Evgeniy SAVIN
CAPTURED BY THE GREAT CRYSTAL
(C) E. Savin, 1995.
It is quite common and even commonplace to say that
what every writer creates on the pages (or rather, "per page-
"Mi") of his books is a whole world, "the world of this writer." Most clearly
this is manifested in science fiction, since it is precisely this genre that
believes not so much a description of existing reality, but
imaginary reality. Vladislav Krapivin is at least interesting
only because he acts not only as a science fiction writer, but also as
storyteller and "realist". In this regard, it can be assumed that in his
creativity is reflected in a special kind of task - the task of agreement
of the described worlds, the task of their synthesis.
Indeed, why, in fact, is it so necessary for a writer?
Do we need to create some kind of world, “our own reality”? Special in-
Of interest here are cases where such a need arises
develops in the creative process itself, and is not set by the writer as a pre-
dacha from the very beginning [Such a problem is posed and solved, for example,
writers working, relatively speaking, in the fantasy genre. Here
initially a certain country, a developing world, is constructed
according to its own special laws, having an autonomous spatial
temporary organization (special “geography”). Only then is it created
the plot itself,event outline, often in the form of a myth, heroic
Greek epic, etc. The situation is similar in such a genre as
utopian novel. Here the author builds a model of an ideal world, and then
organizes the plot scheme in such a way that the reader receives
this model has the best idea.]. "Ordinary" writer
thinking through the plot and plot of his work, completely consciously
strictly snatches only some relatively self-contained
a “piece” of the world (either real or imaginary). Undoubtedly this
the piece must be sufficiently typical, representative
in relation to the whole that stands behind it. The more successfully done
"slice" from the world, the higher the value of the work. However, rare pi-
The author is limited to only one work. Sooner or later
he takes the next “piece” of reality, artistically “processed”
"shapes" it, turning it into a story, novel or story. And then he
takes the third, fourth, etc. And at a certain stage before pi-
This raises a question of a very specific nature: how to
the “pieces” he described in his works rush around among themselves
reality? What does, say, Marya Ivanovna have to do with
from his first story to Alexandra Stepanovna from the third? For
For a “realist,” this question is ultimately not so scary. Here
the whole behind the parts is implied, it simply is, it is
the existing world, the existing reality. Allthe solution is simple:
Marya Ivanovna lives in Leningrad, and Alexandra Stepanovna lives in
Kolomna; Marya Ivanovna was born in 1941, and Alexandra Ste-
Panovna - in 1956. Fictional events are quite easy to project
are based on a socio-historical background; the success of the projection depends
from the reader’s experience, from what he personally has to do with these
the cities themselves and with this time.
The situation is different for a science fiction writer. The reality he describes
no, it doesn't exist. The only way for its possible existence is
The main features are its “parts” described by the writer. Krapivin, co-
Sure, fantastic. Moreover, due to various reasons and its
realistic works bear a touch of this fantastic
ness. This is manifested primarily in the fact that events occur
in places that don’t really exist. Of course, as a rule, that's all
the same Yekaterinburg and Tyumen, “projected” onto very different
spatial and temporal "landscape". So, a regional city,
described in "A Brother's Lullaby" and "The Crane and the Lightning"
should, based on some geographical signs, find
located somewhere in the Oryol region, although this is obviously Sverdlovsk.
Due to these features of V. Krapivin’s creativity, he especially
However, the problem of discontinuity of the described reality must be experienced.
ness. How does the writer resolve it?
The writer begins the solution with fairly traditional techniques.
Histhe first stories are connected by the commonality of the heroes, they seem to
stick together into larger blocks. Behind the commonality of heroes is also
community of scene. Thus, the appearance of Grandfather in "Crane and
lightning" performs exactly this function. Two parts of reality
are held together, become a single whole, a feeling of infinity is created.
abruptness of the described reality. Kirill and Zhurka in this continuous
new reality could very well meet. Actually, this is not
happens only because Zhurka refuses the offer
Lidia Sergeevna to introduce him to Koshkarev and his team.
