Astafiev “Sad detective” - analysis. Essay on literature. Review of the novel by V. P. Astafiev, a sad detective story. Criminal components of the book.

NOVEL BY V. P. ASTAFIEV "THE SAD DETECTIVE"

V.P. Astafiev is a writer whose works reflect the life of people of the 20th century. Astafiev is a person who knows and is close to all the problems of our sometimes difficult life.

Viktor Petrovich went through the war as a private and knows all the hardships of post-war life. I think that with his wisdom and experience he is one of those people whose advice and orders you should not only listen to, but try to follow. But Astafiev does not act as a prophet, he simply writes about what is close to him and what worries him. Although the works of Viktor Petrovich belong to modern Russian literature, the problems that are often raised in them are more than one thousand years old.

Eternal questions of good and evil, punishment and justice have long forced people to seek answers to them. But this turned out to be a very difficult matter, because the answers lie in the person himself, and good and evil, honesty and dishonor are intertwined in us. Having a soul, we are often indifferent. Everyone has a heart, but we are often called heartless. Astafiev’s novel “The Sad Detective” raises the problems of crime, punishment and the triumph of justice. The theme of the novel is the current intelligentsia and the current people. The work tells about the life of two small towns: Veisk and Khailovsk, about the people living in them, about modern morals. When people talk about small towns, the image of a quiet, peaceful place appears in the mind, where life, filled with joys, flows slowly, without any special incidents. A feeling of peace appears in the soul. But those who think so are mistaken. In fact, life in Veisk and Khailovsk flows in a stormy stream. Young people, drunk to the point where a person turns into an animal, rape a woman old enough to be their mother, and the parents leave the child locked in the apartment for a week. All these pictures described by Astafiev terrify the reader. It becomes scary and creepy at the thought that the concepts of honesty, decency and love are disappearing. The description of these cases in the form of summaries is, in my opinion, an important artistic feature.

Hearing every day about various incidents, we sometimes don’t pay attention, but collected in the novel, they force us to take off our rose-colored glasses and understand: if it didn’t happen to you, it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t concern you. The novel makes you think about your actions, look back and see what you have done over the years. After reading, you ask yourself the question: “What good and good did I do? Did I notice when the person next to me felt bad?” You begin to think that indifference is as evil as cruelty. I think that finding answers to these questions is the purpose of the work.

In the novel "The Sad Detective" Astafiev created a whole system of images. The author introduces the reader to each hero of the work, talking about his life. The main character is police operative Leonid Soshnin. He is a forty-year-old man who was injured several times in the line of duty and should retire. Having retired, he begins to write, trying to figure out where there is so much anger and cruelty in a person. Where does he keep it? Why, along with this cruelty, does the Russian people have pity for the prisoners and indifference to themselves, to their neighbor - a disabled person of war and labor? Astafiev contrasts the main character, an honest and brave operative worker, with policeman Fyodor Lebed, who quietly serves, moving from one position to another. On especially dangerous trips, he tries not to risk his life and gives the right to neutralize armed criminals to his partners, and it is not very important that his partner does not have a service weapon, because he is a recent graduate of a police school, and Fedor has a service weapon. A striking image in the novel is Aunt Granya - a woman who, without having children of her own, gave all her love to the children who played near her house at the railway station, and then to the children in the Children's Home. Often the heroes of the work, who should cause disgust, cause pity. Urna, who has transformed from a self-employed woman into a drunkard without a home or family, evokes sympathy. She screams songs and pesters passers-by, but she becomes ashamed not for her, but for the society that has turned its back on the Urn. Soshnin says that they tried to help her, but nothing worked, and now they simply don’t pay attention to her. The city of Veisk has its own Dobchinsky and Bobchinsky. Astafiev does not even change the names of these people and characterizes them with a quote from Gogol’s “The Inspector General,” thereby refuting the well-known saying that nothing lasts forever under the sun. Everything flows, everything changes, but such people remain, exchanging clothes of the 19th century for a fashionable suit and shirt with gold cufflinks of the 20th century. The city of Veisk also has its own literary luminary, who, sitting in his office, “enveloped in cigarette smoke, twitched, squirmed in his chair and littered with ashes.” This is Oktyabrina Perfilyevna Syrokvasova. It is this man, whose description brings a smile, that moves local literature forward and further. This woman decides what works to print. But not everything is so bad, because if there is evil, then there is also good. Leonid Soshnin makes peace with his wife, and she returns to him again along with her daughter. It’s a little sad that the death of Soshnin’s neighbor, Tutyshikha’s grandmother, forces them to make peace. It is grief that brings Leonid and Lera closer together. The blank sheet of paper in front of Soshnin, who usually writes at night, is a symbol of the beginning of a new stage in the life of the protagonist’s family. And I want to believe that their future life will be happy and joyful, and they will cope with grief, because they will be together.

