Sections: Literature
educational goal: reveal Nabokov's conclusions about the purpose and meaning of life, about glory and death; to formulate the attitude of the author to Russia; education of patriotism, striving for a full-blooded spiritual life
Educational Purpose: to give an idea of the Russian diaspora, to acquaint with the biography of V.V. Nabokov, to identify the common and different in the description of the "noble nest" in the novel "Mashenka" and in the works of Russian classical literature, to compare the main character with "an extra person"
Development goal: identification of features of the author's handwriting V.V. Nabokov (“the phenomenon of language” in the formulation of critics) and the nuances of the writer’s worldview (contrasting the “chosen one” with the “crowd”, “philistine”, “mass”).
Equipment: on the stand is a portrait of the writer, a brief reference-biography, a poem "To the Future Reader" and "First Love", statements by A.I. Solzhenitsyn and Z. Shakhovskaya about Vladimir Vladimirovich, questions of the seminar. On the other wall is a stand by I.S. Turgenev, where, among other things, paintings dedicated to the theme of noble estates: "Grandmother's Garden" by V.D. Polenov, "Everything is in the past" by V.M. Maksimov, "Overgrown Pond" by V.A. Serov and "Spring" and "Sunset Reflection" by V.E. Borisov-Musatov.
Lesson plan:
- Introductory speech of the teacher
- Presentation about the life and work of V.V. Nabokov "Pages of the biography".
- Conversation on the issues of the seminar.
During the classes
Epigraph on the board:
Your image is light and shining
as in the palm of my hand I hold
and a butterfly that doesn't fly away
I cherish reverently.
V.V. Nabokov
I. Introductory speech of the teacher
Guys, today we will continue the theme of “noble nests” in the works of writers of the 19th-20th centuries and trace how V.V. Nabokov continued the traditions of the classics of Russian literature in his early period of creativity. In the person of Vladimir Vladimirovich, we are faced with a new phenomenon for us ... This is a writer whom we attribute to the Russian Diaspora. This phenomenon is due to the fact that after 1917 many Russian writers were forced to leave Russia and continued their work outside their homeland, but wrote about it, about the Russian country and Russian people. Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov is one of such writers.
Write down the topic of the lesson and the epigraph to it in your notebook, outline the report on the biography of the writer.
II. Presentation about the life and work of V.V. Nabokov "Pages of the biography".
Now you are familiar with the fate of the writer and you will understand both the epigraph of the lesson and the 1930 poem "First Love".
The poem "First Love" was written 4 years after the novel "Mashenka", they have a lot in common: both heartfelt lyricism, and sketches of fragrant nature, and nostalgia ...
III. Conversation on the issues of the seminar.
1) What did you like about the novel? Maybe something repulses? Is something unacceptable to you?
2) Can the work be called autobiographical? What is your evidence?
3) Why are the smallest details of the noble estate of the hero written out so clearly, visibly. Support your reasoning with text.
– “The wallpaper is white, in bluish roses… To the right of the bed, between the icon case and the side window, there are two paintings: a tortoiseshell cat lapping milk from a saucer, and a starling made convexly from its own feathers on a drawn birdhouse. Nearby, at the window jamb, a kerosene lamp is attached, prone to emit a black tongue of soot ... ”The writer lovingly describes the smallest details of the furnishings of his room as a child, because every thing reminds him of something inexplicably dear and beloved. The hero imagines the atmosphere of the estate, and he is more strongly drawn to his homeland. The author also compares the spaciousness and freedom of a noble estate and a miserable boarding house in Germany with Mrs. Dorn.
- When a person gets used to some things, he does not notice them. But then, losing it, he remembers and yearns for them. All these things personify for him his homeland, his golden childhood. He lives in the past, lives in his memories. “The old, greenish-gray, wooden house, connected by a gallery with an outbuilding, cheerfully and calmly looked with the colored eyes of its two glass verandas at the edge of the park and at the orange pretzel garden paths that skirted the black-earth variegation of curtains. In the living room, where there was white furniture and on a tablecloth embroidered with roses, marble volumes of old magazines lay, yellow parquet poured out of an inclined mirror in an oval frame, and daguerreotypes on the walls listened to how the white piano came to life and rang.
4) Critics call Nabokov the successor of the traditions of I.S. Turgenev and L.N. Tolstoy. Prove or reject this conclusion.
5) How can you explain why the memories of youth for Ganin are more real than the life around him?
6) Why is Ganin, a man without work, without a family, without money and even without a future, so important are the memories of Mashenka, of youthful light and such a short love?
