Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov: list of works, biography and interesting facts

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov is one of the most famous Russian writers of the Soviet period. His work covers the most important events for our country - the revolution of 1917, the Civil War, the emergence of a new power and the Great Patriotic War. In this article we will tell a little about the life of this writer and try to consider his works.

Short biography. Childhood and youth

Born May 11, 1905, Sholokhov (list of works of the author will be presented below). There was this significant event on the farm Kruzhilin in the family of the employee of the trading enterprise.

During the Civil War was with the Reds and rose to the commander. Then, after its termination, he moved to Moscow. Here he received his first education. After moving to Boguchar he entered the gymnasium of the Voronezh province. Upon graduation he returned to the capital again, wanted to get a higher education, but could not do it. To feed himself, he had to get a job. In this short period he changed several specialties, continuing to engage in self-education and literature.

The first work of the writer was published in 1923. Sholokhov begins to cooperate with newspapers and magazines, writes feuilletons for them. In 1924 in the "Young Leninist" comes the story "Rodinka", the first of the Don cycle.

Real fame and the last years of life

List of works by MA Sholokhov should begin with the "Quiet Don". It was this epic that brought the author a real fame. Gradually it became popular not only in the territory of the USSR, but also in other countries. The second great work of the writer was "Virgin Soil Upturned", awarded the Lenin Prize.

During the Great Patriotic War Sholokhov was a military correspondent. At that time he wrote many stories about this terrible time.

In 1965 he became significant for the writer - he was awarded the Nobel Prize for the novel "Quiet Flows the Don". Since the 60's, Sholokhov practically stopped writing, devoting his spare time to fishing and hunting. Most of his income he gave to charity and led a quiet lifestyle.

The writer died on February 21, 1984. The body was buried on the bank of the Don in the courtyard of his own house.

Interesting Facts

The life that Sholokhov lived is full of unusual and bizarre events. List of works of the writer, we will introduce below, but now a little more about the fate of the author:

• Sholokhov was the only writer who received the Nobel Prize with the approval of the authorities. The author was also called "Stalin's favorite".
• When Sholokhov decided to marry one of the daughters of Gromoslavsky, a former Cossack ataman, he offered to marry the eldest of the girls, Mary. The writer, of course, agreed. In the couple, the couple lived almost 60 years. During this time they had four children.
• After the release of the "Quiet Don", critics had doubts that the author of such a large and complex novel is really such a young author. By order of Stalin himself, a commission was set up, which conducted a study of the text and concluded: the epic was indeed written by Sholokhov.

Features of creativity

Inseparably with the image of the Don and the Cossacks, Sholokhov's works are linked (the list, titles and subjects of books are that direct proof). It is from the life of his native places that he draws images, motifs and themes. The writer himself said this about it: "I was born on the Don, there grew up, studied and formed as a person ...".

Despite the fact that Sholokhov focuses on describing the life of the Cossacks, his works are not limited to regional and local themes. On the contrary, on their example the author manages to raise not only the problems of the country, but universal and philosophical ones. In the writer's works, deep historical processes are reflected. This is connected with another distinguishing feature of Sholokhov's work - the desire to artistically reflect the turning periods of the life of the USSR and the way people felt in this maelstrom of events.

Sholokhov was inclined to monumentalism, he was attracted to issues related to social change and the destinies of peoples.

Early works

Very early began to write Mikhail Alexandrovich Sholokhov. Works (prose always remained for him preferable) those years were devoted to the Civil War, in which he himself took direct part, although he was still quite a young man.

Mastered the writer's skill Sholokhov with a small form, that is, with stories that were published in three collections:

• "Azure steppe";
• Don stories;
• "About Kolchak, Nettles and Other."

Despite the fact that these works did not break out of the framework of social realism and in many respects glorified the Soviet power, they were strongly distinguished against the background of other creations of contemporary writers Sholokhov. The fact is that already in these years, Mikhail Aleksandrovich paid special attention to the life of the people and to the description of the people's characters. The writer tried to portray a more realistic and less romanticized picture of the revolution. In the works there is cruelty, blood, treachery - Sholokhov tries not to smooth out the severity of time.