The novel "The Sad Detective" is an exciting work. Although it is difficult to read, because Astafiev describes too terrible pictures. But such works need to be read, because they make you think about the meaning of life, so that it does not pass colorlessly and empty. I liked the work. I learned a lot of important things and understood a lot. I met a new writer and I know for sure that this is not the last work by Astafiev that I will read.

Bibliography

To prepare this work, materials from the site were used http://sochok.by.ru/

Forty-two-year-old Leonid Soshnin, a former criminal investigation operative, returns home from a local publishing house to an empty apartment, in the worst mood. The manuscript of his first book, “Life is More Precious than Everything,” after five years of waiting, has finally been accepted for production, but this news does not make Soshnin happy. A conversation with the editor, Oktyabrina Perfilyevna Syrovasova, who tried to humiliate the author-policeman who dared to call himself a writer with arrogant remarks, stirred up Soshnin’s already gloomy thoughts and experiences. “How to live in the world? Lonely? - he thinks on the way home, and his thoughts are heavy.

He served his time in the police: after two wounds, Soshnin was sent to a disability pension. After another quarrel, Lerka’s wife leaves him, taking with her his little daughter Svetka.

Soshnin remembers his whole life. He cannot answer his own question: why is there so much room in life for grief and suffering, but always close to love and happiness? Soshnin understands that, among other incomprehensible things and phenomena, he has to comprehend the so-called Russian soul, and he needs to start with the people closest to him, with the episodes he witnessed, with the destinies of the people with whom his life encountered... Why Russian people Are you ready to feel sorry for the bone crusher and bloodletter and not notice how a helpless war invalid is dying nearby, in the next apartment?.. Why does a criminal live so freely and cheerfully among such kind-hearted people?..

In order to escape from his gloomy thoughts at least for a minute, Leonid imagines how he will come home, cook himself a bachelor’s dinner, read, sleep a little so that he has enough strength for the whole night - sitting at the table, over a blank sheet of paper. Soshnin especially loves this night time, when he lives in some isolated world created by his imagination.

Leonid Soshnin's apartment is located on the outskirts of Veysk, in an old two-story house where he grew up. From this house my father went to war, from which he did not return, and here, towards the end of the war, my mother also died from a severe cold. Leonid stayed with his mother’s sister, Aunt Lipa, whom he used to call Lina since childhood. Aunt Lina, after the death of her sister, went to work in the commercial department of the Wei Railway. This department was “judged and replanted at once.” The aunt tried to poison herself, but she was saved and after the trial she was sent to a colony. By this time, Lenya was already studying at the regional special school of the Internal Affairs Directorate, from where he was almost kicked out because of his convicted aunt. But the neighbors, and mainly Lavrya’s father’s fellow Cossack soldier, interceded for Leonid with the regional police authorities, and everything turned out okay.

Aunt Lina was released under an amnesty. Soshnin had already worked as a district police officer in the remote Khailovsky district, from where he brought his wife. Before her death, Aunt Lina managed to nurse Leonid’s daughter, Sveta, whom she considered her granddaughter. After Lina’s death, Soshniny passed under the protection of another, no less reliable aunt named Granya, a switchwoman on the shunting hill. Aunt Granya spent her whole life taking care of other people’s children, and even little Lenya Soshnin learned the first skills of brotherhood and hard work in a kind of kindergarten.

Once, after returning from Khailovsk, Soshnin was on duty with a police squad at a mass celebration on the occasion of Railway Worker's Day. Four guys who were drunk to the point of losing their memory raped Aunt Granya, and if it weren’t for his patrol partner, Soshnin would have shot these drunken guys sleeping on the lawn. They were convicted, and after this incident, Aunt Granya began to avoid people. One day she expressed to Soshnin the terrible thought that by convicting the criminals, they had thereby ruined young lives. Soshnin shouted at the old woman for feeling sorry for non-humans, and they began to avoid each other...

