Those who at least sometimes read books know very well that many classical works of one or another master of words are known, but have not survived to this day... The most striking, of course, is considered the main work of N.V.’s entire life. Gogol is the second volume of the novel we know from school about the landowner Chichikov. Friends, today we will try to understand why Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls.
At the end of his life, the writer lived in Moscow. His house was located on Nikitsky Boulevard. This estate legally belonged to Count Alexei Tolstoy, who sheltered the lonely writer there. Tradition says that it was there that Gogol destroyed his most important literary work. At first glance, the writer lived in abundance - he did not have his own family, which means that no one and nothing could distract him from work, he had a permanent roof over his head. But what happened? Why did Gogol burn the second volume? What was happening in his mind at the moment when he set fire to his manuscripts?
No stake, no yard...
Few people know that Nikolai Vasilyevich put everything into his work! He lived only for him. For the sake of creativity, the writer doomed himself to poverty. Then they said that all of Gogol’s property was limited to only one “suitcase with pieces of paper.” His main work was about to be completed. He put his whole soul into it. This was the result of religious machinations; it was the whole truth about Russia and all the love for it... The writer himself said that his work was great, and his feat was salutary. But the novel was never destined to be born: Gogol burned " Dead souls"because of a woman...
Oh, dear Catherine!
A real turning point occurred in the life of Nikolai Vasilyevich. It all started on a January morning in 1852. It was then that a certain Ekaterina Khomyakova, the wife of one of Gogol’s friends, passed away. The fact is that the writer himself sincerely considered her a worthy woman. Some literary scholars say that he was secretly in love with her and more than once veiledly mentioned her in his work. After her death, the writer told his confessor Matthew that for no reason at all he was seized by Now Gogol constantly thought about his future death, he had depressions... Father Matthew strongly advised the writer to think about his spiritual state, leaving his literary works.
Diagnosis: psychoneurosis
“Psychoneurosis! That’s why Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls,” this is precisely the opinion expressed by modern psychiatrists. They say that such a condition can drive any person to suicide, not to mention damaging his own property or any works. How did Gogol burn the second volume of his novel?
Chichikov, goodbye!
February 24, 1852. Night. The writer called his manager, Semyon, ordering him to bring his briefcase with manuscripts for the continuation of the novel. Under Semyon’s pleas to come to his senses and not destroy his literary works, Nikolai Vasilyevich, with the words: “This is none of your business,” addressed to the manager, threw the handwritten notebooks into the fireplace and brought a burning candle to them...
The evil one is strong!
The next morning the writer was stunned by his own action. Justifying himself before Count Tolstoy, he said: “I was just going to destroy some things that had already been prepared in advance, but I destroyed everything... How strong is the evil one! That’s what he did to me and my works! Only you know that there I am very He explained a lot of useful things and made everything clear..." According to the writer, he wanted to give each of his friends a notebook as a souvenir, but his dream did not come true...
This, friends, is how it happens in life. As they say, if a person is talented, then it manifests itself in everything. Perhaps it is the writer’s genius that explains why Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls. Be that as it may, modern literary scholars all agree that the execution of the continuation of the novel about Chichikov is a real loss for all world literature!
February 24, 1852 Nikolai Gogol burned the almost completed second volume of Dead Souls, on which he had been working for more than 10 years. The story itself was originally conceived by Gogol as a trilogy. In the first volume, the adventurer Chichikov, traveling around Russia, encountered exclusively human vices; in the second part, fate brought the protagonist together with some positive characters. In the third volume, which was never written, Chichikov had to go through exile in Siberia and finally take the path of moral purification.
AiF.ru tells why Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls and what adventures were supposed to happen to Chichikov in the continuation of the story.
Most likely, Gogol burned the second volume of Dead Souls by accident. IN recent years Throughout his life, the writer felt constant weakness in his body, but instead of receiving treatment, he continued to exhaust his body with strict observance of religious fasts and exhausting work. In one of the letters to poet Nikolai Yazykov Gogol wrote: “My health has become rather poor... Nervous anxiety and various signs of complete disintegration throughout my body frighten me.” It is possible that this “unsticking” prompted the writer to throw the manuscripts into the fireplace on the night of February 24 and then set them on fire with his own hands. A servant witnessed this scene Semyon, who persuaded the master to spare the papers. But he only rudely replied: “It’s none of your business! Pray!
