Summary: "Kolyma Stories" (V. Shalamov)

Consider the collection of Shalamov, over which he worked in the period from 1954 to 1962. We describe its brief content. "Kolyma Stories" is a collection of stories whose stories describe the camp and prison life of prisoners of the Gulag, their tragic destinies, similar to each other, in which the case rules. The author focuses on hunger and satiety, excruciating dying and recovery, exhaustion, moral degradation and degradation. About the problems raised by Shalamov, you will learn more by reading the summary. "Kolyma Stories" is a compilation that is a comprehension of what the author experienced during 17 years, which he spent in confinement (1929-1931) and Kolyma (from 1937 to 1951). The author's photo is presented below.

The Tombstone

The author remembers his comrades from the camps. We will not list their surnames, as we compile a summary. "Kolyma stories" - a collection in which art and documentary intertwine. However, all the murderers are given a true surname in the stories.

Continuing the narrative, the author describes how the prisoners died, what agonies they endured, speaks of their hopes and behavior in "Auschwitz without furnaces", as Shalamov called the Kolyma camps. Only a few managed to survive, but to survive and not to break down morally - to units.

"Life of the Engineer Kipreev"

Let us dwell on the following curious story, which we could not describe, making a brief summary. "Kolyma Stories" is a collection in which the author, who has not sold or betrayed anyone, says that for himself he worked out a formula for the protection of his own existence. It is that a person can stand, if he is ready at any time to die, can commit suicide. But later he realizes that he has only built a comfortable shelter for himself, since it is not known how you will become at the decisive moment, whether you will have enough not only mental strength, but also physical strength.

Kipreev, an engineer-physicist, arrested in 1938, was not only able to withstand the interrogation with beatings, but even attacked the investigator, as a result of which he was put in a punishment cell. But still trying to get him to give false testimony, threatening to arrest his wife. Kipreev nevertheless continues to prove to everyone that he is not a slave, like all prisoners, but a man. Thanks to talent (he fixed a broken X-ray apparatus, found a way how to repair burnt out bulbs), this hero manages to avoid the most difficult works, but not always. Only by a miracle he remains alive, but the moral upheaval does not let him go.

"On the presentation"

Shalamov, who wrote "Kolyma Stories", whose brief content we are interested in, shows that the camp defilement concerned to some extent all. It was carried out in various forms. We will describe in a few words one more work from the collection "Kolyma stories" - "On the presentation." The summary of his plot is as follows.

Two thieves play cards. One loses and asks for a loan. Resented at some point, he orders an unexpectedly imprisoned intellectual who happened to be among the spectators, to give the sweater. He refuses. He "ends" one of the thieves, and the sweater gets blatant anyway.

"At night"

We turn to the description of another work from the collection "Kolyma Stories" - "The Night". A brief summary of it, in our opinion, will also be of interest to the reader.

Two prisoners are crouching to the grave. Here the body of their comrade was buried in the morning. They take off the linen from the dead person in order to change it tomorrow to tobacco or bread or to sell. Disdain for the clothes of the deceased is replaced by the idea that, perhaps, they will be able to smoke tomorrow or eat a little more.

A lot of works in the collection "Kolyma stories." "Carpenters", the brief content of which we omitted, follows the story "Night". We invite you to familiarize yourself with it. The product is small in volume. The format of one article, unfortunately, does not allow to describe all the stories. Also quite a small work from the collection "Kolyma Stories" - "Berries". A brief summary of the main and most interesting, in our opinion, stories is presented in this article.

"Single measurement"

Determined by the author as slave labor is another form of corruption. The prisoner, emaciated by him, can not work out the norm, labor becomes torture and leads to a slow killing. Dugayev, the zek, is increasingly weakened by the 16-hour working day. He pours, kylit, carries. In the evening the inspector measures what he has done. The figure of 25%, called the caretaker, seems very large Dugaev. His shoulders, hands, head are unbearably painful, and his calves ache. The prisoner does not even feel hunger. Later he is summoned to the investigator. He asks: "Name, surname, term, article." Soldiers every other day lead the prisoner to a deaf place, surrounded by a fence with barbed wire. At night, the noise of tractors comes from here. Dugayev guesses why he was brought here, and understands that life is over. He regrets only that he suffered an unnecessary extra day.

