Bells (novel)

The novel tells about the revolutionary events of 1905 in the fictional provincial city of the Russian North , in which Vologda guesses, endowed with the power and space of Moscow and St. Petersburg. The author describes the life of different layers of society: workers, peasants, burghers and nobles, - talks about the underground and their activities. The intensity of passions is gradually growing: the villages are rebelling, the workers are on strike and demonstrating, the gendarmes are raging. The culmination of the novel is the December uprising, doomed to defeat ^[2] .

Characters

The protagonist of the novel is Yegor Yablokov. However, he loses the role of the protagonist on the epic scale of the work. In addition to him, the novel has more than fifty characters, endowed with vivid qualities, partially borrowed from real prototypes. Evdokimov shows all aspects of life, displaying the images of a brawler and a drunkard Prosvirin, a maid of Pelagia, city Mushka, captain Pyshkin, generalsha Nasedkina, a provocateur Klenin and an escaping revolution cemetery watchman Nikita, who nevertheless harbors underground workers: Yablokov, - Comrade Ivan (it is interesting that under this pseudonym Evdokimov himself participated in an underground organization) ^{[2] [1]} .

According to the author and readers and critics, another unusual character in the novel is Lake Charym, which, like a living person, reacts to events around him ^[1] .

Evdokimov later turned to fiction, and the novel "Bells" was his first major work. He conceived it in April 1925, initially wanting to create a story based on the memories of his own revolutionary youth in Vologda. The first title of the work, “Yegor Yablokov”, soon became too narrow for a large-scale idea. The author did not like the new title, “Fifth Year,” because of his tendentiousness, and he chose the name “Bells” ^{[1] [2]} .

A detailed plan of the novel was formed by the summer of 1925, chapters were written before the fall, leading to the most dramatic events of the revolution, and by the end of the year the work was completely finished. Evdokimov shows the ready-made chapters to two people closest to him: MAPP Secretary Furmanov and the editor of Krasnaya Novi Voronsky . Both appreciate what they read. For the first time, the novel was published in the journal Krasnaya Nov from February to June 1926 ^{[1] [2] [3]} .

After several reprints, Evdokimov decided to rework the novel. Initial revisions expanded the text of the work, but after negative reviews from critics in 1930, the second edition of the book was released with significant reductions. The author completely deleted the second part, in the rest he reduced individual chapters, in particular those where the characters of the removed part acted, and edited long dialogs ^[2] .

Dmitry Furmanov, one of the first readers of the novel, spoke of him like this: "The widest canvas, where days of the year 905 are given without heroicity and sussyukaniya." He wanted to write a long article dedicated to the work, but illness and quick death did not allow him to fulfill his plan. Voronsky called the novel “a chronicle of the 900s” and the fact of its publication in the magazine “Krasnaya nov” spoke about the approval of what he read ^[1] .

One of Evdokimov’s colleagues, Slezkin , comparing The Bells with other works, said: “We all have hysteria, and you have complete peace of mind. As if in the morning I went ashore of a large lake. Such freshness, silence ” ^[1] . Pravda, in turn, noted that “it is trying, and sometimes successfully, to outline such organic figures of the labor and revolutionary movement that have entered the forefront of modern life as conscious builders of Soviet Russia.” Selivanovsky in the magazine “Young Guard” pointed out the correct social orientation and artistic truth of the novel, Smirnov from “New World” noted successful artistic images, and Druzin in “ Star ” called the novel a valuable contribution to Soviet literature ^[2] .

Significant attention was paid to the "Bells" and Evdokimov Maxim Gorky . The author also received negative assessments from the main proletarian writer: Gorky criticized the excessive use of local expressions by Evdokimov, numerous references to the same expressive details in the characters' appearance, and most importantly, unjustified lengths, which he called "snowdrifts of words." He wished Evdokimov to find his true self and not be afraid of brevity of exposition ^[1] . Gorky set out his wishes in letters, and publicly praised the novel in every possible way ^{[1] [2]} .

The audience took the novel no less well. Until 1935, it was almost annually reprinted ^[2] (seven editions were published), and by the end of 1927, Evdokimov became one of the most popular writers of the State Publishing House ^[1] .

However, soon the popularity of the writer came to naught. His social activities and appeal to a more widespread genre led to actual harassment by critics. Until 1938, when he finally abandoned works of art, there was not a year when his works were not subjected to devastating, and often pungent, comments. Evdokimova and the reader forgot: even in his native Vologda region, if they remembered him, it was only in passing, and in the novel they saw only reliable copying of the realities existing at the beginning of the century ^[2] . The novel remained oblivious until the 1980s, for more than half a century. And only in 1983 he was reprinted in Arkhangelsk ^[2] , and then in 1989 came out in Moscow ^[1] .