The combination of huge and complicated historical facts and the author's artistic creation constitutes a long and substantial picture.
This period of history is as magnificent as a river, but as far as the plot is concerned, my favorite is the beginning and the end.
One,
The beginning of the novel revolves around Gregory's pursuit of Axel Niya, and also depicts the harmonious and happy life in the Don River basin. At first, Gregory and his father went fishing together, fishing in the rain, which made people who lived by the water feel very cordial. This is a pure beginning, and such a life scene is put at the beginning, which brings readers to Cossack's life at once.
I like this pure human emotion, this simple life full of human beauty from the beginning. Later, the war of red blood and red faith brought about by political fighting really washed away this life and polluted this land. The innocent and happy life here at the beginning may be like human childhood. Gradually, you will fight against pollution or get caught up in it. This kind of life can't last forever, and history is crossing the wooden bridge. Whoever doesn't squeeze hard will fall.
I like the ending, because I think the ending is the most fascinating part of the whole article and the plot is the most tense.
By the time there were about 100 pages left in this novel, the Don Army had been completely defeated. Gregory didn't get the chance to get on the boat and flee to other places, so he surrendered to the Red Army. In order to redeem his "sin" of resisting the Red Army, Gregory fought against the remaining resistance forces in the Red Army. But soon, because he was not trusted, he retired and returned to his hometown. After returning home, the Soviet Union didn't let him go, and Mishka hated these enemies. Gregory longed to return to ordinary Cossack life, tired of years of war, and hoped that the Soviet regime would let him go.
Mishka said, "I don't trust you! No matter how good the wolf eats, he still wants to run into the Woods. "
Sister Dunia heard about her husband Mishka's plan for Gregory, and told Gregory that night that Gregory had escaped and stayed at a friend's house who sympathized with him for many days, but the friend's wife was afraid that the Soviet Union would find you and there was not much food at home. Finally, Gregory had to leave.
Shortly after going out, Gregory was kidnapped, thinking that he was Soviet, but he was a group of bandits led by Fuming.
Fu Ming was originally a person with a position in the Soviet regime, but due to the oppression of the people by the surplus grain collection system, Fu Ming rebelled and thought that he could represent the will of the people on the Don River and incite the masses to riot again. However, years of war and Fu Ming's lack of leadership, even if Fu Ming tried to publicize in various towns and villages in Cossack, could not arouse the idea of mass riots. However, there are still many people inside the Cossacks who secretly sympathize with and support Fu Ming and his party, so at first Fu Ming and his party could get some help from the Cossacks when they were pursued by the Soviet Union, but then the pressure from the Soviet Union increased, and no one dared to help them.
Gradually, Fu Ming felt that the fate of death hung over his head, life began to indulge, and discipline was ignored. They often rob, so they are spurned by more and more people Gregory was condemned in his heart. He is an honest man at heart and can't stand the situation of this team at all. Urging Fuming to purify the atmosphere, but to no avail. Soon the Red Army caught up and Fuming and his gang were beaten into five people.
Five people struggled to avoid being hunted down, and these five people were full of intrigue to survive. Some people plan to kill the rest to get honors and rewards, so as to avoid the death penalty. That night, Caparrin, who wanted to do this, was killed, and Gregory was suspected of having the same infidelity as Caparrin and was almost killed.
Caparrin died, leaving four people behind. Then, there is touching brotherhood. Stelllyadnikov was injured and begged everyone not to leave him.
"'We'll take you away,' Chumakov said flatly. We'll take you away, don't be afraid! Dry your tears, you are not an old woman. "
I can't go with him. Steli Adenikov himself said, "Brothers! Please kill me ... I can't live ... I'm exhausted, and I can't support it anymore ... "
Chumakov, who killed him, later bitterly blamed himself.
