Victor Dragunsky was bright and joyfully talented. He was a kind, cheerful and therefore a happy man. He conveys his love for life, faith in life and in people to readers, of whom he has a great many not only in our country, but all over the world.

Cheerful, witty, kind man, he was very fond of children. Such love in our age is not uncommon, only some people love children with sincere and demanding love, while others like to talk only about this love. In different years, in different circumstances, the writer was surrounded by children: in the circus, theaters, on the street, at meetings with young readers. Being a comedian and satirist, V. Dragunsky won recognition in this field.

Creativity of Viktor Yuzefovich Dragunsky

The childhood and youth of Viktor Yuzefovich Dragunsky fell on difficult years. At the age of sixteen, a young man who dreamed of the theater had to go to work. He worked at a factory, sewed horse harness in a saddle shop, and carried passengers by boat across the Moscow River. But he nevertheless became an actor and played on stage not without success. Since 1935, his acting biography began: he was a stage artist, for several years he directed the theater of literary and theatrical parodies "The Blue Bird". Later he worked in the Theater of Satire, was a circus clown, played in the Theater-Studio of a film actor. When the Great Patriotic War began, Dragunsky joined the people's militia and defended Moscow from the Nazis. And even during the war, Viktor Yuzefovich, with other artists, went to the front to perform in front of the soldiers.

Dragunsky wrote feuilletons, parodies, funny scenes for pop and circus, songs. In 1968, Viktor Yuzefovich, answering questions from the questionnaire of the Pionerskaya Pravda newspaper to the question: “Which of the writers of the past would you go on a trip and where?” he replied: “Of the writers of the past, I would agree with Alexander Grin and together with him, Tomka Sawyer, Geshka Finn and Comrade Kibalchish, in such a glorious company, I would go to Zurbagan and, maybe, on the way back I would turn into Liss . I have many friends there, in these cities: and then, can you imagine how glad old Assol would be?

Many of V. Dragunsky's humorous stories are widely known and years later, after publication, they have not lost their charm, subtle humor, and special delicacy. These are such stories as: "The Magical Power of Art", "Gum", "Marina Vladi with Razgulyan", "Old Joke", "Noble Surname", "Mermaid Laughter", "Dachurka". "The Magical Power of Art" is not only a story, but, as it turned out later, after it was published, it is also a ready-made script for a movie, with a complete dramatic plot, with brightly written characters. The story is both funny and a bit sad, great in recognition. Each page of his stories breathes authenticity, sincerity, arouses a lively reader's interest and a sense of empathy.

It's alive and glowing! That was the name of one of the best books of Viktor Dragunsky. I would like to say the same about the author himself. It's alive and glowing! In any case, for many readers and admirers of his cheerful and sad talent.

The writer's fate of Viktor Dragunsky developed in such a way that children first of all recognized and loved him. And young readers met his Deniska Korablev for the first time in 1959. Since then, the title of children's writer has been firmly entrenched in Viktor Dragunsky. A variety of cases happened to the main character of Dragunsky: he jumped from a tower into the water, and performed on stage, and got into an accident with his dad. Some of these cases actually happened - not with Denis Korablev, a literary hero, but with Denis Dragunsky, the writer's son. True, Denis Dragunsky grew up, now he writes books himself, and Deniska Korablev remained a boy.

"Deniska's Stories" is a whole world, a kind of encyclopedia of child psychology. Here is the school, and the family, and the street, and fun, and grief, and joy, and disappointment, and relationships between adults and children - and much more that is included in the vast and sometimes poorly understood by us "children's world."

It has always been believed that "Deniska's stories" are intended only for children. They were published in Detgiz, "Kid" in colorful covers, with drawings. But, perhaps, rarely anyone thought about the fact that they are equally addressed to adults. Many of these stories are written with such subtext and reveal the relationship between children and adults in such a way that they can rightfully become books for adults as well. The character of the narrator leaves a peculiar imprint on the manner of presentation of events, on the style of speech and reflections of the main character.

This can be seen in the example of the story "The workers crush the stone." The boy liked the Dynamo water station so much that even the sound coming from the embankment, where the workers are crushing the stone, seems to him thin and gentle, as if “someone is playing with glass hammers on a silver xylophone.” Deniska is delighted with how “everyone here walks like a champion, “excellent”, walks fashionably - sometimes they even walk much better than they swim.” The irony of the last remark, made by the way, prepares for the sudden transition from the boy's enthusiasm to the humorous situation in which he finds himself thoughtlessly jumping off a ten-meter tower. The childish concreteness with which Deniska, standing upstairs and looking down frightened, reflects on the possible consequences of her jump, is comical: “... or I will fall right into the sideboard on someone's head, there will be a story! Or I, what good, I will go straight into the kitchen, into the cauldron with borscht! It's also a pleasure."

