The most widely read Russian writers in the world. Famous writers. Pleiad of geniuses

How were great books created? How did Nabokov write Lolita? Where did Agatha Christie work? What was Hemingway's daily routine? These and other details creative process famous authors - in our issue.

To write a book, you first need inspiration. However, every writer has his own muse, and it does not come always and everywhere. No matter what tricks the famous authors went to to find the very place and the very moment when the plot and characters of the book formed in their head the best way... Who would have thought that great works were created in such conditions!

1. Agatha Christie (1890-1976), having already published a dozen books, in the questionnaire line “occupation” indicated “housewife”. She worked in fits and starts, having neither a separate office, nor even a desk. She wrote in the bedroom at the wash table or could sit at the dinner table in between meals. “I used to be a little embarrassed to 'go and write'. But if I managed to retire, close the door behind me and make sure that no one interfered, then I forgot about everything in the world. "

2. Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) wrote his first novel, The Other Side, on scraps of paper in training camp in his spare time. After serving, he forgot about discipline and began to use alcohol as a source of inspiration. I slept until lunch, sometimes I worked, at night I drank in bars. When there were bouts of activity, he could write 8000 words in one go. This was enough for a long story, but not enough for a story. When Fitzgerald wrote "Tender is the Night," he hard work managed to stand sober for three to four hours. "Subtle perception and judgment during editing are incompatible with drinking," Fitzgerald wrote, admitting to the publisher that alcohol interferes with creativity.

3. Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) wrote Madame Bovary for five years. The work progressed too slowly and painfully: "Bovary" does not go. Two pages in a week! There is something to fill your face with despair. " Flaubert woke up at ten in the morning, without getting out of bed, reading letters, newspapers, smoking a pipe, talking with his mother. Then he would take a bath, eat breakfast and dinner at the same time, and go for a walk. He taught his niece history and geography for one hour, then sat down in a chair and read until seven in the evening. After a hearty supper, he talked with his mother for several hours, and finally, with the onset of night, he began to compose. Years later, he wrote: "After all, work is the best way to escape life."

4. Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) got up at dawn all his life. Even if he drank late the night before, he got up no later than six in the morning, fresh and rested. Hemingway worked until noon, standing by the shelf. There was a typewriter on the shelf, wooden plank lined with sheets for printing. Having written all the sheets with a pencil, he took off the board and retyped what he had written. Every day, he counted the number of words he had written and made a graph. "When you finish, you feel empty, not empty, but filling up again, as if you were making love to your loved one."

5. James Joyce (1882-1941) wrote about himself: "A man of little virtue, prone to extravagance and alcoholism." No regime, no organization. He slept until ten, had breakfast in bed with coffee and bagels, earned English and piano lessons, constantly borrowed money and distracted creditors with talking about politics. To write "Ulysses", it took him seven years with breaks for eight illnesses and eighteen travels to Switzerland, Italy, France. Over the years, he spent about 20 thousand hours at work.

6. Haruki Murakami (born 1949) gets up at four in the morning and writes for six hours straight. After work, he runs, swims, reads, listens to music. At nine o'clock in the evening we go to sleep. Murakami believes that the repetitive mode helps him enter a trance that is beneficial for creativity. He used to be sedentary, gaining weight and smoking three packs of cigarettes a day. Then he moved to the village, began to eat fish and vegetables, quit smoking and has been running for more than 25 years. The only drawback is the lack of communication. To comply with the regime, Murakami has to decline all invitations, and friends are offended. "Readers do not care what my daily routine is, as long as the next book is better than the previous one."

7. Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977) sketched novels on small cards, which he put in a long box for catalogs. He wrote down pieces of text on cards, and then folded the pages and chapters of the book from the fragments. Thus, the manuscript and work table fit in the box. Nabokov wrote "Lolita" at night in the back seat of a car, believing that there was no noise and distractions. As he got older, Nabokov never worked after lunch, watched football matches, sometimes allowed himself a glass of wine and hunted butterflies, sometimes running for a rare specimen up to 25 kilometers.

8. Jane Austen (1775-1817), author of the novels Pride and Prejudice, Feeling and Sensitivity, Emma, ​​The Arguments of Reason. Jane Austen lived with her mother, sister, girlfriend and three servants. She never had a chance to retire. Jane had to work in the family living room, where she could be interrupted at any time. She wrote on small scraps of paper, and as soon as the door creaked, warning her of a visitor, she managed to hide the notes and get out a basket of handicrafts. Later, Jane's sister Cassandra took care of the household. Grateful Jane wrote: "I can't imagine how you can compose with lamb cutlets and rhubarb spinning in your head."

