Writer Mikhail Uspensky: biography

The famous Russian writer Mikhail Uspensky has recently left this world. He lived only 64 years. But there were his books, which many have yet to read.

Facts from biography

The future writer, Uspensky Mikhail Glebovich, was born in 1950 in the ancient Altai city of Barnaul. The young man showed a rather early taste for literature, as well as a desire to realize himself in this direction. His first poetic publication took place in the provincial periodical press, when Michael was only seventeen years old. This largely determined his future life.

Mikhail Uspensky received his professional education at the Faculty of Journalism of Irkutsk University, one of the oldest and most respected educational institutions in Siberia.

In the great literature

The road to success is rarely easy. Mikhail Uspensky, whose books are now recognized by the literary community and by a wide range of readers, was felt by the writer only in 1988, when his first book, The Evil Eye, was published in Krasnoyarsk. Before that, there were many years of hard work, casual earnings and rare publications, mainly in Siberian periodicals. But the stories from the collection were well received by both simple readers and literary critics. Some of them began to live an independent life - they were performed from the stage by actors of the colloquial genre. This first serious success was a good incentive for the writer to continue his work. And the opportunity to change the direction of the vector of their creative forces in the direction of science fiction, as well as what is usually denoted by the term "fantasy". At that time, this genre was not a widespread literary phenomenon. The public was just starting to get acquainted with the classic works of Tolkien.

Genre synthesis and semantic diversity

Michael Uspensky, whose books criticism most often referred to science fiction, refused to recognize the clear boundaries between the genres of literature. Such a separation, according to the author, significantly reduced the potential of the initial impulse to creativity, with which the writer opens a blank piece of paper or touches the computer keyboard. And the synthesis of different genres opens for the creator completely new, previously unexplored expressive possibilities. It is precisely the embodiment of these principles and approaches that the unorthodox representative such as Mikhail Uspensky has most vividly manifested himself in domestic fiction. All the author's books are so characteristic that they do not have a clear boundary between fantasy and reality, between sophisticated fiction and everyday everyday life.

It is these qualities that they are interesting to a thoughtful reader who loves intrigue and unpredictability of plot twists. The most popular among readers are such novels of Mikhail Uspensky as "Look into the eyes of monsters" and "March of the eclesists".

In the science fiction community

Any writer is pleased to see that he reads and understands the public to whom his works are addressed. But even more significant is to get recognition from fellow feuders who work in the same direction and are competitors in the struggle for the readers' attention. Mikhail Uspensky in this sense was a happy man - his services to his favorite genre of literature were recognized in the community of science fiction writers at the highest level. Back in 1993 he received the most outstanding coryphaeus of the genre - Boris Strugatsky - with his personal award. Honorary regalia was called "Bronze Snail". And it was far from the only one. Moreover, Boris Strugatsky blessed his younger by age and position in the hierarchy of his colleague for the continuation of the cycle of classic novels about the Midday World. This story was called "Snake Milk". It continues the themes and images from the books of the Strugatsky brothers.

And the last significant work, which managed to complete Mikhail Uspensky, was the novel "The richness of Kosti Zhikharev." This is a book in the genre of fantasy on the Slavic theme. It is widely represented characters of Russian folk tales and ancient Slavic bylinas.

Public position

With all the reckless immersion in the world of literary images, Mikhail Uspensky could not remain aloof from the acute social conflicts and socio-political processes in the Russian society. A particularly high degree of glow of political passions and contradictions reached the winter of 2011-2012, during the parliamentary and presidential elections. These days Mikhail could often be seen at rallies and marches of the opposition. He belonged to the number of unconditional opponents of the existing political regime in the country. It is even a little surprising that in his literary works Mikhail Uspensky almost does not mean his political predilections.