After the collapse of the USSR, people began to look differently at their culture and literature, trying to figure out what of the works of the Soviet era was a masterpiece and what was simply imposed by propaganda. Because of this, many remarkable Soviet writers were undeservedly forgotten. Among them, the author of the popular sixties novels is Oles Gonchar.
early years
The future writer Oles (Alexander Terentyevich) Gonchar was born in 1918 in the village of. Lomovka, Dnipropetrovsk region. At birth bore the name Bilichenko.
After the death of Tatyana’s mother, the boy was barely three years old at the time, due to a difficult relationship with his father and his new wife Frosy, young Sasha moved to his maternal grandfather and grandmother in the village of Sukha, which is often mistakenly considered his birthplace. Grandfather and grandmother practically replaced the boy's father and mother, and when they sent their grandson to school, they recorded him under his last name - Gonchar.
When the boy grew up and went to school, his uncle Yakov Gavrilovich, who became the director of the local factory, took up his education. Thanks to this position, he had more opportunities to support his nephew than his grandfather and grandmother. Therefore, together with his uncle's family, the boy moved to a. Horishki. Studying at a local school, he fell under the influence of a teacher of the Ukrainian language and literature. It was thanks to him that the future writer became interested in literature, and also received the pseudonym "Oles". The fact is that the teacher was a fan of the work of the Ukrainian poet Alexander Oles and this was passed on to his student. After many years, in his novel "Cathedral", the writer will create a character written off from his beloved teacher.
Due to the move of Uncle Jacob, Alexander completed the seven-year plan in the village of Breusovka. During this period, he tries to write his own works and articles, thanks to this, after graduation, the guy found a job in the editorial office of a regional newspaper, and after that in a regional one. In parallel with the work, Gonchar studied at the journalistic college of the city of Kharkov. After graduation, Alexander began to work as a teacher in the village of Manuylovka. In the same period, he begins to publish his first stories in the Ukrainian publications Pioneria, Literaturnaya Gazeta, Komsomolets Ukrainy and others.
In 1938, Oles Gonchar became a student of the philological faculty of Kharkov University. Here he continued to write short stories and short stories, but the joy of studying did not last long. The Great Patriotic War began and Oles, interrupting his studies, went as a volunteer to the front.
During the war, Gonchar had no time for literary activity, although sometimes he wrote poetry and also took notes that he later used in his stories and novels about the war, in particular, in the trilogy “standard bearers”.
Having won almost five years, having been in captivity and deserving three medals for courage and one order of the Red Star, in 1945 the writer returned home. During the war, his father and two half-brothers died, as well as many other friends and acquaintances. However, the writer himself returned from the front unharmed. He always explained his “luck” by the fact that his grandmother, being a deeply religious woman, prayed for her grandson. Gonchar himself was baptized in childhood and also believed in God, in addition, he was very respectful of ancient temples and was an ardent opponent of their destruction or transformation into utility rooms. Later, he will raise this topic in his most famous novel, The Cathedral.
The beginning of literary activity
Having returned from the war, Oles Gonchar moved to Dnepropetrovsk and, having entered a local university, continued his studies interrupted by the war. In parallel, on the basis of still fresh memoirs and military notes, he writes and publishes several short stories, and then takes up a larger-scale work - he writes his debut novel about the Alps war (the first part of the standard-bearers trilogy), which was published in 1946 in one from republican literary magazines. The publication of the first novel by Gonchar changed his life. He forced the literary luminaries of that time to pay attention to a new talent in Russian literature. So, the recognized master of Ukrainian Soviet literature Yuriy Yanovsky praised the work of the young writer and decided to take it under his care. Therefore, after the success of Alps, he invites Gonchar to move to Kiev, enter graduate school, and also continue to work on new novels.
Confession
In the next two years, Oles Gonchar publishes the second and third novels from the series “The standard bearers”: “The Blue Danube” and “Zlata Prague”, and also does not forget about little prose. The trilogy "Banners" brings the author tremendous popularity not only in the Ukrainian SSR, but throughout the country. During this cycle, the writer will receive two Stalin Prizes and become successful and recognized, both ordinary people and the intelligentsia are happy to read it.
However, the sudden fame did not spoil Potter, despite his popularity, he continues to write actively. True, after the trilogy, the author mainly turns to little prose and publishes stories about military life.
In the fifties, according to Gonchar’s short story “Let the Light Burn,” the feature film “The Girl from the Lighthouse” was shot, and next year, another film, “Partisan Spark”, was shot according to one of his stories.
In the same period, Oles Gonchar was working on a dilemma on revolutionary events in southern Ukraine. It included the novels Tavria and Pereskop. Unfortunately, they did not become as popular as the “standard bearers” and novels of the writer. However, in these novels, the author gradually begins to move away from the military theme and become more interested in the topic of the peaceful life of ordinary people. Perhaps, due to an attempt to change the subject of creativity, the dilogy was not as successful as the early novels. Despite the rather cold reviews, in 1959 Tavria was filmed, and on the basis of the book, the ballet production of the same name was created to the music of Vladimir Nakhabin.
