Such works created in early period creativity of Ivan Alekseevich, refers to the story “ Antonov apples", in which one can feel the sadness and sadness of the writer himself. The main theme of this Bunin masterpiece is that the writer points to main problem society of that time - the disappearance of the former estate life, and this is the tragedy of the Russian village.
History of the story
In the early autumn of 1891, Bunin visited the village with his brother Evgeniy Alekseevich. And at the same time, he writes a letter to his common-law wife Varvara Pashchenko, in which he shares his impressions of the morning smell of Antonov apples. He saw the autumn morning begin in the villages and was struck by the cold and gray dawn. The old grandfather’s estate, which now stands abandoned, also evokes pleasant feelings, but once upon a time it hummed and lived.
He writes that with great pleasure he would return to the time when landowners were honored. He writes to Varvara about what he experienced then, going out onto the porch early in the morning: “I would like to live like the old landowner! Get up at dawn, leave for the “departing field”, don’t get out of the saddle all day, and in the evening with a healthy appetite, with a healthy fresh mood, return home through the darkened fields.”
And only nine years later, in 1899 or 1900, Bunin decides to write the story “Antonov Apples,” which was based on reflections and impressions from visiting his brother’s village estate. It is believed that the prototype of the hero of Arseny Semenych’s story was a distant relative of the writer himself.
Despite the fact that the work was published in the year it was written, Bunin continued to edit the text for another twenty years. The first publication of the work took place in 1900 in the tenth issue of the St. Petersburg magazine “Life”. This story also had a subtitle: “Pictures from the book “Epitaphs.” For the second time, this work, already revised by Bunin, was included in the collection “The Pass” without a subtitle. It is known that in this edition the writer removed several paragraphs from the beginning of the work.
But if we compare the text of the story with the edition of 1915, when the story “Antonov Apples” was published in Full meeting Bunin's works, or with the text of the 1921 work, which was published in the collection " Initial love", then you can see their significant difference.
Plot of the story
The story takes place in early autumn, when the rains were still warm. In the first chapter, the narrator shares his feelings that he experiences in a village estate. So, the morning is fresh and damp, and the gardens are golden and already noticeably thinned out. But most of all, the smell of Antonov apples is imprinted in the narrator’s memory. Bourgeois gardeners hired peasants to harvest the crops, so voices and the creaking of carts can be heard everywhere in the garden. At night, carts loaded with apples leave for the city. At this time, a man can eat plenty of apples.
Usually a large hut is placed in the middle of the garden, which becomes settled over the summer. An earthen stove appears next to it, all sorts of belongings are lying around, and in the hut itself there are single beds. At lunchtime, this is where food is prepared, and in the evening they put out a samovar and the smoke from it pleasantly spreads throughout the area. And on holidays, fairs are held near such a hut. Serf girls dress up in bright sundresses. An “old woman” also arrives, which somewhat resembles a Kholmogory cow. But not so much people buy something, but come here more for fun. They dance and sing. Closer to dawn it begins to get fresh, and the people disperse.
The narrator also hurries home and in the depths of the garden watches the incredible fairytale picture: “As if in a corner of hell, a crimson flame is burning near the hut, surrounded by darkness, and someone’s black silhouettes, as if carved from ebony wood, are moving around the fire.”
And he also sees a picture: “Then a black hand several arshins in size will fall across the entire tree, then two legs will clearly appear - two black pillars.”
Having reached the hut, the narrator will playfully fire a rifle a couple of times. He will spend a long time admiring the constellations in the sky and exchange a few phrases with Nikolai. And only when his eyes begin to close and a cool night shiver runs through his entire body, he decides to go home. And at this moment the narrator begins to understand how good life is in the world.
In the second chapter, the narrator will remember a good and fruitful year. But, as people say, if Antonovka is a success, then the rest of the harvest will be good. Autumn is also a wonderful time for hunting. People already dress differently in the fall, since the harvest is harvested and difficult work is left behind. It was interesting for the storyteller-barchuk to communicate at such a time with old men and women, and to observe them. In Rus' it was believed that the longer old people live, the richer the village. The houses of such old people were different from others; they were built by their grandfathers.