- Memories of Mashenka involuntarily made him turn over the pages of his life once again, ponder and re-evaluate the past, compare life in his homeland with a hopeless existence in Germany.
- Plunging into the past, Ganin felt consolation and reassurance. Memories make it possible to find yourself in the Russia of the past, to find your lost paradise.
- Memories of bright youthful love is a memory of brightness, sincerity of feelings (which he is deprived of in a love affair with Lyudmila).
- For Ganin, Mashenka is the ideal of a girl ...
7) Portrait of the heroine. Do you remember the portraits of Tatyana Larina and Masha Troekurova, Princess Mary and Princess Vera, Olga Ilyinskaya, Natalya Lasunskaya, Lisa Kalitina. What new things did the portrait of Mashenka bring to world literature?
- Mashenka, in comparison with other heroines, is much more cheerful. She is casual, but not cheeky. She has fun, laughs, while the heroines of Russian classics are more strict, for example, Tatyana Larina, Liza Kalitina. This opinion can be confirmed by the lines of the novel: “She was surprisingly cheerful, rather mocking. She loved songs, all sorts of jokes, words and poems. The song will stay with her for two or three days and then it will be forgotten, a new one will arrive.
- Ganin describes Mashenka very often: these are the first meetings, and acquaintance, and a period of short but bright love, and meetings in the capital. And every time he lovingly describes the details of her appearance (for example, a large bow on a braid, reminiscent of a mourning butterfly; remember that Nabokov himself was seriously interested in the science of butterflies, even wrote a scientific work, hence the image-comparison in the poem "First Love": "... and reverently cherish the non-flying butterfly.")
The image of a light-winged butterfly is also a symbol of a bright first love, so vulnerable and unprotected ... It is also a symbol of the heroine herself - a little frivolous and naive.
Ganin enthusiastically recalls more and more Mashenka's habits, so she seems to us not as strict as the heroines of the 19th century, but more lively, earthly, humane: “... and in general, she constantly sucked something - a stalk, a leaf, a lollipop. She carried Landrin's lollipops simply in her pocket, stuck together in pieces, to which hairs stuck, rubbish. And her perfume was inexpensive, sweet, called Tagore.
– You are undoubtedly right. The beginning of the 20th century brought new customs and mores. Girls from wealthy families receiving education already had more freedom than Pushkin's Tatyana. They were not constrained by strict secular rules, they differed both from young coquettes and from “Turgenev girls” who live a serious spiritual life, striving not for personal happiness, but for life for the good of society.
And now we will return to the image of the main character. Listen to the prepared report, write down the main thoughts in a notebook.
8) Psychological portrait of the young hero of the novel. How is he similar and unlike the heroes of Russian classical literature? Has time left its mark or is it fundamentally different from the young noblesXIXcentury? We have just finished studying the novel "Rudin" by I.S. Turgenev, compare Rudin and Ganin.
- Ganin is a man of an egoistic temperament. But he is not a careerist, not a snob. In this he is similar to Onegin and Pechorin. For him, the main thing is not the arguments of reason, but the movements of the soul, so he can be compared with Oblomov.
– Young Ganin has a soul sensitive to beauty, sincere feelings, a loving heart. But he, like many heroes of the 19th century, is selfish. He loves for himself. For him, the main thing is not Mashenka, but her feelings. They were divorced not by circumstances, not by the disappearance of love, but by Ganin's egoism. And although, while reading the work, I often sympathized with the hero, I still cannot forgive him for losing his love.
Ganin's indecisiveness reminded me of Rudin's self-doubt. But what is funny in a 30-year-old man is understandable and natural in a young man just starting to live.
- And for me, the comparison of Rudin with Ganin is not at all in favor of the latter. After all, the hero of Turgenev lives for others, he wants to live his life not in vain. But Ganin is mainly interested in his own problems.
9) What is your opinion why Ganin did not dare to meet with the grown-up Mashenka? Why did he first do everything to make the meeting happen (even turned the clock on Alferov’s alarm clock), went to meet her, and then, after waiting for her train to arrive, did he leave?
- I think that he realized that he could no longer love Mashenka.
- My opinion is that Ganin simply decided that the past cannot be returned, it is still unknown how this meeting would have happened, because so many years have passed!
- It seems to me that Ganin felt that the past cannot be returned and that he has no right to deprive two people of the possible happiness.
- I do not agree with this opinion: least of all Ganin was able to think about the happiness of Mr. Alferov. Most likely, he realized that a lot of time had passed, he was afraid to see his Masha, who had changed externally and internally.
- Here his indecision manifested itself: after all, it is not known how Masha would react if she met Ganin on the platform of the station ...
