The brilliant playwright, tragically ending the earthly journey, Alexander Vampilov was not published during his lifetime. The writer's works were published and received recognition only posthumously. During his short life, Vampilov released plays from his pen, large and one-act, as well as short prose works. The themes raised by Alexander Valentinovich inspired theater and cinema directors to put them on stage. Even an opera based on a play authored by Alexander Vampilov was released. Reviews of the writer's work are realized through numerous monuments and museums in his honor.
Childhood
A playwright was born in a small town in the Irkutsk region, the city of Kutulik. The family in which four children grew up was the most ordinary. My father is the director of a local school, and his mother, a math teacher, worked as a head teacher there. For the family, everything changed when, in a denunciation in 1937, his father was arrested. As it was usual at that time, one of the “virtuous” teachers wrote a denunciation to his leader, accusing him of anti-Soviet views. Under such circumstances, Alexander Vampilov begins his life. The photo is presented below.
Thus, the mother was left alone with four children. Relatives turned their backs on a woman who tried her best to prevent children from starving to death. So began his life Vampilov Alexander Valentinovich, whose biography was branded "enemy of the people."
While studying at school, the future writer was known as an ordinary child, not outstanding. Talent began to manifest much later. Most likely, this is due to the fact that the childhood was too difficult. Vampilov Alexander Valentinovich, whose family was sometimes interrupted by bread and water, simply could not think of art.
Youth
The writing career begins when Vampilov enters the University of Irkutsk at the Faculty of History and Philology. Gradually, Alexander Vampilov begins to try his hand at writing short stories. The first of them are published in a student newspaper. A little later he was noticed by the leadership of the newspaper "Soviet Youth" - there the young man began to work in 1961.
As the most talented author, the newspaper’s leadership sends Vampilov to Moscow to improve his skills in literary courses. This helped Alexander Valentinovich move up the career ladder: now he is executive secretary. However, after a few years, Vampilov ends his career, completely surrendering to writing.
Unfortunately, attempts to attach at least some work for staging on the stage are so far unsuccessful. Much later, the BDT of St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) and other major theaters will be interested in the plays of Alexander Valentinovich.
Career, and family life began to gradually improve. And suddenly ... a tragic death.
Tragic death
Only a few days did not live to see the 35th anniversary of Alexander Vampilov. A short biography of him ended terribly ridiculously. Having decided to relax on Lake Baikal, they went with a friend to the lake with a boat.
It so happened that the ship, catching on trees piled under water, turned over. A friend of the writer, Gleb Pakulov, began to call for help and he was saved. Vampilov himself decided to get to the shore in icy water. And as soon as he stepped ashore - the heart could not stand it.
The writer was buried by friends, acquaintances, and completely strangers. Two truly supernatural stories are associated with the funeral. Eyewitnesses attributed this to the fact that Alexander Vampilov did not want to leave so early. His biography is not completed until the end. The funeral organizers forgot to bring the ropes with which it is necessary to lower the coffin into the grave. In the hustle and bustle of what was happening, friends had to search, and then wait for the cemetery watchman. While they were looking for - the coffin with the body of the writer stood on the edge of the grave. This is not the end of the story. As soon as the body of the writer began to be lowered, it turned out that the pit was too shallow. Again I had to wait until she was dug up as it should.
It is also paradoxical that immediately after death, the direct interest of directors and publishers in the legacy that Alexander Valentinovich Vampilov managed to leave behind begins.
Creative way
Vampilov begins to write as a first-year student at the Faculty of History and Philology. The first short essays are published by local university publications. The only storybook published during his lifetime is being published just at this time. These are short humorous stories written under the pseudonym A. Sanin.
Upon arrival from Moscow (where Alexander Valentinovich upgraded the qualifications of a writer), having worked for some time in the prestigious position of executive secretary of “Soviet Youth”, he writes two small comedy plays: “One Hundred Rubles with New Money”, “Crow Grove”.
