The opinion of writers about Antonov apples. Analysis of the story “Antonov Apples” by I.A. Bunin

« Antonov apples»

The story “Antonov Apples” as a whole can be considered as a prose poem. A brief and incredibly poetic time is depicted - Indian summer, when elegiac reflections naturally form in the soul.

Behind the detailed landscape sketch one can discern the poetic soul of the author, a subtle, educated, deeply loving life native nature. close to him folk wisdom, since he often refers to signs: “Autumn and winter live well if the water is calm and there is rain on Laurentia.”

I.A. Bunin is incredibly dear National character. With what care, for example, he describes the festive spirit of the garden fair. His creation of figures of people from among the people is amazing high degree individualization. Just look at one important thing, like a Kholmogory cow, a young elder, or a burry, nimble half-idiot playing the Tula harmonica.

To recreate in detail the atmosphere of early fine autumn in the apple orchard I.A. Bunin makes extensive use of entire rows artistic definitions: “I remember early, fresh, quiet morning... I remember a large, all golden, dried up and thinning garden, I remember maple alleys, the subtle aroma of fallen leaves...” To reflect the surrounding atmosphere more fully, more clearly, to convey every sound (the creaking of carts, the clucking of blackbirds, the crackling of apples eaten by men) and aroma (the smell of Antonov apples, honey and autumn freshness).

The smell of apples is a recurring detail in the story. I.A. Bunin describes a garden with Antonov apples in different time days. At the same time, the evening landscape turns out to be no poorer than the morning one. It is decorated with the diamond constellation Stozhar, the Milky Way, whitening overhead, and shooting stars.

The central theme of the story is the theme of the ruin of noble nests. The author writes with pain that the smell of Antonov apples is disappearing, and the way of life that has developed over centuries is falling apart. Admiring the past and the passing brings an elegiac tone to the work. Bunin emphasizes in certain details the social aspect of relations between people. This is evidenced by the vocabulary (“philistine”, “barchuk”). Despite the elegiac tone, the story also contains optimistic notes. “How cold, dewy and how good it is to live in the world!” - emphasizes I.A. Bunin. The story reveals the idealization of the image of the people characteristic of the writer. He is especially close to the author in holidays when everyone is tidy and happy. “The old men and women lived in Vyselki for a very long time - the first sign of a rich village - and they were all tall, big and white, like a harrier. All you heard was: “Yes,” Agafya waved off her eighty-three year old!” - this is how I.A conveys through dialogues. Bunin his admiration for the way of simple village life. The author poetizes everyday values: work on the land, a clean shirt and lunch with hot lamb on wooden plates.

Social and class differences do not escape the author's attention either. It is no coincidence that old Pankrat stands stretched out in front of the master, smiling guiltily and meekly. It is in this work that I.A. expresses. Bunin had an important idea for him that the structure of the average noble life was close to that of the peasants. The author-narrator directly admits that he did not know or see serfdom, but felt it, remembering how former servants bowed to their masters.

The social aspect is also emphasized in the interior of the house. Footman's room, people's room, hall, living room - all these names indicate the author's understanding of class contradictions in society. However, at the same time, the story also contains admiration for the refined life of the nobility. The writer, for example, emphasizes arctocratically beautiful heads in ancient hairstyles, from portraits lowering their long eyelashes onto sad and tender eyes.

Thus, the story of I.A. Bunin’s “Antonov Apples” is dear to the reader because it embodies the beauty of native nature, pictures of Russian life and teaches to love Russia as much as the Russian writer, stunning with the depth of lyrical expression of patriotic experience, loved it.

“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 its 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 a qualitative analysis of I. Bunin’s work.

Brief Analysis

Year of writing - 1900.

History of creation- In 1891, I. Bunin visited his brother Evgeniy’s estate. Once, going outside, 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. The main role is played by memories, impressions, and philosophical reflections, 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 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 the landowner. The image of Antonov apples plays an important role in revealing both themes. These fruits symbolize childhood, antiquity, and nostalgia. Hidden in symbolic meaning is 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’s not for nothing that the author chooses the first-person narrative form 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 resembles the lyrical hero whom 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. 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, paying special attention to the 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 treasured 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 by the 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.

