Ivan Bunin "The Dark Alley": a short summary of the work

"Dark alleys" is a collection of love stories by Ivan Alekseevich Bunin. Over them, he worked for several years (from 1937 to 1945). Most of them were written during the Second World War. The title of the collection was given a story, which is called "Dark alleys". He was published in 1943 in the publication "New Land" in New York. In this article I want to tell about him. So, IA Bunin, "The Dark Alley", a brief summary of the work.

Acquaintance with Nikolai Alekseevich

In the fall on a rainy day, on a bad road, there was a tarantass, in which a strong muzhik, who ruled a horse, and a veteran military man in a gray Nicholaev overcoat, were shaking. It was Nikolai Alekseevich - the main character of the story. Despite the years, he looked young, his stature was tightened, his chin was neatly shaved, his black bushy eyebrows contrasted with white whiskers, turning into whiskers. This is how Bunin describes his hero. "The Dark Alley", a brief summary of which is given here, is a story about the man's undeniable love for a woman, the impossibility of correcting the mistakes of youth. Here we will not get carried away with the description of the heroes, but let's move on to the essence of the work.

Unexpected meeting

Tarantas stopped near the post station, half of the building was occupied by a small room where you could eat and relax after the road. Nikolay Alekseevich entered the hut and looked around. It was clean and cozy, it smelled deliciously of home-made food. The hostess entered the room and greeted him politely. She was a middle-aged woman, black-haired and dark-haired. Our hero noted that, despite the years, it is very beautiful and easy to climb. Looking at her face, the brave soldier realized that before him, Hope was his former lover. Once, while still young, he left her and left. Thirty years have passed since then, and he has not heard anything about it all these years. This is how Bunin describes this unexpected meeting. "Dark alleys" (a summary will be described later) is a love story. Therefore, it is logical to assume that a heavy conversation took place between the heroes.

A difficult conversation

Nikolai Alekseevich praised the woman for its cleanliness and neatness, and also asked about her life. It turned out that Nadezhda was never married. When the hero asked about the reason for this, the woman replied that she had loved only his life all her life and did not want to marry without love. Nikolai Alekseevich was in awe of emotion, tears appeared in his eyes. He asked Nadezhda to leave, but first told her about his unhappy family life. The brave soldier told his former lover that the wife he idolized, betrayed him and left him, leaving his son. All his life he lived for his son, trying to invest in it as much as possible. But the son grew up a scoundrel and a rascal. At parting, Nadezhda tells him that she did not forgive him and will never forgive him, and kisses his hand. Nikolay Alekseevich in the answer does the same. All the experiences of the main characters, which did not pass with time, were described in this scene by Bunin. "The Dark Alley" (a brief summary confirms this) causes readers a sense of sadness for lost love and regret for the inability to return it.

Alone with your thoughts

As soon as the horses were served, our hero again set off. The weather was bad, and his heart was bad. He sat and recalled how good was Hope in his youth, what verses he read to her: "Around the briar rose scarlet, there were dark linden alleys ...". For a moment he imagined this diligent woman as the mistress of his big Petersburg house. "What would have happened then?" - asked himself Nikolai Alekseevich. So long he sat and thought, shaking his head. This episode also ended Bunin's "Dark Alleys". The heroes of the work were invented by him. But he described them so vividly, their situation is so close and understandable to each of us, that a realistic picture of their relations appears before their eyes.

One of the best works of the writer, as Ivan Bunin himself admitted, is the "Dark Alley". The summary outlined in this article can not convey the whole atmosphere of the story. I advise you to read it in full.