It should be noted that at this stage continuity is created in
fairly spontaneously rather than deliberately. Creation of non-
discontinuity does not act as a special task. Therefore there is
boundaries, primarily spatiotemporal. In the novel Struga-
Tskikh "Monday begins on Saturday" hero, travels around
the described future faces its heterogeneous density
tew: some centuries are populated very densely, while others, on the contrary,
left empty. A similar situation can be observed if you send
take a mental journey through space and time V. Kra-
beer in the version of the 60-70s. There are huge un-
inhabited times and spaces, although inhabited "islands" are also
are quite extensive, because by this time V. Krapivin had written
large blocks of works("Boy with a Sword", "Shadow of Caravel-
ly", "The side where the wind is"). However, these are isolated islands.
There is a huge distance between them. How to link, say, "I'm going
meet my brother" and "Boy with a Sword"? Thus, "the world of Kra-
pivina" at this stage acts as continuous only in separate
ny areas. Relatively speaking, this is the stage of “block reality”. For-
we note that most science fiction writers stop precisely
at this stage and further they only follow the path of “enlarging blocks.”
However, V. Krapivin goes further. It carries out the synthesis of individual
blocks into a single whole. It seems appropriate to distinguish three stages
such synthesis, three stages, which are reflected in the production
knowledge: 1. "Dovecote on the yellow meadow"; 2. "Islands and capital"
us"; 3. "In the depths of the Great Crystal."
In the "Dovecote..." only certain attempts were made to
living the path of synthesis is a kind of trial experiment. And although in
Alka's reasoning contains something similar to the "Crystal theory"
la", this "theory" did not act as a genuine world-formation
of the current law, was not implemented in the novel, did not affect its
structure. As the author himself notes (“Ural Pathfinder”, 1985,
# 11) at first parts of the novel did not act as
parts of some whole.Only at a certain stage did the author conceive
connect, synthesize two parts, “fasten” them with a third. And carried
considering thatthe author fulfilled his intention, one can feel the
the divided tension of this third part. Krapivin seems to be torturing-
trying to bring together all the scattered lines of the novel. Perhaps sa-
The greatest absurdity in the novel is the ending of its “earthly” part:
death of Gelka Travushkin. And the author feels this, in his inter-
I mean, he’s trying to somehow rationally justify the need for this...
th episode. However, the very fact that the writer comments explains
his work indicates that the work is not self-
fashion is enough; the need for Travushkin’s death cannot be explained
is clear “from within” the novel. I believe that all rational constructs
tions created to explain some meaning of this character,
secondary, derivative. The "solution" is that this hero
is initially redundant. Frankly speaking, it is not entirely clear
why did the author decide to present all the events through the eyes of the second part?
Gelki, from his point of view. After all, the central figures connecting
who share the novel as a whole are Yurka, Yanka and Gleb Vyatkin. Gelka
falls out of this system of connections: the author does not find anything better,
how to establish some kind of semi-mystical connection between Gelka-Boy-and-a-box
strong. After the ring (railway line) breaks, autonomous
two worlds come into existence: the Planet and the Earth, and
the latter is presented in the novel precisely as “Gelka’s world” [In that sense-
After all the events, everything that happens,assessed from his point
vision, that is, Gelka is a kind of “center” of this world.]. However
V. Krapivin chooses as a model of a liberated world, a united world
liberated galaxy, not Earth: it is on the Planet at the end
Finally all the heroes gather. Therefore, the author has to eliminate
Gelku as a kind of center of the second autonomy, because two worlds
unacceptable. The final roll call of the drummers assembled by Krapi-
wine from previously written books, as well as from real life - this
only an external connection of broken worlds together, and not the true
synthesis. The gathering of drummers only indicates the author’s desire to implement
Conduct the synthesis more thoughtfully. And this plan is being realized
in "Islands and Captains".
