A tutorial of a writer. P. II. Ch. 10. November 24

Chapter 10. The creative environment. Strong-willed qualities. A literary knack (Literary skills, literary dexterity). Homer


From childhood until the time of recognition of his talent and genius, Nikolai Gogol developed in a creative environment. Childhood: Kibintsy (the estate of Dmitry Troshchinsky with a theater, library, collection), communication with creative personalities, including communication with Nikolai's father [Nikolai Vasilyevich Yanovsky]. Gymnasium: teachers, fellow students. Petersburg: the circle of Alexander Pushkin, Vasily Zhukovsky, Mikhail Vielgorsky and others.

“However, in the circle of his family, Pushkin said laughing:“ You have to be more careful with this Little Russian [maloross]: he is robbing me in such a way that it's impossible even to scream” ["I have to be more careful with this Little Russia [maloross]:  he robs me in such a way that I can't scream."](See: [Вересаев] [Veresaev]) ).

Let note, - already after the recognition of the Gogol's talent, - the years of Rome: the brilliant artist Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov, other people of the creative, cultural circle. (“In the plan of joint visits, compiled by Gogol for Smirnova, there are about a dozen names of artists who lived in Rome at that time - German, English, Italian and others; among them are several celebrities, for example Overbeck and Tenerani (...). Together with Smirnova Gogol also visited Alexander Ivanov ”[Манн Ю. В. С. 646] [Mann Yu. V. P. 646]).

“He asked the sisters to record Ukrainian songs for him, which they heard performed by peasants. They wrote down 228 songs in his notebook ” [Труайя А. С. 564] [Troyat H. P. 564]. (228!)

Reflecting, debating, disputing, Andrei Bely - nevertheless - says: "Gogol is the father of post-Gogol literature, that is, [Gogol is the "father" of] Turgenev, Grigorovich, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Ostrovsky, Saltykov, Leskov and [of] others ..." [Белый Андрей. С. 283] [Bely Andrei. P. 283].

The fate of Heinrich Schliemann did not deprive him of communication in childhood with creative, intellectual people. However, then there were periods of gymnasium, of the Realschule (vocational school), of the F;rstenberg trading shop [store], of Hamburg, and partly - of Amsterdam.

Only in St. Petersburg - largely thanks to the relatives and acquaintances of the first wife of Catherine - did Heinrich Schliemann form an intellectual creative circle, communication in which strengthened Heinrich Schliemann in his determination to become a scientist and a writer.

Let's return to the period of Heinrich Schliemann's life between Ankershagen and St. Petersburg. During this period of his life, he had a chance to communicate (with varying lengths) with his uncle pastor Friederich Schliemann, C.E. Laue, Carl Andres, a schoolboy Hermann Niederhoffer, who suddenly read by heart to Heinrich (a "student" of the shopkeeper) several pages from Homer, with valet Rust from ducal castle, who showed Heinrich some of the ancient values [precious vases] kept in the castle.

The recognition of the importance of this communication however does not give grounds for talking about the life of Heinrich during these years in a creative environment.

It would seem - a "biographical gap". But only at first glance. It seems that during this period, Heinrich Schliemann had forged a will, a character - something that cannot be effectively formed in a creative environment. (Except, perhaps, - under the coincidence of many conditions - in case of involvement in sports or in travels).

It is difficult to say whether the words of Ekaterina Lyzhina-Schliemann “a stone heart that fears nothing” (см.: [Шлиман Е., Письма. С. 48]) (see: [E. Schliemann, Letters. P. 48]) referred  to Heinrich Schliemann (the text of this letter of Ekaterina is reading with with some difficulty). But it is obvious that both firmness and fearlessness were present in the character of Heinrich Schliemann. Catherine could have supposed such qualities in Heinrich even before marriage, knowing about his trip to California and the history of his enrichment there. (The fact of the miraculous rescue of Heinrich Schliemann from the winter depths of the North Sea in 1841 was also widely known).

