Alexander Chudakov: biography, books, readers' reviews

Alexander Chudakov is a well-known Russian writer and literary critic. The scientist-philologist. He is considered one of the largest researchers in the country of creativity Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. Dedicated him a lot of books and monographs. At the same time he wrote several of his own works, the most famous of which is the novel "Falls down on the old steps".

Biography of the writer

Alexander Chudakov was born in 1938. He was born in a small resort town of Shchuchinsk with a population of only about 45 thousand people. It is located on the territory of modern Kazakhstan.

From a distant Asian republic, Alexander Chudakov moved from school to the capital. Here he entered the Moscow State University, which he graduated in 1960. Received a diploma with honors from the Faculty of Philology.

A few years after graduation, I got a job at the Institute of World Literature. In parallel, he began teaching at his native Moscow State University. Read the students lectures on the history of Russian literature.

Scientific work

All this time Alexander Chudakov was engaged in scientific work. He wrote monographs and articles in literary journals. In 1983 he defended his doctoral dissertation, becoming a doctor of philological sciences. Most of his studies were related to the work and influence on literature of the Russian writer of the turn of the XIX-XX centuries - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.

During the restructuring, the talent and knowledge of the hero of our article turned out to be in demand abroad. And this is not surprising. After all, Chekhov, whose expert was Chudakov, is considered one of the most famous Russian writers abroad, along with Fedor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy.

Therefore, those who wish to listen to the course of lectures about Chekhov in Western countries have always been many. So the biography of Alexandr Chudakov developed successfully - he began to read the course of Russian literature in universities in the US and Europe. Over time, he became one of the prominent members of the International Chekhov Society.

Literary research

His first large-scale work, dedicated to Anton Chekhov, Chudakova released in 1971. It was a monograph entitled "Poetics of Chekhov". In 1983 it was translated into English and published in the West.

At that time, the author was just over 30. Despite this, he created a deep literary work, which received international recognition and rejection of conservative Soviet scientists. Many of the statements that Chudakov made in this work, as well as in his next study "The World of Chekhov: The Origination and Approval" of 1986, were not indisputable. But at the same time they determined the way of development of Czechology for many years to come. It was Chudakov who first proposed scrupulous methods for describing the writer's narrative system. He belongs to the authorship of the concept of "real world" of the work, with which he described many of Chekhov's stories.

The main thesis of Alexander Chudakov in books is devoted to the "accidental" organization of all the poetics of such a great writer as Chekhov. This statement still causes numerous disputes among researchers and philologists.

He outlined his views on the problem of the "accidental" organization and the "real" world in his study "The Word is a thing - the world: from Pushkin to Tolstoy," which was printed in 1992.

He also owns about two hundred articles devoted to the history of Russian literature. He carefully collected, prepared and commented on the collections of works by Yuri Tynyanov and Viktor Shklovsky. The first one is a Russian formalist who wrote the novels "Kühl", "Death of Wazir Mukhtar" and "Pushkin" (unfinished). The second is a Soviet writer and playwright, who managed to compete with Mikhail Bulgakov.

Books for school children

In 2013, his monograph Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was published. It, first of all, is devoted to pupils of the senior classes of the Russian schools.

In it, Doctor of Philology Chudakov introduces young people to fate and the main events in Chekhov's life. The book details the impressions of the writer's childhood and youth. About how it so happened that from a mediocre employee of a humorous magazine for several years a great writer, known to the whole world, grew up. Today, by right, we can say that he opened a new page in the world art.

Roman Chudakov

It is noteworthy that Chudakov was not only a literary critic and researcher. He wrote his own works. In 2000, the literary magazine "Znamya" published the novel "Fog on the old steps" by Alexander Chudakov. His own, artistic work.

The protagonist of this work is a historian who tells the people around him striking episodes of how people lived in pre-revolutionary Russia. How things changed after the revolution. What was the result of Russia's participation in the wars of the 20th century. These stories are constantly replaced by no less interesting and interesting arguments, in which the hero starts together with his interlocutors.

The novel "Lies Fog on the Old Steps" was recognized as the best work of Russian literature in the first decade of the 21st century. Such a high rating was given to him by the jury of the prestigious literary contest "Russian Booker". This is a unique book that makes both cry and laugh at the same time. So, in the reviews of Alexander Chudakov, readers say. He already conquered many of them with his talent and devotion to business.

Criticism

In reviews, critics often noted that many readers Chudakov thought that his book is autobiographical. There are so many historical truths in it, the feelings and thoughts of the heroes are so reliably transmitted. However, in fact, this is not a life story of the writer's life. This is the image of true Russia in its most difficult years, which in the XX century there were many. The book is funny, but at the same time sad, epic and at the same time lyrical. Life-affirming, but at the same time terrible and terrible.

This is a novel-recollection that begins at the bedside of an old and decrepit grandfather. The author takes us along with the main character in the distant past. The memories of the heroes begin to intertwine with the memories of the readers about their childhood, youth, years of growing up.

Critics say that this is a very cozy work. The author realistically describes the hard life of Soviet teenagers, because he himself grew up in difficult material conditions. In the book, many see the influence on the author of the best examples of classical literature. In particular, Leo Tolstoy, Alexander Pushkin and Anton Chekhov.

For this novel, Chudakov won the "Znamya" Foundation Prize, the jury awarded him posthumously "Russian Booker of the Decade".

Personal life of the writer

Alexander Chudakov in his personal life was lucky. His wife for many years was a literary critic and public figure Marietta Chudakova.

She is known as a researcher of the works of Mikhail Bulgakov, Yevgeny Zamyatin, Mikhail Zoshchenko and Mikhail Kozyrev.

During the years of perestroika began an active social life. Criticized the Soviet system. In the 90s, she was a presidential pardon commission. In 2006 she founded the public organization "SCREW", which united under one roof the veterans of "hot" points and representatives of creative professions. I ran for the State Duma from the party of the Union of Right Forces.

In 2010 she signed the appeal of the Russian opposition "Putin must leave!".

Death of the writer

In 2005, there was no Alexandra Chudakova. The cause of death is the gravest trauma of the brain, which he received under unidentified circumstances. The writer was 67 years old.

He was buried at Vostryakovskoe cemetery of the capital.