ten years, Kuprin becomes one of the most widely read authors in Russia, and in 1909 he receives the academic Pushkin Prize. In 1912, his collected works were published in nine volumes as an appendix to the Niva magazine. Real glory came, and with it stability and confidence in the future. However, this prosperity did not last long: the First World War. Kuprin arranges an infirmary for 10 beds in his house, his wife Elizaveta Moritsovna, a former sister of mercy, takes care of the wounded.

Kuprin could not accept the October Revolution of 1917. He took the defeat of the White Army as a personal tragedy. “I ... bow my head respectfully before the heroes of all volunteer armies and detachments, who disinterestedly and selflessly offered their souls for their friends,” he would later say in his work “The Dome of St. Isaac of Dalmatia.” But the worst thing for him is the changes that happened to people overnight. People "bruised" before our eyes, lost their human appearance. In many of his works (“The Dome of St. Isaac of Dalmatia”, “Search”, “Interrogation”, “Pinto Horses. Apocrypha”, etc.), Kuprin describes these terrible changes in human souls that took place in the post-revolutionary years.

In 1918 Kuprin met with Lenin. “For the first and probably the last time in my life I went to a man with the sole purpose of looking at him,” he admits in the story “Lenin. Instant photo. The one he saw was far from the image that Soviet propaganda imposed. “At night, already in bed, without fire, I again turned my memory to Lenin, called up his image with extraordinary clarity and ... was frightened. It seemed to me that for a moment I seemed to have entered into it, I felt like it. “In essence,” I thought, “this man, so simple, polite and healthy, is much more terrible than Nero, Tiberius, Ivan the Terrible. Those, with all their spiritual ugliness, were still people accessible to the whims of the day and fluctuations in character. This one is something like a stone, like a cliff, which has broken away from the mountain range and is rapidly rolling down, destroying everything in its path. And besides - think! - a stone, by virtue of some kind of magic, - thinking! He has no feelings, no desires, no instincts. One sharp, dry, invincible thought: falling, I destroy.

Fleeing from the devastation and hunger that engulfed post-revolutionary Russia, the Kuprins leave for Finland. Here the writer is actively working in the emigrant press. But in 1920, he and his family had to move again. “It is not my will that fate itself fills the sails of our ship with wind and drives it to Europe. The newspaper will be out soon. I have a Finnish passport until June 1, and after this period they will only be allowed to live on homeopathic doses. There are three roads: Berlin, Paris and Prague ... But I, a Russian illiterate knight, do not understand well, turn my head and scratch my head, ”he wrote to Repin. Bunin's letter from Paris helped to resolve the issue of choosing a country, and in July 1920 Kuprin and his family moved to Paris.

However, neither the long-awaited peace nor well-being comes. Here they are strangers to everyone, without housing, without work, in a word - refugees. Kuprin is engaged in literary day labor. There is a lot of work, but it is paid low, money is sorely lacking. He tells his old friend Zaikin: "... he was left naked and poor, like a stray dog." But even more than need, he is exhausted by homesickness. In 1921, he wrote to the writer Gushchik in Tallinn: “... there is not a day that I do not remember Gatchina, why I left. It is better to starve and get cold at home than to live out of the mercy of a neighbor under a bench. I want to go home ... ”Kuprin dreams of returning to Russia, but is afraid that he will be met there as a traitor to the Motherland.

Gradually, life got better, but nostalgia remained, only “lost its sharpness and became chronic,” Kuprin wrote in the essay “Motherland”. “You live in a beautiful country, among smart and good people, among the monuments of the greatest culture ... But everything is just for fun, as if a film of cinema is unfolding. And all the silent, dull grief that you no longer cry in your sleep and see in your dream neither Znamenskaya Square, nor Arbat, nor Povarskaya, nor Moscow, nor Russia, but only a black hole. Longing for the lost happy life is heard in the story “At Trinity-Sergius”: “But what can I do with myself if the past lives in me with all the feelings, sounds, songs, cries, images, smells and tastes, and the present life drags on in front of me like a daily, never changing, tired, worn out film. And do we not live in the past sharper, but deeper, sadder, but sweeter than in the present?

Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin is a famous Russian writer. His works, woven from real life stories are filled with "fatal" passions and exciting emotions. Heroes and villains come to life on the pages of his books, from privates to generals. And all this against the backdrop of unfading optimism and piercing love for life, which the writer Kuprin gives to his readers.

Biography

He was born in 1870 in the city of Narovchat in the family of an official. A year after the birth of the boy, the father dies, and the mother moves to Moscow. Here is the childhood of the future writer. At the age of six, he was sent to the Razumovsky Boarding School, and after graduation in 1880, to the Cadet Corps. At the age of 18, after graduation, Alexander Kuprin, whose biography is inextricably linked with military affairs, enters the Alexander Cadet School. Here he writes his first work, The Last Debut, which was published in 1889.

creative path

After graduating from college, Kuprin was enrolled in an infantry regiment. Here he spends 4 years. An officer's life provides the richest material for him. During this time, his stories "In the Dark", "Overnight", "Moonlight Night" and others are published. In 1894, after the resignation of Kuprin, whose biography begins with clean slate, moves to Kyiv. The writer tries various professions, gaining precious life experience, as well as ideas for his future works. In subsequent years, he traveled a lot around the country. The result of his wanderings are the famous stories "Moloch", "Olesya", as well as the stories "The Werewolf" and "The Wilderness".

In 1901 new stage life begins the writer Kuprin. His biography continues in St. Petersburg, where he marries M. Davydova. Here his daughter Lydia and new masterpieces are born: the story "Duel", as well as the stories "White Poodle", "Swamp", "River of Life" and others. In 1907, the prose writer marries again and has a second daughter, Xenia. This period is the heyday in the author's work. He's writing famous stories"Garnet Bracelet" and "Shulamith". In his works of this period, Kuprin, whose biography unfolds against the backdrop of two revolutions, shows his fear for the fate of the entire Russian people.

Emigration

In 1919 the writer emigrates to Paris. Here he spends 17 years of his life. This stage of the creative path is the most fruitless in the life of a prose writer. Homesickness, as well as a constant lack of funds, forced him to return home in 1937. But creative plans not destined to come true. Kuprin, whose biography has always been associated with Russia, writes the essay "Moscow is dear." The disease progresses, and in August 1938 the writer dies of cancer in Leningrad.

Artworks

Among the most famous works The writer can be noted for the stories "Moloch", "Duel", "Pit", the stories "Olesya", "Garnet Bracelet", "Gambrinus". Kuprin's work affects various aspects human life. He writes about pure love and prostitution, about heroes and the decaying atmosphere of army life. There is only one thing missing in these works - that which can leave the reader indifferent.