Story by I.A. Bunin's "Antonov Apples" refers to one of those works of his where the writer with sad love remembers the irrevocably gone “golden” days. The author worked in an era of fundamental changes in society: the entire beginning of the twentieth century was drenched in blood. It was possible to escape from the aggressive environment only by remembering the best moments.

The idea for the story came to the author in 1891, when he was visiting his brother Eugene at the estate. The smell of Antonov apples with which they were filled autumn days, reminded Bunin of those times when the estates flourished, and the landowners did not become poor, and the peasants reverently treated everything lordly. The author was sensitive to the culture of the nobility and the old-time way of life, and deeply felt their decline. That is why a cycle of epitaph stories stand out in his work, which tell about the long-gone, “dead”, but still so dear old world.

The writer hatched his work for 9 years. “Antonov Apples” was first published in 1900. However, the story continued to be refined and changed, Bunin polished literary language, gave the text even more imagery, and removed all unnecessary things.

What is the work about?

“Antonov Apples” represent an alternation of pictures of noble life, united by the memories of the lyrical hero. At first he remembers early autumn, the golden garden, picking apples. All this is managed by the owners, who lived in a hut in the garden, organizing a whole fair there on holidays. The garden is filled by different persons peasants who amaze with contentment: men, women, children - all of them in the most good relations with each other and with the landowners. The idyllic picture is complemented by pictures of nature at the end of the episode main character exclaims: “How cold, dewy and how good it is to live in the world!”

A fruitful year in the ancestral village of the main character of Vyselka is pleasing to the eye: everywhere there is contentment, joy, wealth, the simple happiness of the men. The narrator himself would like to be a man, not seeing any problems in this lot, but only health, naturalness and closeness to nature, and not at all poverty, lack of land and humiliation. From the peasant life he moves on to the noble life of former times: serfdom and immediately after, when the landowners were still playing main role. An example is the estate of Aunt Anna Gerasimovna, where prosperity, severity, and serf-like obedience of the servants were felt. The decor of the house also seems to be frozen in the past, even conversations are only about the past, but this also has its own poetry.

Hunting, one of the main entertainments of the nobility, is especially discussed. Arseny Semenovich, the brother-in-law of the main character, organized large-scale hunts, sometimes for several days. The whole house was filled with people, vodka, cigarette smoke, and dogs. The conversations and memories about this are remarkable. The narrator saw these amusements even in his dreams, falling into a slumber on soft feather beds in some corner room under the images. But it’s also nice to sleep through the hunt, because in the old estate there are books, portraits, and magazines all around, the sight of which fills you with “sweet and strange melancholy.”

But life has changed, it has become “beggarly”, “small-scale”. But it also contains remnants of former greatness, poetic echoes of former noble happiness. So, on the threshold of a century of change, the landowners had only memories of carefree days.

The main characters and their characteristics

1. The disparate paintings are connected through a lyrical hero who represents author's position in the work. He appears before us as a man with a subtle mental organization, dreamy, receptive, and divorced from reality. He lives in the past, grieving for it and not noticing what is actually happening around him, including in the village environment.
2. The main character's aunt Anna Gerasimovna also lives in the past. Order and neatness reign in her house, antique furniture is perfectly preserved. The old woman also talks about the times of her youth, and about her inheritance.
3. Shurin Arseny Semenovich is distinguished by his young, dashing spirit; in hunting conditions these reckless qualities are very organic, but what is he like in everyday life, on the farm? This remains a secret, because noble culture is poeticized in his face, just like the previous heroine.
4. There are many peasants in the story, but they all have similar qualities: folk wisdom, respect for the landowners, dexterity and thriftiness. They bow deeply, run at the first call, and, in general, maintain a happy noble life.

Problems

The problematics of the story “Antonov Apples” mainly focus on the theme of the impoverishment of the nobility, their loss of their former authority. According to the author, the life of a landowner is beautiful, poetic, in village life there is no place for boredom, vulgarity and cruelty, owners and peasants coexist perfectly with each other and are inconceivable separately. Bunin’s poeticization of serfdom also clearly emerges, because it was then that these beautiful estates flourished.