9. Marcel Proust (1871-1922) wrote the novel "In Search of Lost Time" for nearly 14 years. During this time, he wrote a million and a half words. To concentrate fully on his work, Proust hid himself from society and barely left his famous oak-studded bedroom. Proust worked at night, slept until three or four in the afternoon. Immediately after awakening, he lit a powder containing opium - this is how he treated asthma. I ate almost nothing, only had breakfast coffee with milk and a croissant. Proust wrote in bed, with a notebook on his lap and pillows under his head. In order not to fall asleep, I took caffeine in pills, and when it was time to sleep, I seized the caffeine with Veronal. Apparently, he tortured himself on purpose, believing that physical suffering allows him to reach heights in art.

10. Georges Sand (1804-1876) used to write 20 pages a night. Work at night became a habit with her since childhood, when she looked after her sick grandmother and could only do what she loved at night. Later, she threw her sleeping lover in bed and in the middle of the night moved to desk... The next morning, she did not always remember what she wrote in a sleepy state. Although Georges Sand was an unusual person (wore men's clothing, had affairs with both women and men), she condemned the abuse of coffee, alcohol or opium. To stay awake, she ate chocolate, drank milk, or smoked a cigarette. "When the moment comes to give your thoughts a form, you need to completely control yourself, whether on the stage of the stage or in the hideout of your office."

11. Mark Twain (1835-1910) wrote "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" on a farm, where he had a separate gazebo-study. He worked with open windows, pressing sheets of paper with bricks. No one was allowed to approach the office, and if Twain was badly needed, the family sounded the horn. In the evenings, Twain read what had been written to the family. He constantly smoked cigars, and wherever Twain appeared, after him, he had to ventilate the room. While working, he was tormented by insomnia, and, according to the recollections of friends, he began to treat her with champagne at night. The champagne didn't work - and Twain asked his friends to stock up on beer. Then Twain said that only Scotch whiskey helped him. After a series of experiments, Twain simply went to bed at ten in the evening and fell asleep unexpectedly. All this amused him greatly. However, he was entertained by any life events.

12. Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) worked three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening. The rest of the time was occupied by social life, lunches and dinners, drinking with friends and girlfriends, tobacco and drugs. This regime brought the philosopher to nervous exhaustion. Instead of resting, Sartre got hooked on the corridor, a mixture of amphetamine and aspirin that was legal until 1971. Instead of the usual dosage of a pill twice a day, Sartre took twenty. The first was washed down with strong coffee, the rest slowly chewed during work. One tablet - one page of "Criticism of Dialectical Reason". According to the biographer, Sartre's daily menu included two packs of cigarettes, several pipes of black tobacco, more than a liter of alcohol, including vodka and whiskey, 200 milligrams of amphetamine, barbiturates, tea, coffee and fatty foods.

13. Georges Simenon (1903-1989) is considered the most prolific writer of the 20th century. He has 425 books on his account: 200 tabloid novels under pseudonyms and 220 under his own name. Moreover, Simenon did not comply with the regime, he worked in fits for two to three weeks, from six to nine in the morning, giving out 80 printed pages at a time. Then he walked, drank coffee, slept and watched TV. While writing a novel, he wore the same clothes until the end of work, supported himself with tranquilizers, never corrected what was written and weighed himself before and after work.

14. Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) was a beech during his work. He got up late, around nine o'clock, did not talk to anyone until he washed, changed clothes and combed his beard. I ate coffee and a couple of soft-boiled eggs and locked myself in my study until lunchtime. Sometimes his wife Sophia sat there quieter than a mouse in case she had to rewrite a couple of chapters of War and Peace by hand or listen to another portion of the composition. Before dinner, Tolstoy went for a walk. If you returned to good mood, could share impressions or engage with children. If not, I read books, played solitaire and talked with the guests.

15. Somerset Maugham(1874-1965) for 92 years of his life published 78 books. Maugham's biographer called his work writing, not a vocation, but rather an addiction. Maugham himself likened the habit of writing to the habit of drinking. Both are easy to acquire and both are difficult to get rid of. The first two phrases Maugham invented while lying in the bath. After that I wrote daily rate in fifteen hundred words. "When you write, when you create a character, he is with you all the time, you are busy with him, he lives." As he stopped writing, Maugham felt infinitely lonely.

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

Great Russian writers and poets

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

The names of Russian writers and poets who have become world classics are known to everyone. Their work will forever remain in world history as an important element.

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

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

Literature is subdivided into many topics, which formed the basis of the works. Russian writers and poets talked about war, about love, about peace, fully opening up to every reader.

"Golden Age" in Literature

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

Poetry of the "Golden Age": Vasily Zhukovsky

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

Mikhail Lermontov

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

Prose of the "Golden Age"

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

Lev Tolstoy

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

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

Fedor Dostoevsky

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

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

Ivan Turgenev

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

Russian Writers and Poets: The Silver Age of Literature

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

Poetry of the Silver Age

Bright personalities that make this one stand out literary period, were undoubtedly poets. Many directions and trends of poetry appeared, which were created as a result of the division of opinions about the actions of the Russian authorities.

