François Anatole Thibaut. Anatole France - biography, information, personal life

Under the literary pseudonym Anatole France, the French writer Anatole Francois Thibaut worked. He is known not only as an author of works of art, a Nobel Prize winner in literature, but also as a literary critic, a member of the French Academy. Born April 16, 1844 in the French capital. His father was a bookseller, a second-hand book dealer, and people who were widely known in the literary environment often visited their house. Anatole studied at the Jesuit college, located in the same place, in Paris, and his studies did not arouse the slightest enthusiasm from him. The result was the repeated passing of the final exams. As a result, the college was completed only in 1866.

After graduation, Anatole got a job at the publishing house of A. Lemerre as a bibliographer. In the same period of his biography, there was a rapprochement with the Parnassus literary school, at the same time the first works appeared - the poetic collection Golden Poems (1873), the dramatic poem Corinthian Wedding (1876). They demonstrated that Frans is not a talented poet, but he lacks originality.

In the years Franco-Prussian War, having served for some time in the army, Anatole France was demobilized, after which he continued to improve his skills in the literary field, periodically doing editorial work. In 1875 he became an employee of the Parisian newspaper Vremya. Here, having declared himself as a capable reporter and journalist, he successfully completed an order for writing critical articles about contemporary writers. In 1876, Frans becomes the leading literary critic in the editorial office and receives a personal heading “ literary life". In the same year, he was offered the post of deputy director of the library of the French Senate. He worked in this position for 14 years, and the work did not deprive him of the opportunity to continue to actively engage in writing.

Anatoliy Francis became famous for the novels Jocasta and The Skinny Cat published in 1879, and especially for the satirical novel The Crime of Sylvester Bonnard (1881). The work was awarded the French Academy Prize. Subsequently published novels "Thais", "Queen's Tavern Goose Paws", "The Judgments of Mr. Jerome Coignard", "The Red Line", a collection of articles about the classics of national literature, collections of short stories and aphorisms strengthened his reputation as a talented artist of the word and publicist. In 1896, A. France was elected to the French Academy, after which the publication of the sharply satirical "Modern History" began, which continued until 1901.

Intensively engaged in literature, Anatole France did not cease to be interested in public life. In the early 1900s there was a rapprochement with the socialists. In 1904-1905. the novel "On the White Stone" with a socio-philosophical content is published, in 1904 the book "The Church and the Republic" is published. The Russian Revolution of 1905-1907 made a great impression on the writer, which immediately affected his work, which emphasizes journalism. In February 1905, Frans created and headed the "Society of Friends of the Russian People and Peoples Affiliated to It." The journalism of this period was included in a collection of essays called Better Times, published in 1906.

The defeat of the Russian revolution evoked an equally strong response in the writer's soul, and the theme of revolutionary transformations turned into one of the most important in his work. During this period of biography, the novels “Penguin Island”, “The Gods Are Thirsty”, “Rise of the Angels”, a collection of short stories “The Seven Wives of Bluebeard” were published, in 1915 the book “On a Glorious Path” was published, imbued with a patriotic spirit, which was connected with the outbreak of the First World War. However, a year later, France turned into an opponent of militarism and a pacifist.

The October Revolution in Russia was perceived by him with great enthusiasm; he approved the creation in the early 20s. in his homeland of the Communist Party. By this time, the name of Anatoly France is known all over the world, he is considered the most authoritative writer and cultural figure in his country. For merits in the field of literature in 1921 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, and he sent these funds to Russia to help the starving. His Parisian villa was always open to aspiring writers who came to visit him even from abroad. Anatole France died in 1924, on October 12, not far from Tours, in Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire.

Anatole France
Anatole France
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Name at birth:	François Anatole Thibault
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Biography

Anatole France's father was the owner of a bookstore that specialized in literature on the history of the French Revolution. Anatole France hardly graduated from the Jesuit College, where he studied extremely reluctantly, and, having failed several times in the final exams, passed them only at the age of 20.

Since 1866, Anatole France was forced to earn a living himself, and began his career as a bibliographer. Gradually, he gets acquainted with the literary life of that time, and becomes one of the prominent participants in the Parnassian school.

Anatole France died in 1924. After his death, his brain was examined by French anatomists, who, in particular, found that his mass was 1017 g. He was buried in the cemetery in Neuilly-sur-Seine.

Social activity

In 1898, Frans took the most active part in the Dreyfus affair. Influenced by Marcel Proust, France was the first to sign Émile Zola's famous manifesto letter.

From that time on, Frans became a prominent figure in the reformist, and later the socialist camp, took part in the organization of public universities, lectured to workers, and participated in rallies organized by leftist forces. France becomes a close friend of the socialist leader Jean Jaurès and a literary master of the French Socialist Party.

Creation

Early work

The novel that brought him fame, "The Crime of Sylvester Bonnard" (fr.)Russian, published in 1881, is a satire that favors frivolity and kindness over harsh virtue.

In subsequent novels and stories by Frans, with great erudition and subtle psychological instinct, the spirit of different historical eras. "Queen Crow's Feet Tavern" (fr.)Russian(1893) - a satirical story in the taste of the 18th century, with the original central figure of Abbé Jerome Coignard: he is pious, but leads a sinful life and justifies his "falls" by the fact that they strengthen the spirit of humility in him. The same Abbé France deduces in Les Opinions de Jérôme Coignard (1893) in Les Opinions de Jérôme Coignard.

In a number of stories, in particular, in the collection "Mother-of-Pearl Casket" (fr.)Russian(1892), Frans discovers a vivid fantasy; his favorite topic is the juxtaposition of pagan and Christian worldviews in stories from the first centuries of Christianity or the early Renaissance. The best examples of this kind are "Saint Satyr". In this he had a certain influence on Dmitry Merezhkovsky. Roman "Tais" (fr.)Russian(1890) - the story of a famous ancient courtesan who became a saint - written in the same spirit of a mixture of Epicureanism and Christian charity.

Characteristics of the worldview from the encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

Frans is a philosopher and poet. His worldview is reduced to refined epicureanism. He is the sharpest of the French critics of modern reality, without any sentimentality revealing the weaknesses and moral falls of human nature, the imperfection and ugliness of social life, morals, relations between people; but in his criticism he introduces a special reconciliation, philosophical contemplation and serenity, a warming feeling of love for weak humanity. He does not judge or moralize, but only penetrates into the meaning of negative phenomena. This combination of irony with love for people, with an artistic understanding of beauty in all manifestations of life, is a characteristic feature of Frans' works. The humor of Frans lies in the fact that his hero applies the same method to the study of the most heterogeneous phenomena. The same historical criterion by which he judges events in ancient Egypt serves him to judge the Dreyfus case and its impact on society; the same analytical method with which he proceeds to abstract scientific questions helps him explain the act of his wife who cheated on him and, having understood it, calmly leave, without judging, but not forgiving either.

Quotes

"Religions, like chameleons, take on the color of the soil on which they live."

"There is no magic stronger than the magic of the word."

Compositions

Modern History (L'Histoire contemporaine)

• Under the city elms (L'Orme du mail, 1897).
• Willow mannequin (Le Mannequin d'osier, 1897).
• Amethyst ring (L'Anneau d'améthyste, 1899).
• Mr. Bergeret in Paris (Monsieur Bergeret à Paris, 1901).

Autobiographical cycle

• My friend's book (Le Livre de mon ami, 1885).
• Pierre Nozière (1899).
• Little Pierre (Le Petit Pierre, 1918).
• Life in Bloom (La Vie en fleur, 1922).

Novels

• Jocasta (Jocaste, 1879).
• "Skinny Cat" (Le Chat maigre, 1879).
• Crime of Sylvester Bonnard (Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard, 1881).
• Passion of Jean Servien (Les Désirs de Jean Servien, 1882).
• Count Abel (Abeille, conte, 1883).
• Thais (Thais, 1890).
• Tavern of Queen Goose Feet (La Rôtisserie de la reine Pédauque, 1892).
• Jérôme Coignard's judgments (Les Opinions de Jérôme Coignard, 1893).
• Red lily (Le Lys rouge, 1894).
• Epicurus Garden (Le Jardin d'Épicure, 1895).
• Theatrical History (Histoires comiques, 1903).
• On a white stone (Sur la pierre blanche, 1905).
• Penguin Island (L'Île des Pingouins, 1908).
• The Gods Thirst (Les dieux ont soif, 1912).
• Rise of the Angels (La Révolte des anges, 1914).