Another important issue raised by the writer is also the problem of memory. In the turning point, crisis era in which the story was written, I want peace and warmth. It is precisely this that a person always finds in childhood memories, which are colored with a joyful feeling; only good things usually arise in memory from that period. This is beautiful and Bunin wants to leave it in the hearts of readers forever.

Subject

• The main theme of Bunin's Antonov Apples is the nobility and its way of life. It is immediately clear that the author is proud of his own class, therefore he places it very highly. Village landowners are also glorified by the writer because of their connection with the peasants, who are clean, highly moral, and morally healthy. In rural worries there is no place for melancholy, melancholy and bad habits. It is in these remote estates that the spirit of romanticism is alive, moral values and concepts of honor.
• The theme of nature occupies a large place. The pictures of the native land are painted freshly, cleanly, and with respect. The author's love for all these fields, gardens, roads, and estates is immediately visible. In them, according to Bunin, lies the true, real Russia. The nature surrounding the lyrical hero truly heals the soul and drives away destructive thoughts.

Meaning

Nostalgia is the main feeling that covers both the author and many readers of that time after reading Antonov Apples. Bunin – a real artist words, so it country life- an idyllic picture. The author carefully avoided all the sharp corners; in his story, life is beautiful and devoid of problems, social contradictions, which in reality had accumulated by the beginning of the twentieth century and inevitably led Russia to change.

The meaning of this story by Bunin is to create a picturesque canvas, to plunge into a bygone but alluring world of serenity and prosperity. For many people, escapism became a solution, but it was short-lived. Nevertheless, Antonov Apples is an exemplary work in artistically, and you can learn from Bunin the beauty of his style and imagery.

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“Antonov Apples” is a story by Bunin, published in 1900. The work is built on a lyrical monologue-memory. What is the main theme of Bunin's Antonov Apples? What events inspired the writer to create this work?

Ivan Bunin

The analysis of "Antonov apples", like any similar task, should begin with brief information about the author. Ivan Bunin entered literature not as a prose writer, but as a poet. However, the debut collection of poems, which was published in Orel, did not cause much reaction from critics. Bunin received recognition after the publication of the book “Falling Leaves,” which also included exclusively poems.

Ivan Bunin left a deep and bright mark on Russian literature. In their lyrical works continued classical traditions A. Fet, Y. Polonsky, A. Tolstoy. In stories and tales he showed, often with a nostalgic mood, the impoverishment noble estates, and the cruel face of the village, and disastrous oblivion moral principles life. Bunin became a classic of Russian literature thanks to such prose works as “The Life of Arsenyev”, “Easy Breathing”, “ Damn days", "Antonov apples".

Analysis work of art can't do without brief history creation of a work. How did the idea for the story come about?

The history of the creation of "Antonov apples"

Ivan Alekseevich Bunin planned to write this work back in the early nineties of the 19th century. Then he was visiting his relative's estate. One day I went out onto the porch and smelled the amazing, unique smell of apples. At the same time, he experienced nostalgia for serfdom.

When analyzing “Antonov Apples,” it should be said that in this work the author glorified the old landowner life. The main theme of the story is lyrical memories of noble culture. Many of Bunin’s works, including “Antonov Apples,” are permeated with nostalgia for the past.

An analysis of a writer’s work involves a presentation of the main facts from his biography. As you know, Bunin left Russia. But this happened many years after the publication of the story. However, already at the beginning of the century, Russia was not the same as depicted in the work “Antonov Apples”. Bunin's heroes are images from a past, happier life.

Vyselki

The lyrical hero remembers the past. In his imagination an early Golden autumn, a thinned garden, an incomparable aroma of apples. The author recalls Vyselki, a village that has been known in the area since the time of his grandfather as the richest. The houses here were strong and made of brick. There was also a small estate with an apple orchard.