In addition to literary activity, in the fifties, Potter is engaged in journalism, and also travels a lot around the world. The apogee of this decade for him is becoming the chairman of the Union of Writers of Ukraine, as well as the secretary of the Union of Writers of the USSR.
Sixties
In the next decade, Oles Gonchar concentrates on peaceful life and its features. With the help of his tremendous talent, the writer manages to notice details and create vivid, romantic images against the background of gray everyday life. Therefore, Gonchar’s novels during this period are no less successful than his debut trilogy.
In 1960, the writer publishes the novel "Man and Arms", which demonstrates new facets of the author's talent. For this novel, Gonchar becomes the first winner of the Republican Prize of Ukraine named after Taras Shevchenko. Although this work was a masterpiece and a new milestone in the writer's work, outside the circle of the Ukrainian literary elite, it was not as appreciated and popular as other works by Gonchar. However, the theme of “Man and Arms” was quite close to the author himself, so ten years later he would return to her again in the sequel to the cyclone. The theme of this work in many respects echoes the work of the writer’s favorite teacher, Yuri Yanovsky.
Another significant creation of the Potter in the sixties was the novel in the short stories “Tronka”. His success helped the writer not only become famous again throughout the USSR, but also win the Lenin Prize. It is noteworthy that Oles voluntarily donated all the money attached to this award to the development of libraries. A few years later, the novel was filmed.
Roman Olesya Gonchar "Cathedral" and the scandal around him
Once again successful, the author decided to write the novel "Cathedral".
In the wake of the thaw and rethinking of the values ​​instilled since childhood, the author tried to write about a topic that had been interesting to him for a long time - about spirituality. Despite his successful career, Gonchar admitted that he was always a believer who appreciated and respected Christian traditions and beliefs. After the war, when the writer lived near Dnepropetrovsk, on his street was the Trinity Cathedral, built back in the time of the Cossacks by the old method, without using nails. Being not only a spiritual symbol, but also an architectural monument, this cathedral was of great importance for local residents. And when, due to the machinations of local authorities, they wanted to deprive him of the title of historical landmark and demolish it, the people opposed it. This story moved the writer, and he wrote a novel about it, published in 1968 in the magazine "Fatherland". Readers, critics and recognized Ukrainian Soviet writers praised this work. But a close friend of Brezhnev, the first secretary of the regional committee, Vatchenko, after reading the novel, suspected that his main negative hero was written off from him. Therefore, he took advantage of his connections and achieved a ban on further publication of the novel, a ban on its translation into Russian, as well as any mention of it in the press. Neither the intercession of the literary luminaries, nor the open letter to the Pravda newspaper helped.
An outspoken prohibition of the novel “Cathedral”, meanwhile, became a kind of catalyst, forcing many Ukrainian literary figures to fight against totalitarianism in literature. In addition, the scandal surrounding this novel made the author famous throughout the USSR. To date, this book is the most famous work of the writer, although not the most powerful.
Late period of creativity
Despite the bitter experience with the “Cathedral”, Oles Gonchar did not give up and continued to write. Fortunately for him, the negative attitude on the part of the authorities affected only his “brainchild”, while the writer himself remained safe and sound. His later works continued to be published; in the next twenty years, three more of his works were filmed. After the “Cathedral”, Gonchar wrote four more novels, several short stories, issued one collection of short stories “Far Campfires” and a book of front-line verses from the war years. In addition, during these years, the writer becomes an active participant in the dissident movement in Ukraine and is engaged in social issues. In 1987, the writer initiated the creation of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation. In 1990, he quit the Communist Party.
After the collapse of the USSR, the elderly author was already actively engaged in political and social activities, and the writer - much less. During these years he published a book of essays, where he expressed his opinion about the future of his homeland - “What we live with. On the path of the Ukrainian revival. ”
In 1995, Oles Gonchar died. Six years later, a monument to Gonchar was unveiled in Kiev. In 2005, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine. Streets in six major cities of Ukraine, one park, four libraries, a university and several schools are named after the writer. Three literary prizes, as well as four state academic scholarships, are named after Oles Gonchar. In addition, with. Sukhoi, where the writer spent his early childhood, is his museum.
Oles Gonchar is a writer of great talent, his contribution to the literature of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries is truly invaluable. However, due to changes in public life, many of his works are no longer as relevant as at the time of their publication. In any case, reading the books of this author is not only to get acquainted with the life of ordinary people during the Great Patriotic War, as well as the post-war period, but also just to enjoy the unsurpassed talent of the writer.