The next morning, Gogol, amazed by his action, lamented to his friendCount Alexander Tolstoy: “That's what I did! I wanted to burn some things that had been prepared for a long time, but I burned everything. How strong the evil one is - that’s what he brought me to! And I understood and presented a lot of useful things there... I thought I would send out a notebook to my friends as a souvenir: let them do what they wanted. Now everything is gone."
Gogol claimed that he wanted to burn only drafts and unnecessary papers, and the second volume of “Dead Souls” was sent to the fireplace due to his oversight. Nine days after this fatal mistake, the writer died.
Gogol's letters and remaining drafts make it possible to reconstruct the approximate contents of some parts of the burned manuscript. The second volume of “Dead Souls” begins with a description of the estate of Andrei Ivanovich Tentetnikov, whom the author calls “the smoker of the sky.” An educated and fair person, due to laziness and lack of willpower, drags out a meaningless existence in the village. Tentetnikov's fiancee Ulinka is the daughter of the neighboring general Betrishchev. It is she who becomes the “ray of light in dark kingdom" story: "If a transparent picture suddenly flashed in a dark room, illuminated from behind by a lamp, it would not have struck as much as this figurine shining with life, which seemed to appear then to illuminate the room... It was difficult to say what land she was born in . Such a pure, noble outline of a face could not be found anywhere, except perhaps on some ancient cameos,” this is how Gogol describes her. Tentetnikov, according to Gogol’s plan, should have been convicted of participation in an anti-government organization, and his beloved would have followed him to hard labor. Then, in the third volume of the trilogy, these heroes had to go through exile in Siberia along with Chichikov.
Further on in the plot of the second volume, Chichikov meets the bored landowner Platonov and, having encouraged him to travel together around Russia, goes to see the master Kostanzhoglo, who is married to Platonov’s sister. He talks about the methods of management with which he increased the income from the estate tens of times, which Chichikov is terribly inspired by. Soon after this, Chichikov, having borrowed money from Platonov and Kostanzhoglo, tries to buy the estate from the bankrupt landowner Khlobuev.
On the “border line” between good and evil in the second volume of the story, financier Afanasy Murazov unexpectedly appears. He wants to spend the 40 million rubles he earned not in the most honest way on “saving Russia,” but his ideas are more reminiscent of sectarian ones.
In the surviving drafts of the end of the manuscript, Chichikov is found in the city at a fair, where he buys fabric that is so dear to him, the lingonberry color with a sparkle. He encounters Khlobuev, whom, apparently, he “messed up”, either depriving, or almost depriving, his estate through forgery. Chichikov is saved from continuing the unpleasant conversation by Murazov, who convinces the bankrupt landowner of the need to work and directs him to collect funds for the church. Meanwhile, denunciations against Chichikov are discovered both about the forgery and about dead souls. However, the help of the corrupt official Samosvistov and the intercession of Murazov allow the hero to avoid prison.
Poem (the author designated this genre of his work) N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" is one of classical works Russian literature. And the story that happened with the second volume of this work is known even to those who have never opened the first volume. Literary scholars (despite disagreements regarding the “strength” or “weakness” of the second volume) agree on one thing - Gogol’s destruction of the second volume of Dead Souls, which he had already written, is one of the most serious losses in our literature. The question: “Why did Gogol burn the second volume of Dead Souls?” arose immediately after the incident, and there is still no single and unambiguous answer to it. And not everything is clear about the burning itself. As they say, was there a boy?
Version one: Gogol did not burn anything, since the second volume of Dead Souls did not exist
This version is based on the fact that no one saw the finished manuscript of the second volume of the poem, and the only witness to the burning was Gogol’s servant Semyon. It is from his words that we know what happened that night. Allegedly, the writer ordered Semyon to bring a briefcase in which notebooks with the continuation of Dead Souls were kept. Gogol put the notebooks in the fireplace and set them on fire with a candle, and in response to the servant’s pleas not to destroy the manuscript, he said: “It’s none of your business! Pray!” Semyon was quite young, illiterate and quite capable of spouting nonsense (to put it simply). This version is not taken seriously by most researchers. The surviving drafts of the work and the testimony of contemporaries give reason to assert that the “white” version did exist.
Version two: Gogol burned the drafts, and the manuscript of the second volume of Dead Souls came (after the writer’s death) to Count A.P. Tolstoy, with whom Gogol lived at that time.
This version is also based on the unreliability of the testimony of Semyon's servant and is also considered unlikely. A. Tolstoy had no reason to hide the manuscript, but even if he had done this, in the time that has passed since then the manuscript would certainly have “resurfaced”.