"Rain"

You can very long talk about such a collection, as "Kolyma stories." The summary of the chapters of the works is only indicative. We bring to your attention the following story - "Rain".

Let's get acquainted with the camp life of the worker working in the pit of Rozovsky, the hero who created Shalamov ("Kolyma Stories"). The summary of the work "Rain" dedicated to him is as follows. Despite the threatening gesture made by the guard, Rozovsky calls out to the storyteller who is working nearby to share his revelation with him. Rozovsky understood that there is no meaning in life. But before he, whose life has lost all value, manages to pounce on the escorts, the narrator runs up to him and rescues him from a disastrous and reckless act, telling the escorts that Rozovsky was ill. The prisoner later tries to commit suicide by throwing himself under the trolley. After the trial, he is sent to another place to work.

"Sherry Brandy"

The poet-prisoner, who was considered the first poet of the 20th century in our country, dies. He lies on the plank bed, in the depth of their lower row. The poet is dying for a long time. Sometimes soap comes to him, for example, that someone stole bread from him, which the poet put under his head. He is ready to seek, fight, swear ... However, the forces are no longer there. When he gets a daily ration in his hand, he presses his bread to his mouth with all his strength, sucks it, tries to gnaw and tear with loose, tingling teeth. When a poet dies, he is not decommissioned for another 2 days. Neighbors in the distribution manage to get bread on it as a living one. They arrange so that he raises his hand like a doll-puppet.

"Shock therapy"

Merzlyakov, one of the heroes of the collection "Kolmyskie Stories", whose brief content we are considering, is a large complexion, at common works understands what he is giving. He falls, can not stand up and refuses to take a log. First they beat him, then - escorts. He is taken to the camp with back pain and a broken rib. After recovery, Merzlyakov does not stop complaining and pretends that he can not straighten up. He does this in order to delay the discharge. He is sent to the surgical department of the central hospital, and then to the nervous department for examination. Merzlyakov has a chance to be written off for free because of illness. He tries his best not to be exposed. But Pyotr Ivanovich, a doctor, himself a former zek in the past, exposes him. All human in it replaces the professional. He spends most of the time just exposing those who pretend. Pyotr Ivanovich anticipates the effect that will produce the case with Merzlyakov. The doctor first makes him anesthesia, during which it is possible to unravel the body of Merzlyakov. A week later, the patient is prescribed shock therapy, after which he asks for an extract himself.

"Typhus quarantine"

Andreev falls into quarantine, becoming ill with typhus. The situation of the patient compared to the work on the mines gives him a chance to survive, which he almost did not expect. Then Andreev decides to stay here as long as possible, and then, perhaps, he will not be sent more to the gold faces, where death, beatings, hunger. Andreev does not respond to the roll call before sending the recovered to work. He manages to hide in this way for a long time. Gradually the transit is emptying, the turn reaches, finally, Andreev. But it seems to him now that he won the battle for life, and if there are now shipments, then only on local, near business trips. But when the truck with a group of prisoners who were given unexpectedly winter uniforms, moves the line separating distant and near trips, Andreev realizes that fate has laughed at him.

In the photo below - a plaque on the house in Vologda, in which Shalamov lived.

"Aneurysm of the aorta"

In Shalamov's stories, illness and the hospital are an indispensable attribute of the plot. Ekaterina Glovatskaya, a prisoner, goes to the hospital. This beauty immediately attracted Zaitsev, the doctor on duty. He knows that she is in a relationship with the zek Podshivalov, his acquaintance, who directs the local circle of amateur art, the doctor still decides to try his luck. As usual, he starts with a medical examination of the patient, with a listening heart. However, the male interest is replaced by medical preoccupation. In Glovatsky he discovers an aortic aneurysm. It is a disease in which every careless movement can provoke death. Taken for the rule of separating lovers, the authorities once already sent the girl to the penal women's quarry. The head of the hospital after the doctor's report about her illness is sure that this is the plot of Podshivalov, who wants to detain the mistress. The girl is discharged, but she dies while loading, as Zaitsev warned.