I'm not going to analyze the content of "Islands", the semantic
side of the novel. It's more about structure. The author is trying
find some general idea that could act as a semantic
developing core, the basic pattern of the unified
cosmogonic model that unites both book worlds and “book people”
heroes and reality. The plot built by the author is unambiguous
indicates such a desire: there is both reality and
"described reality" of Kurganov's novel. The central idea of "Os-
trov" can be defined as "the universal interconnection of all things and
phenomena." Krapivin is literally bewitched by this idea. Not in the novel
not a single extra hero, not a single extraevents. Everything is connected
with everything - this is the basic formula of the novel. It always sounds here
question: what would happen if..., what would not happen if... No
need to clutter our narrative with unnecessary quotes. them in
confirmation of this thesis can be found as much as possible, since
all the heroes of the novel constantly reflect, comprehend all kinds of
cause-and-effect relationships. If Guy had not found the notorious
grenade, then he would not have thrown it to Tolik, and he would not have taken it
calm down, and did not drop the return bus ticket, and
would not have gone to the station where he was killed by bandits. If Naklonov
didn’t come to read Kurganov’s story, then Yegor would not have stayed in
school and would not have met Mikhail... Such bonds held
The whole fabric of the novel is laid out, and quite firmly. The one is no longer here
mosaic, which is present in the "Dovecote" - we are dealing
truly with integrity. Note that the block diagram, in
in accordance with which the novel is structured reveals an amazing
resemblance to the patterns of Indian films that filled movie screens
50s, or Latin American television series. Motives for the "adoptive"
son" who suddenly finds out his true origin, unexpected
meeting of relatives that changes the life of the main character is very
typical for both TV series and novels. This is a similarity, by the way.
notes in the last book of the novel Egor. The point here is precisely
that andthe series and the novel follow the same pattern,
where the emphasis is on the universal interconnection of all things and phenomena.
It is these connections that give integrity to both multi-hour series,
as well as the huge novel by V. Krapivin. The essence of these connections is human-
Russian relations to each other - is recorded by the author in the last
book of the novel, where the hero reflects on this matter: “What a fool,
Even last fall I thought that books were useless. Because they
about strangers who have nothing to do with him, Yegor, people... And people are all
have a relationship with each other. Even those who lived in different eras
ka. Look how the destinies of Krusenstern and Tolik are intertwined in Yegor’s life
Nechaev, Golovachev and Kurganov, Rezanov and Alabyshev... There were no
him? No, he was, since there were so many thoughts about him and so many because of him
events!" So, reality, its properties, in general, do not depend on
whether it is described or actually exists. Key
the difference between “Islands” and “Dovecote” is that there is
great thoughtfulness of the event plan precisely from the point of view
relationships and mutual influences. If in the Dovecote these same mutual
connections to some extent began on their own, and in such a way that
Thor did not untangle them very successfully, then in “Islands” - tied up with
completely consciously, all the details are thought out. Let's do one more thing
A gentle remark. The fact that the whole in this case is greater than the sum of the hour-
tey - that's clear. However, Krapivinmanaged to implement another application
principle: the part here is equal in size to the whole, paradoxically
reflects the entire whole, and therefore is independent of the whole [So, not
It matters a lot which part you start reading from. For example, I
I read the third one first, and only almost a year later - the first and second ones.
I guess, but this did not hinder understanding at all.]. In the "Islands" Krapivin
first built such a model of storytelling. Construction principle
was strengthened in the cycle of stories about the Crystal. In fact,
grew up, the answer to which is contained in this cycle, is set in "Ost-
rows", in Yegor's thoughts: "In general, what is the future? That
What doesn’t exist yet, or does it already exist somewhere? Maybe it's just the past
with the opposite sign? Maybe people will find a way to get to the bottom of it
big mystery: what is time? So that these days, and those that
have long passed, and those that are yet to come can be linked together? And
connect all the people... So that Yegor can break into the cabin of Golov-
Cheva and knock the gun out of his hands... Of course, this is fantasy, but
sometimes (like now!) it seems that a little more, and the mystery of time
me will be revealed. As if it can be comprehended without formulas and mathematics,
and just like that, tension of feelings. Just a little more... It seems
it is no more difficult than remembering a forgotten word. Already the letters from which
of which it consists are known... The last effort of the nerves - and the letters
scattered, jumping, flickering like sparrows..." In"Islands and
captains" as a realistic work the answer to these questions
could hardly be given. Here is a kind of material carrier,
the embodiment of the universal interconnection of all things and phenomena are
human relations. Indeed, Kruzenshtern and, say,
Egor Petrov are connected only indirectly, through a complex chain of mediators.
