Alexander Chudakov is a famous domestic writer and literary critic. Philologist. He is considered one of the country's largest researchers of the works of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov. He devoted many books and monographs to him. At the same time, he wrote several of his own works, the most famous of which is the novel "The Darkness Lies on the Old Steps."
Writer Biography
Alexander Chudakov was born in 1938. He was born in a small resort town Schuchinsk with a population of only about 45 thousand people. It is located on the territory of modern Kazakhstan.
From a distant Asian republic, Alexander Chudakov moved after school to the capital. Here he entered Moscow State University, where he graduated in 1960. Received a diploma with honors from the Faculty of Philology.
A few years after graduation, he got a job at the Institute of World Literature. At the same time, he began teaching at his native Moscow State University. To give students lectures on the history of Russian literature.
Scientific work
All this time, Alexander Chudakov was engaged in scientific work. He wrote monographs and articles in literary journals. In 1983 he defended his doctoral dissertation, becoming a doctor of philological sciences. Most of his studies were related to the work and influence on literature of the Russian writer of the turn of the XIX-XX centuries - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.
During perestroika, the talent and knowledge of the hero of our article were in demand abroad. And this is not surprising. After all, Chekhov, whose connoisseur was Chudakov, is considered one of the most famous Russian writers abroad, along with Fedor Dostoevsky and Lev Tolstoy.
Therefore, there were always many who wanted to listen to a course of lectures on Chekhov in Western countries. So the biography of Alexander Chudakov was successful - he began to take a course in Russian literature at universities in the USA and Europe. Over time, he became one of the prominent members of the International Chekhov Society.
Literary studies
Chudakova released his first large-scale work dedicated to Anton Chekhov in 1971. It was a monograph entitled "Chekhov's Poetics." In 1983, translated into English and published in the West.
At that time, the author was a little over 30. Despite this, he created a deep literary work, which received international recognition and rejection of conservative Soviet scientists. Many of the statements made by Chudakov in this work, as well as in his next study, 1986, Chekhov’s World: The Origin and Affirmation of 1986, were not certain. But at the same time, they determined the development of Czechology for many years to come. It was Chudakov who first proposed rigorous methods for describing the writer's narrative system. He is the author of the concept of “the real world” of a work, with the help of which he characterized many of Chekhov’s stories.
The main thesis of Alexander Chudakov in the books is devoted to the "random" organization of all the poetics of such a great writer as Chekhov. This statement still causes much controversy among researchers and philologists.
He outlined in detail his views on the problem of "random" organization and the "real" world in his study, "Word - thing - world: from Pushkin to Tolstoy, " which was published in 1992.
He also wrote about two hundred articles on the history of Russian literature. He carefully collected, prepared and commented on collections of works by Yuri Tynyanov and Viktor Shklovsky. The first is a Russian formalist who wrote the novels "Kyuhlya", "The Death of Wazir-Mukhtar" and "Pushkin" (unfinished). The second is a Soviet writer and playwright, who managed to compete with Mikhail Bulgakov.
Books for schoolchildren
In 2013, his monograph "Anton Pavlovich Chekhov" was published. It is primarily dedicated to high school students in Russian schools.
In it, Doctor of Philology Chudakov introduces young people to the fate and main events in Chekhov's life. The book details the impressions of the writer’s childhood and youth. About how it happened that a great writer, known to the whole world, grew out of an ordinary employee of a humorous magazine in a few years. Today, one can rightfully say that he opened a new page in world art.
Roman Chudakova
It is noteworthy that Chudakov was not only a literary critic and researcher. He wrote his own works. In 2000, in the literary magazine Znamia, the novel Alexander Chudakova Lies Down on the Old Steps was published. His own, artistic work.
The protagonist of this work is a historian who tells others amazing episodes about how people lived in pre-revolutionary Russia. How everything changed after the revolution. What led the participation of Russia in the wars of the XX century. These stories are constantly replaced by no less fascinating and interesting arguments, into which the hero embarks on with his interlocutors.
The novel "Lies down on the old steps" was recognized as the best work of Russian literature in the first decade of the XXI century. Such a high praise was given to him by the jury of the prestigious literary competition "Russian Booker". This is a unique book that makes you cry and laugh at the same time. So readers say about Alexander Chudakov in reviews. He has already conquered many with his talent and dedication.
Critic reviews
In reviews, critics often noted that many readers of Chudakov considered his book to be autobiographical. There is so much historical truth in it, the feelings and thoughts of the heroes are so reliably conveyed. However, in reality this is not a biography of the fate of the writer. This is the image of genuine Russia in its most difficult years, of which there were many in the 20th century. The book is funny, but at the same time sad, epic and at the same time lyrical. Life-affirming, but at the same time creepy and terrible.
This is a memory novel that begins at the bedside of an old and decrepit grandfather. The author takes us along with the main character to the distant past. The memories of the heroes begin to intertwine with the memories of readers about their childhood, youth, and years of growing up.
Critics say this is a very cozy piece. The author realistically describes the difficult life of Soviet teenagers, because he himself grew up in difficult material conditions. In the book, many see influences on the author of the best examples of classical literature. In particular, Leo Tolstoy, Alexander Pushkin and Anton Chekhov.
For this novel, Chudakov received the Banner Foundation Prize; the jury awarded him posthumously the Russian Booker of the Decade.
The personal life of the writer
Alexander Chudakov was lucky in his personal life. For many years, his wife was a literary critic and public figure Marietta Chudakova.
She is known as a researcher of the works of Mikhail Bulgakov, Evgeny Zamyatin, Mikhail Zoshchenko and Mikhail Kozyrev.
During the years of perestroika, she began an active social life. Criticized the Soviet system. In the 90s, she was a member of the Presidential Clemency Commission. In 2006, she founded the public organization "VINT", which brought together under one roof veterans of "hot spots" and representatives of creative professions. She ran for the State Duma from the SPS party.
In 2010, she signed the appeal of the Russian opposition "Putin must leave!".
