Lisa Novikova. Books for the week from 12/20/2000

Books for the week from 12/20/2000
Lisa Novikova

Publication date: December 20, 2000
Yuna Moritz. Face: Poems. Poem. - M.: Russian book, 2000 ("Poetic Russia").

Yunna Moritz, a poetess, appreciated by all children for her song about a rubber hedgehog with a hole in the right side, after a long break, released a new collection of “adult” poems called “Face.” Moritz's unique poetic face turned out to be slightly distorted by a political grimace. In this regard, children under sixteen are not recommended to read Moritz’s new book.

The rest - it's possible. The fact is that the first five hundred pages of the collection are a high-quality poetic text with internal intrigue. Moritz built the collection herself, selecting poems not by chronology, but by theme. It’s interesting to follow this logic: you draw a line through the points with serial numbers and you get a picture. "Give me your boredom!" - the poetess calls, and she really manages to compose so many things that the reader will not be bored. Moritz is great at describing the nature of childhood and masters the art of unobtrusive didactics: he can teach “to think about death with respect” and explain why “it’s good to be young . ” True, it is noticeable that by the nineties the intensity and ethical precision of Moritz’s poems began to falter.

And then comes the last thirty pages. The big secret for the small anti-war campaign is called “The Star of Serbia (poem)” and looks something like this: “Monica really loved / Dick to suck the moron Bill. / Serbia is not Monica, / It has its own harmonica” ; “Relationship with whom?.. For what the hell’s sake / Not to see that the war is in Moscow, and not in Belgrade? / We are beggars, oh yes, but not such whores...”

No, this is not the newspaper “Zavtra”, this is the same Yunna Moritz who, back in 1954, shocked her fellow students with the words “The revolution is dead, and its corpse stinks . ” In 1995, she expressed her elegant “ANTIC BLAM” to those who send young soldiers to “Kafkazhnaya” . And in 1998, she offered a lively, nursery rhyme-like version of her own version of the Russian anthem: “Long live bandits, robbers and thieves, / Their individual personalities, as well as the collective!” It is clear that even in 1999, Moritz sincerely supported Serbia and believed in the ability of poetry to atone for the sins of people, but the elegance and restraint of the style had disappeared somewhere. For a long time, Yunna Moritz was bypassed by all sorts of waves of encouragement that flocked to much less talented poets. The poetess eschewed the literary party scene and was content with her own title of “Laureate of the Moon.” But here’s what’s interesting: it was when Moritz publicly declared how sick she was, firstly, of our “the cream of society” , secondly, from “GOVNATO” with all their damned money - it was then that the “cream” woke up and brought those very dollars called “Triumph” to the feet of the poetess.

Valery Zolotukhin. Vysotsky's Secret: A Diary Story. - M.: Algorithm, 2000 ("Legends of Soviet Cinema").

Vladimir Vysotsky knew better how to talk about politics. No swearing and no hysteria. The famous artist of the old Taganka Valery Zolotukhin already made public in 1992 those fragments of his diaries where they talked about his partner on the Taganka stage. Then his book was called “Everything as a sacrifice to your memory...”. Apparently, not everything was brought: now a new edition has been published - “Vysotsky’s Secret”, where the records of 1969-1989 have been supplemented, plus extended until 2000. The binding is decorated with Vysotsky’s answer to the survey question “Who is your best friend?”: “Valery Zolotukhin.”

The best friend admits that he makes a living by performing Vysotsky’s songs and selling memories of the one who has now become his “breadwinner” . Vysotsky himself was not against “only those to whom he would have given it anyway” getting the lion’s share . The definition of "friend", after all, is authorized by the poet himself. The author tells with documentary rigor how Vysotsky brought him foreign jeans, how they went on tour together, drank together and how he himself dreamed of the role of Hamlet. True, he immediately proves his loyalty, defending Vysotsky from the recent unfair attacks of the full-time VPZR ("great writer of the Russian land") Viktor Astafiev.

Two loves, two destinies: Memories of Blok and Bely. - M.: XXI century - Consent, 2000 ("Library of Russian Culture").

“You can’t approach the tragedy of a great life from the beginning ,” said Andrei Bely. But for the “little” reader it turns out to be more convenient from the front end. Here Bely and Blok are again performing in the same harness and under the same cover. The new book “Two Loves, Two Fates” combines the unfinished memoirs of Lyubov Dmitrievna Blok, “And there were fables about Blok and about myself,” which were published in full only in foreign editions, and the detailed “Memories of Andrei Bely” by Klavdia Nikolaevna Bugaeva. Kondachok, however, is already famous - love dramas of poets. This time it is widows who testify.

Klavdia Nikolaevna says little about herself, completely concentrating on identifying her husband’s special features. In her words, Bely appears as an eccentric character, a workaholic, a lover of dancing and acrobatics, with a lot of funny stories that happened to him because of his absent-mindedness. In general, the way we imagined it from Mandelstam’s brilliant poem. Klavdia Nikolaevna explained everything simply. It turns out that Bugaev the man was terribly lacking in attention. They will love me anyway as Andrei Bely, but you will love me as Boris Nikolaevich, as he said. Well, Boris Nikolaevich, let’s say, is not in fashion now.

Lyubov Dmitrievna chooses the path of “sincere confession”: their relationship with her “husband” (Blok’s better half puts quotation marks) really did not develop smoothly. She does not accuse Blok, but only builds a series of “defense” arguments, including her youthful inexperience and the deceit of the Blok family. As material evidence of how difficult it is for a living woman to be only an ethereal Beautiful Lady for her own husband, Lyubov Dmitrievna presents a protocol description of her irresistible young body.

╘ Lisa Novikova, 2000

╘ Publishing House "Kommersant", 2000