A certain "break" ("gap") in the formation of literary skill, a "break" in the presence of a creative environment, the "replacement" of this supposedly "dropped out" period by a stage of trials - all these formed a fearless and firm character, and became one of the prerequisites archaeological discoveries (Trojan and Mycenaean ones),  as well as social and financial successes of Heinrich Schliemann embarked on the path of an archaeologist. And in general, it was a precondition of a happy, glorious finish of the life of Heinrich Schliemann.

Nikolai Gogol cannot be denied a firmness of character. He was able to express a refusal to Thaddeus Bulgarin. He was able to express a refusal to Mikhail Pogodin, a man of hospitality (Nikolai Gogol lived in his house for a long time).

Nevertheless, Nikolai Gogol relied more on that Invisible Hand that guided him through life; he tried to adapt to the prevailing circumstances (favorable or unfavorable).

An example would be the following situation. The biography describes the joy of Nikolai Gogol, with which he received the blessing for the pilgrimage after the publication of Dead Souls. (The word "publication" does little to decipher (for explanation) the general censorship, "permissive" concerns, the volume of "promotional" efforts that safely led to the publication of the poem "Dead Souls").

After the publication, Nikolai Gogol again sought to go abroad. There were prepositions. But the situation did not look harmonious or convincing. Yet ... he spent so much time (so many years) abroad ... And again leaves his native land ... Isn't it possible - to create, engage in literary work in Russia?

“He had been thinking about a pilgrimage to the Holy Land for a long time, but decided to keep this intention a secret until he received the blessing of an authority figure. And at the beginning of 1842, such an opportunity presented itself: the famous theologian and church leader Innokenty (in the world Ivan Alekseevich Borisov, 1800-1857) arrived in Moscow, at one time (1830-1841) the rector of the Kiev Theological Academy, since 1841 the head of the Kharkov diocese (in 1845 he became its archbishop). The conversation with Innokenty and the blessing he had given had such a strong effect on Gogol that Sergey Timofeyevich [Aksakov] immediately noticed a change. “Suddenly Gogol enters with the image of the Savior in his hands and a radiant, enlightened face. I have never seen such an expression in Gogol's eyes. "

Aksakov did not approve of the decision on the pilgrimage announced by Gogol. “All this seemed to me to be a tense, nervous state and especially dangerous in Gogol (as in the man of creativity)…” (…) ” [Манн Ю. В. С. 627] [Mann Yu. V. P. 627].

Finally, the the situation has become favorable. A high-level priest (at that time the bishop of Kharkov), gives a blessing for the pilgrimage. Pilgrimage requires a lot of preparation. Abroad. For Russia at that time, for any of its inhabitants from the tsar, in the capital of the empire, to the peasant living in Vasilyevka, such a blessing is more than sufficient argument. It does not require any justification, it can even be considered as a certain kind of an act imposing an obligation. The thoughts of other people - expressed and unspoken - about the previous very long stay of Nikolai Gogol abroad remained after receiving this blessing "outside the brackets." Nikolai Gogol barely hides his joy; without hesitation, he gets ready and goes abroad. In his actions there is both firmness and decisiveness, and the desire to adapt to the situation.

Such life projects as the provoked process of Heinrich Schliemann with the Ottoman administration are NOT AT ALL IN THE CHARACTER OF Nikolai Gogol [do not correspond to the views and habits of Nikolai Gogol]. And the American divorce of Heinrich Schliemann? And the acquisition of American citizenship by Heinrich Schliemann? And the relationship between Heinrich Schliemann (who was married twice: both the first and the second marriage were ecclesiastical ones) with Bishop Theokletos Vimpos?

All these biographical features of Heinrich Schliemann are not at all "in the style" of Nikolai Gogol, despite the firmness of Nikolai Gogol's character.

Yet both the (ambiguous) example of the life of his father Ernest, and the period of testing, were not useless for Heinrich Schliemann.

As not useless, apparently, was the gradual creative maturation of Nikolai Gogol in a creative environment (in childhood, in a gymnasium, in St. Petersburg ..., without disasters and tragic trials), the creative maturation of a native of the Little Russian [malorossian] Vasilyevka, who became one of the world's brilliant writers.

Character .. Education ... Surroundings ... Where you will be able to find? Where  you will lose? What's better? With trials? Or without testing? "... Give an answer" (Nikolai Gogol. "Dead souls").