Novels collections

• Balthasar (Balthasar, 1889).
• Mother-of-pearl casket (L'Étui de nacre, 1892).
• Well of St. Clare (Le Puits de Sainte Claire, 1895).
• Clio (Clio, 1900).
• Procurator of Judea (Le Procurateur de Judée, 1902).
• Crainquebille, Putois, Riquet and many other useful stories (L'Affaire Crainquebille, 1901).
• The Stories of Jacques Tournebroche (Les Contes de Jacques Tournebroche, 1908).
• The Seven Wives of Bluebeard (Les Sept Femmes de Barbe bleue et autres contes merveilleux, 1909).

Dramaturgy

• What the hell is not kidding (Au petit bonheur, un acte, 1898).
• Crainquebille (pièce, 1903).
• Willow mannequin (Le Mannequin d'osier, comédie, 1908).
• A comedy about a man who married a mute (La Comédie de celui qui épousa une femme muette, deux actes, 1908).

Essay

• Life of Joan of Arc (Vie de Jeanne d'Arc, 1908).
• Literary life (Critique littéraire).
• Latin genius (Le Génie latin, 1913).

Poetry

• Golden Poems (Poèmes dorés, 1873).
• Corinthian wedding (Les Noces corinthiennes, 1876).

Publication of works in Russian translation

• France A. Collected Works in eight volumes. - M .: State publishing house of fiction, 1957-1960.
• France A. Collected works in four volumes. - M .: Fiction, 1983-1984.

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Notes

Literature

• Likhodzievskiy S.I. Anatole France [Text]: Essay on creativity. Tashkent: Goslitizdat UzSSR, 1962. - 419 p.

Links

• - A selection of articles by A. V. Lunacharsky
• Trykov V.P.. Electronic Encyclopedia "Modern French Literature" (2011). Retrieved December 12, 2011. .

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An excerpt characterizing Frans, Anatole

Stella "frozen" stood in a stupor, unable to make even the slightest movement, and with rounded eyes, like large saucers, she observed this incredible beauty that unexpectedly fell from somewhere ...
Suddenly, the air around us shook violently, and a luminous being appeared right in front of us. It was very similar to my old "crowned" star friend, but it was clearly someone else. After recovering from the shock and taking a closer look at him, I realized that he did not look like my old friends at all. It’s just that the first impression “fixed” the same hoop on the forehead and similar power, but otherwise there was nothing in common between them. All the "guests" that had come to see me before had been tall, but this being was very tall, probably somewhere around a full five meters. His strange glittering clothes (if they could be called that) fluttered all the time, scattering sparkling crystal tails behind him, although not the slightest breeze was felt around him. Long, silver hair shone with a strange lunar halo, creating the impression of "eternal cold" around his head ... And his eyes were such that it would never be better to look at them! .. Before I saw them, even in the wildest fantasy it was impossible imagine such eyes!.. They were incredibly bright pink and sparkled with a thousand diamond stars, as if lit up every time he looked at someone. It was completely unusual and breathtakingly beautiful ...
It smelled of a mysterious distant Cosmos and something else that my little childish brain was not yet able to comprehend ...
The creature raised its hand with its palm turned to us and mentally said:
- I'm Eli. You are not ready to come - come back ...
Naturally, I was immediately wildly interested in who it was, and I really wanted to somehow keep him at least for a short time.
- Not ready for what? I asked as calmly as I could.
- Come back home. he answered.
From him emanated (as it seemed to me then) incredible power and at the same time some strange deep warmth of loneliness. I wished he never left, and suddenly I felt so sad that tears welled up in my eyes...
“You will return,” he said, as if answering my sad thoughts. - Only it won't be soon... And now leave.
The glow around him grew brighter... and much to my chagrin, he disappeared...
The sparkling huge “spiral” continued to shine for some time, and then it began to crumble and completely melted, leaving behind only deep night.
Stella finally “woke up” from the shock, and everything around her immediately shone with a cheerful light, surrounding us with bizarre flowers and colorful birds, which her amazing imagination hurried to create as soon as possible, apparently wanting to get rid of the oppressive impression of eternity that had fallen on us as soon as possible.
“Do you think it’s me…?” Still unable to believe what had happened, I whispered dumbfounded.
- Of course! - the little girl chirped again in a cheerful voice. “That's what you wanted, right? It is so huge and scary, though very beautiful. I would never live there! – with full confidence declared she.
And I could not forget that incredibly huge and so attractively majestic beauty, which, now I knew for sure, would forever become my dream, and the desire to return there someday would haunt me for many, many years, until, one fine day, I will not finally find my real, lost HOME ...
- Why are you sad? You've done so well! Stella exclaimed in surprise. Do you want me to show you something else?
She conspiratorially wrinkled her nose, which made her look like a cute, funny little monkey.
And again everything turned upside down, "landing" us in some crazy-bright "parrot" world ... in which thousands of birds screamed wildly and this abnormal cacophony made our heads spin.
- Ouch! - Stella laughed loudly, - not so!
And immediately there was a pleasant silence ... We were "naughty" together for a long time, now alternately creating funny, funny, fairy-tale worlds, which really turned out to be quite easy. I couldn't tear myself away from all this. unearthly beauty and from the crystal-clear, amazing girl Stella, who carried a warm and joyful light in herself, and with whom I sincerely wanted to stay close forever ...
But real life, unfortunately, called back to “fall to the Earth” and I had to say goodbye, not knowing if I would ever be able to see it again at least for a moment.
Stella looked with her large, round eyes, as if wanting and not daring to ask something ... Then I decided to help her:
- Do you want me to come again? – I asked with hidden hope.
Her funny face again shone with all shades of joy:
"Are you really coming?" she squeaked happily.
“Really, really, I’ll come ...” I firmly promised ...

