In this article we will consider the work written by Vasily Belov. “Habitual work” (a brief summary will be presented below) is a story written in 1966. She brought fame to her author and established him as one of the founders of "village prose." For Belov’s work, even before that, the life description of the village’s world was typical, but for the first time this was manifested with the greatest force only in “A habitual affair”. So, let's turn to the plot of the work.
Belov, “Habitual business”: a brief summary. Chapters 1 and 2
Ivan Afrikanovich Drynov, a simple man, rides drunk on wood. Before that, he got drunk with Mishka Petrov, a tractor driver, and now he is talking with Parmen, a gelding. He was ordered to bring goods for the store from the general store, but when he got drunk, Ivan confused the road and drove into a strange village. Now he will get home no earlier than in the morning. But for him this is a completely familiar thing.
That is why he spends the night on the road. It was at this moment that Bear brought up Drynova. Longtime friends drink more. And at that moment, Ivan Afrikanovich came up with the idea of ​​picking up his second cousin Nyushka as a tractor driver. The woman is already 40 years old, and she works as a livestock specialist. True, she has one drawback - an eyesore, but if you look at her from the left side, then nothing is noticeable. Friends go to Nyushka, but she drives them with a grip, and they have to go to sleep in the bathhouse.
Chapter 3. Katerina
At the same time, the ninth son, Ivan, was born to the wife of Drynov, Katerina. Katerina herself, despite the strict ban of the medical assistant, immediately after childbirth goes to hard work, sick. Katerina begins to recall how one day, on Peter's Day, Ivan was wrested with rural brisk grandmother Daria Putanka. And when Katerina nevertheless forgave him, he went out for joy and exchanged the Bible, inherited from his grandfather, for “accordion”. Ivan did this to cheer his wife up with music.
And now that same Dasha refuses to watch the calves, and Katerina has to do both her and her work. Exhausted by illness and work, a woman, exhausted, faints. They call an ambulance, and Katerina is in the hospital. She is diagnosed with hypertension. Only two weeks later she was discharged and allowed to return home.
Ivan Afrikanovich also remembers the accordion - he did not have time to learn how to play properly, he only mastered the bass somehow, as they took his instrument for arrears.
Chapter 4. Haymaking
Describes in his works the simple village life of Belov. “Habitual business” (a brief summary illustrates this perfectly) is another description of the peasant life of the 60s.
There comes a time of haymaking. At night, Ivan Afrikanovich secretly mows hay in the forest 7 miles from his native village. This is because the collective farm gives ten percent of the mowed to the peasants, and this is enough for a month, no more, and the winter is long. To feed a cow, you need at least three stacks, so you have to steal.
On one of these nights, Drynov decides to take his son Grishka, who is still a little one, with him. And then Grishka stupidly said that he went to mow at night with his father in the forest, to the district commissioner. Ivan Afrikanovich faces a trial - he is also a deputy of the village council. As a result, the district commissioner begins to demand that Drinov show who else goes to mow at night, and it is better to write a list. And for this service, he promises not only to close his eyes to the misconduct of Ivan Afrikanovich, but also not to “socialize” his personal stacks. Drynov agrees with the neighboring chairman and already goes to mow at night on foreign territory with Katerina.
Chapter 4 (continued). Bear and Dasha
A brief summary tells about the appearance of a guest in the Drynovs family (“Habitual Business”). Belov V. I. without embellishment depicts life in the village. Another trouble fell on Ivan Afanasevich’s head - Katya’s brother Mitya Polyakov came from Murmansk, and without any money. He settled at the Drynovs and in less than a week managed to water the whole village, curse the authorities on what the world was worth, grab Mishka Daria Putanka and even provide the cow with hay. And all this he did, as if along the way.
Dasha gives Mishka a love potion, from which he then begins to feel sick, and after a couple of days they already go to sign the village council, also not without Mitkin’s participation. After some time, the first quarrel between the newlyweds occurs. Mishka has in his tractor a reproduction of the painting “Union of Land and Water” (Rubens), which depicts a naked woman, according to the whole village, very similar to Nyushka. He finds this picture, and then it tears and burns Dasha in the furnace. The angry Bear in response almost dumps the tractor in the bathhouse in which Daria was washing at that moment into the river. As a result, the tractor is damaged, and hay is discovered in the attic of the bathhouse, which was mowed illegally. This case leads to the fact that hay begin to search throughout the village. The turn comes and the Drynovs are a familiar thing.
