Many readers believe that the first linesthe famous “Books about the Fighter” by A. Tvardovsky appeared in 1942 and the image of the main character was caused solely by the events of the Great Patriotic War. Meanwhile, everything is somewhat different, and the first mention of the brave Vasya Terkin relates to the period of the Russian-Finnish war. Recall, based on the testimony of the author, what is the story of the creation of the poem.
"Vasily Terkin" - the beginning
In 1939, when the campaign began with finami, A.Tvardovsky worked in the newspaper “Guarding the Motherland”. At this time, it comes to mind to the creative team of the publishing house to come up with the image of a certain amusing character - a conditional daring and cheerful fighter who would appear on the pages of the publication, accompanied by verse signatures. The name of the hero did not appear immediately: they went over several options, until they stopped at a simple and warm Vasya - as he was called at that time. Thus began the story of the creation of "Basil Terkin", known to almost every Soviet reader.
Coincidence
By the way, in his memoirs Tvardovskytalks about how, once during the war years, he received a letter, the author of which wondered why the main character - the glorious soldier of the Soviet army - bears the name of another literary character. As it turned out, Alexander Trifonovich notes, even earlier P. Boborykin’s novel with a similar name appeared. Only Vasily Terkin in him is an unclean merchant, trader and hypocrite. The poet confesses that, having received the letter, he found and without much pleasure read this work, but decided not to change the name of his hero. More precisely, he did not attach any significance to such a coincidence - especially since the story of the creation of the poem "Vasily Terkin" really had nothing to do with the novel - and continued to work in the same vein.
But back to the "Book about a fighter."
The development of the ideological plan
The poet remembered the brave hero, already belovedthe reader of the newspaper "On Guard of the Motherland", in the 40th year. It so happened that in the 39th, the writers, as was intended, wrote one or two feuilletons, and then engaged in other work. Only A. Shcherbakov for a long time turned to this image, which few people attached serious importance to. Now Tvardovsky was thinking about how to combine in his work of art - and this should have been a poem - that hero of feuilletons with the seriousness that realities demanded. And he began to sort through everything that was connected with the Finnish war, including eyewitness accounts, went to Vyborg, reread printed articles, etc. However, it was not possible to write the work as planned, by the 41st, and then the war began. As a result, the story of the creation of "Vasily Terkin" for some time will be limited only to thinking about the composition, plot, image of the main character.
1942
С первых дней войны Твардовского отправили на front as a correspondent. In the first months, the most violent and hot, it was not up to the poem. So long ago the idea that had arisen in my head was postponed until the summer of the 42nd, when the story of the creation of the poem by A. Tvardovsky “Vasily Terkin” gets its continuation. But now it was supposed to be a work about another war - the Soviet people against the fascist invaders. And the hero from Vasya turned into Vasily, personifying the Russian plowman, a worker, a tireless worker, who defended the Fatherland.
The first chapters of the new work by AlexanderTrifonovich appeared in one of the front-line newspapers in September. Then the poem was printed in parts in many editions available to both the warring soldiers and those who remained in the rear. One she helped to survive the front-line life, others - to expect relatives from this terrible war. “The book about the fighter” fell in love with all readers, and everyone was looking forward to new chapters, the hero of which was a soldier with a simple Russian name - it was A. Tvardovsky, Vasily Terkin, who created it.
The history of the poem during the war
The work was written up to the 45th year, althoughback in the 43rd, after being wounded, safely cured, and the hero returned to the ranks, the author thought that he had come to the final. Readers intervened, demanding the continuation of the poem, with which it was not fair to argue, as noted by Tvardovsky. Vasily Terkin, whose history of creation is being further developed, again walked through the pages of newspapers and magazines.
The work reflects the main stageswars: tragic retreats in its first months, battles that became crucial, victorious march to the west. There was even a desire to send the hero to the rear of the Germans, but Twardowski soon abandoned the plan, deciding that it would disrupt the overall design of the work and make the fighter's story private.
Автор за годы войны получал множество писем, из which followed, that readers are very interested in the history of the creation of "Vasily Terkin", in particular, whether there is a person described in the poem, in fact. And although the hero had many namesakes - one of them, Viktor Vasilyevich Terkin, even asked to change his name to his own - the poet’s answer was always categorical: Vasily Terkin is a completely invented character and has no real prototype. It consisted of personal observations of the author and embodied the best features of the Russian defender.
Farewell to the hero
The story of the creation of "Vasily Terkin" endsthe victorious spring of the 45th. In May, Tvardovsky publishes the final chapter “From the Author”, in which he reports that he is saying goodbye to a soldier. And despite the fact that he was again convinced of the need to continue the work, he was unmoved: Terkin's time had passed. In his opinion, now, in peacetime, another character is needed.
This is the story of the creation of "Vasily Terkin", briefly described on the basis of A. Tvardovsky's article "How was written" Vasily Terkin (reply to readers) ".
Instead of an afterword
Already in the postwar years, knowing the incrediblethe popularity of the poem and its main character, many unscrupulous writers created a "continuation" of the hero's adventures and even "imitation" of the famous book. The answer to them was that the poem - it was repeatedly stressed by Tvardovsky - “Vasily Terkin”, the creation history of which is described by the author himself, is unequivocally finished and is not supposed to return to it in the future.
