"One Day of Ivan Denisovich": a short summary. "One Day of Ivan Denisovich", Solzhenitsyn

There were works in the history of Soviet literature that were published in mass editions, and then suddenly became taboo. At first they were simply seized from libraries, and then hunting for already printed copies began. Then it became risky to possess a typewritten copy (there were almost no means of light replication like Xeroxes, and strict control was installed at the enterprises that existed). In the end, even those who, having read a story or story once, were at great risk, because of their verbal abilities, tried to orally state at least their brief content. "One day of Ivan Denisovich" is one of such works.

Purpose

In 1951, Alexander Isaevich developed a creative idea of the story, after reading which the inhabitants of the USSR could judge the conditions and details of the life of prisoners-campers. It was in North Kazakhstan, where the future Nobel laureate was serving a term. From dawn (the ascent was set at five in the morning) and until the lights out, the protagonist lived a whole life full of anxieties, labor, risk and deprivation. This was, in effect, the plan of the work and its brief content. "One Day of Ivan Denisovich" described the everyday life of one person from the multimillion-dollar "labor army" that forged the economic might of the Soviet regime. It was these "zeks" that created a large share of the gross product of the Land of Soviets on a par with the powerless and humiliated peasantry, plundered and always hungry. The main hero also discusses the collective farmers in this story, naively marveling at the desire of the soldiers who returned from the war to avoid the sad slave fate and get a job at any distance from their native village, preferably in the city. However, the prisoners' realities were more severe than those of the poorest collective farm. The story then existed only in the imagination of the writer, he transferred it to paper later, in Ryazan, where the liberated AI Solzhenitsyn settled in 1957.

The spite of the day

In 1959, the Soviet Union fought not only with world imperialism, but also with the remnants of voluntarism, Stalinism and other "isms" that prevented the forward movement towards a brighter future. It so happened that the story written by the former prisoners was attributed to the literature at that time, expressed in modern terms, in the "trend" or "mainstream". He did not think of the writer as a way to achieve fame or success, but in this case there was a simple luck. The head of the party and state, NS Khrushchov, with his speech at the 22nd Congress of the CPSU, hammered the last nails into the cover of the coffin of Stalinism (at least that was what he believed), preparing the removal of the body of the former leader from the Mausoleum. It was then that the author ventured to present his work to the court of Anna Samoilovna Berzer, editor of the prose department of the popular New World magazine. She went to the chief editor Tvardovsky with a manuscript and presented him with a short summary of the story "One day of Ivan Denisovich", changing the name of the writer to Ryazan. The hit on the target seemed to be one hundred percent, but the risk was still not excluded.

Difficult path of the manuscript

At first glance, the work fully corresponded to the line of the party proclaimed at the XX, XXI and XXII congresses, condemning the "excesses". In 1961, it was fashionable to brand Stalin, but still it was necessary to "observe decency in every ugliness". A. Tvardovsky, himself, being a master of the pen, highly appreciated the artistic qualities of the story and gave her high marks, and then handed over the manuscript to his fellow workers in the workshop, setting out a preliminary summary. "One day of Ivan Denisovich" read Ehrenburg, Marshak, Paustovsky, Fedin and Chukovsky, who also expressed admiration. It was a small matter: to enlist the support of the main literary critic - Nikita Sergeevich himself. The first secretary, usually very busy, this time took the request of members of the Union of Writers of the USSR carefully. He was worried not only by the summary. "One Day of Ivan Denisovich," a retelling of which from the lips of Fadeyev interested the Soviet leader, was read, appreciated and approved.

Success

So, the eleventh (November) issue of the "New World" in 1962 with Solzhenitsyn's text went into circulation. 96,900 magazines were swept off the shelves of bookstores and Soyuzpechat stalls. Followed by a 25-thousandth additional issue, but he did not quench his thirst for hungry people in the harsh truth of Soviet people. The summary of the book One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich was presented in smoking rooms and in kitchens, quoted in a whisper (few believed in permissiveness), and sometimes even in full voice (the most courageous supporters of party democracy). In January of the next year, "Roman-Gazeta" broke a record of mass character and published a 700-thousandth edition, printing the same story. Another hundred thousand readers were added to the author by the publishing house Sovetskii pisatel, releasing a separate volume. Even in the world's most readable country (and this was so), the total number of printed copies of over a million was a phenomenon infrequent. Solzhenitsyn was admitted to the Writers' Union of the USSR.

Difficulties of translation

The work became known both in the USSR and abroad. A Western reader, accustomed to digesters and who does not like to tire himself with long texts, was quite happy with the summary. "One day of Ivan Denisovich" Solzhenitsyn wrote a rather complex language, full of camp concepts and jargon terms. How to explain to the Frenchman that the word "moron" does not in fact mean a "little fool," but a prisoner who safely stays at a low-level post at a food station or a hospital (in turn, a medical institution in the camp's territory). The main thing that the reader has learned, who lives "behind the hill", is that human rights are not respected in the USSR, but everyone can be imprisoned. And, strangely enough, this simplistic view was quite consistent with the author's idea of the work.

Plot

The working name was originally "Щ-854" - it's a camp number, written on a piece of cloth sewn to the protagonist's jacket, on the back and chest. The story of A. I. Solzhenitsyn "One Day of Ivan Denisovich" is full of details about the life of prisoners, through which the author denotes the circle of interests and aspirations of people who became the slaves of the regime by the will of all-powerful punitive organs. They dream of a little rest (sometimes only a few minutes more than they were supposed to), they want a storm to happen, which will free them from the need to go to heavy work. Then all the same it is necessary to make up, but it after. Get a little more bread or scoop rations with a slice-other frozen potatoes - good luck. Can it even accommodate a masterly written summary? "One Day of Ivan Denisovich" is a story woven from ordinary life details that a person can not understand even with the most developed imagination, if he has not experienced anything like this.

People

And yet there are stories in the narrative that are subject to retelling. This biography of characters, people of different fates and characters. Ivan Denisovich Shukhov fought, he comes from a peasant family. All his fault is that he was in captivity. There is still a Baptist Alyoshka, everything is clear with him. The cinematographer Caesar was shooting some kind of movie, not the way it was necessary, but he did not finish the work. A young western Ukrainian Hopchik helped his fellow villagers, Bandera, who had gone into the forest. The naval officer Bundowski was in service with a familiar with the British, he went with them to Arkhangelsk, but after the war received a gift from his British counterpart, and so much was guilty. In general, there are a lot of characters, each of them is original, and if you describe them all, you will hardly get a summary. "One Day of Ivan Denisovich" represents a whole social section of society, made with a sharp ax of Stalin's justice. He makes us think about the nature of the communist idea and suggests its systemic depravity. This is the reason that in the seventies the work was prohibited.