You can not call tragedy or comedy a brief summary of the book "Habitual Business." The presentation of this work, rather, resembles the drama of life, in which people are forced to adapt to everything in order to survive. Searches, theft, drunkenness - everything becomes familiar to them.
Mitka for spoiling the tractor and for mowing hay is called to the district police. But by mistake, 15 days are given to a completely different Polyakov, although also from Sosnovka. There are many Polyakovs in the village. And Misha himself is serving his 15 days in his native village under the supervision of an escort, continuing to work for days, and in the evenings to get drunk with an assigned sergeant.
Chapter 5. Departure
He also talks about what causes the peasants to leave the village, Belov (“A familiar thing”). The summary describes how, after the searches began, Ivan Afrikanovich finds illegal hay and takes everything away. Mitka begins to convince him to leave to work in the Arctic, leaving everything here. I don’t want Drynov to leave his native places, but Mitka continues to persuade him, and in the end Ivan Afanasyevich agrees.
Drynov goes to the chairman - he must issue him a certificate that will allow the collective farmer to obtain a passport. However, the chairman refuses to issue a document. An angry Drynov threatens that with a poker, and only then does the chairman surrender.
Ivan Afrikanovich says goodbye to his wife, he is sorry to leave Katerina, he pities her and loves. Nevertheless, Drynov is leaving. After his departure, Katerina goes to mow alone. And during mowing, a woman overtakes a second blow. Barely brought home, she’s far from the hospital, she will die, she won’t survive.
Chapter 5 (continued). Return
It depicts the everyday life of Belov. “A common thing” (a brief summary of the chapters confirms this) - the story is not about some unprecedented sorrows and sorrows, this is just a description of human life.
Ivan Afrikanovich returns to his native village. Initially, they traded onions with Mitka on the train, but such a life was not according to Drinov, and he decided to return.
Upon returning, Ivan Afrikanovich learns that his wife died, and the children were left alone. Learning about this, Drynov falls right on the road, grabs his head in his hands and rolls into a roadside ditch. He pounds the earth with his fists and gnaws at it.
Chapter 6. The Cow
It is not easy for the hero who was created by Vasily Belov (“Habitual Business”). The summary tells how he had to make a difficult decision - to slaughter a cow, the only nurse. But money was needed, and there was nothing to feed her in winter. Ivan Afrikanovich was unable to kill her with his own hands, so he asked Mishka. Sifting through the giblets of a dead cow, Drynov is crying.
Two children, Vaska and Mitka, have to be sent to a shelter. Antoshka is sent to school. Only Marusya and two babies remain in the care of their father.
Chapter 7
So the summary of Belov’s novel “A Habitual Affair” came to an end. After the death of Katerina Drynov does not want to live. Nyushka took care of his children. Once, wandering through the forest, Ivan Afrikanovich lost his way. So he missed three days until he was found by a tractor driver, Mishka, who thought at first that his friend was drunk.
Two days later, on the fortieth day of Katerina’s death, Drynov sits at her grave and tells her about the children, how bad he is, asking him to wait for him. Grief bent him, but no one ever noticed.
So ends with a depiction of the grave and a description of the grief of the unfortunate person, a brief summary (Belov’s “habitual affair”). In chapters, if you read a work, then it makes an even stronger impression.
Characteristics of Heroes
Let's start with Ivan Afrikanovich. At first this hero makes a bad impression, but his true nature is gradually revealed. He appears as a person worried about the fate of the village - he did not want to leave, because he believed that his place was in the village. In addition, he is capable of a sincere feeling - affectionately and dearly loves his wife, despite the difficult years spent together. Drinov realizes that the structure of village life that exists is wrong, it must be changed. With this, the hero stands out from the background of his fellow villagers who reconciled to what is happening.
Noteworthy is the image of Katerina Drynova. This is a calm, quiet woman who is accustomed to bear any burdens and work without rest. She does not spare herself and her health in order to provide for her family.
Her brother Mitka, on the contrary, is not endowed with the humility of his sister. This is a man without a family and without his own corner. He lives one day and does not think about the future. It was his appearance that led to the death of the Drynov family - the departure of Ivan, the death of Katerina. Ideas and thoughts of Mitka destroyed the usual way of life of the Drynovs.
Reviews
A lot of positive reviews about the book can be found in our time, despite the fact that it was written in the middle of the last century. So, readers note that at first the author is misled by the village language of the narrative and the description of drunken scenes, but gradually the deep meaning of the story becomes clear. The work is called biography, the image of the village truthfully and without embellishment. In general, the work makes a good impression.