"Security Certificate" - an autobiographical story of Boris Pasternak, which he completed in 1930. In it, he sets out his key views on creativity and art. The first chapters of this work were published in the journal Zvezda back in 1929.
Features of the story
Writers of protection began to single out the "security certificate" as soon as it appeared in print. Although many noted that in terms of her artistic merits she was inferior to his previous works, especially the novel "The Luvers Childhood." But she wins in another way: as a noticeable literary and cultural monument of the era.
The very first parts of the text of the "Letter of Protection" are written in an intimate and biographical manner. They help to understand the personality of the author. But the third part is a unique document of its time.
The narrative in Pasternak’s "Letter of Protection" begins in 1912, when the author returns to Moscow from abroad. In his characteristic manner, he talks about events that serve only as a backdrop for describing the main thing - the world of inner experiences. It is important that in the description of these experiences the impending catastrophism is guessed.
Anniversary of World War II
In Boris Pasternak’s “Letter of Protection”, the year of the centenary of World War II, in which the events of the work begin, embodies the inevitable and impending collapse of Russian glory. There is a feeling that all this was predetermined by the very attitude to his past.
So, Pasternak in the book "Security Certificate" writes down his impressions of what he saw.
When I returned from abroad, it was the centenary of World War II. The road from Brest was renamed to Alexandrovskaya. The stations turned white, the guards at the bells put on clean shirts. The station building in Kubinka was studded with flags, and a reinforced guard stood at the door. Nearby was the highest view, and on this occasion the platform burned with a bright collapse of loose and not always trampled sand. It did not cause memories of celebrated events in the riders. The jubilee decoration breathed the main feature of the reign of indifference to native history.
The author reflects such an indifferent attitude to his story in a mean transfer of the hero’s mood, as well as in his manner of presenting his observations. At the same time, the reader is forced to agree that the conclusion is drawn from this on the important historical significance of everything that happens.
This thesis is reinforced by memories of how representatives of the domestic intelligentsia at that time related to the power of the tsar.
I involuntarily recalled Serov, who had died in the winter before, his stories of the time of the royal family’s writing, caricatures made by artists at the Yusupov’s drawing evenings, curiosities accompanying the Kutepov edition of the Tsar’s Hunt and many trifles suitable for the occasion.
After that, the upcoming drama becomes apparent.
Manner of writing
From the above passages and quotes from the “Letter of Protection”, you can clearly see by what means the author created a historical and cultural background for understanding the inner life of that period.
Obviously, Pasternak seeks not to use complex forms, excessive philosophies. Of particular interest is the novel for understanding the environment in which many literary movements of that time arose.
For example, in the "Letter of Protection" describes the origin of futurism. The author vividly draws what was the attitude of young people to contemporary art.
This was the young art of Scriabin, Blok, Komissarzhevskaya, Bely. Advanced, exciting, original. And it was so amazing that it not only did not provoke thoughts of a replacement, but, on the contrary, I wanted to repeat it for great strength, but only more vibrant, hotter and more solid. He wanted to retell in one gulp, which was inconceivable without passion, but passion bounced off to the side, and in this way a new one was obtained. However, the new did not arise in the abolition of the old, as is usually customary to think, but quite the opposite, in the delighted reproduction of the sample.
In this case, the classic idea of the destructive pathos of futurism meets with amazing conviction. It is worth noting that often with the development of various literary forms, it shows that what might have seemed destructive is actually a constructive beginning.
Literary generation
In his work, Pasternak gives an original analysis of the contemporary young and novice literary generation. Writers and poets who were destined to embody the new pace of art. So Pasternak writes about them in the "Letter of protection", the analysis of which is given in this article.
Speaking about the young generation, Pasternak approaches the main topic of his final essay. He talks about the chosen one of his generation, Vladimir Mayakovsky. It demonstrates a sense of Mayakovsky’s significance as a literary phenomenon in futuristic circles of the time.
Pasternak himself was convinced that Mayakovsky was among the poets of his generation. He noticed how subtly the role of futurism as an advanced literary movement was conveyed at that time, justifying it precisely because Mayakovsky came out of it.
Poetic youth
Talking about the literary moods of poetic youth, the author of the "Security Charter" notes that already at that time the fate of a fortuneteller was hanging in the air. The futurist movement was distinguished by innovation and visible unanimity.
The memories of the meetings with Vladimir Mayakovsky, especially the reader, are impressive with the descriptions of literary Moscow. This is perhaps the best that has been written about this poet in connection with his death. Pasternak’s recollections given here are even more important because he himself did not belong to his fans.
With certainty, he declared his disagreement with the entire later period of his work, starting with him the poem "150 million". Hearing her from the lips of Mayakovsky himself, Pasternak remained completely indifferent to her. He noted that even after many years, when they tried to work together, Pasternak understood him less and less. But this misunderstanding failed to prevent him from perceiving his death as a huge and irreparable loss.
Causes of Mayakovsky's death
In "Letter of Protection" Mayakovsky repeatedly emphasized that it was fundamentally wrong to consider the death of a poet solely because of his personal love failure. He puts forward his own fatal trait among poets such as Mayakovsky or Yesenin.
In the view of Pasternak, she related them with German romanticism, consisting in understanding life as the life of a poet. In other words, they turned their personal life into a literary fact, and they could no longer separate themselves from literature, and mixed their own lyrical hero with themselves.
As a result, the collapse of their lyrical hero led to personal tragedy and vice versa: their personal tragedy became an important literary event. The poet paid for his own romantic understanding of his life. Something enduring encompassed Mayakovsky and Yesenin, leading them to self-destruction.
Only overcoming this romantic perception of life saved Alexander Blok from collapse ahead of time, Boris Pasternak himself understood the falsity of this approach to life, connecting with this the moment of his independent literary path. As the author of the essay "Security Certificate" noted, non-romantic poetics arose, by its self-recognition giving the key to understanding the peculiarities of one's own peculiar poetic appearance.
Reviews
In reviews of Boris Pasternak’s “Letter of Protection”, many readers note how at first the image and floridity of the author’s literary language are difficult to perceive.
The main thing here is to get drawn into the native language, to be imbued with its forms. Parsnip in this autobiographical story tells about the main events of his life. Towards the middle of his life, such main points of his fate became his first love, a trip to Marburg, a rejection of music education, a passion for philosophy, Mayakovsky's place in the world of Pasternak and all the literature of that time.
The author carefully describes the fragments and episodes of his life, some of which last for months, others for weeks, and some consist of only a few hours. Their author restores literally every second.
Pasternak manages to organically weave together the general essence so deftly that the reader does not even feel how swiftly he is in Berlin, in other cities on the life path of Pasternak.
Outstanding Essays
All these are fleeting memories of meetings, long and short-term acquaintances with great artists who influenced his life, destiny, love, historical era, the choice of his personal creative path.
Perhaps the most impressive impressions are about Mayakovsky. Therefore, it is advised to read the book in the most quiet environment, at the same time slowly, the language is not the easiest, some paragraphs have to be re-read several times in order to catch all the details in the heaps of verbal constructions.
The essay "Chopin" is considered outstanding, which prompts you to immediately listen to the composer's works in order to compare your own perception with the perception of Boris Pasternak. All this makes us again and again return to this amazing and beautiful story of the future Nobel laureate.