Alexander Blok

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

Sergey Yesenin

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

Vladimir Mayakovsky

If we talk about Yesenin, then I would like to immediately mention Vladimir Mayakovsky. Harsh, loud, self-confident - that was exactly what the poet was. The words that came out of Mayakovsky's pen are still striking in their power - Vladimir Vladimirovich perceived everything so emotionally. In addition to harshness, in the work of Mayakovsky, who did not go well in his personal life, there is also love lyrics. The story of the poet and Lily Brick is known all over the world. It was Brick who discovered in him all the most tender and sensual, and Mayakovsky, in return for this, seemed to idealize and deify her in his love lyrics.

Marina Tsvetaeva

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

Silver Age prose: Leonid Andreev

Great contribution to fiction made by Leonid Andreev, who became the author of the story "Judas Iscariot". In his work, he put it a little differently biblical story betrayal of Jesus, making Judas not just a traitor, but a man suffering from his envy of people who were loved by everyone. The lonely and strange Judas, who found rapture in his tales and tales, always received only ridicule in the face. The story tells about how easy it is to break a person's spirit and push him to any meanness, if he has no support or close people.

Maksim Gorky

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

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

The current generation now sees everything clearly, marvels at the delusions, laughs at the folly of their ancestors, not in vain that this chronicle is strewn with heavenly fire, that every letter shouts in it, that a piercing finger is directed at him, at him, at the current generation from everywhere; but the current generation laughs and arrogantly, proudly begins a series of new delusions, which the descendants will also laugh at later. "Dead Souls"

Nestor Vasilievich Kukolnik (1809 - 1868)
For what? As if inspiration
Will fall in love with the given subject!
As if a true poet
Sell ​​your imagination!
I am a slave, a day laborer, I am a huckster!
I owe you, sinner, for gold,
For your insignificant piece of silver
Pay with divine payment!
"Improvisation I"

Literature is a language that expresses everything that a country thinks, what it wants, what it knows and what it wants and should know.

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

And everywhere there is sound, and everywhere there is light,
And all the worlds have one beginning,
And there is nothing in nature,
That would not breathe love.

In days of doubt, in days of painful thoughts about the fate of my homeland, you alone are my support and support, oh great, mighty, truthful and free Russian language! If it weren't for you, how not to fall into despair at the sight of everything that is happening at home? But one cannot believe that such a language was not given to a great people!
Poems in prose, "Russian language"

So, completing his dissolute escape,
Thorny snow flies from naked fields,
Driven by an early, violent blizzard,
And, stopping in the forest wilderness,
Gathers in silver silence
Deep and cold bed.

Listen: it's a shame!
It's time to get up! You know yourself
What time has come;
In whom the sense of duty has not cooled down,
Who is incorruptibly straight with his heart,
In whom is the gift, strength, accuracy,
Tom should not sleep now ...
"Poet and Citizen"

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

Spring! the first frame is exposed -
And the noise rushed into the room,
And the gospel of the nearby temple,
And the talk of the people, and the knock of the wheel ...

Well, what are you afraid of, please tell me! Now every grass, every flower rejoices, but we are hiding, we are afraid, just what a misfortune! The storm will kill! This is not a thunderstorm, but grace! Yes, grace! You are all thunderstorm! northern Lights will light up, one should admire and marvel at the wisdom: "from the midnight countries the dawn rises"! And you are horrified and come up with: for war or for pestilence. Whether a comet is coming, I would not take my eyes off! The beauty! The stars have already taken a closer look, they are all the same, and this is a new thing; Well, I would look and admire! And you are afraid even to look at the sky, you are trembling! You scared yourself out of everything. Eh, people! "Storm"

There is no more enlightening, soul-cleansing feeling than that which a person feels when meeting with a great work of art.

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

There is a well-known trick of an American journalist, who, in order to raise a subscription to his magazine, began to print in other publications the most harsh, impudent attacks on himself from fictitious persons: some of them portrayed him as a swindler and perjurer, others a thief and a murderer, others a libertine on a colossal scale. He was not stingy to pay for such friendly advertisements, until everyone thought about it - yes, you can see this curious and remarkable person when everyone is shouting about him like that! - and began to buy up his own newspaper.
"Life in a Hundred Years"

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

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

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

Gleb Ivanovich Uspensky (1843 - 1902)
- But what do you want abroad? - I asked him at a time when in his room, with the help of a servant, was packing and packing his things to be sent to the Varshavsky railway station.
- Yes, just ... to feel! he said, bewildered and with a kind of dull expression on his face.
"Letters from the Road"

Is it really the point to go through life so as not to hurt anyone? This is not happiness. Hurt, break, break, so that life boils. I am not afraid of any accusations, but I am a hundred times more afraid of colorlessness than death.