In the dirty and spit-stained entrance of the house, three drunks accost Soshnin, demanding to say hello and then to apologize for their disrespectful behavior. He agrees, trying to cool their ardor with peaceful remarks, but the main one, a young bully, does not calm down. Fueled by alcohol, the guys attack Soshnin. He, having gathered his strength - his wounds and hospital “rest” took their toll - defeats the hooligans. One of them hits his head on the heating radiator when he falls. Soshnin picks up a knife on the floor, staggers into the apartment. And he immediately calls the police and reports the fight: “One hero’s head was split on a radiator. If so, don’t look for it. The villain is me."

Coming to his senses after what happened, Soshnin again remembers his life.

He and his partner were chasing a drunk on a motorcycle who had stolen a truck. The truck rushed like a deadly ram through the streets of the town, having already ended more than one life. Soshnin, the senior patrol officer, decided to shoot the criminal. His partner fired, but before he died, the truck driver managed to hit the motorcycle of the pursuing policemen. On the operating table, Soshnina’s leg was miraculously saved from amputation. But he remained lame; it took him a long time to learn to walk. During his recovery, the investigator tormented him for a long time and persistently with an investigation: was the use of weapons legal?

Leonid also remembers how he met his future wife, saving her from hooligans who were trying to take off the girl’s jeans right behind the Soyuzpechat kiosk. At first, life between him and Lerka went in peace and harmony, but gradually mutual reproaches began. His wife especially did not like his literary studies. “Such Leo Tolstoy with a seven-shooter pistol, with rusty handcuffs in his belt...” she said.

Soshnin recalls how one “took” a stray guest performer, a repeat offender, Demon, in a hotel in the town.

And finally, he remembers how Venka Fomin, who was drunk and returned from prison, put a final end to his career as an operative... Soshnin brought his daughter to his wife’s parents in a distant village and was about to return to the city when his father-in-law told him that there was a drunk in the neighboring village A man has locked old women in a barn and is threatening to set them on fire if they do not give him ten rubles to cover their hangover. During the detention, when Soshnin slipped on manure and fell, the frightened Venka Fomin stabbed him with a pitchfork... Soshnin was barely taken to the hospital - and he barely escaped certain death. But the second group of disability and retirement could not be avoided.

At night, Leonid is awakened from sleep by the terrible scream of the neighbor girl Yulka. He hurries to the apartment on the first floor, where Yulka lives with her grandmother Tutyshikha. Having drunk a bottle of Riga balsam from the gifts brought by Yulka’s father and stepmother from the Baltic sanatorium, Grandma Tutyshikha is already fast asleep.

At the funeral of grandmother Tutyshikha, Soshnin meets his wife and daughter. At the wake they sit next to each other.

Lerka and Sveta stay with Soshnin, at night he hears his daughter sniffling behind the partition, and feels his wife sleeping next to him, timidly clinging to him. He gets up, approaches his daughter, straightens her pillow, presses his cheek to her head and loses himself in some kind of sweet grief, in a resurrecting, life-giving sadness. Leonid goes to the kitchen, reads “Proverbs of the Russian People” collected by Dahl - the section “Husband and Wife” - and is surprised at the wisdom contained in simple words.

“Dawn was already rolling in like a damp snowball through the kitchen window, when, having enjoyed the peace among the quietly sleeping family, with a feeling of long-unknown confidence in his capabilities and strength, without irritation or melancholy in his heart, Soshnin stuck to the table and placed a blank sheet of paper in the spot of light and froze over him for a long time.”

Retold

During his life, Soviet writer Viktor Astafiev created many striking works. Recognized as an outstanding author, he deservedly has several state awards in his creative treasury. “The Sad Detective” is a short story that left a strong impression on readers. In our article we will analyze its brief content. “The Sad Detective” by Astafiev is one of those works in which the writer worries about the fate of his country and its individual citizens.

Live a life - write a book

Viktor Petrovich Astafiev wrote the work in 1987. At that time, he had already received wide recognition from the public, having published his best books - “Until Next Spring” and “The Snow is Melting.” As critics noted, “Detective...” could have turned out differently if it had been written at a different time. The experience of the past years was reflected here, and the author put all his personal experiences into the work.