Version three: Gogol really burned the second volume of Dead Souls, because he was dissatisfied with it and was in a clouded state of mind.
This version seems more likely, since the writer’s mental health at that moment was far from brilliant. Since childhood, Gogol suffered from seizures, accompanied by melancholy and depression. In January 1852, E. Khomyakova, the wife of Gogol’s friend, died and this event had an extremely detrimental effect on the writer. The writer was tormented by a constant fear of death, and his confessor urged him to give up literary work, which Gogol himself considered his only calling. Of course, it is difficult to make diagnoses now, but it is obvious that the writer’s mind was, if not darkened, then on the verge of darkening. It is likely that, in a fit of self-flagellation, he could consider his work insignificant and not worthy of being published. However, dominant on at the moment another version is considered.
Version four: Gogol wanted to burn the drafts, however, being in a state of complete mental exhaustion, he confused them with the white version.
It is believed that Semyon’s story, if not absolutely accurate, is close to the truth, but the writer had no intention of burning the final version. Supporters of this version cite Gogol’s words, which he said to Count Tolstoy the next morning: “That’s what I did! I wanted to burn some things that had been prepared for a long time, but I burned everything. How strong the evil one is - that’s what he pushed me to do! And I was there I understood and presented a lot of useful information... I thought I’d send it to my friends in a notebook as a souvenir: let them do what they wanted. Now it’s all gone.” It is also believed that in general, with the exception of moments of depression, Gogol was pleased with what he wrote. Although, when working on the second volume, the meaning of the work in the writer’s mind grew beyond the boundaries of the literary texts themselves, which made the plan practically impossible to implement.
Despite the fact that Gogol burned the manuscript final version of the second volume of the poem, rough notes remain. Currently, the most complete manuscript of the first five chapters of the second volume belongs to an American businessman Russian origin Timur Abdullaev. She had to go in Complete collection works and letters of the writer, published in 2010, but for unknown reasons this did not happen. However, the question: “Why did Gogol burn the second volume of Dead Souls” has not been fully resolved, although there is the most likely version.
In the year of the 175th anniversary of the publication of “Dead Souls” and the 165th anniversary of Gogol’s death, the famous literary critic, professor at Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov Vladimir Voropaev told RIA Novosti about why Gogol in Russia is still considered a satirist and not a spiritual writer, what happened to the second volume of “Dead Souls” and what is preventing the spread of Christianity in modern culture. Interviewed by Viktor Khrul.
Vladimir Alexandrovich, you have repeatedly said that Gogol in Russian public opinion is perceived in the old Soviet tradition - only as a satirist, and his spiritual works remain in the shadows. Why?
— Firstly, this is the force of inertia. The fact that Gogol was not a satirist was already understood by his contemporaries. The same Belinsky, the frantic Vissarion, wrote: “It is impossible to look at “Dead Souls” more erroneously and understand them more crudely, as seeing satire in them.”
Gogol, of course, has an accusatory layer: both in “The Inspector General” and in “Dead Souls” he writes about what is wrong with us. This is about us. Everything that Gogol writes is about us.
But for an adequate perception of Gogol, it is important to have spiritual experience, which is not always the case for the modern reader. Many do not know that he built his life in accordance with the church liturgical regulations. How is this known? From his works. He himself says: “We say every day...” and quotes Lesser Compline from memory.
- So he had liturgical books?
“There were no books in his library, but entire volumes of his extracts from liturgical books were preserved.
- At what age did he make them?
- At the very peak of his creativity, in 1843-1845. He was abroad at that time, and he was supplied with literature by friends from Russia, as well as Russian priests who served in Europe.
In the book "Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends" there is an article "What, finally, is the essence of Russian poetry and what is its peculiarity." Do you feel some irritation in the title? He names three sources from which Russian poets should draw inspiration: folk proverbs, songs and words of church pastors.
In another place he remarks on this matter: “Another mystery for many is the lyricism that is hidden in our church songs and canons.” The secret of this lyricism was revealed to Gogol and is known not by hearsay, but from personal experience. As is clear from the contents of the surviving notebooks, he read the Menaion in six months - from September to February - and made excerpts for each day.
Here is the answer to Gogol’s unique style - it is a combination of colloquial, everyday, even colloquial language and high Church Slavonic.
© Photo: photo from the personal archive of Vladimir Voropaev
© Photo: photo from the personal archive of Vladimir Voropaev
-Where does this love come from?