Vovany: Kurganov wrote a book about Krusenstern, which he read
Tolik Nechaev became interested in her, and later the meeting of Tolik and Shur-
Revsky's shooting took place precisely on a ship named after the sea
swimmer; because of a meeting of the literary club, at which Nak-
Lonov read the manuscript about Kruzenshtern, Yegor stayed late at school and
met Mikhail, etc. This, in fact, is the law-
The thing that Mikhail is busy searching for is quite realistic.
However, this pattern does not underlie the world described
writer, does not appear as a pattern of material, object-
dark world. However, it was found, and its transfer to the sphere of the material
world can be accomplished by fantastic means: thus appearing
appears (for the first time in Krapivin) the world itself as a whole, as a cosmic
nic model of the Crystal.
Within the framework of this model, quite convincing
correct answers to questions like the one posed above (to what extent
In general, fantastic argumentation can be considered convincing).
Understanding the mystery of time is truly hereachieved "without
formulas and mathematics”, “strength of nerves”, “strain of feelings”.
Moreover, this method of comprehension turns out to be, according to auto-
ra, more organic and natural than another, instrumental
method [Compare, for example, the contrast between Sashka and "?" in
"Pilot"]. Time and space in the cosmogonic model are lost
certainty and, in general, the significance of these categories is extremely small
la. Just like in "Islands and Captains", individual stories of the cycle
independent of the whole, that is, they represent a specific fragment
world, at the same time equal in size to this world. Cause-and-effect
connections here no longer require a special “carrier” (human
eternal relations), but act as necessary and organically
inherent in the world itself as a whole. Any action (or even
just a thought) causes countless consequences, possibly
disturbances spreading throughout the Universe ["They used to think
that big events require big efforts. But it turns out that before
One click is enough for cracks to appear along the edges of the universe."
- says Pavel Nakhodkin in “The Cry of the Rooster”.]. Actually, this
“the main idea” of the author, expressed by him in the cycle as a holistic pro-
presentation. On the other hand, within the framework of a single cosmogonic model -
Is the world now gaining certainty about the interconnection of all the “pieces”
world described in all past and future works of literature
la.These"pieces" of the world can now be interpreted as "facets" of the Great
Crystal. The important point is that everything written
(and not just the stories from the series about the Crystal) occupies a certain
place in relation to some integrity.
A single model of the Crystal type is a very convenient “invention”
writer. Now he is obviously not constrained by formal frameworks
the "plausibility" of what is happening. You can even make a mistake
ity and “populating” the same fragment of the world are completely different
our heroes, explaining this with tricks like a time loop. On
on a completely “scientific”, “rational” basis one can answer the question
grew up, say, about the conditions under which it is possible to meet Valka Begu-
Nova and Aleshka Topolkov, Sergei Kakhovsky and Yaroslav Rodin.
If the writer had not already used the technique of “collecting” all the “drum-
shields" of the Universe in the "Dovecote", then it would be more appropriate in
cycle about the Crystal (cf. “gatherings” of the Border Guards in “The Cry of the Rooster” and
"Sailor Wilson's White Balloon" However, in this cosmogonic
certainty, in this completeness lies the potential lo-
vushka, a “wolf pit” into which a writer can fall; having created
such a comprehensive model, he becomes its “captive”.
This “being captured” can be viewed in two senses.
First, in the context of the model, reality takes on an ominous definition.
division is not only “pieces” of reality described in past episodesinformation, but also those parts of it that could potentially be
described in the future. The writer thus finds himself in a certain
in the first sense, he is not free in his creativity, and in the last sense he is losing -
there is the beauty of spontaneity. I would compare this with the situation in chemistry before
and after the discovery of the periodic law. After fundamental
Mendeleev's work could have predicted all the main features
properties of yet undiscovered elements, and the process of searching for them immediately
lost some of its mysterious appeal. Fill out "be-
"The dark spots" of the table are, in many ways, dull, routine work. Od-
However, similar work awaits the writer who built the cosmic
nic model. Moreover, even this routine work cannot
be brought to some satisfactory conclusion, because
the potential number of crystal faces is infinite. Cycle about Crystal-
le fundamentally cannot be completed. The writer is doomed
reap the number of crystal faces he has “mastered,” but since he does
he does it in his own manner and in his own style, then he, in fact, multiplies
variants of the same reality. Secondly, the writer gets
captured in the sense that he is “involved” in the world he describes,
becomes a participant. After all, the cosmogonic model describes
the whole world, therefore, and that fragment of it in which it resides
the writer himself; for him no longer remains some timeless and
extra-spatial point orplaces. But that's not the worst thing.
