From year to year, it is increasingly difficult for a person to navigate in the past. Own memories, if they are not fixed in diaries and surviving letters, become muddy and vague, since even exact dates from the memory are erased. Faces are forgotten, otherwise old events are interpreted. But human life is a unique thing, it is unique and not like the rest. That is why autobiographical books are so interesting at all times: memoirs, letters, diaries. Even if an ordinary person writes about his past, modern people will certainly be surprised and moved by the realities of everyday life, the general social background, and the way of thinking. What can we say about the notes of outstanding, famous, bright, talented? It is such autobiographical books that will be considered in this article.
Memoirs as a Genre
Not only historical phenomena are designated in memoirs as the main and memorable events. Here, in a nostalgic mood, usually all life, in all its trifles, would seem - not the essence of the important ones, gradually revealing itself from page to page: autobiographical books bring to the reader both the lessons taught by life with their sorrows, joys, with everyday wisdom, and a huge number of trifles , animating the imagination of past eras with amazing liveliness. A genre arose in our country at the time of the enlightening activity of Catherine the Great.
At first, autobiographical books were similar to the annals with their rather dry chronicle, then, overgrown with details, the narrative got features of artistry, sometimes very high. The memoirs of Valentin Kataev, for example, āMy Diamond Crownā, written in prose, are living poetry that closely connects us with the private and non-private lives of the beautiful Mayakovsky, Yesenin, Olesha, Ilf and Petrov, as well as many other contemporaries of the writer. The language of the book is truly a miracle, and this helps to make the testimony of folk idols even more lively.
The popularity of the genre
The eighteenth century left us with more than forty works as evidence of how the genre of autobiography was gaining popularity. Of course, these autobiographical books for children were written, for grandchildren, for great-grandchildren - for family use. The publicity of this kind of information was even condemned among secular society, and Christian morality also bothered about it: there could be no public conversation about itself. The next of kin, though. more often than not, they treasured the memories of their ancestors, and that is why many testimonies survived to this day.
What were the goals of the appearance of autobiographies? First of all, the addressees were the younger generation, in which the desire was brought up to benefit the homeland, to be smart, to learn from mistakes that were not their own. Autobiographical books for children were filled with love for their family, the desire to nourish young souls with valuable information that will help to build a life successfully, relying on a ready-made sample. Here, the most characteristic memoirs of Andrei Bolotov from the second half of the eighteenth century, which are interesting to read not only to his descendants. From his memoirs, a lot of what is typical of that time is visible, since the writer tells about himself in sufficient detail and frankly. Autobiographical books are the only place from which modernity can glean details that have long been obsolete.
Andrey Bolotov
This man wrote not only his famous "Notes ...", which remained the most important work of his life. He spent a wonderful life extremely rich in business and events, including in the field of literature: he translated a lot from French and German - not only literary texts, but also economic, encyclopedic ones, devoted a lot of time to gardening and therefore especially loved books devoted to this . He did not participate in coups d'etat and Masonic lodges, but even writers wrote quite frankly about autobiographical books for children, and Andrei Bolotov did not stand aside, despite all his caution. His friend Grigory Orlov took part in the failed coup, and his longtime acquaintance Nikolai Novikov ruled in the Masonic lodge .
Andrei Bolotov enjoyed the village life, not at all cloudless, masterfully avoided conflicts, conducted extensive correspondence, published a magazine. In addition, a magnificent park created by the writerās hands remained in peopleās memory in Bogoroditsk. He also wrote plays that were staged in his home theater, composed holidays for children with moralizing and fascinating riddles, and wrote a lot for children, compositions that strengthen their Orthodox feelings. Fiction in those days was not as authoritative as it is today, the writing profession has not yet been born. But writing "for oneself" by society was not condemned if the composition was useful. That is why the eighteenth century became the time when the best autobiographical books of celebrities were born: Russian emperors, their close associates, people of scientists and glorious military prowess. Andrei Bolotov left a huge legacy of hundreds of volumes - more than three hundred and fifty are studied by experts on the eighteenth century.