Characteristic for children is the game with synonyms, which was started by Mishka and Kostya, mocking the frightened Deniska: “He jumped off! - Ha-ha-ha! - He jumped! - Ho-ho-ho! - Swallow! - He-he-he! - Soldier! - Hee hee hee! - Brave! - Well done! - Bouncer! ”,“ You are not afraid! "Are you just afraid?" A neologism in rhyme is a braggart, a false opposition did not get cold feet - it was simply afraid to enhance the humor of a children's teaser. The state of mind of Deniska, over which the guys laugh and who therefore decided to jump off at all costs, is well conveyed not by a mocking, but by a mocking play on words that he addresses to himself: “Rrokhlya! .. Wahlya !! Mahla!!! Jump now! Waddles! Swollen! .. ” Deniska jumped, the respect of his comrades was returned to him. And again the rhythm of the story sounds lyrical, heartfelt: “And I lay and listened to the workers hitting the pink stone with hammers. The sound came here faintly, as if someone was playing with a glass mallet on a silver xylophone.

Humor colors Deniska's i-enthusiastic attitude towards people. Grandpa Valya becomes close to readers, about whom Deniska says: “... a golden man! Kind. He once gave me a ladybug. Here, the childish logic with which the use of epithets characterizing the grandfather is explained is humorous. And when Deniska, like a child, cannot forgive a petty insult, humor softens his gloomy feelings, quickly replaced by joy, with a kind smile. Here Deniska talks about what a terrible revenge he conceived, putting his blue dagger on top of his briefcase: “In the morning I could not eat anything.” This seems to indicate the seriousness of the boy's experiences. But then he adds: “I just drank two cups of tea with bread and butter, potatoes and sausage,” and thanks to this illogical explanation, we are already prepared for the fact that the conflict will be settled easily.

In the story "There is a big movement on Sadovaya", the comic character of the character is associated with his excessive credulity. A guy approached the guys who had gone on a bicycle far from home. "... He had a gold tooth .. on his hands he had various drawings, portraits and landscapes." Dragunsky deliberately calls Deniska's mouth the common outward signs of a swindler, which should have alerted the boys if they were not so gullible. Thinking of giving the guys a shaggy little dog “made of different wools” instead of a bicycle, the stranger says: “This is a very valuable dog. Thoroughbred. Spanish Dachshund. It is comical that Deniska further in a serious way repeats the epithet "valuable", used by the swindler to deceive. This technique, common in humorous stories, characterizes the naivety of the character.

Changelings are also often found in the works of Dragunsky. Changelings help to reveal the psychology of the child, to show his feelings, experiences.

Here Deniska dreams of what he would say to his mother at dinner if they switched roles: “Why did you start a fashion without bread? Here's more news! Look at yourself in the mirror, who do you look like? Poured Koschey! Eat now, they tell you!” And she quickly began to eat, with her head down ... ”The parody of this imaginary scene becomes all the more accessible to the guys because at the end of the story everything is turned upside down again, and the mother already treats Deniska in the same way as he was going to do it. if everything in the world were arranged the other way around.

In other cases, the shifter is formed unconsciously for the protagonist, but even here it reveals his psychological characteristics. Deniska, going to the carnival, got into his father's shoe covers so that they almost reached his armpits. “Nothing, quite uncomfortable. But they shine nicely,” he says. After the word nothing, a stable phrase is expected quite conveniently, but for a child who loves the unusual, it is precisely the opposite assessment that is valuable.

In the story "Fire in the wing, or the Feat in the Ice ..." we meet with a changeling, formed as a result of a speech error. Moreover, this mistake is unexpected for other characters in the story and for readers, and therefore causes laughter. At the same time, it is a logical consequence of the character and deed of the one who allows it.

Out of breath, Deniska is going to justify his being late to school by hiding the real reason. This usually honest, truthful boy is clearly embarrassed and agitated. To the question of the teacher, where is Misha, who was also late, Deniska replies: “Misha is now sewing Aunt Pasha to a button! That is, the collar is sewn to Aunt Pasha! The comicality of Deniska's behavior is enhanced by the fact that, not yet daring to deceive the teacher, he tries to delay the answer to her question about the reason for being late: “And suddenly this! Such a thing, Raisa Ivanna, just oh-ho-ho! Wow! Ah ah ah!"