Gradually, Vampilov comes to the realization that he should be engaged exclusively in creativity. Therefore, he says goodbye to work in the newspaper and begins active writing. Soon the play “Farewell in June” appears, which the author offers for staging in Moscow theaters. Unfortunately, these attempts were unsuccessful.
It helps Vampilov when, quite by accident, by telegraph, he meets the then famous playwright Arbuzov, who agrees to take and read Alexander’s play “Farewell to June”. Vampilov receives positive reviews from the famous playwright, but the work did not see the Moscow stage then.
In the period 1969-1971, the most famous plays appeared. They are taken to be staged in provincial theaters, but Moscow and Leningrad are closed to Vavilov. Sadly, they began to take an interest in the work of the playwright shortly before his death, in 1972. It is difficult to say why the capital’s theaters paid attention to him, but the plays are set to be staged by the Bolshoi Theater, the Stanislavsky Theater. Even Lenfilm concludes an agreement with Vavilov to write the original script. Unfortunately, Alexander Vampilov did not see the brilliant productions of his plays in Moscow: his life was sadly cut short.
"Farewell to June": a summary
Written in 1965, the comedy “Farewell to June” is characteristic of the literature of that time. Vampilov shows a hero, a student, in whose worldview significant metamorphoses occurred not for the better.
Initially, Kolesov is shown by the soul of the company, he is appreciated by teachers and classmates. He is principled, but differs in a kind of eccentricity, like all students.
Everything changes when the hero falls in love with the rector’s daughter Tatyana.
For obvious reasons, the head of the faculty is against this relationship, he threatens to expel Kolesov from the university. The student is at a loss, because he sincerely loves the girl, but understands that he can’t lose his diploma either, because there are only a few months left before graduation. After long yearning, Kolesov agrees to a deal and throws Tanya.
Analysis “Farewell to June”
Vampilov did not make the main character a negative character, he gives him a chance to change and hints at the reader, because Kolesov does not go further, he repents, in a fit of feelings, tears his diploma and tries to return the girl. The writer ends with the ending, as it were, a reader of the future, gives hope that he will recover.
This is not to say that this play is uniquely about love relationships and betrayal. Its plane is much higher: it is a deal with one’s own conscience, principles. And who will win it, Vampilov does not say anything. This is the whole unique handwriting of Alexander Viktorovich.
"Eldest son": a summary
Vampilov has been working on the Elder Son for a long time. First, rough drafts, notes in notebooks appear, then some chapters were published. The final version was released in 1970, published in the publishing house "Art".
Busygin, who deceives enters the family, is the one who saves all of them from mistakes. So, Nina, the daughter of Sarafanov, he reveals the essence of the groom, petty Kudimov. Vassenka is thinking about not going to the taiga. Busygin and Sarafanov Sr. save by giving him in his person another son. He is like a breath of fresh air for this family. It is symbolic that in the end the heroes remain at home without Silva, a friend of Busygin, and without a principled Kudimov. They, according to Vampilov, are two extreme points that have no place in life.
The play has a ring composition: at the end, Busygin also misses his evening train.
Analysis of the work "Elder Son"
It would seem like a simple plot: Busygin's cheating in the hope of warming himself. But he is fraught with deep questions that Alexander Vampilov poses to the reader. His works are distinguished by these meanings, which are revealed to the reader as an invisible part of the iceberg. The play is the eternal problem of fathers and children. Tragically, the words of the son of Sarafanov Vassenka that parents do not need adult children. Vampilov is very philosophical in his approach to the topic of the meaning of life. Who is Sarafanov? Loser, fired from work, abandoned by his wife and soon children. However, he does not lose heart, but believes that fate will surely bring something good to a good person. And he turns out to be right.
Duck Hunt: Summary and Analysis
The life of people of the era of "stagnation" is tragically formed. Completely devoid of a moral base, ideological foundation, they go with the flow, destroying their own lives. Such is the main character of the play “Duck Hunt” Zilov. He is in the deepest mental crisis.
The play begins with the fact that near his door the hero finds a funeral wreath with the words of grief addressed to him. This is very symbolic, because Zilov is spiritually dead for a long time. Further in the play, Vampilov presents irrefutable evidence.