The worst thing is that, having found yourself “involved” in the described
world, the writer loses his role as an active, creative
the beginning of this world, because on the scale of its own model
he is just a grain of sand, a microbe, a molecule. This, of course, is not very pleasant.
nogo. There is a significant crisis. And this crisis is brilliantly described
V. Krapivin in the story "The Pilot".
This story is generally unusual, uncharacteristic for Krapivin.
Never before has a writer projected his own personality to such an extent.
personal experience, your “I” on one of the heroes - in this case it is
writer Igor Reshilov. Who is he? By its own definition -
“a fugitive into his last fairy tale,” into a world built by himself. C
he “gave up” on creativity; reasons that prompted him to accept this
We don’t know the solution, however, it is quite reasonable to assume that he
found himself in a “trap”, the structure of which we described above. His
creativity, and therefore life itself, has lost all meaning; he
sick not only in body, but, most of all, in soul. Having escaped into the described
the world they know, he finds himself completely helpless in this world,
although he is its “creator”. However, the creative power was lost
Only consciousness, the unconscious, still rules in the world.
It is interesting that Reshilov does not address his unconscious
directly, and indirectly - through its visible embodiment
in the image, no more no less,Jesus Christ himself. To "him" (sa-
to himself, to his “alienated” part) he seeks advice
and help. Otherwise, he obediently follows the “pilot” Sashka,
which opens for Reshilov the worlds he himself created. Only
once throughout the story the writer Reshilov “remembers” about
that he is the Writer, he is the Creator - when Sashka in accordance
with strange logic, he crashes on a plane. Then Reshilov pos-
with the glacial effort of consciousness (?) “he makes it seem like a dream.”
This story contains an important motif for V. Krapivin -
Reshilov is looking for the Notebook, looking for what was written. Thus, the author tries
show the illusory nature of the line that separates what is being described from
real. On the last pages of the book this line completely disappears.
zaet. According to the strange law of the “stereoscope”, a genuine description arises
perceived reality.
Krapivin’s fairy-tale fiction is distinguished by an important feature: plot
does not develop from within (due to the “self-development of the characters of the hero-
ev"), and from the outside; the source of its movement is the author's will
[Wed. with an article by M. Lipovetsky “In the garb of romance” (“Literature-
Noe Review", # 5, 1988. - p. 49). ]. Hence the unnatural touch
unnaturalness, unnaturalness, characteristic, for example, of such things,
like “Choky-chok”, “Return of the clipper “Krechet”, etc. From this point
In general, “Pilot” is entirely speculative, “volitional” construction
tion. However, the point is that in this casewriter, whim
which is the main factor in the development of events is not
"from the outside", but "inside" the work itself, inside what it built
world, in the described reality. But the paradox is the “builder”, the Creator
turns out to be superfluous, unnecessary in this world. And Reshilov constantly mu-
he despairs of this uselessness. However, he felt this uselessness
consciously and directs creative impulses to the unconscious
are committed to modifying the world in such a way as to eliminate
avoid this feeling of discomfort. So, Reshilov doesn’t want, of course,
Sashka’s illness is “conscious”, but his unconscious desire
that's exactly what it is. He wants, he needs to have next to him exactly
a helpless, defenseless creature to whom he could become
powerful and protector. On the last pages of the story it’s exactly like this
the problem of the meaning of his life is solved for Reshilov.