- Ganin realized that Mashenka was no longer the same. He was afraid not to see those laughing eyes in her, those character traits that he loved so much. And the hero himself has changed. Their meeting would not have been so joyful away from Russia.
See how many opinions you have on this issue. And here is what Nabokov wrote in the poem you already know:
But if you meet an unexpected
fate would make us
I would, like a strange ugliness,
your current image shocked.
There is no resentment more inexplicable:
you have acquired a strange life
no blue dress, no name
you didn't save for me.
I think that Vladimir Vladimirovich believed that it was impossible to return happiness, how to return former love. The former Mashenka, so beloved by him earlier, has remained in the past, where there is no road. As the philosopher said: "You cannot step into the same river twice."
And we are now moving on to the analysis of the secondary images of the novel.
10) How is the emigrating intelligentsia shown in the novel? How does an émigré author feel about émigré characters?
11) What conclusions about the purpose and meaning of life, about glory and death, can be drawn by reading the pages about Podtyagin and other inhabitants of Mrs. Dora's boarding house?
12) Nostalgia did not leave Nabokov until his death. The image of the lost Russia passes from novel to novel. Is it possible to say that the heroes of the novel "Mashenka" "... live in exile and are tormented by nostalgia, busy searching for a lost paradise?" (Quote from an article by G.L. Korovkina).
- I think that people who have emigrated abroad have a different attitude towards their homeland: some hate it, consider it “damned”, others suffer and rush about. But in their hearts they yearn, and therefore, no matter what they do, they do not find a place in life.
- I think that Alferov did not suffer at all. But Ganin and Podtyagin, as the author himself, are really looking for the lost paradise - the Motherland.
- I agree that the heroes of the boarding house "... live in exile and are tormented by nostalgia", but I doubt that the dancers, Clara or Alferov "... are busy searching for a lost paradise." They live, one might say, by inertia, not trying to think about their life, not even trying to take the first step in this search.
Teacher's conclusion. Through the lips of a seriously ill (in fact, dying) old man, the author expresses one of the most important thoughts of the work: “Russia must be loved. Without our emigrant love, Russia is the end. Today, when political contradictions are gone, the two wings of Russian culture are uniting: the literature of the Russian diaspora has returned to us, bells, paintings, and archives are returning. Two branches of the Orthodox Church have united... Today, Podtyagin's words have become clear: those emigrants who loved their distant homeland even in exile, who wrote books glorifying Russia, created music, staged performances, built churches, taught children the Russian language, brought them up in the spirit of Orthodox culture, did not work in vain. They preserved the richest layer of Russian culture. The return of art rarities is the familiarization of our contemporaries with the richest spiritual culture of our ancestors. The emigrants of the first wave, including Nabokov V.V., saved for us, their descendants, high moral guidelines.
And the novel "Mashenka" is an example of this. The attitude of the author towards the characters primarily depends on their attitude towards Russia... The writer gently inspires ideas of patriotism, a sense of pride in his long-suffering but great Motherland.
13) “That's it, I'll be back someday,” - so Vladimir Vladimirovich wrote in one of his poems. He dreamed of returning to Russia, but categorically did not recognize the power of the Bolsheviks, unambiguously perceiving the USSR as a totalitarian power. Now he has returned to his homeland, but after his death... He returned with his works... What do you think the great writer can teach his descendants?
- I believe that the author yearned for the nature of Russia, for her soul. The writer teaches you to appreciate what you have, teaches you to love your Motherland, to understand its significance for a person. Nabokov shows that nothing can replace the native nest, native places (neither money, nor the recognition of fans), he knew this from his own example.
– After reading the novel, you understand Vladimir Vladimirovich’s ideas: in life, happiness is not only money, a career, women, but also a feeling of sincere, reverent love for people and for the native side.
- Today we got acquainted with a unique phenomenon - Abroad, touched the work of the great Nabokov V.V., saw echoes of Russian classical literature of the 19th century in his novel, made a conclusion about the significance of his work for us, descendants. I hope that you are interested in this lesson-seminar and in the summer, preparing for the 11th grade, you will read other novels by the famous author: Luzhin's Defense, Invitation to Execution, Other Shores.
Finishing the lesson, I want to turn to the line with which it is called: “Your image is light and shining ...” In the poem “First Love”, this, of course, is the image of the beloved, the image of the first love, and in the novel “Mashenka” this is not only the image of the main character , but also a light, shining image of the lost and so dear Motherland ...