The hero is shown through a series of funs, parties, lovers and lies.
His wife Galina is perceived by him no more than a piece of furniture; he doesn’t put Vera, her lover, in anything. Even his father asking for a meeting is pushed to the background by Zilov (the old man dies without meeting his son). The hero prefers to dream of a duck hunt, which is unlikely to ever come together. This image is very vivid in the play, it symbolizes the failure of the protagonist.
It is amazing how accurately Vampilov painted female images: a miniature, tender Galina, Zilov’s wife, emotional, sometimes rude Vera, aristocratic Valeria and a young student Irina who sincerely fell in love with the protagonist.
As always, the author leaves the question of the revival of the protagonist open, secretly hoping that it will happen.
"Last summer in Chulimsk": summary
The play tells about the life of the district center in the outback. The main character, Valentina, is in love with investigator Shamanov, who does not immediately, but reciprocates.
The girl also liked Pavel, who came to his parents on vacation. The young man is very spoiled, he used to get everything he wants. He needs Valentine as a wife exclusively as a beautiful addition to a city apartment, as one that will housekeeping without any problems.
Not persuading a girl to get married in a good way, he uses violence to her. Scolded, she rejects the offer of Shamanov’s hand and is inclined to the decision to marry Pasha, as her father wants. However, ultimately rejects both men.
Analysis "Last Summer in Chulimsk"
Vampilov poses very serious questions in the play: the life of youth in the outback, the morals of the inhabitants. Indeed, how can you keep young people if you need to walk a few kilometers to the nearest House of Culture, and in the cinema they show the long-watched tapes. That's why young people run away or get drunk.
The front garden, which equips Valentin, is very symbolic: everyone except Shamanov walk right on it and break it, and the girl meekly restores it. Vampilov wants to say by this that the morals of people will not be redone: some will be destroyed and others will be restored. There is another subtext: the scolded, trampled honor of Valentina. It is very symbolic that the front garden helps restore the Shamans. Maybe, after all, he is precisely the person who will ultimately save the girl? As in the rest of Vampilov’s plays, one can only guess about it.
One Act Pieces
Vampilov’s most famous short plays are The Story with a Metrange and Twenty Minutes with an Angel. They were written at the very beginning of his writing. Much later, the plays were combined into one edition of Provincial Joke.
This is really a very apt name, because, continuing the traditions of Pushkin, Vampilov writes short stories about an extraordinary event that really happened. However, the author also brings something new to the meaning of this literary term: a sparkling, unusual ending.
It is no coincidence in the name and the word "provincial". Thus, Vampilov attracted the attention of the reader to the problems of settlements far from the metropolitan life, where there are special ways, views and the course of life.
These one-act plays are a kind of springboard for the most serious works of the author, raising the most important philosophical questions of morality: Duck Hunting and Last Summer in Chulimsk.
Prose works
Researchers at Vampilov’s work unanimously say that if his life had not ended so early, Alexander Valentinovich would have necessarily released a novel, or maybe even a few. The rudiments of this were clearly visible.
Mostly prose was written by a young writer, a university student and a newspaper employee. Then all kinds of essays, notes, feuilletons come out from under his pen. However, two works already date back to the mature period of Vampilov's work: in 1965, the feuilleton “Something for Fame” was written, and in 1966, the Vitim Episode. In addition, at the same time, Alksander Valentinovich wrote essays about Kutulik.
All prose works by Vampilov are united by their plots, problems that will be developed in dramatic works. Here are the images of Shamanov, Jacob Chernykh, Valentina, Pashka, the events that took place in Duck Hunt and Farewell in June.
Prose is distinguished by the severity of satire, the apt characteristics of the heroes. It can be compared with the works of Zoshchenko and Olesha.
Alexander Vampilov did not immediately receive recognition from the public and readers. The rating of books and performances developed gradually. However, the fact that all of his major plays were ultimately staged on the stages of leading theaters, and many were also performed in the cinema, speaks of truly folk love and the actual theme of the works.