— It originated in the family, but was developed in school years. In the charter of the Nizhyn gymnasium, where Gogol studied, it was written that each student must memorize three verses from the Holy Scriptures daily. Just count: Gogol studied for seven years, three verses from the Holy Scriptures by heart - how many per week, per month, how much in seven years.
- How do Gogol’s obvious interest in evil spirits and subtle humor combine with this? Where did this come from?
— Our famous culturologist, literary critic, esthetician Mikhail Bakhtin wrote that the work of such a “brilliant exponent national consciousness"like Gogol, can only really be understood in the flow folk culture, which developed its own special view of the world and its special forms figurative reflection. Gogol came out of this folk culture, hence such a vivid, picturesque description and evil spirits. This is all taken from folklore - Russian and Little Russian, Slavic in in a broad sense. But at the same time, note that the word “devil” leaves Gogol’s mature works.
- Why?
- Because it is a “black” word, not used in secular conversation, as Gogol put it. Demon, unclean, crafty - Gogol abuses this a little in “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.”
Not everything in folk culture, of course, is acceptable for a church person. And Gogol understood this perfectly. Gogol moved forward as a Christian. He himself said: “I have been walking the same road since I was twelve, without wavering in the main opinions.” It was, after all, a complete nature - and one cannot say that this is " late Gogol", and this is "early".
- Did the grown-up, mature Gogol condemn anything in his young work?
- Yes, you know, he was quite critical of his early works, including "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka".
- What didn’t suit him?
“He thought there was a lot that was still immature.” His early stuff was very didactic, remember? Everything is expressed openly, without deep artistic subtext: when Vakula runs to drown himself in the ice hole - who is behind him, in the bag? Demon. This is who pushes a person to commit suicide. Gogol's early works are very edifying; in them, divine power always defeats demonic power. Gogol came out of folk culture, from popular ideas - and this is his strength, and this is partly, in a sense, his weakness.
- And he is always a Christian - both in life and in his work?
- Of course, without any doubt. Let me give you another example. Gogol's last work, on which he worked during the last years of his life and which was published after his death, was “Reflections on the Divine Liturgy.” This is the most famous work Gogol in the 20th century, the most reprinted, one of the best examples of Russian spiritual prose. IN Soviet era this thing was not published at all, because, as stated in the comments to the academic edition, “it has no literary interest.”
From the memoirs of Gogol’s Nezhin classmates, it is known that he often sang the Divine Liturgy to himself in church and one day, dissatisfied with the way they sang in the choir, he climbed onto the choir and began to sing, loudly and clearly pronouncing the words of the prayers. And the priest heard an unfamiliar voice, looked out from the altar and ordered him to leave.
What does this mean? The fact that he already knew the course of the Divine Liturgy at school, and did not come to this at the end of his life. However, unfortunately, the idea that Gogol was first one, and then another, lives even in the minds of church people.
- But in his works there are examples spiritual rebirth…
- Yes, for example Chichikov. Pay attention to his name - Paul. In the last, eleventh chapter of the first volume of “Dead Souls,” the author tells readers that it is still a mystery why this image is depicted in the poem, that in this very Chichikov, perhaps, lies something that will later bring a person to dust and to his knees before wisdom heaven This is nothing more than a reminiscence from the Acts of the Holy Apostles, the episode of the conversion of Saul to Paul. There is reason to believe that the very name of the hero contains a hint of his future spiritual rebirth.
- Why did Gogol burn the second volume of Dead Souls?
— The mystery of the second volume is the most painful problem of Gogol studies. What did you burn, when did you burn it, why did you burn it? There is no clear answer to these questions. Twenty years ago I already expressed an idea that no one has yet refuted: Gogol never wrote the second volume. Because no one has ever seen the white manuscript of the second volume of Dead Souls. Nobody ever.
- On what facts is the burning hypothesis based?
— On the confession of Gogol himself. On the night of February 11–12, 1852, he burned his manuscripts. Which ones exactly are unknown. This is evidenced by his serf servant, who served him in the house of Count Alexander Petrovich Tolstoy. The servant said that Gogol took the papers, threw them into the stove and moved the poker so that they burned better.
The draft manuscripts of the second volume have reached us. These are the four initial chapters and an excerpt from one of the last chapters, conventionally called the fifth. But these are draft chapters, they have two layers of editing: first he wrote, then he began to edit according to this text.