Arseny Semyonich

The hero also remembers people who have long been dead. And first of all, the late relative Arseny Semyonich. He was an avid hunter. A lot of people gathered at his house. The table was laden with food, and after dinner the owner and his guests went hunting. The horn sounded and the dogs howled. The author remembers horseback riding, the cries of hunters...

Years have passed

But what he remembers lyrical hero, long gone. The village still stands the same. What is she without her owners? Arseny Semyonich shot himself. The owner of the estate and apple orchard died. The kingdom of impoverished nobles has arrived.

Happy times are a thing of the past. Now the nobles are no longer the same, they are impoverished. True, they still gather at each other’s houses in the evenings. But life will never be the same. The harsh rural reality is shown. And the author wonders how to live now. But this life is not so bad... And again the author betrays himself colorful description of rural life, still not suspecting anything that the small landed nobility had very little time left to exist.

Analysis

What problems did Bunin raise in Antonov Apples? The author showed how it goes into the past patriarchal world, village estates are going bankrupt, disappearing. In his work, the writer made a kind of study of the historical foundations of the Russian village, tried to grasp the reasons for their collapse, to understand what new life every single person.

The story “Antonov Apples” is surprisingly poetic. However, the lyrical hero seems to be hidden from the reader. His story remains unknown. The reader only knows that the men call him “barchuk.” The emphasis in the work is on associations, memories of the past.

When a person is closer to nature, his life and relationships with others are simpler. Bunin clearly showed in this story the idea of ​​disastrous and doomed beauty. The idea of ​​the common destinies of the nobility and peasantry sweeps through the entire work. After all, everyone is equally threatened with death.

Image of Russia

The book “Antonov Apples” is a unique look at Russia. For some motherland associated with Antonov apples, honey and morning freshness. For others - on a frosty winter morning. Like no one else, Bunin was able to discover the beauty of Russia, the tenderness of his native nature. After all, even readers who have never been to the village and can hardly imagine the smell of apples are imbued with rural old landowners landscapes created by this writer.

Criticism

The story caused a mixed reaction in the literary community. Maxim Gorky, having read Bunin’s work, said that the author managed to “sing beautifully, sincerely, juicily.” However, the Petrel of the Revolution did not like Bunin's idea. He expressed categorical disagreement with philosophical concept works. The most widely read newspaper in the capital greeted Antonovsky Apples with bewilderment. A well-known publicist noted: “Bunin writes about everything that comes to his hand, and therefore it is impossible to read to the main thing.”

Five years after the publication of the story, a parody of Kuprin appeared in the magazine “Zhupel”. This essay contained the following words: “Where are you, the wonderful time of Antonov apples, serf souls, ransom payments?”

There is a version that the parody became Kuprin’s revenge on the “nobleman after his mother” - this is what the aristocrat Bunin once had the imprudence to call his colleague. By the way, Kuprin called his satirical work not at all poetically - “Pies with Mushrooms.”

Analysis of I. A. Bunin’s story “Antonov Apples”

I breathed sharply with coolness

The smell of decay hits my face;

But I wasn’t looking for spring decorations,

And memories of past years.

E.A.Baratynsky I.A. Bunin is often called the last Russian classic, a representative of the outgoing noble culture

. His works are imbued with a tragic sense of the doom of the old world, close and dear to the writer, with whom he was connected by origin and upbringing: “The spirit of this environment, romanticized by my imagination, seemed to me all the more beautiful because it disappeared forever before my eyes.” An elegiac motif of longing for the past runs through all of Bunin’s work. In the story “Antonov Apples” the writer recalls the old,, when the nobility was at the ideal time of its existence. “I remember a large room, illuminated by the pre-autumn sun...” - this is how a detailed, slow and unhurried narrative begins. Bunin’s lyrical prose is generally impossible to read quickly: the constant interpenetration from the present to the past is disrupted. This is one of the main problems of the writer’s work - the need to connect times and generations, to preserve the memory of a bygone culture. The author emphasizes the idea of ​​the doom of beauty in the “iron” age, the displacement of everything lost, aesthetic, by a crude thirst for profit. And all that remains from the old world is the subtle smell of Antonov apples. The smell is ethereal, and therefore nothing remains of the previous way of life.