Year of publication of the book: 1926
The book of Vladimir Nabokov "Mashenka" is the first novel of the writer, which was published in the so-called "Berlin" period of the author's life. The novel describes the theme of emigration and the life of people who left their homeland. Based on Nabokov's work "Mashenka" in 1987, a British-made feature film of the same name was shot.
Novel "Mashenka" summary
In Nabokov's novel "Mashenka" a summary tells about the events that took place in 1924. The protagonist of the work is Lev Ganin, who at this stage of his life lives in Berlin in one of the Russian pensions. He has a large number of neighbors: these are the mathematician Alexei Alferov and the poet Anton Podtyagin, and the typist Clara, who was unrequitedly in love with Lev Glebovich. Also in the boarding house there are ballet dancers Colin and Gornotsvetov, who sometimes behave rather strangely, but are still friends of the protagonist.
Ganin himself moved to Berlin about a year ago. During this time, he managed to change several jobs and was a waiter, an extra and an ordinary worker. Now he has enough money to leave the country. The only thing that keeps Lev Glebovich in Berlin is his relationship with Lyudmila, which he is afraid to break off. Although for three months of a love affair, the woman was already pretty fed up with Ganin. Every evening he looks out of the window at the railway and dreams of going as far as possible, but he is afraid to do so.
One of Ganin's friends, Alferov, tells Lev Glebovich that his wife is coming over the weekend. After that, in Nabokov's novel "Mashenka", the characters go to visit Alexei Ivanovich, where he shows Ganin a photograph of his wife. Unexpectedly, the main character recognizes in this woman his old love. As in the main character, he remembers his relationship with Masha for the whole evening and feels young and alive again. He decides to end the annoying relationship and goes to Lyudmila. Leo admits that all his thoughts are occupied by another woman. After this act, Ganin feels complete freedom and plunges into memories.
In Nabokov's work "Mashenka" we can read that when Ganin was sixteen years old, he spent a lot of time in the estate near Voskresensk. There he had to recover from a serious illness. Over time, the young man began to invent the image of his ideal lover. Imagine his surprise when a month later he met a girl who matched all his ideas. Mashenka had attractive features, long brown hair and burning eyes. The girl was distinguished by a cheerful character and constantly found a reason to smile, which she could not help but attract the attention of Lev Glebovich. Just like Ganin, Mashenka lived in an estate in Voskresensk. Once, young people agreed to meet on the river bank and rode a boat all day. Since then, they began to see each other every day, walked and talked a lot.
In the novel "Mashenka" by Nabokov, a summary of the chapters tells that one day, during a walk, Ganin saw that someone was watching him and Masha. It was the son of a local watchman. In a rage, Lev Glebovich attacked the young man and inflicted several blows on him. After some time, the main character had to go to St. Petersburg. Mashenka arrived there at the end of autumn. It was very cold outside, so it was hard for young people to walk. Because of this, they had to constantly call up to somehow keep in touch. Both Ganin and Mashenka found it difficult. A few months later, the girl's family moves to Moscow, which even pleases Lev Glebovich a little.
The next summer, Masha's parents did not want to come to the estate in Voskresensk. They stopped at a house fifty versts from Ganin. The main character comes to his beloved on a bicycle. Like last summer, they walk a lot and often confess their love to each other. The last meeting between Mashenka and Leo took place on the train. However, the conversation did not last long, because the girl had to get off at the next station. Since then, their relationship has completely ended. During the war years, young people periodically wrote affectionate letters to each other. However, the distance played a role, and the communication between Mashenka and Ganin came to naught.
All love requires solitude, shelter, shelter, and they had no shelter.
If Nabokov's work "Mashenka" is downloaded, then we learn that Gornotsvetov and Colin decide to start a celebration on the occasion of the departure of Anton Podtyagin and Ganin. However, a few hours before this, an unpleasant situation occurs with Anton Sergeevich - he loses his passport, which causes a heart attack. Further, the whole dinner passed in rather sad notes. Podtyagin felt constant pain in his heart, and Alferov got terribly drunk and fell asleep. It could not have done without Ganin, who regularly poured a drink on his friend. Meanwhile, Lev Glebovich himself was in anticipation of a meeting with Mashenka all evening. After waiting for the morning, he immediately packed up and left for the station. Sitting on a bench waiting for the train, he realized that all his love is a relic of the past. Of course, he feels a sense of nostalgia and tenderness towards Mashenka. However, Ganin also comes to the realization that each of them must now live their own lives. The man gets into the car and goes to the station, wanting to go to the south of Germany.