Gogol's spiritual father, Rzhev Archpriest Matthew Konstantinovsky, was the last to familiarize himself with the chapters of the second volume. This was on the eve of the burning of the manuscripts. He is often accused of being the one who pushed the writer to do this. Father Matthew denied that, on his advice, Gogol burned the second volume, although he said that he did not approve of several drafts and even asked to be destroyed: “They say that you advised Gogol to burn the second volume of Dead Souls?” - “It’s not true and it’s not true... Gogol used to burn his failed works and then restore them again in at its best. Yes, he hardly had a second volume ready; at least I haven't seen him. It happened like this: Gogol showed me several scattered notebooks<…>When returning the notebooks, I opposed the publication of some of them. A priest was described in one or two notebooks. He was a living person whom anyone would recognize, and there were added features that... I don’t have, and besides, with Catholic overtones, and he didn’t quite come out Orthodox priest. I opposed the publication of these notebooks and even asked them to destroy them. In another of the notebooks there were sketches... only sketches of some governor, which does not exist. I advised against publishing this notebook, saying that they would be ridiculed even more for it than for correspondence with friends.”
Now about why Gogol’s plan did not find its completion. Gogol said more than once that he wanted to write his book in such a way that the path to Christ would be clear to everyone. Spiritual rebirth is one of the highest abilities granted to man, and, according to Gogol, this path is open to everyone. In all likelihood, Gogol wanted to lead his hero through the crucible of trials and suffering, as a result of which he would have to realize the unrighteousness of his path. Apparently, Dead Souls should have ended with this internal upheaval, from which Chichikov would have emerged as a different person.
The idea was grandiose, but unrealistic, because showing the path of spiritual revival is not the task of literature.
- What then is her task?
- It is designed to show human vices, the sinfulness of human nature. Yes, she achieved success in this. But there's a problem positive hero" - where to get it if a person is imperfect? Gogol’s idea is beyond literary creativity. And therefore his last book was “Reflections on the Divine Liturgy” - this is where this path is shown to everyone.
Ask schoolchildren or teachers why the heroes of “Dead Souls” are dead souls? They are unlikely to answer you. And the answer is simple: they live without God. In his suicide note addressed to all of us, Gogol says: “Be not dead, but living souls, there is no other door except that indicated by Jesus Christ...”. This is the way, this is the meaning of the name great poem, this is Gogol’s testament.
For him, art is an invisible step towards Christianity.
In a letter to his spiritual father, he hoped that after his book “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” the reader would pick up the Gospel.
- How can we help today’s people turn to Christian values? What can we do?
— There are a lot of funds. You just need to remain a Christian, grow spiritually, and not stand still. A person who has stopped in spiritual development has gone backwards. Raise your children, your environment, “do your own thing.” It seems to me that Russia will stand firm in its Christian postulates and foundations longer than other countries and states.
What is more important for the correct assessment of a writer - his lifestyle or the values preached in his works?
“It seems to me that a person should be judged by the heights of his spirit, and not by his downfalls.” Holiness is not sinlessness. Even holy people were not sinless. And there is no need to grab the writer “by the tongue.” Like Yesenin, he once said something stupid about communion, they repeat it, and even many priests don’t like him for it. And Pushkin, even if he wrote the Gabrieliad, undoubtedly repented of this: it is known that he destroyed all the copies and was very angry when he was reminded of it. Although I personally am convinced that Pushkin never wrote the Gabrieliad, and I can give irrefutable arguments in this regard. Be that as it may, the Lord judges him, not us.
- What do you think is hindering the spread of Christianity in modern times? Russian culture?
— Lack of genuine, correct spiritual enlightenment. Now a very great responsibility lies with priests and theological schools. If we do not have theologians and high-quality spiritual education, then it is difficult to demand anything from schools, parents, and children. You need to get this information and correct ideas from somewhere.
- But church shops are filled with Orthodox literature...
— For the most part, these are reprints of the old ones. But the situation is changing, new answers are needed.
It seems to me that priests should take part in public discussions - both on the Internet and on television - their voice should be heard, people should listen to them. In this sense, the Spas channel is wonderful: there is a lot of interesting material, priests often speak there and give their views on the modern process.
- Is it necessary to remove the character called “priest” from Pushkin’s fairy tale about Balda?
— The priest does not need to be removed from the fairy tale - this is the poet’s joke. By the way, the word “priest” (translated from Greek - Orthodox priest, priest; hence protopop, archpriest) in the nineteenth century did not have the pejorative meaning that appeared already in the Soviet era.