Sergey Aksakov
S. Aksakov and A. Bolotov, whose autobiographical books will immerse the reader in the long-gone world of our ancestors for many centuries, of course. not the only writers to leave notes on their own lives for posterity. The author of The Scarlet Flower even veiled the events of his books, providing her with an exceptionally fine artistry. But the memorial essence of this work is revealed in the smallest details, since the author describes the first ten years of the boyās life, whom he himself was, even the name has not been changed.
The book is called "The Childhood Years of Bagrov the Grandson", and this work became a textbook, despite the fact that there can be no story in such memoirs. But how lively the breath of time - these last ten years of the eighteenth century, how visibly the Russian hinterland stands before us - the distant Orenburg region! Author's memories are invariably vivid, honest and touching. Such autobiographical books of children's writers cannot be overestimated in their educational value.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
In 2014, in Russia, from one fan hand to another, an essay translated from English and Swedish was transferred, surpassing in popularity all the autobiographical books of football players, āI am Zlatanā. A little later, an official translation was published by publishers, but the fans could not wait, and therefore re-read all the amateur versions many times.
The author of this book is one of the brightest stars in the football horizon, the most successful scorer, the best of the best, who has decorated the Juventus, Ajax, Milan, Barcelona and Inter clubs with his game. In the game, he was also a philosopher, as it turned out after reading his autobiography. It was written with amazing humor, a rich literary language, due to which it is interesting to read even by people. very far from football.
Maya Plisetskaya
It is in vain to try to rank autobiographical books by rating. Moreover, the ratings in the world are slightly less than all memoirs. In each composition - a separate one. life like no other. The book, left to posterity by the great ballerina, which for all the people has been a living icon, an idol and an idol, a border and a milestone of Russian ballet, a maximalist, expressive, like an exclamation mark, will surely always occupy the top line of any rating, in any case, it will remain in demand in all the times. Many ballerinas wrote memoirs. Amazingly clean, the stories of the beautiful ballerina Tatyana Vecheshlova take the reader to the world that Galina Ulanova illuminated with her genius . An excellent book was written by Tatyana Makarova - she disclosed not only creative drama, but also extremely secret facts about her time. Many celebrity autobiographical books will invariably immerse us in their magical backstage. But the book "I am Maya Plisetskaya" is special.
The fate of the heroine is unique and eternal, and only the readerās touch on the evidence of the most significant, memorable, scary and joyful events in the life of a ballerina. Probably, even the text, if he reflected the fullness of what had happened, could have killed an unprepared reader. Maya Plisetskaya was not just a man. This was a person who, in her stamina in overcoming obstacles, left far behind any iron lady, as well as any of the steel men, crocodiles and heavy tanks. Nevertheless, her philosophy was extremely simple. Power, talent, and any other difference from other people is a test that not everyone can stand. Itās like demons attacking people: these differences are rooting and disfiguring, immersed now in vindictiveness and vengeance, now in squabbles, then in vanity. Thus the talent given by God is taken away - drop by drop.
Coco Chanel
The great Mademoiselle also lived a great life. Simplicity in it was not observed at all, although there was poverty and all sorts of adversities. The book is read in one breath, literally bursting out. Apparently, Coco Chanel did not have a singular talent. And itās always a pity when you read a good book that the narrative is already over, and then the inner life goes on for a long time - there, in another reality that has ceased to be a stranger. Naturally, in any edition of this work (and there are many reprints) there are a huge number of excellent illustrations. And in the text itself (apparently, the translator got very good for my publication) - there are a lot of real pearls worthy of the speech of the unforgettable Faina Ranevskaya. For example, Chanelās statements such as ābeautiful cannot be uncomfortableā or ālove is good only when you do itā are simply not in the eyebrow, but in the eye. Accurately, precisely, precisely.