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

You get a strange feeling when, by lightly pressing your hand, you make such a mass rise and fall at will. When such a mass obeys you, you feel the power of man ...
"A meeting"

Vasily Vasilievich Rozanov (1856 - 1919)
The feeling of the Motherland should be strict, restrained in words, not spoken, not talkative, not "waving his arms" and not running forward (to appear). The feeling of the Motherland should be a great ardent silence.
"Solitary"

And what is the secret of beauty, what is the mystery and charm of art: whether in a conscious, inspired victory over torment, or in the unconscious longing of the human spirit, which sees no way out of the circle of vulgarity, squalor or thoughtlessness and is tragically condemned to seem complacent or hopelessly false.
"Sentimental Memory"

Since my birth I have lived in Moscow, but by God I do not know where Moscow came from, why it is, why, why, what it needs. In the Duma, at meetings, I, along with others, talk about the urban economy, but I do not know how many miles there are in Moscow, how many people there are, how many are born and die, how much we get and spend, how much and with whom we trade ... Which city is richer: Moscow or London? If London is richer, then why? And the jester knows him! And when a question is raised in the Duma, I shudder and the first to start shouting: “Transfer to the commission! To the commission! "

Everything is new in the old way:
The modern poet
Into a metaphorical outfit
Poetic speech is dressed.

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

Under the influence of Dostoevsky, as well as foreign literature, Baudelaire and Edgar Poe, my passion began not with decadence, but with symbolism (even then I already understood their difference). The collection of poems, published at the very beginning of the 90s, I titled "Symbols". It seems that I used this word before anyone else in Russian literature.

Vyacheslav Ivanovich Ivanov (1866 - 1949)
Running of changeable phenomena
Past the soaring ones, speed up:
Merge into one sunset of accomplishments
With the first brilliance of gentle dawns.
From lower life to origins
Observe in a single moment:
In a single face with a clever eye
Take your doubles.
Unchanged and wonderful
Gift of the Blessed Muse:
In the spirit, the form of slender songs,
There is life and heat in the heart of the songs.
"Thoughts on Poetry"

I have a lot of news. And all are good. I'm lucky". It is written to me. I want to live, live, live forever. If you knew how many new poems I wrote! More than a hundred. It was crazy, a fairy tale, new. I publish new book, not at all like the previous ones. She will surprise many. I changed my understanding of the world. No matter how funny my phrase sounds, I will say: I understood the world. For many years, perhaps forever.
K. Balmont - L. Vilkina

Man - that's the truth! Everything is in a person, everything is for a person! There is only man, all the rest is the work of his hands and his brain! Human! It's great! It sounds ... proud!

"At the bottom"

I am sorry to create something useless and unnecessary to anyone now. A collection, a book of poetry at this time is the most useless, unnecessary thing ... I do not want to say that poetry is not needed. On the contrary, I argue that poetry is necessary, even necessary, natural and eternal. There was a time when everyone seemed to need whole books of poetry, when they were read completely, everyone understood and accepted. Time is the past, not ours. The modern reader does not need a collection of poems!

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

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

In the struggle for their ideal of "freedom, equality and fraternity", citizens must use means that do not contradict this ideal.
"Governor"

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

An artist cannot do more than open his soul to others. You can’t show him the rules drawn up in advance. He is a still unknown world, where everything is new. We must forget what captivated others, here is different. Otherwise, you will listen and you will not hear, you will look without understanding.
From the treatise by Valery Bryusov "On Art"

Alexey Mikhailovich Remizov (1877 - 1957)
Well, let her rest, she was worn out - they tortured her, worried. And as soon as daylight rises, the shopkeeper starts to fold her goods, grabs the blanket, goes, pulls out this soft bedding from under the old woman: wakes the old woman, wakes her up: not dawn, if you please get up. That's that. In the meantime - our grandmother, our Kostroma, our mother, Russia! "

"Swirling Russia"

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

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

Babkin dared, - read Seneca
And whistling the carcasses,
Took it to the library
Noting in the margin: "Nonsense!"
Babkin, friend, is a harsh critic,
Have you thought at least once
What a legless paralytic
A light chamois is not a decree? ..
"Reader"

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

"Poetry of the word"

It is only worth thinking about the great, only the great tasks should be set by the writer; put it boldly, without being embarrassed by your personal small forces.