The novel "Mashenka" on the Top Books website
Nabokov's novel "Mashenka" has recently become increasingly popular. This allowed him to get into our
Mashenka is Nabokov's first novel, written during the Berlin period. This is one of the works created by the writer in Russian. This article provides a summary of "Mashenka" by Vladimir Nabokov.
about the author
Vladimir Nabokov was born in 1899 into a wealthy noble family. From an early age he spoke French and English. After the October Revolution, the family moved to the Crimea, where the first literary success came to the beginning writer.
In 1922, Nabokov's father was killed. In the same year, the writer left for Berlin. For a time he earned his living by teaching English. In the capital of Germany, he published several of his works. And in 1926 Nabokov's novel Masha was published. A summary of the chapters is provided below. In addition, the writer is the author of such works as "Luzhin's Defense", "Feat", "Gift", "Despair" and, of course, the famous "Lolita". So, what is Nabokov's novel Masha about?
The work consists of seventeen chapters. If we present a summary of Nabokov's "Mashenka" chapter by chapter, then we will have to follow this plan:
- Ganin's meeting with Alferov.
- Boarding house residents.
- Masha.
- Break with Lyudmila.
- Kunitsyn.
- July evening in Voskresensk.
- Trouble Podtyagin.
- First meeting with Masha.
- Gornotsvetov and Colin.
- Letter from Lyudmila.
- Preparation for the celebration.
- Passport.
- Collections Ganin.
- Farewell evening.
- Memories of Sevastopol.
- Farewell to the boarding house.
- At the station.
If we present a summary of Nabokov's "Mashenka" according to this plan, the presentation will turn out to be very lengthy. We also need a concise retelling with a description of the main events. Below is a brief summary of "Mashenka" by Nabokov in the most abbreviated version.
Lev Ganin
This is the main character of the novel. Lev Ganin is an immigrant from Russia. Lives in Berlin. The work reflects the events of the twenties. There are such characters as Alexei Alferov, Anton Podtyagin, Clara, whom the author describes as "a cozy young lady in black silk." The boarding house is also home to dancers Colin and Gornotsvetov. Where to start a summary of "Mashenka" by Nabokov? From the story of the main character. This is the story of a Russian emigrant - one of the many members of the nobility who were forced to leave their home after the revolutionary events.
Ganin arrived in Berlin not so long ago, but has already worked as an extra and as a waiter. He saved up a small amount, and this allowed him to leave the German capital. In this city, he was kept by a disgusted connection with a woman who he was rather tired of. Ganin languishes, he suffers from boredom and loneliness. Relations with Lyudmila make him sad. However, for some reason he cannot admit to a woman that he no longer loves her.
Outlining the summary of "Mashenka" by Nabokov, it is worth paying special attention to the image of the protagonist. He is unsociable, withdrawn, even somewhat gloomy, yearns for a foreign land and dreams of leaving Berlin. The windows of his room overlook the railway, which every day awakens the desire to escape, to leave this cold and alien city.
Alferov
Ganin's neighbor, Alferov, is extremely verbose. One day he shows him a photograph of his wife Maria. And from this moment the main events of the novel "Mashenka" by Nabokov begin. In a summary, the experiences of the protagonist are not easy to convey. The writer vividly describes the feelings of Ganin, who engulfed him after he saw a photograph of a girl. This is Masha, whom he loved once upon a time, in Russia. Most of the work is devoted to the memoirs of a Russian emigrant.
Break with Lyudmila
After Ganin found out who Alferov's wife was, his life completely changed. Mashenka was to arrive soon. The realization of this gave the hero a feeling of happiness (albeit an illusory one), a sense of freedom. The very next day he went to Lyudmila and confessed to her that he loved another woman.
Like any person who feels boundless happiness, Nabokov's hero became cruel in some way. "Mashenka", a summary of which is set out in this article, is a story about a man who delved into memories, protecting himself from others. Parting with Lyudmila, Ganin did not feel guilt and compassion for his former lover.
nine years ago
The hero of the novel is waiting for Masha's arrival. These days it seems to him that there was no last nine years, there was no separation from his homeland. He met Masha in the summer, during the holidays. Her father rented a dacha near the family estate of Ganin's parents, in Voskresensk.
First meeting
One day they agreed to meet. Mashenka was supposed to come to this meeting with her friends. However, she came alone. From that day on, a touching relationship began between young people. When the summer came to an end, they returned to Petersburg. Lev and Masha met occasionally in the northern capital, but it was painful to walk in the cold. When the girl told him that they were leaving for Moscow with their parents, he, oddly enough, took this news with some relief.
They also met the following summer. Masha's father did not want to rent a dacha in Voskresensk, and Ganin had to travel several kilometers on a bicycle. Their relationship has remained platonic.
