Because of what and how Gogol, Bulgakov and other Russian poets and writers destroyed their manuscripts

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Everyone knows that Gogol burned the second part of Dead Souls. But it turns out that not only Nikolai Vasilyevich set his creations on fire. Many Russian writers and poets also destroyed manuscripts, both finished and drafts. Why did they do it? Hardly to prove that the manuscripts do not burn. Probably, the reasons were more serious. Read why Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Akhmatova and other classics burned or tore their works to shreds.

Not only "Dead Souls": how Gogol bought the entire edition of his work and burned it

It's worth starting with Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. Yes, the burning of the second part of Dead Souls is being told to students in schools. But it is unlikely that schoolchildren, and some teachers know, that this was not the first experience of a writer, and the "rehearsal" took place much earlier.

Gogol's first work was the romantic poem Hans Kuchelgarten. When it was finished, the writer realized that he didn't like his own creation. If we add here the attacks of critics who did not appreciate the work, then it is clear that the young Gogol (and he was only eighteen years old) was very upset. Tormented by disappointment, the young writer decided to destroy the manuscript. But the point was that the poem had already been published.

Nikolai Vasilievich had to go around a lot of stores to buy all the copies. Having made a "run", Gogol destroyed all the newly printed books. At present, no one can fully read Hans Küchelgarten - only a small part remains that have been restored. But this is also great, because everything could be lost.

Dostoevsky: he began with "The Drunken", and ended with "Crime and Punishment"

Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky has always been very demanding of himself, seeking an ideal style. Sometimes he would destroy a work that was almost finished and start writing it over again. By the way, originally the famous novel "Crime and Punishment" was called "The Drunken". The plot is based on the story of the Marmeladov family. In the process of writing, Dostoevsky changed his plans. The novel that is known all over the world today was created. But the topic of drunkenness also has a place - it goes in the background, creating a certain atmosphere. And the reader will find out what the main reason for the crime was from the malicious drunkard Marmeladov. Today it is difficult to say how many pages of "The Drunken" Dostoevsky destroyed.

Pushkin: leader in the destruction of manuscripts

It turns out that the leader in the destruction of manuscripts was not Gogol at all, but Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. He did not spare his works. For example, he left the tenth chapter of Eugene Onegin to posterity as encrypted quatrains. The poem "The Robbers" was mercilessly "killed", only the storyline remained, on the basis of which the "Bakhchisarai Fountain" was created.

Pushkin destroyed the second volume of Dubrovsky and left no chance for the manuscript of Gavriliad. When the poet was finishing work on "The Captain's Daughter", he burned the rough autographs written for the final chapters. Literary critics know that Pushkin's drafts are a large number of torn pages. It is believed that it was on them that Alexander Sergeevich wrote seditious poems and drew pictures that the Decembrists inspired him to. If the censors saw them, Pushkin could be in serious trouble.

Akhmatova burned manuscripts, fearing arrest, and Pasternak, who does not recognize drafts

Anna Akhmatova is one of the poets who often burned their works. However, she did this not because she did not like the result, but because she was afraid of searches and arrest. Before giving the manuscripts to the fire, the poetess read them to Lydia Chukovskaya, her friend. Fortunately, they were able to recover some of the poems from memory when the situation became calmer.

Only fragments remained from the destroyed works "Russian Trianon" and "My young hands". The Tashkent poem "Enuma Elish" was also burned, which Akhmatova could not restore. The poem "Requiem" has an interesting fate - for a very long time it existed only in the head of the author. Akhmatova finished the chapter, read it to trusted friends, and then immediately gave a draft to the fire.

Boris Pasternak did not keep drafts either. The writer burned them mercilessly, as if trying to forget the unsuccessful, in his opinion, creations. Modern literary scholars are unable to trace how the style of this author was formed. After all, not only drafts were destroyed, but often finished works. For example, by order of the Moscow Art Theater, Pasternak wrote the play In This World. However, Fadeev subjected the work to severe criticism, pointing out that it is completely "inconvenient" for the present. The author was very upset and naturally burned the manuscript. Boris Pasternak included some scenes in the famous "Doctor Zhivago".

Bulgakov: how "The Master and Margarita" was assembled in parts

Mikhail Bulgakov destroyed almost completely the first version of the novel "The Master and Margarita", the rest of the versions were partially preserved. It was common for the writer to burn both individual pages and entire notebooks with drafts. In a letter to a friend, the author noted that now his best version was the stove, which resignedly accepts not only receipts from the laundry, but also poetry.

Bulgakov sent many diaries, draft manuscripts of the second and third volumes of the White Guard and other creations to the "editorial oven". Often the reason for such an act was the arrest of friends, in whose works the censorship found something dangerous. As a result, the novel The Master and Margarita was collected piece by piece, and was compiled from the surviving manuscripts. Unfortunately, a large part was lost while in the state storage. It's great that important chapters have survived and descendants can enjoy the talent of the writer.

By the way, Russian classics did not immediately become famous. AND often the authorities had to do with it.