Overwhelmed with everyday worries, days turned into weeks, and I still could not find free time to visit my cute little girlfriend. I thought about her almost every day and swore to myself that tomorrow I would definitely find time to at least a couple of hours "take my soul" with this wonderful bright little man ... And also one more, very strange thought did not give me peace - very I wanted to introduce Stella's grandmother to her no less interesting and unusual grandmother... For some inexplicable reason, I was sure that both these wonderful women would certainly find something to talk about...
So, finally, one fine day, I suddenly decided that it was enough to put off everything “for tomorrow” and, although I was not at all sure that Stella’s grandmother would be there today, I decided that it would be wonderful if today I finally visit my new girlfriend, well, and if you're lucky, then I'll introduce our dear grandmothers to each other.
Some strange force was literally pushing me out of the house, as if someone from afar was very gently and, at the same time, very persistently calling me mentally.
I quietly approached my grandmother and, as usual, began to spin around her, trying to think of a better way to present all this to her.
- Well, let's go or something? .. - Grandma asked calmly.
I stared at her dumbfounded, not understanding how she could know that I was going somewhere at all ?!.
Grandmother smiled slyly and, as if nothing had happened, asked:
“What, don’t you want to walk with me?”
In my soul, indignant at such an unceremonious intrusion into my “private mental world,” I decided to “test” my grandmother.
- Well, of course I want to! I exclaimed happily, and without saying where we were going, I headed for the door.
- Take a sweater, we'll be back late - it will be cool! Grandmother shouted after her.
I couldn't stand it any longer...
"And how do you know where we're going?" – ruffled like a frozen sparrow, I grumbled offendedly.
So everything is written on your face, - grandmother smiled.
Of course, this was not written on my face, but I would give a lot to find out how she always knew everything so confidently when it came to me?
A few minutes later we were already stomping together towards the forest, enthusiastically chatting about the most diverse and incredible stories, which she, of course, knew much more than I did, and this was one of the reasons why I loved walking with her so much.
We were just the two of us, and there was no need to be afraid that someone would overhear and someone might not like what we were talking about.
Grandmother very easily accepted all my oddities, and was never afraid of anything; and sometimes, if she saw that I was completely “lost” in something, she gave me advice that helped me get out of this or that undesirable situation, but most often she simply watched how I react to life difficulties that have already become permanent, without the end that came across on my "spiky" path. AT recent times it began to seem to me that my grandmother was just waiting for something new to come across to see if I had matured at least a heel, or if I was still “boiling” in my “happy childhood”, not wanting to get out of a short baby shirt. But even for her “cruel” behavior, I loved her very much and tried to use every convenient moment to spend time together with her as often as possible.
The forest greeted us with the friendly rustle of golden autumn foliage. The weather was excellent, and one could hope that my new acquaintance, by "lucky chance", would also be there.
I picked a small bouquet of some modest autumn flowers that still remained, and a few minutes later we were already near the cemetery, at the gates of which ... the same miniature sweet old woman was sitting in the same place ...
“And I thought I couldn’t wait for you!” she happily greeted.
I literally “jaw dropped” from such a surprise, and at that moment I apparently looked rather stupid, as the old woman, laughing merrily, came up to us and gently patted my cheek.
- Well, you go, dear, Stella has already been waiting for you. And we'll sit here for a while...
I didn’t even have time to ask how I would get to the same Stella, as everything disappeared somewhere again, and I found myself in the already familiar, sparkling and iridescent world of exuberant Stella’s fantasy, and, without having time to look around better, immediately heard an enthusiastic voice:
“Oh, it’s good that you came! And I was waiting, waiting!
The girl flew up to me like a whirlwind and slapped me right on my hands... a little red "dragon"... I recoiled in surprise, but immediately laughed merrily, because it was the most amusing and funny creature in the world!...
The "dragon", if you can call it that, bulged its tender pink belly and hissed at me menacingly, apparently hoping to scare me in this way. But, when he saw that no one was going to be scared here, he calmly sat on my lap and began to snore peacefully, showing how good he is and how much you need to love him ...
I asked Stela what his name is and how long ago she created it.
Oh, I haven't even thought of a name yet! And he showed up right now! Do you really like him? the girl chirped cheerfully, and I felt that she was pleased to see me again.
- This is for you! she suddenly said. He will live with you.
The little dragon stretched out its spiky muzzle funny, apparently deciding to see if I had something interesting ... And suddenly licked me right on the nose! Stella squealed with delight and was obviously very pleased with her work.
“Well, okay,” I agreed, “as long as I'm here, he can be with me.
"Won't you take him with you?" Stella was surprised.
And then I realized that she, apparently, does not know at all that we are “different”, and that we no longer live in the same world. Most likely, the grandmother, in order to feel sorry for her, did not tell the girl the whole truth, and she sincerely thought that this was exactly the same world in which she had lived before, with the only difference being that now she could still create her world herself .. .
I knew for sure that I didn't want to be the one to tell this trusting little girl what her life is really like today. She was satisfied and happy in this "her" fantastic reality, and I mentally swore to myself that I would never and never be the one who destroys this reality of hers. fairy world. I just couldn’t understand how my grandmother explained the sudden disappearance of her entire family and, in general, everything in which she now lived? ..
“You see,” I said with a slight hesitation, smiling, “where I live, dragons are not very popular ....
So no one will see him! the little girl chirped cheerfully.
It was like a mountain off my shoulders! .. I hated to lie or get out, and especially in front of such a clean little man as Stella was. It turned out that she perfectly understood everything and somehow managed to combine the joy of creation and sadness from the loss of her relatives.
“I finally found a friend here!” the little girl declared triumphantly.
- Oh, well? .. Will you ever introduce me to him? I was surprised.
She nodded her fluffy red head amusingly and slyly narrowed her eyes.
- Do you want it right now? - I felt that she was literally "fidgeting" in place, unable to contain her impatience any longer.
“Are you sure he wants to come?” I got worried.
Not because I was afraid of someone or embarrassed, I just didn’t have the habit of disturbing people without a particularly important reason, and I wasn’t sure that right now this reason was serious ... But Stella was apparently in this I am absolutely sure, because literally in a fraction of a second a person appeared next to us.
He was a very sad knight... Yes, yes, exactly a knight!.. And I was very surprised that even in this "other" world, where he could "put on" any energy parted with his severe knightly appearance, in which he apparently still remembered himself very well ... And for some reason I thought that he must have had some very serious reasons for this, even if after so many years he did not want to part with this appearance.

Chapter V

ANATELE FRANCE: THE POETRY OF THOUGHT

At dawn literary activity: poet and critic. — Early novels: the birth of a prose writer. - At the turn of the century: from Coignard to Bergeret. — At the beginning of the century: new horizons. - "Penguin Island": history in the mirror of satire, - Late France: the autumn of the patriarch. - France's poetics: "the art of thinking."

Literature arrogantly detached from the people is like a plant uprooted. The heart of the people is where poetry and art must draw strength in order to turn green and bloom without fail, It is for them a source of living water.

The work of the "most French writer" Anatole France has deep roots in national culture and tradition. The writer lived 80 years, witnessed the fateful events in national history. For six decades he intensively created and left a vast legacy: novels, short stories, historical and philosophical writings, essays, criticism, journalism. An intellectual writer, erudite, philosopher and historian, he sought to climb the breath of time in his books. Frans was convinced that masterpieces "are born under the pressure of inexorable inevitability", that the writer's word is "an action whose strength is generated by circumstances", that the value of a work is "& in its relationship with life."

At the dawn of literary activity: poet and critic

Early years. Anatole France (Anatole France, 1844-1924) was born in 1844 in the family of the bookseller Francois Thibaut. In his youth, his father worked as a laborer on a farm, but then he made his way into the people and moved to the capital. From a very young age, being in the world of ancient folios, the future writer became a book reader. Frans helped his father compile catalogs, bibliographic reference books, which allowed him to constantly replenish his knowledge in the field of history, philosophy, religion, art and literature. Everything he learned was subjected to critical evaluation by his analytical mind.

His "universities" were books. They awakened in him a craving for writing. And although the father opposed his son to choose the literary path, Frans' desire to write became a vital need. As a sign of gratitude to his father, he signs his publications with the pseudonym France, taking his abbreviated name.

Frans' mother, a religious woman, sent him to a Catholic school, and then to a lyceum, where, at the age of 15, Frans received an award for an essay that reflected his historical and literary interests - The Legend of St. Rodagund.

The origins of creativity. The work of Frans grew out of deep artistic and philosophical traditions his country. He continued the satirical line presented in the literature of the Renaissance by Rabelais, and in the literature of the Enlightenment by Voltaire. Among the idols of France were also Byron and Hugo. Of the modern thinkers, Francis was close to Auguste Renan, who advocated the union of science and religion (the book "The Life of Jesus"), for "God in the Soul", showed skepticism in relation to common truths. Like the Enlighteners, Frans condemned all forms of dogmatism and fanaticism and valued the "teaching" mission in literature. In his works, clashes of different points of view are often presented, and one of the main actors the human intellect is capable of exposing lies and discovering the truth.

Poet. Frans made his debut as a poet4 close to the Parnassus group, which included Anatole France, Lecomte de Lisle, Charles Baudelaire, Theophile Gauthier, and others. One of France's early poems to the Poet is dedicated to the memory of Theophile Gautier. Like all "Parnassians", France bows before the "divine word", "embracing the world", glorifies the high mission of the poet:

Adam saw everything, he named everything in Mesopotamia,
So should the poet, and in the mirror of poetry
The world will become forever, immortal, fresh and new!
Happy master of vision and speech! (translated by V. Dynnik)

The collection of Frans “Gilded Poems” (1873) contains more than thirty poems, many of which relate to landscape lyrics (“Seascape”, “Trees”, “Abandoned Oak”, etc.) His poems are distinguished by the sharpness of form characteristic of the aesthetics of the Parnassians, static images that carry a bookish or historical-mythological coloring. A significant role in the work of the young Frans, as well as among the “Parnassians” in general, is played by ancient images and motifs. This is evidenced by his dramatic poem "The Corinthian Wedding" (1876).

Critic. Frans gave brilliant examples of literary criticism. Erudition, combined with a fine literary taste, determined the importance of his critical writings on both the history of literature and the current literary process.

From 1886 to 1893, Frans headed the critical department in the newspaper "Tan" and at the same time appeared on the pages of other periodicals. His critical publications of tech-letes made up the four-volume Literary Life (1888-1892).

The work of a journalist was reflected in his writing style. Frans was constantly at the center of literary, philosophical discussions and political problems of the end of the century, this determined the ideological richness and polemical orientation of many of his works of art.

Frans was one of the first French critics to write about Russian literature. In an article about Turgenev (1877), whose work Frans greatly appreciated, he said that the writer “remained a poet” even in prose. Frans' rationalism did not prevent him from admiring Turgenev's "poetic realism", opposing the "ugliness" of naturalism and the barrenness of those writers who are not saturated with the "juices of the earth".

An important role in the formation of France's aesthetics was played by the example of Tolstoy. in speech, dedicated to memory Russian writer (1911), he said: “Tolstoy is great lesson. With his life he proclaims sincerity, directness, purposefulness, firmness, calm and constant heroism, he teaches that one must be truthful and one must be strong.

Early Novels: The Birth of the Novelist

"The Crime of Sylvester Bonard". From the end of the 1870s, Frans began to write fiction, without stopping to engage in criticism and journalism. He became widely known for his first novel, The Crime of Sylvester Bonard (1881). Sylvester Bonard is a typical François hero: a humanitarian scholar, a bit of an eccentric scribe, a kind man, detached from practical life, he is spiritually close to the writer. A lonely dreamer, an old bachelor doing "pure" science, he seems strange when he leaves his office and comes into contact with prosaic reality.