In another story, Deniska, excited by an absurd incident that happened to him, says: “And only the third dog stands near us and tails with a vert, that is, twirls its tail.” Here the shifter is not only in the use of words, but also in word formation itself.

Comic situations in Dragunsky's stories in most cases are not created artificially, but are due to the psychological characteristics of children's thinking, the emotional excitability characteristic of children, which is reflected in their speech. Deniska really wanted to participate in the creation of a school living corner. The boy is completely immersed in this concern, and it seems to him that it should be clear to everyone. So he ran home from the pet store for money: “Mom, shout hurray! On the Arbat they give white mice. The very fact that after the word give, which housewives usually used in Soviet times in relation to scarce and very necessary goods, followed by white mice, causes laughter. And then, when this living “goods” was sold and Deniska was left with nothing, he sadly says to the saleswoman: “You are bad at supplying the population with essential mice.” And this unexpected intrusion into Deniska's speech somewhere overheard by him in business, official vocabulary is also comical.

The boy's excitement, his enthusiasm for his idea lead to a verbal humorous situation. Deniska turns to her neighbor: “Vera Sergeevna, do you have a tail?” She kindly wonders: “Am I very similar to the devil?” But the fact is that Deniska is in a hurry to the carnival and he needed an item that could replace the tail in the Puss in Boots costume.

Seeing the draw of the European boxing championship on TV, Deniska, without any explanation, asks his father to buy a pear, meaning a training one. “It’s January now, there are no pears. Eat a carrot for now, ”he answers out of place. Here the humor is based on the fact that the word is not understood by the father in the sense in which it was used by Deniska.

Humorous omissions in Dragunsky's stories may be due to the fact that one of the characters does not know about the pranks of the other, and the phraseological unit used by him suddenly acquires a specific meaning. In one of the stories, the clown exclaims: “Well, boy! He won "Murzilka", but he himself is silent, as if he had taken water in his mouth! And it's funny because the boy just really drank a bottle of soda through force in order to weigh exactly 25 kilos and, according to the conditions of the competition, win an annual subscription to a children's magazine.

This is an example accessible to children that the same combinations of words can be used both as phraseological units and in their direct meaning.

It is comical in the reasoning of the child and the combination of the unusual, the fantastic with the strictly real. For example, children talk about miracles in the circus, about the fact that frogs are swallowed there, and one adds: “And crocodiles too!” - “You, Mishka, are obviously out of your mind! - Deniska is indignant. - How will you eat a crocodile when it's tough. It can't be chewed up."

Humorous and illogical Deniska's reasoning is associated with a too specific idea of ​​some concepts and the inability to simultaneously realistically compare them with others, as well as correlate with the conditions in which they can manifest themselves. Hearing that “one drop of cigarette poison kills a healthy horse,” and being frightened for his smoking father, Deniska is worried: “That's it! I looked at dad. He was big, no doubt, but still smaller than a horse ... and even the most seedy cow. A cow would never fit on our sofa, but dad would fit freely.” There is not a hint of rudeness in the fact that the boy compares his father to a horse and even a cow. This comparison is caused only by the sincere concern of Deniska, who literally understood the aphorism about the destructive effect of nicotine. The writer speaks about the excitement of the boy with humor, which is caused by the spontaneity and naivety of Deniska's ideas: “I was very scared. I did not want such a drop of poison to kill him ... From these thoughts I could not fall asleep for a long time, so long that I did not notice how I fell asleep after all.

The writer, with gentle humor, conveys Deniska's fears associated with his dream of becoming a brave traveler, like Alain Bombard and crossing all the oceans in a fragile shuttle, eating only raw fish. “True,” Deniska argues, “after his trip, this Bombar lost twenty-five kilograms, and I only weighed twenty-six, so it turned out that if I also swim like him, then I will have absolutely nowhere to lose weight, I will weigh only one kilo at the end of the journey. What if I don’t catch one or two fish somewhere and lose a little more weight? Then I'll probably just melt in the air like smoke. that's all there is to it?" Here the illogicality of the conclusions is reinforced by external, purely arithmetical precision. Humor helps convey the combination of the serious, the spontaneous, and the naive in a child's dreams of the future. The concreteness of the child's thinking is also expressed in quite real, but inappropriate under the circumstances, detailing, which also causes laughter. Deniska, who hates semolina, pours it out the window. And now the victim appears: “This uncle had a hat on his head. And on the hat is our porridge. She lay almost in the middle of the hat, in the dimple, and a little along the edges, where the ribbon is, and a little behind the collar, and on the shoulders, and on the left trouser leg.