The men lived well, and the narrator even at one time wanted to try to live like a man in order to experience all the joys of such a life. At the narrator's estate serfdom was not felt, but it became noticeable on the estate of Aunt Anna Gerasimovna, who lived only twelve miles from Vyselki. The signs of serfdom for the author were:
☛ Low outbuildings.
☛ All the servants leave the servants’ room and bow low and low.
☛ A small old and solid manor.
☛ Huge garden
The narrator remembers his aunt very well when she, coughing, entered the room where he was waiting for her. She was small, but also somehow solid, like her house. But most of all the writer remembers the amazing dinners with her.
In the third chapter, the narrator regrets that the old estates and the order established in them have gone somewhere. The only thing left from all this is hunting. But of all these landowners, only the writer’s brother-in-law, Arseny Semenovich, remained. Usually towards the end of September the weather deteriorated and it rained continuously. At this time the garden became deserted and boring. But October brought a new time to the estate, when the landowners gathered at their brother-in-law's and rushed to hunt. What a wonderful time it was! The hunt lasted for weeks. The rest of the time it was a pleasure to read old books from the library and listen to the silence.
In the fourth chapter, the writer hears the bitterness and regret that the smell of Antonov apples no longer reigns in the villages. The inhabitants of the noble estates also disappeared: Anna Gerasimovna died, and the hunter’s brother-in-law shot himself.
Artistic Features
It is worthwhile to dwell in more detail on the composition of the story. So, the story consists of four chapters. But it is worth noting that some researchers do not agree with the definition of the genre and argue that “Antonov Apples” is a story.
In Bunin’s story “Antonov Apples” we can highlight the following: artistic features:
✔ The plot, which is a monologue, is a memory.
✔ There is no traditional plot.
✔ The plot is very close to poetic text.
The narrator gradually changes chronological pictures, trying to guide the reader from the past to what is happening in reality. The ruined houses of the nobles for Bunin are historical drama, which is comparable to the saddest and saddest times of the year:
Generous and bright summer is the past rich and beautiful housing of landowners and their family estates.
Autumn is a period of withering, the collapse of foundations that have been formed over centuries.
Researchers of Bunin's creativity also pay attention to the pictorial descriptions that the writer uses in his work. It’s as if he’s trying to paint a picture, but only a verbal one.
Ivan Alekseevich uses a lot of pictorial details. Bunin, like A.P. Chekhov, resorts to symbols in his depiction: ★ The image of a garden is a symbol of harmony.
★ The image of apples is both a continuation of life, kindred, and love for life.
Story Analysis
Bunin’s work “Antonov Apples” is the writers’ reflections on fate landed nobility, which gradually faded and disappeared. The writer’s heart aches with sadness when he sees vacant lots in the place where only yesterday there were busy noble estates. An unsightly picture opens before his eyes: only ashes remain from the landowners' estates and now they are overgrown with burdocks and nettles.
Sincerely, the author of the story “Antonov Apples” worries about any character in his work, living with him all the trials and anxieties. The writer has created a unique work in which one of his impressions, having created a bright and rich picture, is smoothly replaced by another, no less thick and dense.
Criticism of the story "Antonov Apples"
Bunin's contemporaries highly appreciated his work, since the writer especially loves and knows nature, village life. He himself belongs to the last generation of writers who come from noble estates.
But critics' reviews were mixed. Julius Isaevich Aikhenvald, who was in great authority at the beginning of the 20th century, gives this review Bunin's work: “Bunin’s stories dedicated to this antiquity sing its departure.”
Maxim Gorky, in a letter to Bunin, which was written in November 1900, gave his assessment: “Here Ivan Bunin, like a young god, sang. Beautiful, juicy, soulful. No, it’s good when nature creates a person as a nobleman, it’s good!”
But Gorky will re-read Bunin’s work itself many more times. And already in 1901, in a letter to his to the best friend He will write to Pyatnitsky his new impressions:
“Antonov apples smell good - yes! - but - they do not smell democratic at all... Ah, Bunin!