The novel consists of two parts. The first describes the history of the search for and acquisition by the hero of an old manuscript of the lives of the saints " golden legend". The second part tells about the relationship of the hero to Jeanne, the granddaughter of Clementine, a woman whom Bonar unrequitedly loved. Jeanne's guardians, wanting to take advantage of her inheritance, identified the girl in the boarding house Bonar, moved by compassion, helps Jeanne to escape, after which the scientist is also accused of a serious crime - the kidnapping of a minor.

France appears in the novel as a satirist, exposing the soullessness and hypocrisy of society. Frans's favorite method of paradox is revealed when correlating the title of the novel with the content: Bonard's noble deed is regarded as a crime.

The novel was awarded an Academy Award. Criticism, wrote that France managed to make Bonar "full of life image, growing into a symbol."

"Thais": a philosophical novel. In the new novel "Thais" (1890), the writer plunged into the atmosphere of the first centuries of Christianity. The novel continued the theme of Frans' early poem "The Corinthian Wedding", which asserted the incompatibility of religious fanaticism with love, a sensually joyful perception of being.

"Thais" is defined by Frans himself as " philosophical tale". At its center is the clash of two ideologies, two civilizations: Christian and pagan.

The dramatic story of the relationship between the religious fanatic Paphnutius and the seductive courtesan Thais unfolds against the richly written cultural and historical background of Alexandria in the 4th century. It was the time when paganism, faced with Christianity, was also leaving the past. In terms of the mastery of reproducing historical color, France is worthy of comparison with Flaubert, the author of the novels "Salambo" and "The Temptation of St. Anthony."

The novel is built on contrast. On the one hand, before us is Alexandria - a magnificent ancient city with palaces, pools, mass spectacles, imbued with pagan sensuality. On the other hand, the desert, the sketes of Christian monks, the refuge of religious fanatics and ascetics. Paphnutius, the abbot of the monastery, is famous among them. He longs to accomplish a charitable deed - to direct a beautiful courtesan on the path of Christian piety. Thais is a dancer and actress whose performances cause a sensation in Alexandria and plunge men at her feet. Paphnutius, by the power of his passionate conviction, induces Thais to renounce vice and sin in order to gain the highest bliss in the service of the Christian God. The monk takes Thais out of the city to a nunnery, where she indulges in merciless mortification of the flesh. Paphnutius, on the other hand, falls into a trap: he is powerless before the carnal attraction to Thais that has seized him. The image of the beauty does not leave the hermit, and Pafnuty comes to her, begging for love at the moment when Tale lies on her deathbed. Thais no longer hears the words of Paphnutius. The distorted face of the monk causes horror in those around him, shouts are heard: “Vampire! Vampire!" The hero can only execute himself. The ascetic doctrine of Paphnutius, opposed to the true, living reality, suffers a severe defeat.

Notable in the romance is the figure of the philosopher Nikias, who acts as an observer. Nicias proclaims philosophical ideas and the ethics of "divine sin" of Epicurus. For the relativist and skeptic Nikias, everything in the world is relative, including religious beliefs, if we evaluate them from the position of eternity. A person strives for happiness, which everyone understands in their own way.

In Thais, the most important element of Frans' artistic system is formed - the reception of dialogue as a philosophical and journalistic genre. The tradition of philosophical dialogue, dating back to Plato, was further developed by Lucian, is widely represented in the French Literature XVII- XVIII centuries: B. Pascal ("Letters to the Provincial"), F. Fenelon ("Dialogues of the Ancient and New Dead"), D. Diderot ("Rano's Nephew"). The method of dialogue made it possible to visually identify the points of view of the characters involved in the ideological dispute.

Based on "Thais", the opera of the same name by J. Massenet was created, and the novel itself was translated into many languages.

At the turn of the century: from Coignard to Bergeret

The last decades of the 19th century were full of acute socio-political struggle, France was at the center of events. The evolution of Frans the ideologist is reflected in his work: his hero begins to show great social activity.

Dilogy about the abbe Coignard. An important milestone in the work of Frans were two novels about the abbe Jerome Coignard "The Tavern of Queen Goose Feet" (1893) and, as it were, continuing his book, "The Judgments of Mr. Jerome Coignard" (1894), which collected Coignard's statements on a variety of issues - social, philosophical, ethical. These two books form a kind of duology. The adventure plot of "The Tavern of Queen Goosepaws" becomes the core on which the philosophical content is strung - the statements of Abbé Coignard.

A frequenter of the village tavern, Jerome Coignard is a philosopher, a wandering theologian, deprived of his position due to addiction to the fair sex and wine. He is a man "obscure and poor", but endowed with a sharp and critical mind, Jerome Coignard is not young, he has tried many professions, he is a bookworm, a freethinker and a lover of life.

The novel "The Judgments of Mr. Jerome Coignard" is composed of a series of scenes, dialogues in which the most lengthy and convincing statements belong to the protagonist. The image of Coignard, his ideological position give unity to this collection of episodes that are not united by the plot. M. Gorky wrote that everything that Coignard talked about "turned to dust" - so "strong were the blows of Frans' logic on the thick and rough skin of walking truths." Here France acted as a successor to the traditions of Flaubert, the creator of the ironic Lexicon of common truths. The caustic assessments of the French realities of the 18th century given by Coignard turned out to be largely relevant for France at the end of the 19th century. The novel contains allusions to the predatory colonial wars waged by France in North Africa, to the shameful Panamanian scam, to the attempted monarchist coup by General Boulanger in 1889. The text contains Coignard's caustic judgments about militarism, false patriotism, religious intolerance, corrupt officials, unfair trial punishing the poor and covering the rich.

At the time when these novels were being created, in France, in connection with the centenary of the French Revolution (1889), there were heated discussions about the problems of reorganizing society. The French hero does not pass by these questions either, about whom it is said that he "most diverged in his principles from the principles of the Revolution." “The madness of the revolution lies in the fact that it wanted to establish virtue on earth,” Coignard is sure. “And when people want to be made kind, intelligent, free, moderate, generous, they inevitably come to the conclusion that they are eager to kill them all to one. Robespierre believed in virtue - and created terror. Marat believed in justice - and killed two hundred thousand heads. Isn't this paradoxical and ironic judgment of Frans also applicable to the totalitarianism of the 20th century?

"Modern History": The Third Republic in a Tetralogy. During the period of the Dreyfus affair, France becomes decisively on the side of those who opposed the impudent reaction, the chauvinists and anti-Semites who raised their heads. Although Frans had disagreements with Zola on aesthetic issues, and Frans called the novel "Land" "dirty", its author became for Frans an example of "modern: heroism", "bold frankness". After the forced departure of Zola to England, France began to show increased political activity, in particular, organized the League for the Protection of Human Rights.

The novel "Modern History" (1897-1901) is the largest work of Frans, it occupies important place in the creative evolution of the writer and his ideological and artistic quest.

What is new in the novel is, first of all, that, unlike the previous works of Frans, which take the reader into the distant past, here the writer plunges into the socio-political conflicts of the Third Republic.

france covers wide circle social phenomena: the life of a small provincial town, the air of Paris heated by politics, theological seminaries, high-society salons, “corridors of power”. The typology of French characters is rich: professors, clergymen, small and big politicians, demimonde lamas, liberals and monarchists. Passions boil in the novel) intrigues are woven and conspiracies are woven.

New was not only the life material, but also the way of its artistic embodiment. "Modern History" is the most significant work of Frans in terms of volume. Before us is a tetralogy, which includes the novels Under the City Elms (1897), The Willow Mannequin (1897), The Amethyst Ring (1899), Monsieur Bergeret in Paris (1901). Combining the novels into a cycle, France gave his narrative an epic scale; he continued national tradition combining works into one huge canvas (recall " human comedy» Balzac and «Rougon-Macquart» by Zola). Compared with Balzac and Zola France, Brad has a narrower time period - the last decade of the 19th century. The novels of the French cycle were written in hot pursuit of events. The relevance of "Modern History" allows us to see in the tetralogy, especially in the final part, the features of a political pamphlet. This applies, for example, to the description of the ups and downs associated with the "Case" (meaning the Dreyfus affair).

The adventurer Esterhazy, a traitor who was defended by the anti-Dreyfusards, appears in the novel under the name of the secular lion Papa. The figures of a number of participants in the "Case" are written off from specific politicians and ministers. In ongoing discussions, socio-political problems that worried Frans and his contemporaries emerge: the position in the army, the growth of aggressive nationalism, the venality of officials, etc.