"The last fight of Major Pugachev"

The author testifies that after the Great Patriotic War prisoners began to arrive in the camps, who fought and went through captivity. People are different tempering: those who can take risks, bold. They only believe in weapons. Their camp slavery has not corrupted them, they have not yet been depleted until they lose their will and strength. Their "fault" was that these prisoners were captured or surrounded. One of them, Major Pugachev, it was clear that they were brought here to death. Then he gathers strong and determined, suited to himself, prisoners who are ready to die or become free. Escape is prepared all winter. Pugachev realized that only those who manage to avoid common work can escape after they survived the winter. One by one, the conspirators advance into the service. One of them becomes a cook, the other becomes a cultivator, the third repairs weapons for protection.

One spring day, at 5 am, they knocked on the watch. The attendant admits the prisoner-cook, who, as usual, came for the keys to the pantry. The cook chokes him, and another prisoner changes into his uniform. With the other attendants who returned a little later, the same thing happens. Then everything happens according to the plan of Pugachev. The conspirators burst into the security room and seize the weapon, shooting the duty officer. They are stocked with food and put on military uniforms, keeping suddenly awakened fighters at gunpoint. Going beyond the territory of the camp, they stop the truck on the road, the drivers are landed and go, until the gasoline runs out. Then they go to the taiga. Pugachev, waking up at night after many months of captivity, recalls how he escaped from the German camp in 1944, crossed the front line, went through interrogation in a special department, then was accused of espionage and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He also recalls how the emissaries of General Vlasov came to the German camp, who recruited Russians, convincing that captured soldiers for the Soviet power are traitors to the Motherland. Then Pugachev did not believe them, but soon he was convinced of this. He looks with love to his comrades sleeping nearby. A little later, a hopeless battle with the soldiers who surrounded the fugitives is being tied. Prisoners die almost all but one, who are cured after a serious injury in order to be shot. Only Pugachev manages to escape. He lurked in a bear den, but he knows that he will also be found. He does not regret about what he did. His last shot is in himself.

So, we reviewed the main stories from the collection, authored by Varlam Shalamov ("Kolyma Stories"). The brief content introduces the reader to the main events. More about them you can read on the pages of the work. The collection was first published in 1966 by Varlam Shalamov. "Kolyma Stories," a brief summary of which you now know, appeared on the pages of the New York edition of the New Journal.

In New York in 1966, only 4 stories were published. The next, 1967, 26 stories of this author, mainly from the collection of interest to us, came out in German translation in the city of Cologne. During his lifetime he never published in the USSR a collection of "Kolyma Stories" Shalamov. The summary of all the chapters, unfortunately, is not included in the format of one article, since there are a lot of stories in the collection. Therefore, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the rest.

"Condensed milk"

In addition to those described above, we will tell about one more work from the collection "Kolyma Stories" - "Condensed Milk". The summary of his next.

Shestakov, the narrator's acquaintance, did not work at the mine in the face, as he was a geological engineer, and he was taken to the office. He met with the narrator and announced that he wanted to take the workers and go to the Black Keys, to the sea. And although the latter realized that this is impracticable (the path to the sea is very long), he nevertheless agreed. The narrator reasoned that Shestakov probably wants to hand over all those who will participate in this. But the promised condensed milk (to overcome the path, should be refilled) bribed him. Having come to Shestakov, he ate two cans of this delicacy. And then he suddenly announced that he had changed his mind. A week later, other workers fled. Two of them were killed, three were convicted in a month. And Shestakov was transferred to another mine.

We recommend to read other works in the original. Very talented wrote Shalamov "Kolyma stories." Summary ("Berries", "Rain" and "Children's Pictures" we also recommend reading in the original) transmits only the plot. Author's style, artistic merit can be estimated only by getting acquainted with the work itself.

It is not included in the collection "Kolyma Stories" "Sentence". We did not describe the summary of this story for this reason. However, this work is one of the most mysterious in the work of Shalamov. Fans of his talent will be interested to read it.