The last time they met was on a suburban train. Then he was already in Yalta, and this was a few years before leaving for Berlin. And then they lost each other. Did Ganin think all these years about the girl from Voskresensk? Not at all. After meeting on the train, perhaps, he never once thought about Mashenka.
Last evening at the guesthouse
Gornotsvetov and Colin have a small celebration in honor of the engagement, as well as the departure of Podtyagin and Ganin. The protagonist this evening adds wine to the already drunk Alferov with the hope that he will oversleep the train on which Masha will arrive. Ganin will meet her and take her away with him.
The next day he goes to the station. He languishes for several hours waiting for the train. But suddenly, with merciless clarity, he realizes that that Mashenka from Voskresensk is no more. Their romance is over forever. Memories of him are also exhausted. Ganin goes to another station, gets on a train heading to the south-west of the country. On the way, he is already dreaming about how he will make his way across the border - to France, Provence. To sea…
Analysis of the work
Not love, but homesickness is the main motive of Nabokov's novel. Ganin lost himself abroad. He is an undesirable immigrant. Ganin sees the existence of other inhabitants of the Russian boarding school as miserable, but he understands that he is not much different from them.
The hero of the work of Vladimir Nabokov is a man whose life was calm and measured. Until the revolution broke out. In a sense, Masha is an autobiographical novel. The fate of an emigrant is always bleak, even if he does not experience financial difficulties in a foreign country. Ganin is forced to work as a waiter, an extra - to be "a shadow sold for ten marks." In Germany, he is lonely, despite the fact that his neighbors in the boarding house are people with a similar fate, the same unfortunate emigrants from Russia.
The image of Podtyagin in the novel is symbolic. Ganin leaves for the station when he is dying. He cannot know the thoughts of his former neighbor, but he feels his longing. Podtyagin in the last hours of his life is aware of its absurdity, the futility of the past years. Shortly before that, he loses his papers. The last words addressed to Ganin, he says with a bitter smile, "Without a passport ...". In emigration, without a past, without a future and without a present...
It is unlikely that Ganin really loved Mashenka. Rather, she was just an image from a bygone youth. The hero of the novel missed her for several days. But these were feelings similar to the usual nostalgic experiences of an emigrant.
The horrors of the First World War, the revolution, the Civil War, famine, devastation - these are just some of the reasons that forced hundreds of thousands of people in the "first wave" of Russian emigration to leave their country. Among them was the family of Vladimir Nabokov. Nabokov spent most of his life away from his homeland, and this left its mark on his work, on the topics and problems that he covered, on the originality of their disclosure.
The theme of love also sounds peculiar in V. Nabokov's novel "Mashenka", which, among other works, brought the writer real fame.
The whole novel is imbued with a sad, nostalgic mood. Its main character is an emigrant Ganin. He yearns for his native land, and all his thoughts and feelings are painted in sad tones. There is emptiness in his soul, he is tormented by the realization of the meaninglessness of existence and inactivity, life flows "in some kind of tasteless idleness, devoid of dreamy hope, which makes idleness charming." “Recently,” the author reports about him, “he became lethargic and gloomy .... some kind of nut loosened, he even began to hunch over and himself admitted .... that .... suffers from insomnia- tsey". He would be glad to leave Berlin in search of solace, but he has a relationship with Lyudmila, whom he cannot tell that he no longer loves her. In fact, there was never true love between them. She "very fleetingly slipped once." And if earlier Ganin knew how to control his own willpower, then in his present mood, his will betrays him, and even the fact that “everything in Lyudmila was disgusting to him now” does not push him to take a decisive step.
The rest of the heroes of the novel are the mathematician Alferov, the poet Podtyagin, the dancers Kolin and Gornotsvetov, Clara, the secretary, the hostess of the boarding house Lidia Nikolaevna. They are united by the fact that they are all Russians and all of them, just like Ganin and Lyudmila, are cut off from home by the will of fate.
Their attitude towards Russia is not the same. Alferov is constantly critical of his homeland. “This is not a Russian mess for you,” he exclaims enthusiastically in one of the conversations and calls his native country “damned”. He does not believe in her strength, in his opinion, Russia is "kaput", and all Alferov's speeches about his homeland are imbued with cold contempt and mockery. But Ganin and Podtyagin always talk about Russia with a special quivering feeling, they talk about it as the most expensive thing in the world.
The difference in attitudes towards the homeland determines Ganin's dislike for Alferov. He is displeased with his appearance, his manners, but the attitude towards Russia becomes the determining factor in their relationship. Dislike for Alferov is also felt in the author's description. Such details as "dung-colored beard", "sparse hair", "skinny neck", "puffy voice", of course, cannot arouse sympathy in the reader either.