At the end of the story, Reshilov still finds the notorious Tet-
for the sake of Her return in this case symbolizes his gaining
the lost part of himself (“The Boy at Heart”) - his creative
ski abilities. Reshilov begins to write, create, con-
to destroy another section of the universe. And it is no coincidence that this story
the story of the boy from Nazareth, as we remember, is for Reshilov
the embodiment of his own creative powers, symbolic image
calling, mediating his “communication” with his own unconscious -
linen So whenReshilov writes a story about a Boy, he
seems to regain these powers; no longer the boy is the driving force
force, a factor in the development of events, and Reshilov himself. In some
in a sense, he becomes higher than the Boy, gains power over him. He
again becomes a true Creator. However, it should be noted that
Reshilov still does not escape from the “trap” completely. Although your
creative abilities, the gift of a writer returned to him, his creativity
life is no longer spontaneous and free, but, to a certain extent,
degree, is controlled by some circuit,model. He thus
doomed, even if he has a creative gift, to be inside
Great Crystal and purposefully fill its edges. "Lots-
man" has a strange subtitle: "Chronicle of an unfinished
travel." And this is no coincidence. This is a journey and cannot be
finished, since the number of faces of the Crystal is infinite. So
writer Reshilov, whether he likes it or not, will be an eternal prisoner
own creation, since its main advantage is global-
the flatness and comprehensiveness of the model is at the same time the main
The disadvantage is the restriction of creative freedom within certain boundaries.
However, all this applies to Reshilov. And what about V. Krapivin?
Having created a cosmogonic model (the Great Crystal), he found himself in
trapped And in order to get out of it (completely, not partially) he
came up with and carried out a devilishly cunning plan.Actually,
the story "The Pilot" is a brilliant execution of his plan. She
plays a special, most important role in the cycle - this is the completion.
Paradox! The cycle, as I have shown, could not be completed, but...
it's finished though. The solution to the problem is simple and elegant. Krapivin in
"The Pilot" does not simply describe the crisis situation in which he
got caught myself; That's the whole point, he's not describing his own crisis,
but the crisis of the writer Reshilov. It was not Krapivin who fell into the trap, but
Decided. Paradoxically, the writer abruptly changes his point of view
nia. And the reader must change it along with him: all previous
the stories of the cycle turn out to be, as it were, “nested” in “Pilot”, this
“creations” of Reshilov, and not V. Krapivin. It was he, Reshilov, who built
model of the Universe, paradoxically found himself drawn into it.
Krapivin only described all this, remaining again outside of any
schemes and constructions and maintaining endless possibilities for creativity
stva. Simplifying somewhat, we can say that Krapivin set up
trap Reshilov instead of himself. The latter is therefore the same
“victim”, like Gelka Travushkin. Sacrifice the life of the last one
it took, as we remember, to finish the novel, and the “sacrifice”
"to fight" by Reshilov - to end the fundamentally never-ending
cycle [Curious comparison: Reshilov is the author of a certain
the novel "Yellow Dwarf Station", in which in the finale the boy Vale-
rka ambiguouslydies after rushing towards a train. After
Then the station opened, and there was a general celebration. This scene is one-
is significantly projected onto the finale of "Dovecote" (with an "admixture" of "Outpost"
on the Anchor Field"). The explanation that Reshilov gives to Sashka
this point is very similar in the argumentation of Krapivin himself in
wearing the finale of the "Dovecote". Thus, “substituting” Reshilov,
by sacrificing him, V. Krapivin “expiates” his guilt in
wearing Gelka (of course, symbolically), since Reshilov in this
In this case, it acts as a “substitute” for the author and the “cause” of death
Valerki-Gelki.]. However, for Reshilov it was all over enough
safely, and the unpleasant aspects of his situation are noticeable only
from the outside, and only after very close examination.
What's next? Didn’t V. Krapivin lose by refusing to inform
in the true sense, from your Crystal, solid ground under your feet,
some certainty? I think not. With the end of the cycle
Crystal ball is only a stage completed, one of the turns of the creative spiral
writer. The beginning of any new stage carries with it both dangers
associated with known multivariance, uncertainty
development, as well as a sense of freedom, non-constraint by one or another
frames.
It is very difficult to talk about what lies ahead, however, the most
new works by V. Krapivin completely unexpectedly come to life in
memories, come into resonance with ancient and,it would seem, having already taken
we have a very specific place with novels and stories. Yes, heroes
"The Boy with the Sword" suddenly appears in "The Bronze Boy", and
"A Plane Named Seryozhka" makes you remember "A Pilot for
Special Assignments" and "That side where the wind is...". However, this is already
"another story"
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