Vasily Bykov is a writer, public figure, participants of the Great Patriotic War. He was a member of the Writers' Union. He was awarded the titles of Hero of Socialist Labor, People's Writer of Belarus. He was a laureate of the Lenin and State Prizes of the Byelorussian SSR and the USSR.
Almost all of Vasily (Vasil) Bykov's books show the moral choice of people in the most difficult moments. The action of many of his works takes place during the Great Patriotic War. It has become the most tragic for the country. However, like other tragedies, it has spawned many talented authors.
Truth of War
Former front-line soldiers, who knew firsthand about the attacks, became narrators of a difficult time. One of these authors was Vasil Vladimirovich Bykov. He talked about the moral choice that a person had to make in the most difficult moments. Among the first writers he told about the "trench truth", about an incredible amount of fear.
He said that cowards are not the only ones to be afraid. The punitive organs were intimidating. The prose writer was born in the Belarusian village of Bychki in 1924, on June 19. Much of the time of the occupation remained in the memory of the inhabitants for a long time. Bykov told the readers about this. He talked about what happened to his fellow citizens.
Every citizen of Belarus became a warrior, contributing to the cause of victory, regardless of the availability of weapons and the ability to handle them. The theme of war is invariably raised in all of the writer's books. In 1941, the future famous prose writer turned seventeen. He was distinguished by his artistic ability.
The young man studied at the sculpture department. In 1940 he left his studies and went to work. The exams for the final school class were passed externally. At the front, Bykov became a platoon commander, occupying one of the most dangerous positions. The officer received several awards and was wounded.
He managed to survive miraculously. His name was on the lists of those buried in a mass grave. The mother who received the funeral found out that her son was alive only after a long time. After being wounded, Vasil ended up in a hospital, where he was put on his feet, and he went to fight again. From his native lands, the future writer came to Romania and Austria.
He could write a book on behalf of a generation that has almost disappeared from life. After the victory, Vasil Vladimirovich served for ten years. Since 1955 he wrote feuilletons with essays for the newspaper "Grodnenskaya Pravda". In 1956, the first works of art began to be published in local publications. Most of all works were devoted to partisans and soldiers. However, several works do not touch on the military theme.
Literary creativity
At the very beginning of his work, Bykov released a small collection of humorous stories. The writer called the start of his activity in 1951. During his stay in the Kuril Islands, he wrote "Oboznik" and "Death of a Man". The war has become the main and practically the only theme of his work.
In his works, the author showed people who fell on the line between death and life, almost always ending in death. All heroes have to be at their limit. One of Bykov's books is the story "Sotnikov". The work shows the fragility of the hero's moral foundations. He becomes a traitor.
The high artistic value of the frontline story lies in the fact that the author not only tells about the hardships of wartime, but also about the agony of the moral tests experienced by many. Mental strength is needed to make the right choice in an emergency.
Awareness of duty and responsibility inspire achievement. In the story "Wolf Pack", for example, a baby is saved by Levchuk. The hero of "Until Dawn" Lieutenant Ivanovsky, even after being seriously wounded, does not stop fighting. In the genre of lieutenant prose, several works were published in the sixties. They all found their readers.
"Crane Shout", "Front Page" and "Third Rocket" managed to put the creator on a par with the most talented front-line writers. During this period, the term "lieutenant prose" was born. The works of this direction had a considerable impact on the spiritual life of the period. Critics took the innovation with hostility.
The "New World" edited by Tvardovsky, where mainly Bykov's works were published, was subjected to a devastating attack. Especially criticized were "Attack on the Move", "It Doesn't Hurt the Dead", "Kruglyanskiy Bridge". As a result, the last essay came out ten years later, "Attack on the Move" had to lie until the eighties.
Iconic works
The publication of "The Dead Doesn't Hurt" became possible after more than two decades from its writing. More than half a century has passed since the end of the war, and the works have not lost their relevance. The author talked about ordinary people. He was not interested in the process of battles, but in morality. Without popular support, the partisan movement would have been unthinkable. The writer could not isolate himself from the role of the people who did not want to be under occupation.
The hero of the "Kruglyansky Bridge" is ashamed of his father-policeman. True, the partisan is stronger than the authority of the parent. The author translated the works from Belarusian into Russian himself. For his story "Until Dawn" Bykov was awarded the State Prize. He received two more awards in the seventies.
The romantic work "Alpine Ballad" stands apart. However, this book is also dedicated to the soldier who saved his beloved at the cost of his life. In the nineties, the author was not published. He left the country. The author spent a year and a half in Finland. Then he moved to Germany. He died in the Belarusian Borovlyany on June 22, 2003.
Bykov's personal life was adjusted twice. The village teacher Nadezhda Kulagina became his first chosen one. The family has two sons. After three dozen lives together, the couple broke up. A colleague of the writer Irina Suvorova became his second wife. The chosen one worked as an editor in a newspaper. The couple were together from 1979 until the departure of Vasil Vladimirovich from life.
