The most significant creative work of Mikhail Sholokhov is considered the novel "Quiet Don". In this work, the writer fully revealed his literary talent and was able to reliably and interestingly describe the life of the Don Cossacks. The manuscript, covering nine-year events, overcame many obstacles before being published. How was the story of the creation of the novel "Quiet Flows the Don"?
"Don"
When working on the collection Don Stories, Sholokhov got the idea to describe the complex share of the Don Cossacks in the 1917 revolution. Thus began the story of the creation of the novel "Quiet Don". A brief description of the campaign of Kornilov to Petrograd with the participation of Cossacks was called "Donshchina". Having begun work and having written several sheets of the work, Sholokhov thought about whether the book would be interesting to readers. The writer himself grew up in a don farm, so the events described in the manuscript were close to him and understood. Mikhail Alexandrovich thinks about creating a work that describes not only the revolution, but also the events preceding it. Sholokhov considers the reasons why the Cossacks decided to participate in revolutionary events, and also creates characters whose fates showed the Cossack life of those years especially vividly. As a result, Sholokhov gives the book the name "Quiet Flows the Don" and proceeds to write the novel.
Collection of materials
The writer was going to convey to the reader the real events of those years, so the story of the creation of the epic novel “Quiet Don” began with a visit to the archives of Moscow and Rostov by Sholokhov. There he studied old magazines and newspapers, read special military literature and books on the history of the Don Cossacks.
With the help of friends who had access to emigrant literature, Sholokhov got the opportunity to familiarize himself with various notes of the generals, as well as the diaries of officers describing military events. Selecting material for the book, the writer did a tremendous historical work. The novel actively uses information from real wartime documents: leaflets, letters, telegrams, orders and decrees. Sholokhov also added his memoirs to the book - the writer worked in the food detachment and actively participated in the fight against bandits. So, many scenes appeared due to the personal impressions of the author.
Work with material
In order to completely immerse himself in the atmosphere of Cossack life, the writer moved to the Don in 1926 and already began to work on the work there. Having settled in the village of Veshenskaya, the writer finds himself in his native environment. Mikhail Sholokhov, who grew up among the Cossacks, well understands the psychology of the people around him, knows their way of life and moral values.
In 1927, the story of the creation of the novel “Quiet Don” began to develop, a short description of the events of which the author distributed into 4 volumes. It took a long time to compose the structure of the work, as the writer had to keep in mind a lot of facts, events and people. Both new characters and historical figures appear in the novel: Chernetsov, Krasnov, Kornilov. The work “Quiet Don” contains more than 200 real people, as well as 150 new ones created by the author of the characters. Some characters are fully revealed along with the plot of the novel, while others appear only in separate scenes.
Title of the novel
For the Russian people, the Don River has become a symbol of the difficult fate of the Cossacks. The calm movement became the image of the peaceful life of the people, and after that - witnessed the changes caused by the revolution. Since ancient times, the Cossacks were engaged in agriculture. Don farms were no exception - the soil there was fertile, so households were located along the banks of the river.
The life of the farmer is measured and comparable with the calm course of the river. But the habitual existence has changed for the population, and the name of the book acquired a different meaning: it is no longer a calm stream of the Don, but the land of the Don, which has always been inhabited by Cossacks and has not seen peace in its lifetime.
The history of the creation of the novel "Quiet Flows the Don" shows that the title of the book uses a contradictory combination of words, because in Sholokhov’s novel the river is violent, there is war on it, blood is pouring, people are dying. But the generous flow of the quiet Don will not run out, and the Don Cossacks will not be stopped. And the soldiers will return to their homeland, and will continue to live on their land and plow it.
Composition
The work “Quiet Flows the Don” is an epic novel, since the book displays the basic facts of the First World War and the Civil War, as well as a huge number of heroes belonging to different social and political groups. The events of the novel last a huge period of 9 years, describing the events from 1912 to 1921. In the work, all the actions of the protagonist are correlated with the life of the population and nature. The story of the creation of the novel “Quiet Don” shows the opposition of the composition of the book: on the one hand, it is love and peaceful peasant life, and on the other, cruelty and military events.
Grigory Melekhov
The idea and story of the creation of the novel "Quiet Don" includes heroes whose lives the writer tried to inextricably associate with the Don Cossacks. Gregory Melekhov combines both individual traits and national characteristics of his countrymen. The writer shows the protagonist devoted to family traditions, but able to violate any norm in a fit of passion. Gregory is different in battle, but over all the war years he will repeatedly remember with anguish his native land.
Sholokhov creates a hero with great inner strength and self-esteem, and also gives him a rebellious beginning. The turning point in history, which changed the usual order of the Don Cossacks, coincided with changes in the private life of Gregory. The hero cannot figure out with whom he needs to stay - with red or white, and also rushes between two women. At the end of the book, Gregory returns home to his son and native land.
Female images in the novel
The creative story of the creation of the novel "Quiet Don" tells that the author used the image of an ordinary Russian peasant to describe Grigory Melekhov. Composing the main heroines of the work, Mikhail Sholokhov based on his personal ideas about the fate of Russian women.
This is Grigory’s mother - Ilyinichna, who embodies the idea of unity of all people and motherhood, capable of love and compassion even to people who hurt her.
Gregory’s wife is Natalia, who keeps the family hearth, despite spiritual experiences due to her husband who does not love her.
Aksinya is distinguished by her thirst for freedom and all-consuming love - she believes that a failed marriage removes all the blame for violating norms and prohibitions.
Accusations of plagiarism
The first two books published in 1928 brought the writer great success. Enthusiastic letters and invitations to perform were sent to him, but within a year the attitude of the public changed. People doubted that a young and inexperienced author wrote a work of such tremendous artistic power on his own. At the time of writing “Quiet Flows the Don”, the author was 22 years old, and of the literary achievements on his account - only one collection of short stories. The fluctuations were also caused by the fact that the author wrote the first two books in just 2.5 years, and yet Sholokhov was considered a poorly educated person, since he graduated from only 4 classes of the school.
The story of the creation of the novel “Quiet Don”, a summary of which was allegedly found in the bag of a white officer and published by Sholokhov as his work, also raised doubts about the authorship. To prove innocence, the writer had to assemble a special commission and use it to refute defamation. As a result of three examinations - graphological, identification and textual - the authorship was confirmed.
Publication of the novel
The first and second books were a huge success with readers, but problems arose with the publication of the third part. Its first chapters were published in the newspaper, but then these issues ceased. The reason was that Sholokhov was the first of the authors to describe in detail the events of the Civil War. The story of the creation of the novel "Quiet Don" tells that in the third book the editors cut whole chapters. Sholokhov chose not to make changes.
Literary critics demanded the accession of Grigory Melekhov to Bolshevism, but readers gladly accepted the choice of a hero, since for him this decision was the only right one. The full text of the work, without corrections or additions to the editor, was published only in 1980.
The creative story of the creation of the epic novel "Quiet Don" was not an easy one, but, despite all the difficulties, the novel gained worldwide fame and earned the love of readers from different countries.