This man is not used to looking for a word in his pocket ā any one is immediately in the language, which is characteristic of exceptional women who have a strong-willed character and the ability to instantly navigate the situation. She came to the world famous fashion designers from the most terrible poverty - this also must not be forgotten. She did not indulge public opinion at all, on the contrary, forced each time to change the established postulates, overthrow the idols, change the course of reality. The magic of Coco Chanel in the creation of world fashion left an imprint of her genius on the pages of her own memoirs. It seems that if she wanted to become a writer - and there she would be provided with fame.
Yury Nikulin
For many readers, the book of the most beautiful comedian in our country, āAlmost Seriously,ā has become almost a desktop one, since its optimism is beyond praise. Moreover, a truly therapeutic effect on the readerās body has been noticed: the sickest people feel much better, a bad mood disappears, not only a smile appears, but also an appetite. The artist created such a huge number of different (sometimes extremely serious - to tragedy) roles, he was so deep in the very heart of Russian cinema that his memories for the people who love him immensely will forever be priceless. Is at least one person who has seen Nikulin in the circus arena able to forget him? And the great films with his participation cannot be stopped revising. This is not only work with Danelia as "Dunce", it is also "Twenty Days Without War", and "When the Trees were Big", and "Come to Me, Mukhtar!"
In the book you can meet a completely different person, there as if another facet of his personality is revealed, and she is also one of the main ones. It was written very interestingly - and about the war, and about the circus, and about the cinema. About myself, quite a bit - more about others, friends, comrades, actors, directors, and about good people met. That's exactly what Yuri Nikulin is missing from the book. The humble man did not consider it necessary to let the reader into his own personal life. And nevertheless - it is read first, excitedly, and then all my life from anywhere and almost by heart. Despite the unspeakable modesty, the book shows his efficiency, and his mind, and his nobility. In addition, each chapter begins with a funny scene or a joke. A lot of high, albeit worldly philosophy: good deeds are obtained only in people with a good mood!
Salvador Dali
The impression of seeing this artistās paintings remains forever indelible. No less vividly written is his autobiographical book, The Diary of a Genius. She is just as shocking, unpredictable and eccentric. Moreover - it is just as brilliant - from the first comma to the last point. Neither his paintings, nor his life can be unraveled to the full extent, since even here the real motives of the judgments or actions of the brilliant artist are surrealistically hidden.
His diary presents the reader with information so frank, so shamelessly shocking, that sometimes it seems as if it was written by a person suffering from exhibitionism. But at the same time there is a huge number of undoubtedly talented trifles presented, and this attentiveness to details shows the reader a truly writer, perhaps with a capital letter. The whole narrative is filled with them, which makes the text in places extremely incomprehensible, but literally with every letter - bewitching.
Konstantin Vorobyov
Autobiographical books about the war are represented in great numbers. After the hostilities ended, the war veterans became so keen to share their terrible and bitter experience, to leave in memory the generations of the deceased comrades, that the Higher Literary Courses were opened at the Literary Institute. "Lieutenant Prose" has become a genre. You can name many hundreds of names: Viktor Nekrasov, Yuri Bondarev, Nikolai Dvortsov and many, many other great writers who left us with vivid evidence of the great feat of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War, but more will be told here about Konstantin Vorobyov and his difficult, terrible, inexorable book "It is we, Lord ..."
Concentration camp. Hell, grinding human lives, killing in the still alive almost everything human. These memories were written in a partisan detachment in 1943, when he managed to escape from fascist captivity. Presenting himself with a different name, what most often happens in memorial prose, the writer nevertheless narrated about himself. Autobiographical books did not yet contain such an indescribable, such a stunning truth. Reality is conveyed frighteningly truthfully, it is immediately determined that the text is autobiographical to the last detail. Even the inhuman suffering of the prisoners, often distraught under torture, was transferred as though routine, without the slightest pathos, as if the author was talking about what is shown in the picture that stands before his eyes. The book is really scary - precisely with its truth about the Nazis, about those who were captured, about the war itself.