A brief summary will help us get acquainted with the story. Astafiev’s “Sad Detective” tells about the difficult life of former policeman Leonid Soshnin, who at 42 was left alone. All that makes him happy is the empty apartment he is used to and the opportunity to do what he loves. In the evenings, when the lights go out, in the silence of the night, he sits down in front of a piece of paper and begins to write. Probably, the presentation of thoughts on behalf of the “presenter” (Soshnin, as it were, conveys the thoughts of the author) creates for the reader an additional atmosphere of perception, filled with a large number of everyday anxieties.

The essence of the book: about the main thing

Many admitted that it is not the detective story as a genre that distinguishes the story “The Sad Detective” (Astafiev). can directly indicate that there is a deep drama at its core. Sadness became the main character's faithful companion when he separated from his wife and now hardly sees his little daughter. A policeman from the province really wants, but cannot completely eradicate crime. He reflects on why the surrounding reality is full of grief and suffering, while love and happiness are crowded somewhere nearby. Through memories of his own life, Soshnin learns previously incomprehensible things in the hope that this may provide, if not answers, then at least peace of mind.

Fragments of memories

Astafiev loves to explore the human soul, giving this right to the main character in this case. The novel “The Sad Detective” is fragmentary. Lenya Soshnin looks at people close to him in a new way, analyzes individual episodes of the past, and recalls events that he witnessed. Fate brought him into contact with different people, and now, as if letting him down, he wonders about their role in his life. Injustice and partial lawlessness do not give him, as a servant of the law, peace. Why does a helpless person who went through a war die alone, while those who committed a crime but received forgiveness from society feel free? Apparently, such an imbalance will always weigh on Soshnin...

Criminal components of the book

The story “The Sad Detective” consists of descriptions of criminal incidents, some of which are truly terrible. Astafiev (we will look at the analysis of the work below) does not in vain describe scenes of violence, proving something simple that is so difficult to wrap your head around.

Looking at any work in which murders appear, the possible motives for the crime seem clear to us. What could be a better prerequisite than power, money, revenge? Refuting this, Viktor Petrovich opens the eyes of readers to the fact that even murder “for the count” or “just because” is also considered a crime. The author fully shows the killer’s unsettled life, his negative attitude towards society, as well as family disputes, which often end very badly.

In a similar way, the character of the Russian soul is boldly revealed by the realist V.P. Astafiev. “The Sad Detective” clearly shows how well our people love to go for a walk. “Having a blast” is the main motto of any feast, and the boundaries of what is permitted are often violated.

Failures in service, joys in creativity

And although the work is distinguished by a small number of pages, which can, if desired, be mastered in a short period of time, for those who are not familiar with the book, its brief content is interesting. Astafiev’s “Sad Detective” is also a detailed description of the main character’s service. And if in this area he has an unpleasant aftertaste, which often reminds him of himself, then in creative terms Soshnin is more or less doing well. Leonid dreams of the idea of writing his own manuscript. The only salvation for him is to throw out his experiences on paper. The cynical editor makes it clear that the inexperienced amateur still has a lot to learn, but it seems that Soshnin doesn’t care much about this yet...

Good “Sad Detective” (Astafiev)

Without revealing the details of the ending, it should be said that fate will return the hero’s family as a reward. Having met his wife and daughter, he will not be able to let them go, just as they, filled with “resurrecting, life-giving sadness,” will return to his home.

Modern Tricks of Old History

Viktor Astafiev used a distinctive technique when creating the story. “The Sad Detective” includes plot inserts that today would be called flashbacks. In other words, the narrative periodically moves into the past, to individual and most striking episodes of Soshnin’s life that influenced him. For example, echoes of a sad, difficult childhood, when his aunts were involved in his upbringing. One of them was attacked by hooligans, and Soshnin managed to pull himself together so as not to shoot them. Another time, teenagers accosted him in a dirty entrance, provoking him to respond. The hero tries to cool their ardor, and when the young “bug” is seriously wounded, Leonid first calls the police station, confessing to his crime. But, as if wanting to evoke it from them, he evokes it from himself...

Such motifs clearly indicate the key message of the story “The Sad Detective” - the moral problems of the modern world. How does this manifest itself? Observing the chaos that is happening, Soshnin himself unwittingly becomes a participant in it. At the same time, he retains his self-esteem to the last. But will it be possible to change the world? Or is it easier to force others to change their attitude towards the world?