The tetralogy involves a huge amount of life material, in connection with which the novels acquire cognitive significance. France uses a wide range of artistic means: irony, satire, grotesque, caricature; introduces elements of feuilleton, philosophical and ideological discussion into the novel. Frans brought fresh colors to the image central hero— Bergeret. A man of sharp critical thought, an erudite, he resembles Sylvester Bonard and Jerome Coignard. But unlike them, he is just an observer. Bergeret is undergoing evolution under the influence of events not only of a personal, but also of a political nature. Thus, in the French hero, a transition from thought to action is planned.

In the depiction of the image of Bergeret, there is certainly an autobiographical element (in particular, the participation of Frans himself in public life in connection with the Dreyfus affair). Professor Lucien Bergeret is a teacher of Roman literature at a theological seminary, a philologist who has been conducting many years of research on such a rather narrow topic as Virgil's nautical vocabulary. For him, a man of insight and skeptical thinking, science is an outlet from the dull provincial life. His discussions with the rector of the seminary, Abbé Lanten, are devoted to historical-philological or theological questions, although they often concern the problems of the present. The first part of the tetralogy (“Under the Prod Elms”) serves as an exposition. It presents the alignment of forces in a provincial town, reflecting the general situation in the country. Important in many respects is the typical figure of the mayor of Worms-Clovlen, a clever politician who strives to please everyone and be in good standing in Paris.

The central episode of the second part of the tetralogy, "The Willow Mannequin" is an image of Bergeret's first decisive act, which until then had manifested itself only in statements.

Bergeret's wife, "grumpy and quarrelsome", irritated by her husband's impracticality, appears in the novel as the embodiment of militant philistinism. In Bergeret's cramped office, she places a willow mannequin for her dresses. This mannequin becomes a symbol of life's inconvenience. When Bergeret, who came home at an inopportune time, finds his wife in the arms of his student Jacques Roux, he breaks up with his wife and throws the hated mannequin into the yard.

In the third part of the tetralogy, "The Amethyst Ring" - a family scandal in the Bergeret house is obscured by more serious events.

After the death of the Bishop of Tourcoing, his place is vacant. For the possession of an amethyst ring, a symbol of episcopal power, a struggle flares up in the city. Although the most worthy candidate is Abbé Lantaigne, he is overtaken by the clever Jesuit Guitrel. The fate of vacancies is decided in the capital, in the ministry. The supporters of Guitrel “command” a certain courtesan there, who by intimate services pays for the adoption of the desired decision by the highest officials.

The almost grotesque story of Guitrel's acquisition of the episcopate; the ring allows the novelist to present the ins and outs of the mechanism of the state machine.

It exposes Frans and the technology of fabricating the "case", i.e., the Dreyfus affair. Officials from the military department, careerists and lazy, servile, envious and impudent, grossly falsified the “case”, “created the most vile and vile thing that can be done with pen and paper, and also demonstrating anger and stupidity.”

Bergeret moves to the capital (the novel "Mr. Bergeret in Paris"), where he was offered a chair at the Sorbonne. Here the satire of France develops into a pamphlet. It seems that he takes the reader to the theater of masks. Before us is a motley gallery of anti-Dreyfusards, duplicitous people who hide their true nature under the masks of aristocrats, financiers, high officials, bourgeois, military men.

In the finale, Bergeret becomes a staunch opponent of the anti-Dreyfusards, he seems to be France's alter ego. In response to the accusation that the Dreyfusards allegedly “shaken the national defense and lowered the prestige of the country abroad”, Bergeret proclaims the main thesis: “... The authorities persisted, patronizing the monstrous lawlessness, which swelled every day thanks to the lies that tried to cover it up” .

At the turn of the century: new horizons

At the beginning of the new century, France's skepticism and irony are combined with the search for positive values. Like Zola, France takes an interest in the socialist movement.

The writer who does not accept violence, who calls the Commune "a monstrous experiment", refers with approval to the possibility of achieving social justice, to the socialist doctrine, which answered "the instinctive aspirations of the masses."

In the last part of the tetralogy, an episodic figure of the socialist carpenter Rupar appears, into whose mouth Frans puts the following words: apple trees."

In the early 1900s, Frans' views become more radical. He joins the socialist party, is published in the socialist newspaper L'Humanite. The writer participates in the creation of people's universities, the purpose of which is to intellectually enrich the workers, to introduce them to literature and art. Frans responds to the revolutionary events of 1905 in Russia: he becomes an activist in the "Society of Friends of the Russian People", aligns himself with the Russian democracy fighting for freedom; condemns the arrest of Gorky.

Frans' journalism of the early 1900s, marked by radical moods, compiled a collection with a characteristic n-title - "To better times"(1906).

It was in the early 1900s that a vivid image of a worker appeared in the work of Frans - the hero of the story "Crainquebil" (1901)

Krenkebil ": fate" little man». This story is one of the few works by Frans, in the center of which is not an intellectual, but a commoner - a greengrocer, walking around the streets of the capital with a cart. He is chained to his cart, like a slave to a galley, and, being arrested, is primarily concerned with the fate of the cart. His life is so poor and wretched that even prison awakens positive emotions in him.

Before us is a satire not only on justice, but on the entire state system. Police officer number sixty-four, who unfairly arrested Crainquebille, is a cog in this system (the policeman thought the greengrocer had insulted him). Chief Justice Burrish rules against Krenquebille against the facts because "police number sixty-four is the representative state power". Least of all does the court serve the law, wrapping its verdict in vaguely pompous words, incomprehensible to the unfortunate Crainquebil, who is overwhelmed by the pomposity of the trial.

A stay in prison, albeit a short one, breaks the fate of the “little man”. Krenkebil, released from prison, becomes a suspicious person in the eyes of her clients. His affairs are getting worse and worse. He goes down. The ending of the story is bittersweet. Krenkebil dreams of returning to a prison where it was warm, clean and fed regularly. This is seen by the hero as the only way out of the distress. But the policeman, to whom he throws the abusive elephant in the face, expecting to be arrested for this, only brushes off Crainquebil,

In this story, France threw his message to society: "I accuse!" The words of L. N. Tolstoy, who appreciated the French writer, are known: “Anatole France captivated me with his Krenquebille.” Tolstoy made a translation of the story for his Reading Circle series addressed to the peasants.

"On a white stone": a journey into the future. At the beginning of the new century, in an atmosphere of growing interest in socialist theories, there was a need to look into the future, to predict trends social development. Anltol France also paid tribute to these sentiments by writing the utopian novel On the White Stone (1904).

The novel is based on dialogue. A kind of "frame" of the novel is formed by the conversations of characters - participants in archaeological excavations in Italy. One of them is outraged by the vices of modernity: these are colonial wars, the cult of profit, the incitement of chauvinism and national hatred, contempt for the "lower races", human life itself.
In the novel there is an insert story "Gate of horn, go Gate of ivory."
The hero of the short story ended up in 2270, when people "are no longer barbarians", but have not yet become "wise men". The power belongs to the proletariat, in life "there is more light and beauty than it was before, in the life of the bourgeoisie." Everyone is working, the depressing social contrasts of the past have been eliminated. However, the finally achieved equality is more like “equalizing”. People are unified, they do not have surnames, but only names, they wear almost the same clothes, their dwellings of the same type resemble geometric cubes. Frans, with his perspicacity, understands that the attainment of perfection both in society and in relations between people is nothing more than an illusion. “Human nature,” says one of the heroes, “is alien to the feeling of perfect happiness. It cannot be easy, and strenuous effort does not happen without fatigue and pain.

"Penguin Island": history in the mirror of satire

The decline of the social movement in the second half of the 1900s, after the end of the Dreyfus Affair, led Frans to become disillusioned with radical ideas and politics as such. The year 1908 was marked for the writer by the publication of two of his works, polar in tone and style. They were new evidence of how wide the creative range of Anatoly France was. At the beginning of 1908, a two-volume work by Frans, dedicated to Joan of Arc, was published.

In world history, there are great, iconic figures who become heroes of fiction and art. These are Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Peter I, Napoleon and others. Among them is Joan of Arc, who has become a national myth of France. There is a lot of mysterious, almost miraculous in her fate. national pride but also the object of heated ideological discussions.

In the two-volume "Life of Joan of Arc" Frans acts as a writer and as a learned historian. Frans based his work on a whole layer of carefully studied documents. Combining sober analysis with "critical imagination", the writer sought to clear the image of Joan different kind conjectures, legends, ideological layers. Frans' research was relevant and timely, as it opposed clerical propaganda and the explosion of "exalted patriotism", as well as the active use of the image of the "warrior maiden", which was presented in the spirit of "lives". The greatness of Jeanne France was defined by a certain formula: "When everyone thought about himself, she thought about everyone."

Rise and fall of the Penguin: a satirical allegory. Topical was the appeal of Frans to history in famous book"Penguin Island" (1908). In the history of world literature are known bright examples when allegory and fantasy acted as a means of creating works of great socio-historical scale. These are Gargantua and Pantagruel by Rabelais, Gulliver's Travels by Swift, and The History of a City by Saltykov-Shchedrin.