Humor is also manifested in Deniska's unconscious parody of the style of some literary genres. He expresses his dissatisfaction with the tamed circus lions with words read from adventure books about traveling around Africa: “... the lion must hunt and chase the bison in the endless pampas, announce the surroundings with a formidable growl that trembles the native population.” Dreaming about how terrible revenge would be for a classmate for hitting the back of the head with a pencil case, Deniska sharpens her father’s plastic knife and imagines a picture: “... my faithful blue dagger will flash in front of Levka, I will bring it over Levka’s head, and Levka will fall to her knees and be beg me to grant him life, and I will say: "Sorry!" - and he will say: "I'm sorry!" And I will laugh with thunderous laughter like this - "Ha-ha-ha-ha." And the echo will repeat this ominous laughter in the gorges. The humorous effect of this ultra-romantic style, clearly inappropriate to the circumstances, is enhanced by the fact that the subsequent phrase - "And the girls will crawl under the desks from fear" - suddenly brings us back to reality.

Children also like funny play on words, such as “His Nobility Von-Baron Kutkin-Putkin”, “Babkin-Nyansky’s reaction”, or truncated forms like “Bryak! .. Schwark! .. Butz! .. Tink”. Bams! .. ". The emotional excitement of children in the game is well conveyed by frequently used interjections or verbs denoting instantaneous actions, accompanied by noise: "Bukh, tarra-rah!" how it blows!". Deformation of words is inappropriate in works of art for children, if you make the reader laugh - its end in itself. But in Dragunsky this technique is justified, it is always used in order to quickly and convincingly show a certain trait of the character's character, the fallacy of his act. Purposefully the writer also uses such a speech technique of comic effect as an anagram Deniska, answering at the lesson, confuses the consonants in the name of the Mississippi River, and this is funny not only because the result is a colloquial word that is usually not used in an official setting about. The reader already knows that Deniska did not complete the task and is trying to find salvation in the hint. So convincingly, without annoying teachings, it is shown that indiscipline puts the student in a ridiculous position. Criticism with laughter, especially from the whole class, has a stronger effect on the offender than the edification of elders. It is no coincidence that Deniska says: “And now I have taken an oath that I will always learn lessons.” This sounds too solemn and may cause mistrust of young readers. But then the hero of the story adds: "Until old age." And these parodic words, sharply grounding the image, preserve its childish sympathy. Denisk's comparison, which has turned into a phraseological unit, returns to its source. When we compare a diligent servant or orderly with a faithful dog, we have in mind certain qualities in their complete abstraction from the original object. This is illustrative, but not always comical, and may even be tragic. And Deniska's dreams of a dog that will follow him like a faithful dog invariably cause laughter with their outwardly unexpected, but concretization arising from age psychology. Deniska, who is characterized by figurative thinking, himself comes up with very accurate comparisons, turns them into independent concepts, and then into a definition of the original object. First, the leg that did not reach the bicycle pedal "hung in the air like pasta", then Deniska pushed off the pipe with this "pasta", and in conclusion, thousands of needles are already digging into his pasta leg. The belt from the mother's dress, to which the children assign the role of a fickford cord, turns into a “mother's fickford belt”. Deniska also concretizes the concepts used in a figurative sense. When he is told that satirical ditties should have a sobering effect on losers, he confidently declares: "They are not drunk, they are just lazy." The humorous situation is often based on the fact that Deniska does not know the meaning of some words. For example, the counselor asks if he has a partner to perform on stage. The boy answers in the negative. The counselor is perplexed: “How do you live without a friend?” “I have a comrade. Bear. But I don’t have a partner,” Deniska replies. Children tend to include in a number of homogeneous objects concepts that are not logically connected with a generalizing word. Dragunsky very successfully uses this feature of children's speech. So, Mishka, speaking about what he loves, lists a number of edible items, but, fearing to be considered a glutton, he adds: “I almost forgot: more - kittens! And grandmother! But Deniska talks about a trip to another city: “There were a lot of different people in our car: old women and soldiers, and just young guys, and conductors, and a little girl, and even a full basket of chickens.”

