Many people remember the movie "Scarecrow" with Kristina Orbakaite. However, not everyone knows that the author of the story, according to which the film was shot, wrote many more interesting books about the relationship of schoolchildren. The name of this writer is Vladimir Zheleznikov. “The Eccentric of 6“ B ”” is another of his wonderful works, based on which a movie for children was made.
Vladimir Zheleznikov
Vladimir Karpovich was born in Vitebsk in 1925. Since childhood, the boy dreamed of following in his father's footsteps and, barely graduating from school, entered the artillery school. But later he realized that being a military man was not his calling and, having carried away with literature, he entered the Maxim Gorky Institute.
Zheleznikov’s first book, A Colorful History, was published when he turned 35. After her success, the author began to write actively, including scripts for films. Based on his stories, films such as The Traveler with Baggage, The Eccentric of 5 “B”, The Scarecrow, My Friend Socratic, and others were shot. For adapting his novels "Scarecrow" and "Eccentric of 6" B "to the screenplay, the author was awarded two USSR State Prizes.
From 1988 to the end of his days, the writer directed the Globus children's film studio. Vladimir Zheleznikov died in 2015.
Vladimir Zheleznikov, "The Eccentric of 6" B ""
The story “The Eccentric of 6“ B ”” was written at the dawn of Zheleznikov’s literary career - in 1962. Initially, it consisted of one story, but later the author wrote another one - “Uncle Shura's Marriage”. Since then, both stories about the boy Bor were united in the cycle "Life and Adventures of the Eccentric", consisting of two parts: "Notebook with photographs" and "The Marriage of Uncle Shura."
Boris Zbanduto - the main character of the story
The narration comes from the first person in the story "The Eccentric of 6" B "." The main character is a sixth grade student Boris Zbanduto (Boka).
He is a rather difficult person, trying to stand out from the people around him. To defend his independence and uniqueness, the boy does not collect stamps (since all his peers are fond of this), he does not study well (because almost everyone in the class is excellent, and he does not want to be like others), rarely does good deeds (so that Aunt Olya I didn’t think that she was able to influence him).
Despite his rebellious character, deep down Borya is a very kind and noble boy. Having fallen in love with the best friend Sasha in the same girl, Nastya, in the struggle for her favor, the eccentric does not stoop to meanness. He does not say nasty things about his best friend, although Sasha does just that. In addition, Borya continues to relate well to Sasha, even knowing his ignoble behavior.
Kindness and caring for others help Bora become an excellent counselor for first graders, despite all the unwillingness to mess with them at first. Borya takes them swimming, to the doctor, helps to do homework and gets to know their parents. Without regret, he gradually spends on his kids all the money intended for a gift to his mother. At some point, Zbanduto even has to make a difficult choice in favor of his subordinates and abandon his beloved girl.
One of the most striking features that the protagonist from the story “Eccentric of 6“ B ”possesses” is his lack of desire to make excuses. Feeling that he did the right thing, Borya is in no hurry to justify his actions, misunderstood. So, having spent all the money on the kids, he tells his father that he bought ice cream on them, and in his eyes looks like an irresponsible boob that is not. Even when Zbanduto decide to remove the counselor, he does not boast about how much he has done for the kids, although he could.
As for love, Boris is easily influenced by his beloved, but at the same time he realizes his condition and tries to think rationally.
An important role in the worldview of Bori is played by his aunt Olya. Realizing that she was right, in the first story he actively tries to resist her thoughts, but in the end surrenders. In the second, Aunt Olya becomes for him the main moral guideline.
As for the parents, the boy does not have close relations and mutual understanding with them. They love him and care about him, but do not delve into the nature of his experiences. The father is often on business trips, and the upbringing of the mother often boils down to powerful head-slaps. In the second part, they are not in the plot at all.
Summary of the story “The Eccentric of 6“ B ”” (“Notebook with photographs”)
At the beginning of the story, father Boris goes on a long business trip. He leaves ten rubles to his son to buy a birthday present for his mother. Having met with his classmate and part-time best friend Sasha, Borya brags about money and leads a friend to the movies. A few days later, the boy’s father calls to find out that the son bought his mother, but Boris is lying to him.
Once, on the way to school, the boys meet their classmate Nastya Monakhova, who was leaving for a year, but now she has returned and is very prettier. Both friends fall in love with her and begin to care for her.
At school, senior counselor Nina offers Zbanduto to become a first-grader counselor, and he agrees, because he thinks that Nastya will appreciate this act. True, it later turns out that the girl does not like children.
A week later, the first-graders, whom Borya completely forgot about, find him themselves. The eccentric tries to get rid of them with all his might and focus on winning Nastya’s heart, but the kids are constantly getting underfoot. One of them, Natasha, asks to lead her home past a dog, which she is very afraid of, tearing Borya from playing football. Soon, the guy has to solve various problems of the kids, which prevents him. He tries to leave them, but later changes his mind, refusing to go to the movies with the girl he liked for the sake of his first-graders.
Most of the cherished dozens of Zbanduto spends on their wards. He takes them to be photographed, in the circus and in the pool, buys pies and ice cream. And later even tells them on the control.
As a result, they try to remove the eccentric from his post, since many of his actions were misunderstood by his parents, who complained to the director. But the kids themselves come to the head of the school and defend their counselor.
On his mother’s birthday, Boris was very worried: he was ashamed, because he did not buy her a gift. For this reason, he did not congratulate her in the morning. Realizing that her mother was very upset, the guy later repents of his behavior and calls her on the phone to work to congratulate him.