In the history of the Penguins, the stages of French national history are easily guessed, which France clears of myths and legends. And Frans writes wittily, cheerfully, giving free rein to violent imagination. In "Penguin Island" the writer uses many new techniques, immersing the reader in the element of comedy, grotesque, parody. The plot of the penguin story is ironic,

A blind-sighted priest, Saint Mael, takes the penguins that live on the island for people and baptizes the birds. Penguins gradually learn the norms of behavior, morals and value orientations of people: one penguin sinks its teeth into its defeated rival, the other "brains a woman's head with a huge stone." In a similar way they "create law, establish property, establish the foundations of civilization, the foundations of society, laws ..."

On the pages of the book devoted to the Middle Ages, Frans makes fun of all sorts of myths that glorify the feudal rulers who appear in the novel in the form of dragons; makes fun of legends about saints and laughs at churchmen. Speaking of the recent past, he does not spare even Napoleon; the latter is presented as the militarist Trinco. The episode of Dr. Obnubil's voyage to New Atlantis (which means the United States) and Gigantopolis (New York) is also significant.

The Case of the Eighty Thousand Bundles of Hay. In the sixth chapter, which has the title "Modern Times", Frans moves on to the events of the present - the Dreyfus case is reproduced, about which the novelist narrates in a satirical vein. The object of denunciation is the military and corrupt legal proceedings.

The Minister of War Gretok has long hated the Jew Piro (Dreyfus) and, having learned about the disappearance of eighty thousand armfuls of hay, concludes that Piro stole them in order to “sell them cheaply” not to anyone, but to the sworn enemies of the penguins, the dolphins. Gretok starts a lawsuit against Piro. There is no evidence, but the Minister of War orders them to be found, because "justice demands" that. “This process is simply a masterpiece,” says Gretok, “it was created from nothing.” The true kidnapper and thief, Lübeck de la Dacdulenx (in the case of Dreyfus - Esterhazy) is a count of a noble family, related to the Draconids themselves. In this regard, it should be whitewashed. The trial against Pyro is fabricated.

The novel reveals the contours of an almost Kafkaesque absurdity: obsequious and ubiquitous Gretok collects tons of waste paper around the world, called "evidence", but no one even unpacks these bales,

Colomban (Zola), "a short, short-sighted man with a gloomy face", "the author of one hundred and sixty volumes of penguin sociology" (the Ruton-Macquart cycle), the most industrious and respected of writers, comes to Piro's defense. The crowd begins to poison the noble Columbine. He finds himself in the dock, for he dared to encroach on the honor of the national army and the security of the Penguins.

In the future, another character invades the course of events, Bido-Koky, "the poorest and happiest of astronomers." Far from earthly affairs, completely absorbed in the problems of heavenly, starry landscapes, he descends from his observatory, equipped on an old water pump, to take the side of Colomban. In the image of an eccentric astronomer, some features of Frans himself appear.

"Penguin Island" testifies to the noticeable disappointment of Frans in the socialists, who declared themselves champions of "public justice". Their leaders - comrades Phoenix, Sapor and Larine (real faces are guessed behind them) - are just self-serving politicians.

The final, eighth book of the novel is titled A History Without End.

In Penguinia - a huge material progress, its capital - a gigantic city, and in which the power was in the hands of billionaires obsessed with hoarding. The population is split into two parties: trade and bank employees and industrial workers. The former receive solid salaries, while the latter are in need. Since the proletarians are powerless to change their fate, the anarchists intervene. Their attacks eventually lead to the destruction of the Pilgwin civilization. Then on its ruins is built new town who is destined for a similar fate. Frans' conclusion is gloomy: history moves in a circle, civilization, having reached its apogee, perishes in order to be reborn, repeating previous mistakes.

Late France: autumn of the patriarch

"The Gods Are Thirsty": Lessons from the Revolution. After "Penguin Island" begins a new period of creative search for Frans. The satirical fantasy about Penguinia is followed by the novel The Gods Are Thirsty (1912), written in the traditional realistic style. But both books are intrinsically linked. Thinking about character and driving forces history, France is coming close to a fateful milestone in the life of France - the revolution of 1789-1794.

"The Gods Thirst" is one of best novels France. A dynamic plot, free from congestion with ideological disputes, a vivid historical background, psychologically reliable characters of the main characters - all this makes the novel one of the most read works writer.

The novel takes place in 1794, during the last period of the Jacobin dictatorship. Main character- a young, talented artist Evariste Gamelin, Jacobin, devoted to the high ideals of the revolution, gifted, a painter, he strives to capture on his canvases the spirit of the times, the pathos of sacrifice, feats in the name of ideals. Gamelin depicts Orestes, the hero of the ancient drama, who, obeying the will of Apollo, kills his mother Clytemnestra, who took the life of his father. The gods forgive him this crime, but people do not, since Orestes by his own act renounced human nature, became inhuman.

Gamelin himself is an incorruptible and disinterested man. He is poor, forced to stand in lines for bread, and sincerely wants to help the poor. Gamelin is convinced that it is necessary to fight speculators, traitors, and there are many of them.

The Jacobins are merciless, and Gamelin, appointed as a member of the revolutionary tribunal, turns into an obsessed fanatic. Without much trial, death sentences are stamped. Innocent people go under the guillotine knife. The country is engulfed in an epidemic of suspicion, flooded with denunciations.

The principle "the end justifies the means" is expressed by one of the members of the Convention in the cynical formula: "For the happiness of the people, we will be like robbers from the highway." In an effort to eradicate the vices of the old regime, the Jacobins condemn "old men, young men, masters, servants." Not without horror, one of his inspirers talks about the "saving, holy terpope".

Frans' sympathies are given in the novel to the aristocrat Brotto, an intelligent and educated man, devastated by the revolution. It belongs to the same type as Bonard or Bergeret. A philosopher, an admirer of Lucretius, he does not part with his book On the Nature of Things even on the way to the guillotine. Brotto does not accept fanaticism, cruelty, hatred; he is benevolent to people, ready to come to their aid. He does not like clerics, but he provides a corner for the homeless monk Longmar in his closet. Upon learning of the appointment of Gamelin as a member of the tribunal, Brotto predicts: "He is virtuous - he will be terrible."

At the same time, for Frans, it is obvious that terror is not only the fault of the Jacobins, but also a sign of the immaturity of the people.

When the Thermidorian coup takes place in the summer of 1794, yesterday's judges who sent people to the guillotine suffer the same fate. Gamelin did not escape this fate.

At the end of the novel, Paris is shown in the winter of 1795: “equality before the law gave birth to a “kingdom of rogues”. Profiteers and speculators succeed. A bust of Marat was smashed, portraits of his killer Charlotte Corday are in vogue. Elodie; beloved Gamelin, quickly finds a new lover.

Today, Frans' book is perceived not only as a condemnation of the Jacobin terror, but also as a warning novel, a prophetic novel. It seems that Frans predicted the big terpop of the 1930s in Russia.

"Rise of the Angels" Frans returns to the theme of revolution in Rise of the Angels (1914). At the heart of the novel, which tells about the rebellion of angels against the god Jehovah, is the idea that the replacement of one ruler by another will not give anything, that violent revolutions are meaningless. Not only the management system is vicious, but the human race itself is in many respects imperfect, and therefore it is necessary to eradicate envy, lust for power that nest in the souls of people.

Last decade: 1914 - 1924. The novel "Rise of the Angels" was completed on the eve of the First World War. The disasters of the war stunned the writer. Frans was seized by the rise of patriotic feelings, and the writer published a collection of articles On the Glorious Path (1915), imbued with love for his native country and hatred for the German aggressors. He later admitted that he was at that time "in the grip of a contagious exaltation."

Gradually, France reconsiders his attitude to the war and moves to an anti-militarist position. About a writer who is politically active, the newspapers write: "In him we again find Monsieur Bergeret." He shares his solidarity with the Klarte group, headed by A. Barbusse. In 1919, Anatole France, as the leader of the French intellectuals, condemned the intervention of the Entente against Soviet Russia.

“A beautiful gray-bearded old man”, the master, a living legend, France, despite his years, surprises with energy. He expresses sympathy for the new Russia, writes that "light comes from the East", declares solidarity with the left socialists.

At the same time, in 1922, like many Western intellectuals, he protested against the trial of the Socialist-Revolutionaries, seeing in this the intolerance of the Bolsheviks to any opposition and dissent.