Characterizing the cultural environment, the cultural environment of Heinrich Schliemann and Nikolai Gogol, we note the invisible presence of Homer in their cultural atmosphere.

Both the works (biographical) about Heinrich Schliemann and the works of Heinrich Schliemann himself contain frequent references to Homer.

Starting to read, for example, the work of Heinrich Schliemann "ILIOS", you come to the opinion that Homer is mentioned, if not on every page, then very, very often.

The biographers of Heinrich Schliemann ironically compared the works of Homer and the guidebooks: Heinrich Schliemann proceeded from the reliability of the information contained in the poems of Homer. ("Blind Faith in Homer"). Heinrich Schliemann knew Homer's poems by heart and quoted them quite often.

A positive attitude towards Homer in Nikolai Gogol's entourage was a sign of culture.

It is difficult to determine the proportion (ratio) between an active public's use of compliments, praises for Homer (and his work) [from one side] and Nikolai Gogol's practical use in literary work of those emotions, that inspiration, the knowledge that Nikolai Gogol received by the reading Homer's poems [from another side]. It can be confidently asserted that throughout his conscious life Nikolai Gogol in one way or another turned to the works of Homer.

“Gogol’s stay in Baden-Baden was remembered by Smirnova also by the fact that almost every day after dinner he read the Iliad to her. Gogol needed this for the artistic mood in anticipation of intensive work ... ”[Манн Ю. В. С. 667] [Mann Yu. V. P. 667].

“Dead Souls [a novel by Nikolai Gogol] are often compared to the Iliad. And Gogol himself did not really argue with those who compared his poem with Homer's poem” [Золотусский И. П.] [Zolotussky I. P.].

“… I need to learn how to build great creations from (at) great masters. I started with our dear Homer "(Nikolai Gogol - Zhukovsky V. A., January 10, 1848 / December 29, 1847) [Гоголь Н. В. Письма. 1848—1852.] [Gogol N. V. Letters. 1848-1852.].

"... Not at all Attic, but not Asian – Homer." In the Gogol's creativity, "Homer, Arabism, and Baroque, and Gothic are originally [peculiarly] refracted ..."  [Белый Андрей. С. 298.] [Bely Andrei. P. 298.].

The Life of Klim Samgin is primarily an ideological novel showing the country's movement towards revolution through ideological disputes, philosophical movements, books that are read and argued about [them] (the work mentions hundreds of works of literature, music, painting - from the Iliad up to the Gorky's the play "The Lower Depths" ["At the Bottom"]) [Нефедова И. М.] [Nefedova I. M.].

Maxim Gorky knew about Homer, mentioned his name. There is no particular interest in Homer on the part of Maxim Gorky.

In the life of Maxim Gorky, as well as in the biography of Heinrich Schliemann, there were periods of tempering, forging character. If Heinrich Schliemann's character was forged by difficulties and self-discipline, then in the case of the life story of Maxim Gorky a numerous examples of violence added  to the above.

Character, productivity, creativity: these concepts are interdependent.

A natural talent [the talent "from" a nature] is really existing.

But it happens that the "character" also becomes a talent.

Character breeds productivity, and unusually high productivity results in great accomplishments.

If you follow this logic of reasoning, then at some periods of life for the formation of character should be outside the creative environment.

But such environment is useful, it does good, it creates a positive results.

Perhaps Maxim Gorky, as a native of the "lower classes", took - consciously or unconsciously - special measures to form a creative environment around him. Even as a boy, he tried to spend more time with talented people or next to them.

“The highly cultured environment that constantly surrounded Gorky exerted its influence on the writer who came out from the lower social classes ["bottoms"] (...). ... It also could not but affect the writer, eagerly reaching out [aspiring] to culture ... "[Нефедова И. М.] [Nefedova I. M.].

“… Until the spring of 1880, Lesha Peshkov stayed with the Sergeevs, then escaped, he got a job as a barman on the "Dobry" [«Kind» (Ship)] steamer, which sometimes, contrary to its name, towed barges with prisoners [arrested people] along the Volga to the Kama, Tobol, to Siberia.