But the opera "Tannhäuser" and the film "Matilda" are another matter, it seems to me. There are topics that an artist must approach with special tact and responsibility. Now, as far as I know, the opera "Tannhäuser" is not being performed - and this is correct, because the director shows due tact and responsibility in this case didn't show it. Same thing with the movie "Matilda". Imagine: a director made a film about the Prophet Muhammad, using his own fantasies and his own sources. There was such a literary precedent - "The Satanic Verses" by Salman Rushdie, who was sentenced to death in Iran.
- Does this mean that Christianity is leaving culture?
“What is happening now is over and does not inspire any optimism.” European culture according to its origins - Christian culture, church She is completely imbued with these values. Take that away and it will lose its identity, its specificity.
Apostasy—departure from God—is an irreversible process. In modern Europe, this process is developing rapidly, but Russia is still resisting. Although, of course, this process is irreversible. Our task is not to stop this process, but to remain ourselves, to remain faithful to Christ. No matter what.
A Christian in his place must do his job - be a witness and preacher of Christ. This is his direct duty. And a Christian warrior must also do his job as a Christian - to defend the faith, homeland, country, people.
Both business and politics must be Christian. Our traditional values- these are Christian, Orthodox values, and we should not be ashamed of this.
Sometimes it seems that Russian writers saw their mission in refuting the theses that manuscripts do not burn and the written letter remains. Committing their creations to fire is a long-standing tradition of Russian writers.
Gogol
Schoolchildren of all times and peoples praise Gogol for destroying the second part of his immortal poem “Dead Souls.” But few people know that the writer “rehearsed” the burning long before this. Thus, the author was extremely disappointed with his first essay, romantic poem"Hans Kuchelgarten."
Critics also added fuel to the fire, who assessed the writer’s early experience extremely negatively. An emotional 18-year-old Gogol ran around all the stores to buy up the edition and then destroyed it. Today the reader has the opportunity to familiarize himself with only fragments of this work, because some parts of the idyll could not be restored.
Pushkin
Everyone knows that Pushkin did not spare his works. The tenth chapter of “Eugene Onegin” was left by the author only in the form of encrypted quatrains. From the poem “The Robbers” only the plot survived, which formed the basis of the “Bakhchisarai Fountain”.
The second volume of Dubrovsky, as well as the manuscript of the Gavriliad, were also lost. Almost at the end of work on “ Captain's daughter"Her draft autographs for the final chapters were destroyed. In the poet's drafts one can often see torn out pages, on which, as literary scholars suggest, dedications to the Decembrists or drawings were placed, for which Pushkin would have been in trouble.
Dostoevsky
Dostoevsky was very demanding in his approach to the creative process. He could destroy an almost completed work and start writing from clean slate. It is interesting that he initially planned to call the novel “Crime and Punishment” “Drunk”, and the basis storyline was supposed to be the history of the Marmeladov family.
However, the writer was captivated by another idea, and he created “Crime and Punishment” in the form in which the novel is known to us today. But the “drunk” theme remains: it creates the background for Raskolnikov’s crime and introduces the motive of divine judgment into the narrative. Yes, and inform the reader about main reason The author trusts Marmeladov for the crime.
Bulgakov
The manuscripts of the novel “The Master and Margarita” have not been completely preserved, and the first version of the novel was completely destroyed by the author. Bulgakov destroyed individual sheets, stacks of sheets and entire draft notebooks with his works. He even admitted in correspondence to one of his friends that the stove had become his favorite edition, because with equal eagerness he “devours both laundry receipts and poetry.”
He burned many of his diaries, drafts of volumes 2 and 3 of The White Guard, and much more. Often, acts of burning were caused by the arrests of Bulgakov's friends and acquaintances who published works in which the censor saw danger. Great novel“collected” from surviving manuscripts. Let us recall, by the way, that part of the manuscripts of “The Master and Margarita” was lost in the Russian state repository.
Akhmatova
Anna Akhmatova burned many of her works. This was not due to dissatisfaction with their work, but because of the constant danger of search and arrest. Before burning, she read most of the poems to her friend Lydia Chukovskaya. When the danger subsided, the friends together restored the destroyed works from memory.
The Tsarskoe Selo-themed works “My Young Hands” and “Russian Trianon” were burned. Only fragments of them have survived. But Anna Andreevna did not restore the destroyed Tashkent poem “Enuma Elish”. I wrote something completely different. The poem “Requiem” was not embodied in a handwritten version for a long time. “The Vagabond Queen,” which is how Akhmatova ironically called herself, read out the finished parts of the poem to her friends and immediately burned the draft.