There are three people left. Unexpectedly, the remnants of other gangs came one after another, willing to follow Fuming, and the team gradually grew. Gregory thought from the beginning that Fuming and his gang would come to no good end, and he had long wanted to escape from them. He thinks: "In summer, he can steal two good horses from bandits, run back to Tatar village at night, and then flee to the south with Axel Niya. The Don River grassland is vast and boundless, and there are many roads and places on the grassland that no one has been to. In summer, all roads extend in all directions, and you can find a place to live everywhere ... "
He really escaped from Fu Ming's gang, fled back to Tatar village, and brought Axel Niya out, just around the corner from Gregory's ideal life. I didn't expect it to be discovered by the Red Army soon. Assinia had no combat experience and was beaten at once. Assinia never recovered from her injury. She died in Gregory's arms shortly before dawn. Gregory reluctantly buried Assinia.
Losing Assinia, for him, is equivalent to losing everything. He has lost his mind. He hid in a cave in a big forest. In the long days, Gregory lived by carving wood and stones.
He still has two children in his hometown.
"Go home?"
"Go home."
His desire for children overcame everything, and he decided to go home regardless of danger ... that's where the spirit left in his life can rely.
Second,
When reading this novel, we can pay attention to the narrative in two directions. One is history and front, and the other is emotion and rear.
In fact, the core is war, which confuses things in these two directions.
In the first direction, we can see that from the beginning of World War I, Cossacks were commanded to fight against Germany and Austria-Hungary at the front under the authorization of the czar. At this time, young male Cossacks left their hometown, leaving only women, old people and young people. After the February Revolution, the Tsar abdicated and various forces began to compete for the Cossacks. Although the Cossacks called for an end to the war, they were still inevitably involved in the torrent of history. Cossacks were faced with a choice, and the Bolsheviks won some Cossacks, including the early Gregory and Mishka, who was full of hatred for the White Army. However, most Cossacks returned to the Don Valley and began to fight the Red Army. In the length of the novel, it focuses on the Cossacks' resistance to the Red Army in the Don River basin. But at the same time, it also created many heroic and just images of the Red Army, such as Bunker and Anna. Gregory also showed his complicated attitude towards camp selection in this struggle.
In the second direction, we can see that during the war, the Tatar village on the Don River, gregory's hometown, was destroyed, and the war affected ordinary people who did not go to the front. There is also the core emotional line: the entanglement between Gregory and Assinia and Natalia. The front line lingered on both sides of the Don River, and the villages of the Tatars were repeatedly occupied by both sides, and hatred accumulated in the villages of the Tatars. Mishka and Mijika are both from Tatar village, but they belong to different camps. When the Red Army gained the upper hand, Mishka, a loyal soldier of the Red Army, ran to the village and killed all the former landlords, including Mishka's relatives. When Tang Jun gained the upper hand, they returned to Mishka in the village and killed Mishka's relatives for revenge. Their behavior is not recognized by Tatar village people.
Since Petro went to the front, his wife Dalia has been having an affair. Finally, she contracted sexually transmitted diseases and committed suicide in the river. Assinia, who left her husband Stepan to Gregory, also hooked up with Lister Nisski. Gregory temporarily returned to the rear, abandoned Assinia, went home to make up with Natalia, and gave birth to twins, but later he still missed Assinia. After Asinia found a real wife in Listnitsky, she had to return to Tatar village to make peace with Stepan for the time being.
Gregory and Assinia separated. Every time Gregory threw himself into Assinia's arms, Natalya found Assinia, but every time her attitude was different. Natalia was desperate for the last time. Although she was pregnant with Gregory's child again, she decided not to give birth to this child. Finally, she came home covered in blood and died soon. In fact, Gregory had no feelings for Natalya at first, but after having children, Gregory began to like Natalya.
After Irinichina, Gregory's mother, died at home, the only thing she cared about was Gregory who was still fighting ahead. One night, when Assinia saw the moonlight, Irina, who knew she was dying, whispered Gregory's name in the yard. Shortly after Irina died.
Third, the complex Gregory.
In fact, Gregory also represents the history of the Cossacks. Gregory has re-selected his camp many times, which is consistent with the cossacks' falling to Poland, Russia or seeking support from Turkey in history. Of course, this is closely related to the origin of Cossacks. Cossacks are a group of people who pursue freedom and escape from the bondage of land. They are brave and good at fighting, and they have to take their own horses to fight. They often express their contempt for the Red Army, which can't ride crops. They are outside the control of the regime, but they are provided with opportunities to use the major regimes, because they are so powerful that other regimes sometimes have to make political deals with them.
