We are closely connected with events that took place long before our birth, with people who lived before us. This applies to both a single person and the country as a whole. “Without the past, there is no future.” A people unaware of their history can easily be deceived and subordinated to their will. An invaluable contribution to the “treasury of the people's memory” is made by realist writers who tell about the events of the distant past, about the fates of different people. One of them will be discussed in this article.
Biography
Alekseev Mikhail Nikolaevich was born in the Saratov region, in the village of Monastyrsky in 1918, in a family of “middle peasants”. When we all lived together, it seemed that there was prosperity. His phantom was revealed when a large family divided into three houses. Among the large family, the closest to the boy was his “triple namesake” - grandfather Mikhail, gardening in the village was always associated with his name. Mikhail Nikolaevich absorbed from him a sense of the beauty of nature, faith in a bright life.
In 1934, Mikhail Nikolayevich buried his parents, one of the brothers was drafted into the army, the second moved to a neighboring area. There was a fifteen-year-old teenager in the house alone, and did not flinch: he baked bread, washed his own linen and milked the cow. All right, it turned out all right. I had to get up in the dark, run around the house and run to school. In winter, he decided not to go there at all, the director shamed the guy at all, in the spring Mikhail returned to class.
After seven years, he entered the Atkar Pedagogical School, where his love of literature was awakened in him. Could spend hours listening and reading stories about the revolution, distant lands, civil war. Alekseev Mikhail Nikolayevich did not have to graduate from college, he was drafted into the army in 1938. Unlearned at the courses of political instructors and retired to the reserve. But soon he was again called up, he met the political instructor at the artillery school in Sumy.
Deputy politician
In 1941, the Chesnokov Squad was formed from three military schools, which fought for several months at the front, and then was sent to Uzbekistan for reformation. In July 1942, Alekseev fought near Stalingrad. At the same time he joined the party, was awarded a medal and was appointed deputy battery commander for political affairs. He wrote notes in front-line newspapers, and soon received a new appointment as deputy editor of the newspaper "Soviet hero".
After the war, after the debut of the novel "Soldiers", he graduated from literary courses in Moscow. He wrote more than 40 works, six of them were filmed. Alekseev Mikhail Nikolaevich was awarded many state awards. In 1998, a literary prize was awarded in his name, awarded annually for an outstanding work of art. The writer died in May 2007.
Echo of war
The novel "Soldiers" was released in 1951, published in parts in the newspaper "For the honor of the motherland." In 1957, the story of soldier’s everyday life in peacetime, “Heirs”, was published. The story of the events of the Great Patriotic “Division” was published in 1960. As critics note, it was here that the originality and uniqueness of Alekseevsky prose manifested itself.
Then came the works about the village, rural residents, their hard work and love of the land: the novel “Cherry Whirlpool”, published in 1961, the novel “Bread is a Noun,” which was published in 1964 and published in 1968, the story "Karyukha".
“Cherry Whirlpool” by Mikhail Nikolayevich Alekseev remains in the list of the best works of the late XX century. After publication, All-Union fame came, putting forward the name of the creator among the best writers of that time. Alekseev the first of the Russian authors was awarded the prize. Gorky.
The heroes of the novel, Russian peasants, have come a long way from revolution and collectivization to war. After the "Cherry Whirlpool" they started talking about the unique, individual image of a woman in the works of Alekseev. They are like the Nekrasov peasant women - both on the horse and in a burning hut. His heroines belong to the generation for which the Second World War became a test.
War, a non-healing wound, is present in every work of the writer. A ruthless ax walked through the garden, lovingly grown near the Cherry Whirlpool, the hero of the novel; the fascists plunged the Soviet people into the "pool of war". The author writes about her as a living creature: she “declared herself”, “circled all the yards with summons”, and “voiced with womanish voices”.
Russian village
The story “Bread is a noun” describes the life of a post-war village that comes to life in faces. Talking about its inhabitants - grandfather Kaplya, one-armed Zulya, chronicler Danilov - the writer widely uses tragic and comic, lyrical and satirical colors. It shows the beauty and courage of the Russian soul. The name was suggested by his fellow countryman, saying that "while we eat bread, we exist, and everything else is an adjective."
The story “Karyukha” tells about the difficult life of a peasant family, in which everything rests on the nurse - a thoroughbred horse Karyukha. Writer Alekseev Mikhail Nikolaevich - master of creating a colorful human character. But in this story, his rare ability to portray animals is clearly visible. It shows the tragic reality of a village where the loss of a single nurse is a huge shock to a peasant family.
In 1971, the first part of the work “Ivushka non-weeping” was released, in 1974 - the second. Here, the writer shows the life of the people from the pre-war years to the mid-60s. Talking about the inhabitants of the village of Zavidovo, the author shows the fate of the country, which survived many trials. In the center of the novel is the life of Feni Ugryumova, a widow with a small child in her arms. This novel was awarded the State Prize in 1976.
Memory has a long life
In the novel "Brawlers", published in 1981, the writer first spoke about the hungry 30s. The critic Lobanov called this work “one of the worst books of the 20th century.” The novel, which tells about the life of the village in the early 30s, caused a wide public outcry. It became a significant milestone in comprehending the Soviet history of the pre-war years.
In 1990, the story "Little Redhead" was published, telling the story of an old cow. The works of “Little Ryzhonka”, “Craiukha”, “Brawlers” are based on autobiographical material, therefore they are considered as a trilogy.
The war does not let go of Alekseev for a long time and, as a participant in the Battle of Stalingrad, he cannot but tell about the battles. For many years he nurtured a plan and, observing his obligation: not to finish anything, writes the documentary novel “My Stalingrad”. The first book was published in 1993, the second in 1998. The journalistic and critical articles of the writer are collected in the book “Word in the ranks”, which was published in 1975. In 2002, a new autobiographical novel, The Occupants, was released.
“The memory has a long life,” the writer said in one of his works. He again and again returned to those terrible, difficult times that fell to the lot of his country. The appeal to the realities of life, in their true light and truth, became the main one in the books of Mikhail Nikolaevich Alekseev. He considered it his duty to show courage, burning and optimism of his beloved people.