Boris Konstantinovich Zaitsev (1881 - 1972)
“It’s true, there are both devil and watery ones,” I thought, looking in front of me, “and maybe some other spirit lives here… A mighty northern spirit that enjoys this savagery; maybe real northern fauns and healthy, blond women wander in these forests, devour cloudberries and lingonberries, laugh and chase each other. "
"North"

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

Out of modesty, I hesitate to point out the fact that on my birthday the bells were rung and there was general popular rejoicing. Evil tongues associated this jubilation with some big holiday that coincided with the day of my birth, but I still don't understand why there is any other holiday here?

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

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

Switzerland? This is a mountain pasture of tourists. I've traveled all over the world myself, but I hate these ruminant bipeds with a Badaker instead of a tail. They chewed up all the beauties of nature with their eyes.
"Island of the lost ships"

Everything that I have written and will write, I consider only mental rubbish and in no way respect my literary merits. And I wonder, and I wonder why by sight smart people find some meaning and value in my poems. Thousands of poems, whether mine or those of the poets I know in Russia, are not worth one chant of my bright mother.

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

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

He adored poetry, in his judgments he tried to be impartial. He was surprisingly young in soul, and maybe in mind. He always seemed like a child to me. There was something childish in his shaved head under a typewriter, in his bearing, more gymnasium than military. He liked to portray an adult, like all children. He loved to play in the "master", in the literary leadership of his "humiliates", that is, the little poets and poetesses who surrounded him. The poetic kids loved him very much.
Khodasevich, "Necropolis"

I, I, I. What a wild word!
Is that one over there - is it me?
Did mom love this
Yellow-gray, semi-gray
And omniscient as a snake?
You have lost your Russia.
Did he oppose the element
Good for the elements of gloomy evil?
No? So shut up: led away
Your fate is not without reason
To the edges of an unkind foreign land.
What's the use of groaning and grieving -
Russia must be earned!
"What you need to know"

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

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

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

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

Ilya Grigorievich Erenburg (Eliyahu Gershevich) (1891 - 1967)
Maybe go to the House of Press - there is one sandwich with chum caviar and a debate - "about proletarian choir reading", or to the Polytechnic Museum - there are no sandwiches, but twenty-six young poets read their poems about "locomotive mass." No, I will sit on the stairs, shivering from the cold and dream that all this is not in vain, that, sitting here on the step, I am preparing the distant sunrise of the Renaissance. I dreamed both simply and in poetry, and it turned out boring iambics.
"The Extraordinary Adventures of Julio Jurenito and His Students"

Culture

This list contains the names of the greatest writers of all time from different nations who wrote on different languages... Those who are at least somehow interested in literature are undoubtedly familiar with them from their wonderful creations.

Today I would like to remember those who remained on the pages of history as outstanding authors of great works that have been in demand for many years, decades, centuries and even millennia.

1) Latin: Publius Virgil Maron

Other great authors who wrote in the same language: Mark Tullius Cicero, Guy Julius Caesar, Publius Ovid Nazon, Quintus Horace Flaccus

You should know Virgil by his famous epic "Aeneid", which is dedicated to the fall of Troy. Virgil is probably the strictest perfectionist in literary history. He wrote his poem at an astonishingly slow rate - only 3 lines a day. He didn’t want to do it faster, to be sure that it’s impossible to write these three lines better.

In Latin, a subordinate clause, dependent or independent, can be written in any order, with a few exceptions. Thus, the poet has a lot of freedom in defining how his poetry sounds, without changing the meaning in any way. Virgil considered any option at every stage.

Virgil also wrote two more works in Latin - "Bucolics"(38 BC) and "Georgiki"(29 BC). "Georgiki"- 4 partially didactic poems about agriculture, including all sorts of advice, for example, that you should not plant grapes next to olive trees: olive leaves are very flammable, and at the end of a dry summer, they can catch on fire, like everyone else around, due to a lightning strike.

He also praised Aristeus, the god of beekeeping, because honey was the only source of sugar for European world until sugar cane was brought to Europe from the Caribbean. Bees were deified, and Virgil explained how to acquire a hive if the farmer does not have one: kill a deer, wild boar or bear, rip up their belly and leave them in the forest, praying to God Aristeus. In a week, he will send a bee hive to the carcass of the animal.

Virgil wrote that he would like his poem "Aeneid" burned after his death, as it remained unfinished. However, the emperor of Rome, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, refused to do this, thanks to which the poem has survived to this day.

2) Ancient Greek: Homer

Other great authors who wrote in the same language: Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides, Apostle Paul, Euripides, Aristophanes

Homer, perhaps, can be called greatest writer of all times and peoples, but not so much is known about him. He was probably a blind man who told stories that were recorded 400 years later. Or, in fact, a whole group of writers worked on the poems, adding something about the Trojan War and the Odyssey.

