The unusual work of the modern writer Alexander Vladimirovich Karasev, the author of "Chechen Stories", attracts increased attention and finds a response in the hearts of fans.
The first story of the writer was published when its author was already over thirty. By that time, Karasev already had experience in areas unrelated to literature, two higher educations and military service.
Childhood and youth
Alexander Vladimirovich was born into the family of an engineer in Krasnodar, in 1971. In childhood, the boy did not even think about his writing career.
He later admitted that it was difficult to imagine that the boy liked to print letters. He is hungry for activity. Therefore, Karasev does not believe in conversations about the desire to write from an early age.
At various times, the future writer was engaged in the sale of real estate, was a pump operator, installed radio equipment. Alexander managed to visit as a construction worker, a bakery worker.
He worked as both a security guard and a sales assistant. From 1989 to 1992, the writer served in an airborne reconnaissance company. The writer knows about the war firsthand. He took part in the Chechen conflict.
The war did not cripple him, but became an impulse for expressing life observations. Karasev has always loved reading. He was fluent in words. But he did not want to write works of fiction until he was twenty-five years old.
Then writing a novel became a dream. Only without mastering the style and syllable on small forms, the attempt failed. Neither a good idea, nor detective elements, nor a love line helped. A few rather unconvincing pages - and the work was forgotten.
Searching for a vocation
Once in Chechnya, the future prose writer felt the urgent need to describe everything that was happening. Lieutenant Karasev commanded a platoon. At the beginning of 2000 he was promoted to the rank of senior lieutenant.
In the diary of his deceased colleague that fell into his hands, Alexander began to write down his service notes and his own reflections, and describe military life. These notes then served as the basis for future stories.
After accumulating an impressive number of works and sketches, Karasev decided to start mailing to literary magazines. In 2003, his story about a provincial girl, ready for any humiliation for the sake of the concept of love she had created, appeared in October. The work was called "Natasha".
The realism of the characters depicted, the simplicity of the plot and the complexity of the fusion of emotions attracted attention to the debutant publicist. This was followed by works in "Friendship of Peoples", "New World", "Ural", "Neva".
Currently, the writer has more than twenty publications in well-known publications and two published books. The author chose not only military prose.
He writes about ordinary people at a difficult time. In each of his works, Karasev finds the best way for his self-expression.
He conveys deep thoughts to the reader in succinct and short texts. The author explains his choice of stories with a special type of energy.
It is easier to take the height with a single jerk than to systematically and for a long time to build a narrative, weave disparate storylines.
Stories
The author wrote his first story "Bookmark" in May 1999. In the style of the writer, maximum concentration, rejection of many details, no lyrical digressions. He is honest with the reader. The works are distinguished by vivid dynamism, a clear author's position based on life experience and value system.
Life is the main thing. According to the technique, Karasev is called an impressionist. He captures life in its smallest manifestations. However, behind the seeming simplicity of each of the stories, there is a great meaning. They all have their own hero.
For the work of Karasev, images of servicemen and ordinary, but related to military affairs, guys are characteristic. Heroes are not perfect, they are living people with their own defeats and victories, weaknesses and strength. They have their own "cockroaches".
All are capable of making mistakes, but they act as holistic individuals, as life itself suggests. So, the hero of "Starfall" Victor is unsociable and sarcastic, almost always gloomy. It does not immediately merit the reader's favor. The hero looks down on everyone, despite his small stature. But Victor, without hesitation, stands up to protect those who need his help.
Captain Fryazin from "Queen", like Victor, shows his best qualities during an unexpected attack. This is the real hero for the writer.
Impressionist words
In 2018, Karasev published a series of "Chechen Stories". There is also a book under the same title. In addition to the cycle, it includes short essays. They are united by the name "First Snow", associated with Tolstoy's "Sevastopol Tales".
The genre belongs to military prose, but the works go beyond the battle genre. Few bloody skirmishes, almost no abstract reflections on military patriotism. The author's focus is not on war, but on the person placed in difficult conditions by it.
The similarity with documentary chronicles does not deprive the work of expressiveness. Critics have called the genre in which the writer works new realism. But Karasev himself denies such a definition.
In their assessment, concentration and impressionism are combined with routine and simplicity, the absence of artistic details. Alexander has a special gift. He has a whole novel in a few phrases.
However, the critics did not come to a consensus. They consider the author's prose to be both dry and capacious, and excessively simple and psychological. In the meantime, there are disputes between professionals, Alexander found his reader. His stories have been translated into Hindi. He publishes collections, has numerous publications in prestigious magazines, and has published a couple of books.
Karasev in 2008 became a laureate of the Bunin Prize. In 2010 he was awarded the O'Henry Award. There are other equally prestigious awards in the field of literature.
Since November 2007 the writer has been living in St. Petersburg. He is married to Inna Derevyanko. Alexander Vladimirovich collects and carefully preserves the history of his kind, originating from the Cossacks.