The culminating moment in the development of relations between Ganin and Alferov is the news that Mashenka, Ganin's former lover, is Alferov's wife. Alferov talked about Mashenka everywhere and everywhere, he did not miss the opportunity to enthusiastically announce her arrival. But Ganin could not even imagine that the wife of the one to whom "it is a sin not to change" would be his Mashenka. Alferov admires his wife, tells everyone that she is “charm” with him, but Ganin still considers Alferov unworthy of Ma-shenka. His pathetic memories of his wife are already beginning to arouse the ridicule of others. Ganin is bitter that the object of these ridicule, along with Alferov, involuntarily becomes Masha, who is almost holy to him. But at the same time, "he felt some kind of exciting pride when he remembered that Mashenka had given him, and not her husband, her deep, unique fragrance."
He decides to run away with her. Upon learning of her arrival, Ganin again finds the meaning of life and the remaining few days he lives in anticipation of the arrival of his beloved. These days he is truly happy. He feels cheerful, rejuvenated, and finally finds the strength to break with Lyudmila.
The description of Ganin's memoirs about Mashenka is full of lyricism. Plunging into thoughts of the past, he seems to relive that ardent passion, the very first and most unrestrained. However, in the last minutes, Ganin abandons his intention, because he suddenly realizes that the affair with Masha has long ended, that he lived only in the memory of her, of Russia, where their love blossomed and which is now far away for him. and unavailable. Love for Russia, and not love for Ma-shenka, so excited his heart: “He always remembered Russia when he saw fast clouds, but now he would remember her even without clouds: since last night he only thought about her.” “What happened that night” just threw the past on him, the past that had gone forever. Ganin suddenly realizes that he "experienced the memory as a reality."
The novel "Mashenka" is a work about love for the motherland. The author reveals the problems of attitude to the native land, the fate of Russia, the fate of emigrants, the problem of love.
In 1926 Nabokov's first prose work, Masha, was published. On this occasion, the Niva magazine wrote: “Nabokov, having fun, tirelessly embroiders himself and his fate in different variations on the canvas of his works. But not only his own, although hardly anyone interested Nabokov more than himself. This is also the fate of a whole human type - the Russian émigré intellectual." Indeed, for Nabokov, life in a foreign land was still quite difficult. The past became a consolation, in which there were bright feelings, love, a completely different world. Therefore, the novel is based on memories. There is no plot as such, the content unfolds like a stream of consciousness: the dialogues of the characters, the internal monologues of the protagonist, descriptions of the scene are interspersed. The protagonist of the novel, Lev Glebovich Ganin, having been in exile, has lost some of the most important personality traits. He lives in a boarding house that he does not need and is not interested in, its inhabitants seem miserable to Ganin, and he himself, like other emigrants, is not needed by anyone. Ganin yearns, sometimes he cannot decide what to do: "whether to change the position of the body, whether to get up to go and wash his hands, whether to open the window ...". "Twilight obsession" - this is the definition that the author gives to the state of his hero. Although the novel belongs to the early period of Nabokov's work and is perhaps the most "classical" of all the works he created, the play with the reader characteristic of the writer is also present here. It is not clear what is the root cause: either emotional experiences deform the external world, or, on the contrary, ugly reality mortifies the soul. There is a feeling that the writer has placed two crooked mirrors in front of each other, the images in which are ugly refracted, doubling and tripling. The story is told in the third person. There was one important event in Ganin's life before emigration - his love for Mashenka, which remained in his homeland and was lost along with it. But quite unexpectedly, Ganin recognizes in the woman depicted in the photograph, the wife of a neighbor in the Berlin boarding house Alferov, his Mashenka. She must come to Berlin, and this expected arrival revives the hero. Ganin's heavy melancholy passes, his soul is filled with memories of the past: a room in a St. Petersburg house, a country estate, three poplars, a barn with a painted window, even the flickering of the spokes of a bicycle wheel. Ganin once again seems to be immersed in the world of Russia, preserving the poetry of the "noble nests" and the warmth of family relations. There were many events, and the author selects the most significant of them. Ganin perceives the image of Mashenka as "a sign, a call, a question thrown into the sky", and to this question he suddenly receives a "precious, delightful answer." The meeting with Mashenka should be a miracle, a return to that world in which Ganin could only be happy. Having done everything to prevent the neighbor from meeting his wife, Ganin finds himself at the station. At the moment of stopping the train on which she arrived, he feels that this meeting is impossible. And he leaves for another station in order to leave the city. It would seem that the situation of a love triangle is assumed in the novel, and the development of the plot