Anyway, "Iliad" and "Odyssey" were written in ancient Greek, a dialect that came to be called Homeric as opposed to Attic, which followed later and which replaced it. "Iliad" describes the last 10 years of the struggle of the Greeks with the Trojans outside the walls of Troy. The main character is Achilles. He is enraged that King Agamemnon treats him and his trophies as his property. Achilles refused to participate in a war that had lasted for 10 years and in which the Greeks lost thousands of their soldiers in the fight for Troy.

But after persuasion, Achilles allowed his friend (and possibly lover) Patroclus, who no longer wanted to wait, to join the war. However, Patroclus was defeated and killed by Hector, the leader of the Trojan army. Achilles rushed into battle and forced the Trojan battalions to flee. Without assistance, he killed many enemies, fought with the god of the river Scamander. Ultimately, Achilles killed Hector, and the poem ends with funeral ceremonies.

"Odyssey"- an unsurpassed adventure masterpiece about the 10-year wanderings of Odysseus, who tried to return home after graduation Trojan War together with your people. The details of the fall of Troy are mentioned very briefly. When Odysseus dared to go to the Land of the Dead, where, among others, he finds Achilles.

These are just two of Homer's works that have survived and have come down to us, however, it is not known for sure whether there were others. However, these works form the basis of all European literature... The poems are written with a dactylic hexameter. In memory of Homer by western tradition many poems were written.

3) French: Victor Hugo

Other great authors who wrote in the same language: René Descartes, Voltaire, Alexandre Dumas, Moliere, François Rabelais, Marcel Proust, Charles Baudelaire

The French have always been fans of long novels, the longest of which is the cycle "In Search of Lost Time" Marcel Proust. However, Victor Hugo is perhaps the most famous author French prose and one of the greatest poets of the 19th century.

His most famous works are "The cathedral Notre dame de paris" (1831) and "Les Miserables"(1862). The first piece even formed the basis famous cartoon "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" studios Walt disney Pictures but in real novel Hugo did not end so fabulously.

The hunchback Quasimodo was hopelessly in love with the gypsy Esmeralda, who treated him well. However, Frollo, a vicious priest, had his eye on the beauty. Frollo followed her and saw how she almost turned out to be the mistress of Captain Phoebus. As revenge, Frollo handed the gypsy woman to justice, accusing him of killing the captain, whom he himself had killed.

After being tortured, Esmeralda confessed that she had allegedly committed a crime and was to be hanged, but at the last moment she was saved by Quasimodo. In the end, Esmeralda was executed anyway, Frollo was thrown from the cathedral, and Quasimodo died of hunger, hugging the corpse of his beloved.

"Les Miserables" also not a particularly funny novel, at least one of the main characters - Cosette - survives, despite the fact that she had to suffer almost all her life, like all the characters in the novel. This is a classic story of fanatical observance of the law, but almost no one can help those who really need help the most.

4) Spanish: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Other great authors who wrote in the same language: Jorge Luis Borges

Cervantes' main work is, of course, the famous novel "The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha"... He also wrote collections of stories, romantic romance "Galatea", novel "Persiles and Sikhismunda" and some other works.

Don Quixote is a rather hilarious character, even today, whose real name is Alonso Kehana. He read so much about warlike knights and their honest ladies that he began to consider himself a knight, traveling through countryside and getting into all sorts of adventures, forcing everyone who meets him on the way to remember him for recklessness. He made friends with an ordinary farmer Sancho Panza who is trying to bring Don Quixote back to reality.

It is known that Don Quixote tried to fight windmills, rescued people who usually did not need his help, and was beaten many times. The second part of the book was published 10 years after the first and is the first work modern literature... The characters all know about the story of Don Quixote, which is told in the first part.

Now everyone he meets is trying to ridicule him and Panso, testing their faith in the chivalrous spirit. Ultimately, he returns to reality when he loses his fight with the Knight of the White Moon, goes home, falls ill and dies, leaving all the money to his niece, provided she doesn't marry a man who reads reckless tales of chivalry.

5) Dutch: Jost van den Vondel

Other great authors who wrote in the same language: Peter Hooft, Jacob Kats

Vondel is the most prominent 17th century writer in Holland. He was a poet and playwright and represented the Golden Age of Dutch literature. His most famous play is "Geisbrecht of Amsterdam", historical drama, which was performed on New Year's Day at the city theater in Amsterdam from 1438 to 1968.

The play tells the story of Geisbrecht IV, who, according to the play, invaded Amsterdam in 1303 to restore the family's honor and return to the titled nobility. He founded a kind of baronial title in these places. Historical sources The Vondela were unfaithful. In fact, the invasion was carried out by Geisbrecht's son, Jan, who turned out to be a real hero, overthrowing the tyranny that reigned in Amsterdam. Today Geisbrecht is a national hero because of this writer's mistake.

