Myth portrait

The book begins with memories of how, in 1961, Alexander Tvardovsky introduced reading Moscow to the work Sch-854 (One Day of Ivan Denisovich). Its author, who had the pseudonym A. Ryazansky, was unknown, but many immediately realized that a major writer had come to literature.

Solzhenitsyn's fame grew, and in the early seventies of the XX century his portraits could be seen in many Moscow apartments. The Gulag Archipelago , in terms of its impact on minds, stood on a par with Khrushchev’s speech at the 20th Congress . However, the consciousness of Voinovich, according to his admission, "remained not upside down." Moreover, his opinion about Solzhenitsyn has worsened. Voinovich reproached the author of the “Archipelago” with anti-Semitism and the fact that he, defending the Russians, “constantly insults everyone else and does not recognize this himself”.

After “ August Fourteenth, ” Solzhenitsyn began to write uninterestingly, and reading the “Red Wheel” is “work only for the very hardworking,” Voinovich further noted.

Part of the book is devoted to Voinovich’s correspondence with literary critic Elena Chukovskaya , who was annoyed that the character of the Moscow 2042 anti-utopia Sim Simych Karnavalov was similar to Solzhenitsyn. Elena Caesarevna recalled how people, risking their lives, kept the “Gulag Archipelago”; Voinovich in response said that he "described a typical Russian idol."

Voinovich designated the beginning of the 1990s as Solzhenitsyn's waiting time. The writer's second coming was carefully prepared by himself; The pre-emptive condition was the publication of books in mass circulation, and Solzhenitsyn appeared to the public "with a prepared expression on his face."

The opinions of critics and literary scholars who read “Portrait on the Background of Myth” were divided. So, philologist Alexander Kobrinsky (“ Friendship of Peoples ”) noted that Voinovich’s book is devoted to the fight against “comprehensive and hearing nothing of pathos”. True, Kobrinsky clarifies, trying to use the weapon of his opponent, Voinovich immediately begins to lose ^[1] .

MSU professor Yuri Semyonov ( Skepticism ) supported Voinovich, who opposed the enrichment of Solzhenitsyn (who “continuously degraded” after Ivan Denisovich’s Day), but at the same time reproached the author of the Portrait ... for exalting himself and his own works ^[2] .

The writer Gennady Krasukhin (" Literature Issues ") saw Voinovich right in the fact that already in Solzhenitsyn's early journalistic book “ Butting a Calf with an Oak ” one feels “superiority of one over all”. The hero of this work, according to Krasukhin, portrays himself as a man who never made a mistake anywhere ^[3] .

Pavel Basinsky ( Literary Newspaper ) admitted that the feelings that arose after reading the Portrait ... can be called a mixture of anger, bewilderment and pity. According to the journalist, Voinovich has more emotions than facts, and resentment is the dominant principle. In a review entitled “The Complaint Book,” Basinsky quoted poet Dmitry Prigov as saying that “Solzhenitsyn did not ask to love him in his youth and to hate him in his old age” ^[4] .

Literary critic Andrei Nemzer , having discovered in the book the features of Solzhenitsyn whom Voinovich “invented from the head”, stated that the author of a really funny novel about Chonkin is not equal to the creator of “Portrait ...” and will not go down in history ^[5] . In the same vein, a Belarusian political scientist of Jewish descent, Wolf Rubinchik, reproached V. Voinovich for distorting his opponent’s position ^[6] .

Natalya Ivanova , the deputy editor-in-chief of the Znamya magazine, who devoted a large article to the book Portrait Against a Myth, emphasized that Voinovich, who knew the laws of dramaturgy well, first set up the scenery and created the context , and then arranged a trial - “quick, almost instant” ^{[ 7]} .

Lisa Novikova ( Kommersant ) Voynovich’s work was reminiscent of “artistic performance ”, during which the author of “Portrait ...” not only helps create a new myth about Solzhenitsyn, but also asks his colleague to “make room” ^[8] .

Voinovich V. Portrait on the background of myth. - M .: Eksmo-press, 2002 .-- 192 p. - ISBN 5-04-010253-4 .