“Antonov apples” by I.A. Bunin
A lyrical tone, based on the patriarchal depth of national consciousness, is characteristic of I. Bunin’s prose, which is always turned to the past. As if picking up the Turgenev baton, the writer speaks with incomparable melancholy about the ruin, the emptying of the noble nests that were once the stronghold of Russia, its cultural component.
Sometimes there are no words to convey all the pain and joy, sadness and tenderness - all the feelings associated with memories of the past, slipping away at the behest of indomitable time, so memory clings to all aspects of perception (vision, hearing, touch, smell). It is precisely this kind of world, sensual, material, that is woven in Bunin’s story "Antonov apples", written between 1898 and 1900.
Everything is subject to Bunin’s poetic prose: capturing the variety of shades of color ( black-lilac poneva, gray-iron stallion), and the play of chiaroscuro ( “someone’s black silhouettes, as if carved out of wood...while giant shadows walk through the apple trees”), and synesthetic metaphors based on co-sensation ( sundresses smelling of paint, clear, icy, heavy water).
Through this variety of details and signs, we are shown the inner richness, intensity of spiritual life and depth of the narrator’s experiences. The hero himself seems to be hidden from the reader, his story is unknown, only that the men call him barchuk. The emphasis is only on his memories and associations associated with the past, with the taste, smell, and appearance of Antonov apples.
The beginning of the story is based on a poetic device - gradations, replete with repetition of words "I remember". It seems as if the hero is afraid that at least one shade of feeling will escape from his memories.
The story has several parts. IN first part- memories of the village, men, the joy and carefreeness of life, accompanied by the crunch of Antonov apples.
Part two- autumn time, associated with the story of ancient old women, decorously preparing a gravestone and a richly decorated shroud for themselves, and about rich men. Here the hero’s memories are transferred to the estate to his aunt, Anna Gerasimovna, who is described with a nostalgic longing for light, spacious and blue sky, clear distance, well-trodden road. There, in the lost world, every little thing is imbued with poetry and beauty, even telegraph poles "like silver strings", and the falcons sitting on them - "black icons on music paper» . But the most precious, important autumn memory is the smell of Antonov apples.
The third part — "the fading spirit of the landowners", the deepening colors of cold autumn, dead and anxious, awaiting the first rays of the winter sun, the proximity of loss. The anxious rhythm of the hunt, the estate of Arseniy Semenovich, hospitality, the bliss of youth and noble life, honoring its ancient roots and Russian culture.
Fourth part- bitter melancholy that there is no longer the smell of Antonov apples, just as there are no old people or landowners.
The four parts of the story are the circle of life, a run from youth to maturity for the hero, from full life to decline for noble Russia.
Leaving, dissolving into cruelty new reality, Russia was imprinted in Bunin’s story in the smell, taste, and appearance of Antonov apples. First snow, dark house windows, gentle sounds guitars and the last lines of the story... “I covered the road with white snow”.
The story “Antonov Apples” was written quite quickly, but was not completely finished. For a long time, the author Ivan Alekseevich Bunin returned to it, so each subsequent edition has additions. Throughout the entire narrative, Bunin remembers and yearns for the past.
It was early autumn. At this time, apple picking begins. They are strong and aromatic. Reading how a man eats, you yourself feel the crunch of an apple on your teeth and its sweet and sour taste. And their smell and autumn mixed, it turned out something delicious. This scent haunts the author all his life. When describing nature, the writer uses many metaphors, selects such words that the reader seems to be in the right place and sees everything in truth. You feel the coolness of the morning and the icy water on your skin. The taste of boiled potatoes with black bread is felt in the mouth.
The story has the main thing actor- barchuk. The author does not try to reveal his story, but simply talks about his life during this period. In parallel with nature, the writer also does not forget about the earthly. Tells the story of old women who are preparing to finish their earthly path. She remembers her aunt, how she loved guests and greeted everyone with joy. Although her house was old, it was durable and everything around it was made with love and to last. The next story is about another landowner who was very fond of hunting. Hunters gathered at his place, did not forget to drink vodka and went hunting. Apparently, neither the aunt nor the landowner no longer exists. To enhance the feeling of melancholy, Ivan Alekseevich writes about late autumn. The rains have stopped, but the sun, although bright, does not warm at all.