Vondel also wrote another masterpiece - an epic poem called "John the Baptist"(1662) about the life of John. This piece is national epic The Netherlands. Vondel is also the author of the play "Lucifer"(1654), which explores the soul of a biblical character, as well as his character and motives in order to answer the question of why he did what he did. This play inspired Englishman John Milton to write 13 years later Paradise Lost.

6) Portuguese: Luis de Camões

Other great authors who wrote in the same language: José Maria Esa de Queiroz, Fernando António Nugeira Pesoa

Camões is considered the greatest poet in Portugal. His most famous work is "Lusiad"(1572). The Lusiads are the people who inhabited the Roman region of Lusitania, in the place of which modern Portugal is located. The name comes from the name Luza (Lusus), he was a friend of the god of wine Bacchus, he is considered the progenitor of the Portuguese people. "Lusiad" – epic poem consisting of 10 songs.

The poem tells about all the famous Portuguese sea voyages for the discovery, conquest and colonization of new countries and cultures. She is somewhat similar to "Odyssey" Homer, Camões praises Homer and Virgil many times. The work begins with a description of Vasco da Gama's journey.

This is a historical poem that recreates many battles, the Revolution of 1383-85, the discovery of da Gama, trade with the city of Calcutta, India. The louisiades were always watched Greek gods though da Gama, being a Catholic, prayed to his own God. At the end, the poem mentions Magellan and speaks of the glorious future of Portuguese navigation.

7) German: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Other great authors who wrote in the same language: Friedrich von Schiller, Arthur Schopenhauer, Heinrich Heine, Franz Kafka

Talking about German music, one cannot fail to mention Bach, in the same way German literature would not be so complete without Goethe. Many great writers have written about him or used his ideas to shape their style. Goethe wrote four novels, a great many poems and documentaries, scientific essays.

Undoubtedly, his most famous work is the book "Suffering young Werther" (1774). Goethe founded the movement German Romanticism... Beethoven's 5th symphony completely coincides in mood with Goethe's "Werther".

novel "The Suffering of Young Werther" talks about the dissatisfied romanticism of the protagonist, which leads to his suicide. The story is told in the form of letters and made the epistolary novel popular for at least the next century and a half.

However, the masterpiece of Goethe's pen is still a poem "Faust", which consists of 2 parts. The first part was published in 1808, the second - in 1832, the year of the writer's death. The legend of Faust existed long before Goethe, but Goethe's dramatic story remained famous history about this hero.

Faust is a scientist whose incredible knowledge and wisdom pleased God. God sends Mephistopheles or the Devil to check Faust. The story of the deal with the devil has often been raised in literature, but the most famous is perhaps the story of Goethe's Faust. Faust signs an agreement with the Devil, promising his soul in exchange for the fact that the Devil will do on Earth what Faust wants.

He becomes young again and falls in love with the girl Gretchen. Gretchen takes a potion from Faust, which should help her mother from insomnia, but the potion poisons her. This drives Gretchen insane as she drowns her newborn baby by signing her death warrant. Faust and Mephistopheles break into the prison to rescue her, but Gretchen refuses to go with them. Faust and Mephistopheles hide, and God will grant Gretchen forgiveness while she awaits execution.

The second part is incredibly difficult to read as the reader needs to be well versed in Greek mythology... This is a kind of continuation of the story that began in the first part. Faust, with the help of Mephistopheles, becomes incredibly strong and depraved until the very end of the story. He remembers the pleasure of being a good man and then dies. Mephistopheles comes for his soul, but the angels take it for themselves, they stand up for the soul of Faust, who is reborn and ascends to Heaven.

8) Russian: Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin

Other great authors who wrote in the same language: Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov, Fyodor Dostoevsky

Today Pushkin is remembered as the father of primordial Russian literature, in contrast to that Russian literature, which had a clear tinge of Western influence. First of all, Pushkin was a poet, but he wrote in all genres. Drama is considered his masterpiece "Boris Godunov"(1831) and a poem "Eugene Onegin"(1825-32 years).

The first work is a play, the second is a novel in poetic form. "Onegin" written exclusively in sonnets, and Pushkin invented new form sonnet, which distinguishes his work from the sonnets of Petrarch, Shakespeare and Edmund Spencer.

The main character of the poem - Eugene Onegin - is the model on which all Russians are based literary heroes... Onegin is treated as a person who does not meet any norms accepted in society. He wanders, plays gambling, fights in duels, he is called a sociopath, although not cruel or evil. This person, rather, does not care about the values ​​and rules that are accepted in society.