At the beginning of the story, we note the technique of anaphora, characteristic of poetic works: “I remember a large, all golden, dried up and thinning garden, I remember maple alleys, the subtle aroma of fallen leaves and the smell of Antonov apples.” A number of nouns attract attention here. Behind each of them is a visible image, colored with bright epithets (“fresh, quiet morning”, “golden garden”, etc.) This makes prose work like a poem. Here you can see an undoubted similarity with “Poems in Prose” by I.S. Turgenev. Not only a love of words and beauty united the two great writers - they were also brought together by a passion for hunting. It is no coincidence that Turgenev called his cycle of stories “Notes of a Hunter,” and Bunin noted that “for last years only one thing supported the fading spirit of the landowners - hunting.” Hunting is an ancient and favorite pastime of Russian nobles. Bunin calls the autumn season “golden”. Big stage hunting is given against the backdrop of the beginning of October - the farewell holiday of autumn. The writer makes us, as it were, accomplices of this joyful, exciting spectacle, hence the narration in the 2nd person: “You are riding on a horse, you feel “sweet fatigue,” “you won’t notice how you will drown... in a sweet, healthy sleep...”.

The landscape sketch of the 1st part (exposition) is replaced by portrait sketches. Bunin lovingly shows an old man – a long-liver who lived in Vyselki, where “from time immemorial” the peasants were “famous” for their age – “wealth”. Such longevity was considered a sign of a happy, prosperous life; the author describes in detail the

good courtyards, depicts the measured, leisurely existence of wealthy men. It is important for Bunin to compare this familiar way of life with life landed nobility using the example of his aunt Anna Gerasimovna.

The story is based on the author’s impressions of visiting his brother’s estate. Before us, against the backdrop of an open area, a “spacious and deep” sky (a favorite image of Bunin’s prose and poetry), the aunt’s estate appears. The description of the estate is typical, we saw something similar in both Turgenev and L. Tolstoy: white lordly two-storey house with columns, neglected garden with a pond, linden alley, bench. The narrative includes a description of the interior: old “mahogany” furniture, “blue and purple glass windows, dried linden blossom” outside the window frames. We pay special attention to the library - grandfather’s books in thick bindings that “smell so nice.” This collection of books highlights the interests and hobbies of the nobles. Sometimes the choice of volumes is random: “satirical and philosophical works Voltaire”, and next to them are your loved ones romantic works Zhukovsky and Pushkin. “And the old, dreamy life rises before you,” and you imagine how “aristocratically beautiful heads,” sadly and tenderly looking from portraits in tarnished gilded frames, thoughtfully froze over the open pages.

The ellipsis that ends Chapter 3 is significant. This is a longing for a bygone life, the symbol of which for Bunin was the smell of Antonov apples: “These days were so recent, and yet it seems that almost a whole century has passed since then.” Therefore, the next chapter is based on contrast: exquisitely aristocratic “ the life of the fathers" and the "beggarly small-scale life" of the "children." But even in this, Bunin knows how to find attractive features. Hence the abundance of exclamatory sentences: “The small-scale life is good!” (these words sound like a refrain), “It will be a glorious day of hunting!” The usual sound of autumn work merges with the sounds of hunting horns in the fields. And although the small estates still come together and disappear for whole days in the snow-covered fields, now they “drink with their last money,” and their song about the wild wind is full of hopeless sadness:

Opened my gates wider,

The path was covered with white snow...

The ending of the story is symbolic. It echoes the beginning. There is the cool silence of the morning, here it is late evening, when they “glow in the dark” winter night outbuilding windows." This is the dawn and dusk of noble life, and more and more often, towards the end of the story, ellipses appear. If at the beginning of the work they give the character of memories, now they carry in themselves understatement and sadness for a bygone noble life, for a vanished youth.

Thus, the work reflected main topic creativity of I.A. Bunin of the 900s - the theme of the patriarchal past of Russia. The writer regrets his passing life, idealizing the noble way of life. His best memories are associated with the smell of Antonov apples. But Bunin hopes that, along with the dying Russia of the past, the roots of the nation will still be preserved in its memory.