At the same time, the author does not romanticize death at all and does not poeticize cruelty. He puts the accents differently. The main thing is the kindness and ability to preserve humanity. Sholokhov wanted to show how "the Don Cossacks in the steppes" were simply killed in an ugly way. " The peculiarity of the writer's creativity lies in the fact that he raised the problem of revolution and humanism, interpreting acts from the point of view of morality. And most of all, Sholokhov was fratricidal, which accompanies any civil war. The tragedy of many of his heroes was that they had to shed their own blood.

"Quiet Flows the Don"

Perhaps the most famous book that Sholokhov wrote. The list of works will be continued by her, since the novel opens the next stage of the writer's work. For writing the epic the author took in 1925, immediately after the publication of the stories. Initially, he did not plan such a large-scale work, wishing only to depict the fate of the Cossacks during the revolutionary period and his participation in "suppressing the revolution." Then the book was called "Donness". But Sholokhov did not like the first pages he wrote, since the ordinary reader would not understand the motives of the Cossacks. Then the writer decided to start his story from 1912, and finish in 1922. The meaning of the novel has changed, like the name. Work on the work was conducted for 15 years. In the final version, the book was published in 1940.

"Virgin Soil Upturned"

M. Sholokhov, another novel that created several decades. List of works of the writer is impossible without mentioning this book, as it is considered the second most popular after the "Quiet Don". "Virgin Soil Upturned" consists of two books, the first was completed in 1932, and the second - in the late 50's.

The work describes the process of collectivization on the Don, witnessed by Sholokhov himself. The first book in general can be called a report from the scene. The author very realistically and colorfully recreates the drama of this time. Here there are dekulakization, gathering of farmers, killing people, slaughtering cattle, stealing collective-farm grain, and babies' revolt.

The plot of both parts is built on the opposition of class enemies. The action begins with a double tie-the secret arrival of Polovtsev and the arrival of Davydov, and also ends in a double denouement. The whole book is held on the opposition of red and white.

Sholokhov, works about the war: list

Books dedicated to the Great Patriotic War:

• The novel "They fought for their country";
• Stories "The Science of Hatred", "The Fate of a Man";
• Essays "In the South", "On the Don", "Cossacks", "In Cossack kolkhozes", "Gnost", "Prisoners of War", "In the South";
• Publicism - "The struggle continues", "The word about the homeland", "Do not go to executioners from the tribunal of nations!", "Light and darkness."

During the war, Sholokhov worked as a military correspondent in Pravda. The stories and essays describing these terrible events had some distinctive features that defined Sholokhov as a writer-battlesist and even survived in his postwar prose.

Essays of the author can be called the chronicle of the war. Unlike other writers who work in this direction, Sholokhov never expressed his views directly on the events, heroes spoke for him. Only at the end the writer allowed himself to sum up a little.

Sholokhov's works, despite the themes, retain a humanistic orientation. At the same time, the main character changes slightly. They become a person who is able to realize the importance of his place in the world struggle and understand that he is responsible to his comrades-in-arms, relatives, children, life itself and history.

"They fought for their homeland"

We continue to disassemble the creative heritage that left Sholokhov (list of works). The writer perceives the war not as a fatal inevitability, but as a socio-historical phenomenon that experiences the moral and ideological qualities of people. From the fate of individual characters, a picture of the epoch-making event takes shape. Such principles formed the basis of the novel "They fought for their homeland", which, unfortunately, was never finished.

According to Sholokhov's idea, the work had to consist of three parts. The first was to describe the pre-war events and the struggle of the Spaniards against the fascists. And already in the second and third, the struggle of the Soviet people against the invaders would be described. However, no part of the novel was ever published. Only separate chapters appeared.

A distinctive feature of the novel is the presence not only of large-scale battle scenes, but also sketches of everyday soldier's life, which often have a humorous coloring. At the same time, soldiers are well aware of their responsibility to the people and the country. Their thoughts about the home and their native places become tragic, since their regiment is retreating. Consequently, they can not justify the trust placed on them.

Summing up

A huge creative path has passed Mikhail Mikhailovich Sholokhov. All of the author's works, especially when viewed in chronological order, confirm this. If you take early stories and later, the reader will see how much the writer's skill has grown. At the same time, he managed to retain many motives, such as loyalty to his duty, humanity, devotion to family and country, etc.

But the writer's works have not only artistic and aesthetic value. First of all Mikhail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov aspired to be a chronicler (biography, list of books and diary entries confirm this).