encourages this. But Nabokov discards the traditional ending. Ganin's deep feelings are much more important for him than the nuances of the characters' relationships. Ganin's refusal to meet his beloved has not a psychological, but rather a philosophical motivation. He understands that the meeting is not needed, even impossible, not because it entails inevitable psychological problems, but because it is impossible to turn back time. This could lead to submission to the past and, consequently, to the rejection of oneself, which is generally impossible for Nabokov's heroes. In the novel Mashenka, Nabokov first addresses themes that would later appear repeatedly in his work. This is the theme of lost Russia, acting as an image of a lost paradise and the happiness of youth, the theme of remembrance, at the same time resisting everything that destroys time and failing in this futile struggle. The image of the main character, Ganin, is very typical of V. Nabokov's work. Unsettled, “lost” emigrants appear all the time in his works. The dusty pension is unpleasant for Ganin, because he will never replace his homeland. Living in a boarding house - Ganina, mathematics teacher Alferov, the old Russian poet Podtyagin, Clara, laughing dancers - are united by uselessness, some kind of exclusion from life. The question arises: why do they live? Ganin acts in films, selling his shadow. Is it worth living to "get up and drive to the printer every morning" like Clara does? Or “searching for an engagement”, as dancers look for it? To humiliate himself, beg for a visa, explaining himself in bad German, how is Podtyagin forced to do this? None of them have a goal that would justify this miserable existence. All of them do not think about the future, do not seek to get settled, to improve their lives, living on the day. Both the past and the supposed future remained in Russia. But to admit this to yourself is to tell yourself the truth about yourself. After that, you need to draw some conclusions, but how then to live, how to fill boring days? And life is filled with petty passions, romances, vanity. “Podtyagin came into the room of the hostess of the boarding house, stroking the black affectionate dachshund, pinched her ears, a wart on her gray muzzle and talked about his old, painful illness and that he had long been fussing about a visa to Paris, where pins and red wine are very cheap. ". Ganin's connection with Lyudmila does not for a second leave the feeling that we are talking about love. But this is not love: “And longing and ashamed, he felt how senseless tenderness, the sad warmth that remained where love once glided very fleetingly, makes him cling without passion to the purple rubber of her succumbing lips ... " Did Ganin have true love? When he met Mashenka as a boy, he fell in love not with her, but with his dream, the ideal of a woman invented by him. Masha turned out to be unworthy of him. He loved silence, solitude, beauty, he was looking for harmony. She was frivolous, pulled him into the crowd. And "he felt that true love is shrinking from these meetings." In Nabokov's world, happy love is impossible. She is either associated with treason, or the heroes do not know what love is at all. Individualistic pathos, fear of submission to another person, fear of the possibility of his judgment make Nabokov's heroes forget about it. Often the plot of the writer's works is based on a love triangle. But it is impossible to find the intensity of passions, the nobility of feelings in his works, the story looks vulgar and boring. The novel "Mashenka" is characterized by features that appeared in Nabokov's further work. This is a game of literary quotations and the construction of a text on elusive and re-emerging leitmotifs and images. Here, sounds become independent and significant (from nightingale singing, which means a natural beginning and the past, to the noise of a train and tram, personifying the world of technology and the present), smells, repetitive images - trains, trams, light, shadows, comparisons of heroes with birds. Nabokov, speaking about the meetings and partings of the heroes, undoubtedly hinted to the reader at the plot of "Eugene Onegin". Also, an attentive reader can find images in the novel that are characteristic of the lyrics of A.A. Feta (nightingale and rose), A.A. Blok (dating in a snowstorm, the heroine in the snow). At the same time, the heroine, whose name is placed in the title of the novel, never appeared on its pages, and the reality of her existence sometimes seems doubtful. The game with illusions and reminiscences is constantly played. Nabokov actively uses the techniques traditional for Russian literature. The author turns to Chekhov's methods of detailing, saturates the world with smells and colors, like Bunin. First of all, this is due to the ghostly image of the main character. Contemporary critics of Nabokov called "Mashenka" a "narcissistic novel", assumed that the author constantly "reflects himself" in his characters, placing a personality endowed with remarkable intelligence and capable of strong passion at the center of the narrative. There is no character development, the plot turns into a stream of consciousness. Many contemporaries did not accept the novel, as it did not have a dynamically developing plot and a happy resolution of the conflict. Nabokov wrote about the “furnished” emigration space in which he and his heroes were to live from now on. Russia remained in memories and dreams, and this reality had to be reckoned with.
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