The work of Frans in recent years is a summing up. After a break of almost forty years, the writer returns to memoirs and autobiographical prose, which he began to work on back in the 1880s (The Book of My Friend, 1885; Pierre Nozieres, 1899). In the new books - "Little Pierre" (1919) and "Life in Bloom" (1922) - Frans recreates the world of childhood so dear to him.

He writes about his autobiographical hero: "I mentally enter his life, and it is a pleasure to reincarnate in a boy and a young man who have long been gone."

In 1921, A. Frans was awarded the Nobel Prize for "brilliant literary achievements, marked by sophistication of style, deeply suffered humanism and a truly Gallic temperament."

Frans managed to celebrate his 80th birthday. He was very worried about the painful and inexorable fading of strength. The writer died on October 12, 1924. He, like Hugo in his time, was given a national funeral.

Frans' poetics: "the art of thinking"

Intellectual prose. The genre range of Frans' prose is very wide, but his element is intellectual prose. Frans, developing the traditions of writers and philosophers of the 18th century, Diderot and especially Voltaire. A thinker with a capital letter, Frans, with his highest authority and education, was alien to snobbery. In terms of his artistic outlook and temperament, he was close to the enlighteners and persistently defended the thesis about the "educational" function of literature. Even at the beginning of his writing career, he was perceived as "an enlightened writer who absorbed the intellectual work of the century." Frans saw "forms of art in constant motion, in continuous becoming." He had sharp feeling history, sense of time, understanding of its requests and challenges.

Frans claimed "the art of thinking". He was fascinated by the poetry of knowledge of the world, the triumph of truth in a collision with false points of view. He believed that "the exquisite history of the human mind", its ability to debunk illusions and prejudices, could itself be the subject of artistic attention.

Impressionistic style. The writer himself, speaking about the structure of his works, used the expression "mosaic", since in them "politics and literature are mixed." While working on a work of art, Frans usually did not interrupt his collaboration in periodicals. For him, journalism and fiction internally linked, interdependent.

Fran's "mosaic" is not chaotic, it has its own logic. The text of the works includes extra-plot elements, inserted novels (for example, in "Thais", in books about Coignard, in "Modern History", in "Penguin Island"). A similar organization of narration is also found in Apuleius, Cervantes, Fielding, Gogol, and others. In French literature at the turn of the century, this form reflected the aesthetic trends of a new direction - impressionism.

A. V. Lunacharsky called Frans "the great impressionist." Frans brought prose closer to poetry and painting, applied the impressionist technique in verbal art, which manifested itself in a tendency to a sketchy manner. In the book “Life in Bloom”, he expressed the idea that “dryness, coldness” is inherent in the finished painting, and in the sketch there is “more inspiration, feeling, fire”, therefore the sketch is “more truthful, more vital”.

Frans' intellectual prose did not imply an exciting plot with intrigue. But this still did not prevent the painter from skillfully capturing the ups and downs of life, for example, in such works as Thais, The Gods Are Thirsty, and The Rise of the Angels. This largely explains their popularity with the general reader.

"Two-dimensionality" of Frans' prose. In the works of Frans, two plans can be distinguished, interconnected: ideological and eventful. So, they are clearly revealed in the "Modern History". The ideological plan is those discussions that Bergeret leads throughout the novel with his opponents, friends, and acquaintances. To understand the full depth of Frans' thought, its nuances, an inexperienced reader should look into the historical and philological commentary on his texts. The second plan - event - is what happens to France's characters. Often the ideological plan plays a greater role than the event plan.

word artist. France was Flaubert's heir as a master of style. His chased phrase is full of meaning and emotions, it contains irony and mockery, lyricism and grotesque. The thought of Frans, who knows how to write clearly about the complex, often results in aphoristic judgments. Here he continues the traditions of La Rochefoucauld and La Bruyère. In an essay on Maupassant, France wrote: "The three greatest virtues of a French writer are clarity, clarity and clarity." A similar aphorism can be applied to Frans himself.

Frans is a master of dialogue, which is one of the most expressive elements of his manner. In his books, the clash of points of view of the characters is a way of discovering the truth.

In his intellectual prose, Frans anticipated some important genre and style trends in 20th-century literature. with its philosophical and educational beginning, the desire to influence not only the heart and soul of the reader, but also his intellect. We are talking about philosophical novels and parable-allegorical works that give artistic expression to some philosophical postulates, in particular existentialism (F. Kafka, J. Sartre, A. Camus, etc.). This also applies to "intellectual drama" (G. Ibsen, B. Shaw), drama-parable (B. Brecht), drama of the absurd (S. Beckett, E. Ionesco, partly E. Albee),

France in Russia. Like his illustrious compatriots - Zola, Maupassant, Rolland, symbolist poets - France early received recognition in Russia.

During a short stay in Russia in 1913, he wrote: “As for Russian thought, so fresh and so deep, the Russian soul, so responsive and so poetic by its very nature, I have long been imbued with them, admire them and love them".

In the difficult conditions of the Civil War, M. Gorky, who highly appreciated Frans, published in his publishing house “ world literature» in 1918-1920. several of his books. Then a new collected works of Frans (1928-1931) appeared in 20 volumes, edited and with an introductory article by A. V. Lunacharsky. The perception of writers in Russia was succinctly defined by the poet M. Kuzmin: "France is a classic and lofty image of the French genius."

Literature

Artistic texts

Frans A. Collected works; in 8 t./A. Frans; lod gen., ed. E. A. Gunsta, V. A. Dynnik, B. G. Reizova. - M., 1957-1960.

Frans A. Collected works; in 4 tons / A. France. - M., I9S3 - 1984.

France A. Selected works/BUT. France; post-last L. Tokareva. - M., 1994. - (Ser. "Nobel Prize Laureates").

Criticism. Tutorials

Yulmetova S.F. Anatole France and some questions of the evolution of realism / SF. Yulmetova, Saratov, 1975.

Fried J. Anatole France and his time / J. Fried. - M., 1975.

And Natol France- one of the largest French writers of the late XIX - early XX century. In his works, he criticized the foundations of contemporary society, examined relations between people with the skill of a psychologist, analyzed the features and weaknesses of human nature. For his work, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1921. Frans' most famous novels were The Crime of Sylvester Bonard, The Gods Thirst, Rise of the Angels, and Penguin Island.

We selected 10 quotes from them:

Every change, even the most desired one, has its own sadness, because what we part with is part of ourselves. ("The Crime of Sylvester Bonard")

We judge people's actions based on whether they bring us pleasure or pain. ("Rise of the Angels")

Ignorance is a condition necessary for human happiness, and it must be admitted that most often people are satisfied with it. About ourselves we know almost nothing, about our neighbors - nothing. Ignorance provides us with peace, and falsehood - happiness. ("The Gods Thirst")

The grief is not that life is dragging on, but that you see how everything around you is leaving. Mother, wife, friends, children - these divine treasures - nature creates and destroys with gloomy indifference; in the end it turns out that we loved, we only hugged shadows. ("The Crime of Sylvester Bonard")

The rich have to be pitied: the blessings of life only surround them, but do not affect them deeply - inside they are poor and naked. The poverty of the rich is pitiable. ("The Crime of Sylvester Bonard")

If wealth and civilization bring with them as many reasons for war as poverty and barbarism, if human madness and malice are incurable, then only one good deed remains to be done. The sage must stock up on dynamite to blow up this planet. When it shatters into pieces in space, the world will imperceptibly improve and the world's conscience will be satisfied, which, however, does not exist. ("Penguin Island")

Catholics began to exterminate Protestants, Protestants began to exterminate Catholics - these were the first achievements of free thought. ("Penguin Island")

As a result of the progress of knowledge, the very works that contributed most to this progress become unnecessary. ("The Crime of Sylvester Bonard")

People will never be equal. This is impossible, even if you turn everything in the country upside down: there will always be noble and obscure people, fat and skinny. ("The Gods Thirst")

Epicurus said: either God wants to prevent evil, but cannot, or he can, but does not want, or he cannot and does not want, or, finally, he wants and can. If he wants to but cannot, he is powerless; if he can but does not want to, he is cruel; if he cannot and will not, he is powerless and cruel; if he can and wants, why does he not do it, my father? ("The Gods Thirst")

Anatole France was born four years before the French Revolution of 1848 and lived for eight decades shattered by political passions, uprisings, coups and wars. A poet, publicist, novelist, satirist, he was an active person who showed extraordinary power of mind and originality of nature. His literary work was the same - passionate, sarcastic, organically combined with dreaminess, a poetic attitude to life.

Anatole France was called "the most French writer, the most Parisian, the most refined." And Leo Tolstoy, noting his truthful and strong talent, said about him: "Europe now has no real artist-writer, except for Anatole France."
Anatole France (real name Anatole Francois Thibault) was born on April 16, 1844 in Paris to the second-hand book dealer Francois Noel and Antoinette Thibault.