Along with the warm autumn days, the smell of Antonov apples, events and childhood disappeared, all in the distant past. All that remains is longing for the days gone by. And finally, everything was covered with snow, by this the author shows that there is no turning back. You won't go back to the past.
How accurately the author chose the time of year. Early autumn - harvesting, hunting is fun and fervent. Childhood and adolescence continues, everyone is alive. Late fall old women's farewell to the past and early winter. Everything in the snow, the past remains only in memories. Life goes on, but another life is already new. Although the story is a bit sad Bunin put his soul into it.
Analysis of the work Antonov Apples
The most talented writer Ivan Bunin had the ability to describe his thoughts and reasoning with precision and detail. The memories that stuck in the creator’s head poured out into the story “Antonov Apples”, which was written quickly; after a few months it was ready. The work involves Bunin’s impressions, his old memories, which are now provided in a free version to readers. The story, besides what it was a short time written, constantly reworked, the writer again and again added colors, certain details, without which the work would seem ordinary and boring.
In “Antonov Apples” there is no plot development; when you open the pages of the book, pictures of what Ivan Bunin once managed to see pop up before your eyes. All emotions and impressions are depicted subtly and intelligently. The writer thought through everything down to the smallest detail. You can see pain, suffering, torment, and sadness because all that beautiful things are left in the past; unfortunately, they are already behind us.
The main character in the work seems to be a certain barchuk, which leads to a description of wonderful places from which the imagination plays. However, it is noteworthy that the character's history is not revealed to the readers of the book; it is hidden behind the veil, remaining inaccessible.
What can you say about the plot? It is divided into four parts. In the first chapter of the story, Bunin talks about the unusual smell of excellent Antonov apples, which are breathtaking, because their taste cannot be described in words, but the writer can do anything. This smell is inextricably linked with memories of a cozy village, its wonderful life. There are men there, their lives are autumn time, refers to the old patriarchal system.
The second part includes stories about a magnificent autumn, which is mysterious and enigmatic. You could see old women who were preparing to leave this life, and gravestones that were waiting for them. The heroines lived out their lives.
Then Bunin leads readers to the estate of the hero’s aunt named Anna Gerasimovna, where the road is beautiful, the sky is blue, everything is so dear and close...
The third part is about how the past cannot be returned. The former noble life is lost, there is no return. This makes my soul feel heavy and sad...
Then, in the fourth chapter, Ivan Bunin concludes: the old smell of childhood cannot be returned, it can only be stored in bright memories, and with a smile on your face, talk about past events. But now, alas, the smell of Antonov apples has disappeared. The glory days are gone.
The writer dedicated his story to Russia, the work is an appeal to her, an interpretation that old life cannot be returned to normal. But great times remain in the memory! They are worth remembering!
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The great writer Ivan Alekseevich Bunin wrote his work “Antonov Apples” quickly, in just a few months. But he did not complete the work on the story, because he turned to his story again and again, changing the text. Each edition of this story had already changed and edited text. And this could easily be explained by the fact that the writer’s impressions were so vivid and deep that he wanted to show all this to his reader.
But a story like “Antonov Apples,” where there is no plot development, and the basis of the content is Bunin’s impressions and memories, is difficult to analyze. It is difficult to capture the emotions of a person who lives in the past. But Ivan Alekseevich manages to accurately convey sounds and colors, showing his unusual literary skill. Reading the story “Antonov Apples” you can understand what feelings and emotions the writer experienced. This is both pain and sadness that all this is left behind, as well as joy and tenderness for the ways of deep antiquity.
Bunin uses bright colors description of colors, for example, black-lilac, gray-iron. Bunin’s descriptions are so deep that he even notices how the shadow of many objects falls. For example, from the flames in the garden in the evening he sees black silhouettes, which he compares with giants. By the way, there are a huge number of metaphors in the text. It is worth paying attention to the sundresses that girls wear at fairs: “sundresses that smell like paint.” Even the smell of Bunin's paint does not cause irritation, and this is another memory. And what words does he choose when he conveys his feelings from water! The writer’s character is not easily cold or transparent, but Ivan Alekseevich uses the following description of it: icy, heavy.