After Gregory was injured in the war for the first time, he came into contact with people with red beliefs, so his respect for the tsar was impacted. So Gregory has accepted the red faith. In the battle with the White Army, Gregory realized that it was difficult to choose the right path, and he gradually began to doubt his red faith. At the same time, he got a chance to go back to his hometown because of his injury. At home, Gregory confessed that he supported the Soviet Union and was immediately denounced by his father! At that time, his brother Pietro was serving in the White Army, persuading Gregory. There is no doubt that the Cossacks felt that the Red Army was not good for the Cossacks at that time, so they were more willing to support the White Army. They hope to establish their own regime, not belong to the Soviet Union. When the Red Army came from the front, there was a meeting in Gregory's village. At the meeting, everyone said that they would resist the Red Army and defend their hometown. When the Cossacks captured the Red Guards leaders such as Bunciuc and Podtelkov, the villagers angrily accused them of betraying the Cossacks. Excited, the Cossacks sentenced the captured Red Guards to death.
Gregory and his brother Pietro disagreed on the route choice, and Pietro advised him to give up his plan to join the Red Army. After several battles with the Bolsheviks, Gregory began to hate the Bolsheviks and thought that they had invaded the villages and lands of the Cossacks. Later, Petro died under the gun of the Red Army, and Gregory's hatred for the Red Army deepened. But after the Don River Army was completely defeated, Gregory joined the Red Army to pursue the remnants.
As Gregory thought, it is very difficult to choose the right path.
Every time he chooses a side, Gregory has a good reason. How do people in history know who is the ultimate writer of history? If the Cossacks successfully defended their Tang regime, the Cossacks will have their own independent regime from now on, and will no longer be attached to various forces like the swing in history, then the history seen by future generations will be rewritten.
The "right" in the eyes of future generations, in the eyes of people at that time, was indeed a wrong choice that made people angry. Just as the rest of the family advised Gregory not to take refuge in the Red Army, they thought that a real Cossack should beat back the Red Army.
Right or wrong, the power of judgment is in the hands of the winner. But as far as Cossacks are concerned, they intend to defend their land and continue their lives in their own way, instead of the Soviet Union establishing political power on the land of the Don River like Russia. Is this wrong? Maybe not. But compared with the Soviet Union, which established political power in vast Russia at that time, they are very weak, and they are moving against the historical trend. Even with the assistance of Germany, Britain and other countries, it is impossible to win the final victory.
If the Cossacks win, Gregory will not surrender to the Red Army and will be regarded as a hero. However, he eventually became a "dissident" in the Soviet Union. He has no moral mistakes, but the choice of camp itself makes him bear the possible death penalty.
Gregory is not wrong. The mistake is that he didn't die early and became a soldier with firm political beliefs. The mistake is that he is still alive, and the mistake is that he has to choose from the essence of existence.
Just like those who demeaned themselves and saved their lives in the great cleansing movement, although they are not recognized heroes, they cannot be called mistakes from the perspective of survival.
Gregory portrayed by the author is by no means a hero, nor is he the image of Gao Daquan. He also has vulgar cossack habits and is emotionally half-hearted. But he also has the integrity and courage of a traditional Cossack.
Speaking of his half-heartedness, it is very wrong in the current concept. In the age of books, it is not correct either. Gregory shouldn't have married Natalia after falling in love with Assinia. The tragedy of Natalia was caused by Gregory. Natalia tried to kill herself in her first despair, but later Gregory changed her mind. This period of time is the only happy time after Natalia got married. In the second despair, Natalia really died.
To understand, we can only say that Gregory is an unyielding person to reality, a person who directly expresses his feelings and dares to pursue his own life. When he found that he might live a happy life with Natalya, he married Natalya. When he found that life was not satisfactory, he chose to escape with Assinia. He is a wayward person, emotionally wayward. He didn't consider that he would bring great mental trauma to Assinia or Natalia.
Generally speaking, Gregory, who uses brushwork to construct the most, is not a person who can win spiritual respect.