Frans explained his pseudonym, already being a venerable writer, by the fact that his father, Francois Noel Thibaut, who came from an ancient family of Angevin winegrowers, was called Frans all his life in this region.

Anatole grew up in an atmosphere of books and a professional interest in the printed word; from childhood, the bookstore was a "treasury" for him, as he later wrote in his memoirs. Already at the age of eight, little Anatole compiled a collection of moralizing aphorisms (for which he even read La Rochefoucauld) and called it New Christian Thoughts and Maxims. He dedicated this work to "dear mother", accompanying it with a note and a promise to publish this book when he grows up.

In the Catholic College of St. Stanislaus, Anatole received a classical education, slightly tinged with theology. Almost all of his college comrades belonged to noble or wealthy families, and the boy suffered from humiliation. Perhaps that is why he became a fighter and a mocker, and began to compose epigrams early. The college made the future writer a rebel for life, forming an independent, caustic and rather unbalanced character.

Literary creativity attracted Anatole as a child. Already at the age of 12, he enjoyed reading Virgil in the original, like his father, he preferred historical writings, and his handbook in youth was Cervantes' novel Don Quixote. In 1862, Anatole graduated from college, but did not pass the bachelor's exams, having received unsatisfactory grades in mathematics, chemistry and geography. France nevertheless became a bachelor, having re-passed the exams at the Sorbonne in 1864.

By this time, Frans was already a decently earning professional critic and editor. He collaborated in two bibliographic journals, and in addition, he tried his hand at the art of versification, criticism, and the dramatic genre. In 1873, the first book of poems by Frans "Golden Poems" was published, where nature, love were sung, and reflections on life and death were side by side.
In 1876, after a ten-year wait, Frans was included in the staff of the Senate library - to the great satisfaction of his father: finally, Anatole had both a position and a stable income.

In April 1877, Anatole Francois Thibaut got married. It was a traditional bourgeois marriage: the bride had to get married, and the groom had to acquire marital status. Twenty-year-old Marie-Valery de Sauville - the daughter of a major official of the Ministry of Finance - was an enviable party for the son of a second-hand book dealer and the grandson of a village shoemaker. Frans was proud of his wife's genealogy, admired her timidity and taciturnity. True, it later turned out that the wife's silence was due to disbelief in his talent as a writer and contempt for this profession.

A significant dowry Valerie went to the arrangement of the mansion on the street near the Bois de Boulogne. Here Frans began to work hard. In the library of the Senate, he was known as a negligent worker, but as for literary work, here the writer did not reject a single proposal from the publishers, collaborating simultaneously with five dozen magazines. He edited the classics, wrote numerous articles - not only on literature, but also on history, political economy, archeology, paleontology, human origins, etc.
In 1881, Frans became a father, his daughter Suzanne was born, whom he dearly loved all his life. In the year of his daughter's birth, Frans' first book was also published, in which he found his hero, Sylvester Bonnard, and with him his own individual style. The book "The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard, Fellow of the Institute" won the French Academy Prize. In the Academy's decision on the award, it was said: it was awarded to "an elegant, outstanding, perhaps exceptional work."

In 1883 Frans became a regular chronicler in The Illustrated World. Every two weeks his review "Paris Chronicle" appears, covering different aspects of French life. From 1882 to 1896 he will write over 350 articles and essays.
Thanks to the success of "Sylvester Bonnard" and the extraordinary popularity of the "Paris Chronicle", France is included in high society. In 1883 he met Leontine Armand de Caiavet, whose salon was one of the most brilliant literary, political and artistic salons in Paris. This smart, imperious aristocrat was the same age as Frans. From her he heard what he needed so much at home: an encouraging assessment of his work. Long-term, jealous, tyrannical devotion to Leontina will fill the writer's personal life for a long time. And his wife, Valerie France, every year will increasingly experience a militant need to sort things out and settle scores. Alien to the spiritual life of her husband, she managed to make a stranger to France and their own house, which he filled with books, a collection of paintings, engravings, antiques. The situation in the house escalated to such an extent that Frans stopped talking to his wife altogether, communicating with her only by notes. Finally, one day, unable to bear the silence, Valerie asked her husband: "Where were you last night?" In response to this, Frans silently left the room and left the house in what he was: in a dressing gown, with a crimson velvet "cardinal's" cap on his head, with a tray in his hand, on which was an inkwell and a started article. Defiantly walking through the streets of Paris in this form, he rented a furnished room under the fictitious name of Germain. In such an unusual way, he left home, finally breaking off family relations, which he had tried to maintain in recent years only for the sake of his beloved daughter.

In 1892, Anatole France filed for divorce. From now on, the ambitious Leontina became his faithful and devoted friend. She did everything to make France famous: she herself looked for material for him in libraries, made translations, put manuscripts in order, read proofs, wanting to free him from work that seemed boring to him. She also helped him to improve the small Villa Said near the Bois de Boulogne, which soon turned into a museum filled with works of art and furniture from different centuries, countries and schools.

In 1889, the novel "Tais", which later became famous, was published. In it, France finally found that way of self-expression, where he had no equal. Conventionally, it could be called intellectual prose, combining the image of real life with the author's reflections on its meaning.

After the publication of the novels "The Gods Thirst", "Rise of the Angels" and "The Red Lily", the fame of Anatole France acquired a worldwide sound. Letters began to come to him from everywhere, and not only as a famous novelist, but also as a sage and philosopher. In numerous portraits, however, the writer tried not to look majestic, but rather elegant.

Unfortunately, sad changes also affected the personal life of the writer. France's daughter, his "tenderly beloved Suzon", in 1908, having already divorced her first husband, fell in love with Michel Psicari, the grandson of the famous religious philosopher Renan, and became his wife. Anatole France did not like this union. He moved away from his daughter, and as it turned out, forever. His relationship with Leontina de Caiave also worsened. For a long time she nurtured and took care of the talent of Frans, taking care of his success, proud that she helps him, knowing that he loves her too. Every year they traveled around Italy, visited Greece several times. However, in her old age, Leontina becomes more and more vigilant and jealous. She wanted to control her friend's every move, which was beginning to tire and annoy Frans. The bad mood of the writer was exacerbated by guilt. The fact is that Leontina's health, already fragile, was shaken in the summer of 1909, when rumors reached her that France, sailing on a steamer to Brazil to lecture on Rabelais, could not resist the coquetry of a fifty-year-old actress of the French Comedy. Jealous Leontina took to her bed. “This is a child,” she said to her friend, “if you knew how weak, naive he is, how easy it is to fool him!” Returning to Paris, France confessed to his unworthy frivolity. Together with Leontina, he went to Capian, her country house, where Madame de Caiave suddenly fell ill with pneumonia and died on January 12, 1910.

For Frans, the death of Leontina was a huge emotional trauma. The grief was helped by another devoted woman, Ottilie Kosmutze, a Hungarian writer known in her homeland under the pseudonym Sandor Kemeri. At one time she was the writer's secretary and with her sensitivity, kindness helped "to cure a great mind" of depression.

The years of the First World War made Anatole France old. From Paris, he moved to the small estate of Bechelrie, near the province of Touraine, where Emma Laprevote, the former maid of Leontine de Caiavet, lived. This woman was sick and poor. Frans placed her in the hospital, and after her recovery she became the writer's housekeeper, taking care of him. In 1918, Frans suffered a new grief - his daughter, Suzanne Psicari, died of influenza. Her thirteen-year-old son Lucien was left an orphan (Michel Psicari died in the war in 1917), and Frans took care of his beloved grandson, who later became the only heir of the writer.

In 1921, Frans was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for brilliant literary achievements, marked by sophistication of style, deeply suffered humanism and a truly Gallic temperament."

Throughout his long life, Anatole France rarely complained about his health. Until the age of eighty, he almost did not get sick. However, in April 1922, a vascular spasm paralyzed him for several hours. And the writer admitted that he could no longer "work as before." But, nevertheless, until his death, he retained good spirits and amazing performance. He dreamed of visiting Brussels, London, finishing a book of philosophical dialogues called "Sous la rose", which can be translated as "Not for prying ears".
In July 1924, Frans went to bed with a diagnosis of the last stage of sclerosis. The doctors warned the writer's friends and relatives that his hours were numbered. On the morning of October 12, Frans said with a smile: "This is my last day!" And so it happened. On the night of October 13, 1924, "the most French, the most Parisian, the most refined writer" died.

As the writer Dushan Breschi said about him: "Despite all the vicissitudes of critical fashion, Anatole France will always stand next to B. Shaw, as the great satirist of the era, and next to Rabelais, Moliere and Voltaire, as one of the greatest French wit."