On the same day, the eccentric learns that Nastya chose Sasha, but due to the cowardice of this guy, she finds herself in an ugly position, from which Boris saves her. Later, the girl leaves Moscow, and Sasha and Borey reconcile. Zbanduto admits to having written off the first graders. And the former counselor Nina, having learned the whole story of Bori, lent him two rubles for flowers to her mother, and friends go to his house for a festive treat.
At the end of the story, first-grader Natasha gets to the hospital with appendicitis. The whole class, together with Borea, is going to visit her, and on the way Zbanduto finally understands that being a counselor is his calling.
"Eccentric of 6" B "" ("The marriage of Uncle Shura")
Above we talked about the first part of the dilogy, outlined its summary. “The Eccentric of 6“ B ”” also has a sequel - “Marriage of Uncle Shura”. The plot of it is as follows.
A year passed, and Zbanduto with his parents moved from Arbat. Now, from his first-graders, he maintains relations only with Natasha Morozova, since they are neighbors in the landing. Due to the move, Borya changes his school, and he has a new friend, Kolya, who is interested in graphology. Later, this nice at first glance guy turns out to be a rather ugly type. Due to a conflict with him, Borya returns to the old school.
In addition, the odd fellow from 6 “B” falls in love again with this story. The plot of this love story is somewhat different. The object of his feelings becomes the stepmother of Natasha Morozova - music teacher Nadezhda Vasilievna. As a faithful knight, Borya tries to help her, but due to a quarrel between her stepmother and Natasha, he is forced to side with her former ward. The girl’s father, Uncle Shura, is at odds with Nadezhda Vasilyevna. Everyone is experiencing this gap hard, and Boris, at first thinking that he helps Natasha, convinces the teacher to leave the Morozovs alone. But later, realizing the true state of affairs, Morozov helps to make peace.
The main characters are children
An idea of the main children's characters in the story can be obtained even by reading its summary.
The eccentric from 6 “B” Boris Zbanduto is the main character and storyteller. It is around him that all the action takes place.
The eccentric’s best friend and guardian of all his secrets in the first part is Sashka Smolin, and in the second - the philatelist Kolya. Both friends are inferior to the main character in nobility and often commit meanness.
In the first story, Borya is in love with classmate Nastya Monakhova.
Another important female character is the “Gingerbread Man” - such a nickname is a chubby counselor Nina. A very kind and responsible girl, she falls in love with the teacher, but her feelings remain unanswered, and Nina leaves for another school.
First-grader Natasha Morozova is one of the main characters of both stories.
She was afraid of dogs, but later was able to overcome her fear. Being a very honest girl, Natasha, one of the class refused to write off the control and received a deuce. In the second story, she was very worried about the appearance of her stepmother, who, although she loved, but was jealous of her father for her.
Another ward of an eccentric is a first-grader Tolik, a kind boy from an intelligent family. Trying to please Bora, he put a rare cup from his father’s collection on the table, and the eccentric accidentally broke it.
An interesting image and first-graders of Zina Streltsova. She was the only one from the whole class who was accepted into the swimming section, as she had talent. Being very shy, the girl often complained to her mother about Boris’s tricks, although she treated him well and even invited her to visit.
One of the important heroes of the children of the second story is the owner of the dog Pasha. Despite his young age, he was brave and kind, was ready to abandon his beloved pet to help Natasha Morozova. Later became her best friend.
The main characters are adults.
You can also highlight the main adult heroes of the eccentric cycle by reading the above summary.
“Eccentric of 6“ B ”” and “Marriage of Uncle Shura” are united around the main adult character - Aunt Oli, who is the conscience of an eccentric. She almost does not appear in the first story, but the guy often remembers her. In the second, Borya constantly recalls her statements and runs to consult with her.
Another important female character is Nadezhda Vasilyevna Morozova. She is beautiful, sophisticated and smart, which allows Boris to instantly fall in love with her. But at the same time, she is often uncompromising in her decisions, which primarily harms herself.
Natasha Morozova’s father is Shura’s uncle, a slightly eccentric man, unlike other doctors. He loves both his daughter and his new spouse. However, getting married, he began to devote little time to her daughter, because of which she began to be jealous and tried to escape from home.
Such characters from “The Eccentric of 6“ B ”, like the parents of Zbanduto, are almost not present in both stories. Father is a good person, but, according to the same aunt Olya, is very suspicious, which interferes with his life.
Reader Reviews
Most readers, both today and during the first publication, are very fond of this story. Apart from “Scarecrow”, which became so famous thanks to the movie of the same name, the work “Eccentric of 6“ B ”” (the reviews of most readers are unanimous in this) is not only the most fun, but also the best among the stories of this author.
As for the second work, dedicated to the adventures of an eccentric, it did not cause readers as much enthusiasm as the first, since it practically lacked the plot line “first-graders - Borya”. In addition, the very nature of Boris has changed, the guy has become less independent - he is too dependent on Aunt Olya.
“Eccentric from the fifth“ B ””
In 1972, Zheleznikov wrote a script based on his novel “The Eccentric of 6“ B ”.” The main plot details have remained unchanged. It’s just that Borya was made a fifth grader, so the film shot in this scenario is called “Eccentric of 5“ B ”.”
Today, many negligent schoolchildren prefer not to read the given work in full, but to save time, they want to know only its brief content. “The eccentric of 6“ B ”” at the same time, with its interesting plot, vivid characters, instructive evolution of the protagonist, remains incomprehensible to them. Meanwhile, having read this short story, schoolchildren of the 21st century would not only have learned more about the adventures of the sixth-grader Boris, but would have learned something new and good on the example of this boy.