Kuznetsova G.N. “Grasse diary”

The Samara newspaper wrote about the characters of the story on December 11, 1913: “… people whose fate is predetermined from birth, who will not fight with fate, will not seek anything, will not strive anywhere, will not overcome anything. What can be interesting for the reader in the world of their emotions? But the power of talent makes the reader feel the interests of their unremarkable life, experience tragedies with them, the inconspicuous tragedies of this tragic, though unremarkable life, and just for a moment to feel sorry about their death…”

Newspaper “Volzhskoe Slovo”, No 271

This collection of stories included such stories as “Brothers”, “On the road”, “Saints”, “Spring evening”, “Christmas story”, “Dust” and selected poems.

On August 20, 1910, Bunin I.A. wrote to Gorky M.

The “Village” gave a rise to many disputes and was the beginning of Bunin’s huge popularity. This first major writing was followed by other novels and stories, as Bunin wrote, ‘sharply outlining the Russian soul, its light and dark sides, and often tragic origins. Among the Russian critics and the Russian intellectuals who used to idealize the simple folks due to lack of awareness of the folk nature, or due to political considerations, my “unsparing” writings caused hot and hostile responses. During these years, I felt my literary power grew stronger every day’.

Maxim Gorky wrote to Maria KuprinA-IordAnskaya in 1910: ‘This narration is a historical work in its nature, nobody has ever written about the rural community like this’. The Russian rural community, as Bunin believed, had no chance to last, if no changes for the better occurred. Critics accused the writer of sharply negative description of rural life. In his interview for the ‘Odessa newspaper’ (No. 56, March 12, 1910) Bunin said that his TIkhon KrAsov in the ‘Village’ — ‘is not a merchant, but a peasant, and he built his prosperity on the poor villagers’. Thomas Mann read the ‘Village’ in French, but even in translation, as he said, this book ‘retained all its fascinating power’, ‘it is an unusually mournful novel from the peasant life’.

‘This is the book of curses, retribution and revenge, even though a verbal one, it has nothing to be compared with in terms of its temper, acrimony and rage in “sick” and fierce white journalism. Because even in anger, passion, almost frenzy, Bunin remains an artist: and in great injustice he is still an artist. It is HIS PAIN, the AGONY that he took with him into exile’.

Mikhailov O.N. ‘Bunin’s ‘Cursed days’

‘Almost every day, in any weather, Bunin walked around the city for several hours. He was walking, not strolling, with quick light steps, wearing a short knee-length light overcoat which was common to see in Moscow, with a cane, and an academic skullcap instead of a hat, he looked rushing, strained and attentive, lean … I watched Bunin at the soldiers 'flea market’, where he stood in the middle of the crowd with a notebook in his hands, calmly and unhurriedly writing down the ditties, which two brothers - the Black sea military sailors were shouting out, dancing with their hands on each other’s shoulders and shaking their wide “bell-bottoms”, — it was popular song “Apple” or “Deribasovskaya” … I remember the fainting, sickening smell of sesame oil, garlic, and human sweat. But Bunin paid no attention to this and worked quietly, covering page after page with his notes. The most striking thing was that no one paid any attention to him, despite his academic appearance, which was so much distinguished from the market crowd, or perhaps thanks to his appearance: who knows who they took him for’.

Kataev V.P. ‘The Herb of Oblivion’.

The ‘Cursed days’ captured only the most important pictures of the new life. BUnin attempted to write not just a ‘diary’ consisting of daily notes, but a kind of chronicle of the collapse of the great state. Proud of his unbiased attitude to the revolution in 1905, BUnin, an honorary academician in fine literature, threw himself into the boiling whirlpool of street life, greedily absorbing what was happening in Moscow and OdEssa, but finally became more and more convinced that Russia has died.

The complete novel was first published in New York by the ChEkhov Publishing House in 1952. Fragments of the novel were published in the newspapers ‘Days’ (1927), ‘Latest news’ (1928 — 1929), ‘Russia’ (1927), in ‘Modern Notes’ (1928 — 1929). The first four books of the novel were published as a separate book in Paris in 1930 with the subtitle ‘the Origins of Days’. According to IvAn AleksEevich, he began to work on the novel on July 22, 1927. GalIna KuznetsOva wrote on January 12, 1929:

‘We talked about the reviews for ArsEniev”s Life and, in particular, about the WEidle”s review, who wrote that this novel is a kind of enthusiastic hymn to life, to the beauty of the world, to himself, and compared this novel with an ode. And this is completely right. And I got an idea that struck me. Now, when everyone around us is crying about the spiritual deterioration inside the emigration community for which there are some good reasons — grief, adversity, lots of deaths - all this has affected us badly — while other writers write either something sullen or plaintive, or ecclesiastical, or just funereal, like almost all poets; in distress, hardship and loneliness, deprived of his homeland and everything connected with it, a “fanatic” or, as the Bolsheviks called him, “Grand Inquisitor”, BUnin enthusiastically praises the Creator, Heaven and earth, who gave birth to him and allowed him to see much more misery, humiliation, and grief than happiness and joy. When else? During the most difficult time for him, not only in general, but also in a personal, individual sense… Yes, this is a real miracle, and no one sees this miracle, no one can understand it! What a great gift of mental and physical health (in spite of everything) the Lord gave him! ’

Kuznetsova G.N. ‘Grasse diary’

‘Ivan Alekseevich was angry he heard other people saying that Arseniev”s Life was an autobiography. Of course, Arseniev is not 100% Bunin, but there is a lot of Bunin in him: his thoughts, his feelings, his views on life, his attitude to people. Many times Bunin was offered to write the second volume, but he always refused: “I wrote there about people who had died long before, about things that are forever over. In the continuation of the novel I would have to write in an artistic form about those who are still alive - how can I do this?” And I never wrote it’.

Aldanov M.A. ‘About Bunin’

Irina Odoevtseva had interesting memories about the meetings with Ivan Alekseevich. They discussed many different topics. Bunin told her the following things about his novel:

‘Everyone thinks that Arseniev’s Life is my autobiography. But I didn’t write about many things, very many things, the most difficult ones. “Arseniev”s Life” is much happier than my life. Many things were hidden, many were embellished. But no one believes it. And this makes me frustrated. — Ivan Alekseevich, why don’t you write comments on the ‘Arseniev”s Life’ and put everything in its place? He winced ‘Well, no. That’s not needed. I’m not able to do this. I was just trying to write the truth about myself. But I failed. It must be from mental shyness. I am painfully shy, chaste, and self-conscious inside myself -although no one believes me. I’m kind of ashamed to write the truth about myself’.

Odoevtseva I.V. “On the Seine shores”