What is happening in the narrator’s soul, how strong and deep his experiences are, can be understood if we analyze those details in the work “Antonov Apples”, where he gives a detailed description of them. There is also in the story main character- barchuk, but his story is never revealed to the reader.
At the very beginning of his work, the writer uses one of the means artistic expression speech. The gradation lies in the fact that the author very often repeats the word “remember,” which allows you to create a feeling of how carefully the writer treats his memories and is afraid of forgetting something.
The second chapter contains not only a description of a wonderful autumn, which is usually mysterious and even fabulous in villages. But the work tells about old women who were living out their lives and preparing to accept death. To do this, they put on a shroud, which was wonderfully painted and starched so that it stood like a stone on the body of the old women. The writer also recalled that, having prepared for death, such old women dragged gravestones into the yard, which now stood awaiting the death of their mistress.
The writer’s memories take the reader in the second part to another estate, which belonged to Ivan Alekseevich’s cousin. Anna Gerasimovna lived on her own, so she was always happy to visit her old estate. The road to this estate still appears before the narrator’s eyes: a lush and spacious blue sky, the well-trodden and well-trodden road seems to the writer the most expensive and so dear. Bunin’s description of both the road and the estate itself evokes a great feeling of regret that all this is a thing of the distant past.
The description of the telegraph poles that the narrator encountered on the way to his aunt is sad and sad to read. They were like silver strings, and the birds sitting on them seemed to the writer musical notation. But even here, on the aunt’s estate, the narrator again remembers the smell of Antonov apples.
The third part takes the reader into deep autumn, when after cold and prolonged rains, the sun finally begins to appear. And again the estate of another landowner - Arseny Semenovich, who was a great lover of hunting. And again one can see the author’s sadness and regret that the spirit of the landowner, who honored both his roots and the entire Russian culture, has now faded away. But now that former way of life has been lost, and it is now impossible to return the former noble way of life in Rus'.
In the fourth chapter of the story “Antonov Apples,” Bunin sums it up by saying that the smell of Antonov apples has disappeared no more than the smell of childhood, which was associated with the life and everyday life of the local nobility. And it is impossible to see either those old people, or the glorious landowners, or those glorious times. And the last lines of the story “I covered the road with white snow” lead the reader to the fact that it is no longer impossible to return the old Russia, its former life.
The story “Antonov Apples” is a kind of ode, enthusiastic, but sad and sad, imbued with love, which is dedicated to Russian nature, life in the villages and the patriarchal way of life that existed in Rus'. The story is small in volume, but quite a lot is conveyed in it. Bunin has pleasant memories of that time; they are filled with spirituality and poetry.
“Antonov Apples” is Bunin’s hymn to his homeland, which, although it remained in the past, far from him, still remained forever in the memory of Ivan Alekseevich, and was for him like the best and purest time, the time of his spiritual development.
“Antonov Apples” by I. Bunin is a panoramic image of the life of landowners, in which there was also room for a story about peasant life. The peculiarity of the work is rich landscape sketches, from which unique autumn smells emanate. This is a striking example of poetic prose in Russian literature. The story is in Unified State Exam program, so it is important to remember the basic information about it. Studying “Antonov apples in 11th grade. We offer qualitative analysis works by I. Bunin.
Brief Analysis
Year of writing - 1900.
History of creation- In 1891, I. Bunin visited his brother Evgeniy’s estate. Once, going out into the street, the writer caught the smell of Antonov apples, which reminded him of the times of the landowners. The story itself was written only 9 years later.
Subject- Two themes can be distinguished in the story: autumn in the village, the free life of landowners, filled with the romance of the countryside.
Composition- The organization of the story is special, since the outline of the events is very poorly represented in it. Main role memories, impressions, and philosophical reflections play, the basis for which are landscapes.
Genre- Story-epitaph.