Strengths of the work

Based on the summary, Astafiev’s “Sad Detective” quickly develops the main character’s storyline, not allowing it to stagnate. According to readers, the story is impressive, despite the peculiarities of the language with which Soshnin, as a narrator, presents the material. There is a special charm in this, as if Astafiev gave up the author’s chair to someone who wanted to become a writer. On the pages of the work we see every time with what difficulty Soshnin’s service was given and with what dignity he emerged from various situations that put his life in real danger. At the same time, he loves his profession and does not want to change it, remaining an honest, fair policeman fighting for truth and tranquility.

Role Model

By creating Soshnin, Astafiev showed a worthy example of what not only servants of law and order should be, but also ordinary citizens. For such simplicity and authenticity, the author and his story have earned recognition from readers and critics.

Viktor Petrovich Astafiev left a bright legacy for the modern generation. The main works, in addition to “The Sad Detective,” include: the novel “Cursed and Killed,” the stories “War is Thundering Somewhere,” “Starfall,” “The Pass,” “Overtone” and others. Feature films were made based on some of the author's works.

NOVEL BY V. P. ASTAFIEV "THE SAD DETECTIVE"

V.P. Astafiev is a writer whose works reflect the life of people of the 20th century. Astafiev is a person who knows and is close to all the problems of our sometimes difficult life.

A retired operative due to disability, Leonid Soshnin, comes to the editorial office, where his manuscript was practically approved for publication. But the editor-in-chief Oktyabrina (a beacon of the local literary elite, sprinkling quotes from famous writers) in a conversation with him expresses her contempt for the unprofessionalism of the retired writer. Insulted, Leonid returns home with heavy thoughts; he recalls his career, wondering why Russian people are ready to condone bandits out of imaginary mercy.

For example, his aunt, who, unfortunately, was raped, suffers from remorse, because she “convicted” those scum, albeit young ones. Or he remembers how he had to shoot a drunken and aggressive truck driver, who had already hit many innocent people, did not obey the orders of the police, and Leonid himself almost lost his leg because of him, so after all this nightmare Soshin had to go through an official investigation due to... for the use of service weapons. So he remembers, reflects, and after difficult communication with his family, in the morning he sits down with a white sheet of paper, he is ready to create.

The story of the “sad detective” consists of the memories of a former operative, a current pensioner and a future writer - Leonid, which boil down to the question of resisting evil, globally. In particular, these are issues of crime and punishment in his county town. Astafiev’s work begins with a scene in the editorial office, where the hero was invited after several years of reviewing his manuscript. The editor-in-chief (an angry, lonely woman) takes advantage of her position to speak disparagingly to a grown man. Leonid feels insulted, but even Oktyabrina herself feels that she has crossed boundaries. It seems that she is trying to smooth out the unpleasant situation, but Soshnin’s mood is ruined.

In a bad mood, he returns to his home. He looks at his uncomfortable neighborhood, which would not give anyone optimism. Sad thoughts flooded the hero; memories, also mostly sad, bother him. The operative had to retire early. I went to the village, and they turned to him (as a doctor) for help. A drunk man has locked two old women in a neighbor's barn and promises to set them on fire if they don't give him ten rubles to soothe his hangover. This is how Soshnin often had to deal with drunks and fools... and this time the drunkard, getting scared, foolishly stuck a pitchfork into the fallen operative.

Leonid was barely saved! But with a disability I had to retire. When Lenya was still at police school, his aunt Lina was almost arrested. She raised him from childhood, denying herself everything. I was lucky here - I got a job in the budget department, money, expensive things, and scarce products immediately appeared. Yes, she began to steal - for the sake of her pupil. He was initially sent to police school, because she felt that she herself could not expect anything good. When they came to “take her away,” she was on her knees and sobbing. This whole story became stressful for young Leonid. Then, although he was almost expelled from school, he vowed to fight crime, because bandits, in addition to ordinary crimes, also lead good people, like his aunt, astray.

Astafiev “Sad detective” - analysis. Essay on literature. Review of the novel by V. P. Astafiev, a sad detective story. Criminal components of the book.

Live a life - write a book

The essence of the book: about the main thing

Fragments of memories

Criminal components of the book

Failures in service, joys in creativity

Good “Sad Detective” (Astafiev)

Modern Tricks of Old History

Strengths of the work

Role Model

Picture or drawing Sad detective

Other retellings and reviews for the reader's diary