Many of Pushkin's poems formed the basis of ballets and operas. It is very difficult to translate them into any other language. for the most part because poetry simply cannot sound the same in another language. This is what distinguishes poetry from prose. Languages ​​often do not match the capabilities of words. It is known that in the Inuit language of the Eskimos there are 45 different words for snow.

Nevertheless, "Onegin" translated into many languages. Vladimir Nabokov translated the poem into English, but instead of one volume he got as many as 4. Nabokov retained all the definitions and descriptive details, but completely ignored the music of poetry.

All this is due to the fact that Pushkin had an incredibly unique style of writing, which allowed him to touch on all aspects of the Russian language, even inventing new syntactic and grammatical forms and words, establishing many rules that are used by almost all Russian writers even today.

9) Italian: Dante Alighieri

Other great authors who wrote in the same language: no

Name Durante in Latin means "hardy" or "eternal"... It was Dante who helped organize the various Italian dialects of its time into modern Italian. The dialect of the region of Tuscany, where Dante was born in Florence, is the standard for all Italians thanks to "Divine Comedy" (1321), a masterpiece by Dante Alighieri and one of greatest works world literature of all times.

At the time this work was written, the Italian regions each had their own dialect, which were quite different from each other. Today, when you want to learn Italian as a foreign language, you will almost always start with the Florentine version of Tuscany because of its importance in literature.

Dante travels to Hell and Purgatory to learn about the punishments that sinners are serving. There are different penalties for different crimes. Those who are accused of lust are eternally driven by the wind, despite their weariness, because during their lifetime the wind of voluptuousness drove them away.

Those whom Dante considers heretics are guilty of splitting the church into several branches, among them also the prophet Muhammad. They are sentenced to split from neck to groin, and the punishment is carried out by the devil with a sword. In such a ripped state, they walk in a circle.

V "Comedy" there are also descriptions of Paradise, which are also unforgettable. Dante uses Ptolemy's concept of paradise that Heaven consists of 9 concentric spheres, each of which brings the author and Beatrice, his beloved and guide, closer to God at the very top.

After meeting different famous personalities from the Bible Dante finds himself face to face with the Lord God, depicted in the form of three beautiful circles of light merging into one, from which Jesus emerges, the embodiment of God on Earth.

Dante is also the author of other smaller poems and essays. One of the works - "On folk eloquence" talks about the importance Italian as spoken. He also wrote a poem "New life" with passages in prose, in which he defends noble love. No other writer knew the language as flawlessly as Dante knew Italian.

10) English: William Shakespeare

Other great writers in the same language: John Milton, Samuel Beckett, Jeffrey Chaucer, Virginia Woolf, Charles Dickens

Voltaire called Shakespeare "this drunken fool", and his works "this huge dung heap"... Nevertheless, Shakespeare's influence on literature is undeniable and not only in English, but also in the literature of most other languages ​​of the world. Today Shakespeare is one of the most translated writers, his complete collection works have been translated into 70 languages, and different plays and poems - more than 200.

About 60 percent of all catch phrases, quotes and idioms of English language come from King James Bibles (English translation Bible), 30 percent from Shakespeare.

According to the rules of Shakespeare's time, tragedies at the end required the death of at least one main character, but in an ideal tragedy, everyone dies: "Hamlet" (1599-1602), "King Lear" (1660), "Othello" (1603), "Romeo and Juliet" (1597).

In contrast to the tragedy, there is a comedy in which someone is sure to marry at the end, and in perfect comedy all heroes get married and get married: "A dream in a summer night" (1596), "Much ado about nothing" (1599), "Twelfth Night" (1601), "Windsor Ridiculous" (1602).

Shakespeare was adept at sharpening tensions between characters in a superb combination with plot. He was able, like no one else, to organically describe human nature. Shakespeare's real genius is the skepticism that permeates all of his works, sonnets, plays and poems. He praises the highest moral principles of humanity, as it should be, but these principles are always expressed in an ideal world.

Looking for something to read? This problem relevant both for those who rarely read and for avid book readers. There are always such moments when you want to discover something new: to find interesting author or get acquainted with an unusual genre for yourself.

If your favorite authors have not released new works for a long time, or if you are just a beginner in the literary world, our site will help you find the best contemporary writers... It has long been known that when choosing to read in a great way there were always recommendations of friends or acquaintances. You can always start with best writers to develop your own taste and understand your literary preferences. However, if your friends don't read or your tastes differ dramatically, you can use the BookPoisk website.

Find out the most popular book authors

It is here that everyone can leave a review about the book they have read, rate it, thereby making a special list “ Most Popular Writers". Of course, the final verdict is always yours, but if many people think the work is good, chances are that you will like it too.

This section contains popular modern writers , who received the highest rating from the users of the resource. A user-friendly interface will help you understand the literature and will be the first step to structure this whole immense world in your head.

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