Fourth, dialogue between characters.
The author created many real and flawed people, especially the Cossack side. Gregory's father Panteley Prokofyevich was criticized by his son Gregory for misbehaving in a battle. On another occasion, he escaped from the battle and hid in the attic at home. He was found out that he was not a responsible father at all. Dalia, my brother Petro's wife, was immersed in sensual enjoyment and hooked up with all kinds of people inappropriately. In order not to let her father-in-law stop her, she even dared to humiliate him in an extreme way. Although this is morally incorrect, she doesn't care at all, because Petro went to the front and she couldn't stand it. At that time, the pressure of death and unrest made people addicted at every opportunity.
People don't seem to attach importance to cuckoldry. Assinia was seduced by Gregory, and Stepan just beat Assinia and made up. Assinia hooked up with Lister Nisski, and Gregory only left Assinia temporarily, and then returned to Assinia's arms. Petro originally wanted to give Dalya a good lesson, but as soon as they met, the delighted Petro suddenly forgot his dissatisfaction. They seem to be more tolerant of their wives.
Assinia's pursuit of love is very firm. From the moment Natalie caught Gregory, Assinia decided in her heart that she must pull Gregory back into her own hands. Assinia faced Natalia, just like a man, with a fighting temperament. Although Assinia is persistent in the pursuit of love. But it is very soft for love itself and children. It was the death of Assinia and Gregory's children that made Listnitsky break through Assinia's psychological defense. After Natalia's death, Assinia, a rival in love, took care of Natalia's two children sympathetically, making them regard Assinia as their relatives.
When Natalia was young, Gregory came home to propose. The innocent Natalya was immediately attracted by Gregory, thinking that she was married and established a world with a husband and children. However, she was mercilessly abandoned. Natalia has a crush on something stupid. She wrote a letter to Gregory asking him to come back, but she received a heartless reply. Later, I found Assinia and asked her to return Gregory. There is only Gregory in her world. He is her spiritual pillar. Once lost, she felt that life could not go on.
Speaking of complexity, we can also see a strange emotion, that is, Gregory's sister Dugner. The image of Dunia has almost never appeared in the content of Changfeng, but has been hidden behind. It was not until the emotional line between her and Mishka, a Red Army soldier, surfaced that she was noticed. Because of Cossack's general rejection of the Red Army and his brother Petro's death at the hands of Mishka. The family doesn't support the feelings of Dunia and Mishka. But in fact, for Dougna, love is love, and it should be seen separately from others. After the Red Army won a total victory, Dogner and Mishka got married. Later, when his brother Gregory came back, Dogner fell in love with Gregory and Mishka, both of whom were enemies. It was the news Dougna heard from her husband that saved her brother Gregory.
When Gregory entered the war, Dogner had not yet grown up. After returning from injury, Gregory commented that she had grown into a big girl. Although she was at war, she always kept her distance. She doesn't know the world of war, and she doesn't know the difference between camps. She just loves her brother and her husband sincerely. She is a pure image in the book. Love is just love, just a child who has just grown up, which is different from secular disputes. In the love confrontation between Natalya and Assinia, Dunia took good care of her sister-in-law, Natalya. After Natalya's death, Dogner also supported his brother to combine with Assinia and build a new life. At that time, Assinia had won the trust of Natalia's children with her love.
Although the author wrote this masterpiece from Cossack's standpoint, he did not demonize Cossack's enemies. Although I also wrote some unreasonable things that the Soviet Union did, it was just showing the truth. In addition, the book also portrayed many respectable Red Army soldiers and leaders. For example, Tokman died on the podium, Bonciuk died on the battlefield, and the Red Army leader who would rather die than surrender and spread political beliefs before his execution.
Five,
At the end of the novel, Gregory throws all his weapons into the rippling Don River, walks on the land where the snow has not completely melted, and meets his son on the other side of the Don River. Gregory hugged his son tightly, and his son recognized him in surprise and kept a certain resistance to him. Gregory learned from his son that his daughter died of diphtheria.
This is what Gregory experienced throughout the Cossack era, and what remained is still connected with this land.