Direction- Sentimentalism.
History of creation
The history of the creation of the work is connected with the writer’s trip to his brother Eugene. In a country estate, I. Bunin caught the smell of Antonov apples. The aroma reminded Ivan Alekseevich of the life of landowners. This is how the idea for the story arose, which the writer realized only nine years later, in 1900. “Antonov Apples” became part of the cycle of epitaphs.
The story was first seen by the world in the year it was written in the magazine “Life”, published in St. Petersburg. Critics received it positively. But the publication did not mark the end of the work. I. Bunin continued to polish his creation for twenty years, so there are several versions of “Antonov Apples”.
Subject
To capture the essence of the story “Antonov Apples,” its analysis should begin with a description of the main problem.
The entire piece is covered autumn theme . The author reveals the beauty of nature at this time and the changes that autumn brings to human life. A. Bunin proceeds to describe the life of a landowner. The image of Antonov apples plays an important role in revealing both themes. These fruits symbolize childhood, antiquity, and nostalgia. IN symbolic meaning hiding and meaning of the name story.
The peculiarities of the work are related to the fact that the lyrical component plays a leading role in it. It is not for nothing that the author chooses the narration form in the first person singular. This way the reader can get as close as possible to the narrator, see the world through his eyes, observe his feelings and emotions. The narrator of the work recalls lyrical hero, which we are accustomed to seeing in poems.
At first the narrator describes early autumn, generously “sprinkling” the landscape folk signs. This technique helps to recreate a rustic atmosphere. The image of Antonov apples appears in the initial landscape. They are collected by peasants in the gardens of bourgeois gardeners. Gradually, the author moves on to a description of a bourgeois hut and a fair near it. This allows you to introduce colorful peasant images into the work. The first part ends with a description of an autumn night.
Second part begins again with landscape and folk signs. In it. I. Bunin talks about long-lived old people, as if hinting at how much weaker his generation is. In the same part, the reader can find out how rich peasants lived. The narrator describes their life with delight, not hiding the fact that he himself would like to live like that.
Memories take the narrator back to the times when his landowner aunt was alive. He enthusiastically tells how he came to visit Anna Gerasimovna. Her estate was surrounded by a garden in which apples grew. The hero describes in detail the interior of his aunt’s house, drawing Special attention to smells, the main one being the aroma of apples.
The third part I. Bunin’s works “Antonov Apples” - a story about a hunt, this is the only thing that “sustained the fading spirit of the landowners.”
The narrator describes everything: getting ready for the hunt, the process itself and the evening feast. In this part, another hero appears - the landowner Arseny Semenovich, who pleasantly surprises with his appearance and cheerful disposition.
In the final part the author talks about the death of landowner Anna Gerasimovna, landowner Arseny Semenych and the elderly. The spirit of antiquity seems to have died along with them. All that was left was nostalgia and “small-scale life.” Nevertheless, I. Bunin concludes that she is also good, proving this with a description of small-scale life.
Issues The work is concentrated around the motif of the extinction of the landowner spirit and the death of antiquity.
Story idea- to show that the old days had a special charm, so descendants should preserve it at least in memory.
Main thought– a person cherishes those memories that are cherished in his heart from childhood and youth.
Composition
The compositional features of the work are manifested both at the formal and semantic levels. It is written in the form of memories of a lyrical hero. The main role in the story is played not by events, but by non-plot elements - landscapes, portraits, interiors, philosophical reflections. They are closely intertwined and complementary. The main tool for their creation is artistic media, the set of which includes both original and folklore ones.
It is difficult to single out the elements of the plot - exposition, plot, development of events and denouement, since they are blurred by the indicated non-plot components.
Formally, the text is divided into four parts, each of which is devoted to certain memories of the narrator. All parts are connected main theme and the image of the narrator.
Genre
Analysis plan literary work necessarily includes genre characteristics. “Antonov Apples” is an epitaph story. In the work it is impossible to identify specific storylines, all the characters are connected with the narrator, the system of images is unbranched. Researchers consider the story an epitaph, since it we're talking about about the “dead” landowner spirit.