The works of Dragunsky evoke a joyful and active attitude in children, enrich their speech.

In V. Dragunsky's story "The Enchanted Letter", Denis, Mishka and Alyonka were walking in the yard. Suddenly, a truck with a Christmas tree drove into the yard. The driver and the janitor unloaded the Christmas tree and left. The children remained near a large, shaggy Christmas tree, which smelled deliciously of frost. The writer touchingly describes the scene of the children's admiration for this Christmas tree and, at the same time, makes fun of them, conveying the children's conversation about the cones that hang on the Christmas tree. Alyonka draws the children's attention to the cones on the Christmas tree: "Look, there are detectives hanging on the Christmas tree." The guys start laughing at her. Denis exclaims: “The girl is five years old, she will marry soon! And she is a detective. Alyonka explains that she wanted to say the right thing, but only her tooth fell out: “It was my tooth that fell out and whistles. I want to say detectives, but detectives are whistling from me ... "The bear proudly declares:" What an incredible thing! She lost her tooth! I've had three of them fall out and two are staggering, but I still speak correctly! Listen here: chuckles! What! True, great - hehe-ki! Here's how easy it comes out for me: chuckles! I can even sing: Oh, green hykhechka, I’m afraid I’ll prick myself ... ”Denis confidently enters into a dispute between friends and proudly declares:“ Why are you arguing like that, since both are wrong? After all, it is a very simple word. No detectives! No giggles, but short and clear: fifks! That's all". The writer very subtly notices the manner of the children's conversation, with great love describes their characters, relationships with each other.

In the story of V. Dragunsky "The Englishman of Paul" the eve of the first of September is described. Parents, together with Deniska, are in joyful anticipation of such a wonderful event and, on this occasion, decide to “slaughter a watermelon”. Dad cuts a watermelon with a knife. At this time, the door swings open and the boy Pavel enters the room. Deniska's father greets his son's friend with benevolent irony: “Wow, who has come! Paul himself! Pavel the Warthog himself! Pavel remarks: “Ah, I love watermelon. Even more. My grandmother never lets me eat it. She says that after watermelon I get not a dream, but a continuous running around. To which dad seriously summarizes: “That's why we eat watermelon early in the morning. By evening, its action ends, and you can sleep peacefully. When Deniska's family asks why Pavel has not visited them for a long time, Pavel with careless importance says that a student Seva came to visit them and he studies English with him every day. The Pope makes the following remark about the English language: “The devil will break their legs there. Very difficult spelling. It is spelled Liverpool and pronounced Manchester. The statements of adults in the story sound on a par with children. It seems that children and adults are one friendly yard company, which is currently solving a very important problem. Mom, joining the conversation, wonders why Pavlik, when he entered, did not say “hello” in English. And dad clarified why Pavel didn’t say “thank you” in English for the watermelon. Pavel calmly replies that they have not yet reached the “hello” and “thank you”. And he adds: "Very difficult preaching." Denis asks Pavel: “Teach me how to say “one, two, three” in English.” Pavel replies that he has not studied it yet. Here the author drags out the dialogue in order to intrigue the reader and, at the same time, a comical situation arises when the reader understands that now will be the funniest moment. To create a humorous atmosphere of the story, the writer uses the technique of dialogues. Through the dialogues, the features of the speech of the characters and the traits of their characters are revealed. Denis, unable to stand it, shouts: “What did you study? Have you learned anything in two months yet?” To which Pavel replies: “I learned how in English “Petya” ... In English, “Petya” will be “Pete” ... I’ll come to class tomorrow and tell Petka Gorbushkin: “Pete, Pete, give me an eraser!” Probably his mouth will open, he will not understand anything. Here's some fun?..” Denis, hoping that Petya still learned something in English, asks: “Well, what else do you know in English? » Pavel replies that that's all for now. He was a brilliant oral narrator, interesting, in his own way "read" people, sometimes revealing in them something that those who stood closer to them did not see. He was not afraid to open up to a new person, feeling his own blood in him. But it was much easier for him to love, pity, condescend and forgive than to hate and quarrel. In his stories, a gentle and bright feeling always prevails over a flat and heavy worldly life.

When Viktor Dragunsky's son, Denis, was born, all sorts of funny stories began to happen to him, Dragunsky began to write down these stories, and Deniska's stories turned out. The first book of sixteen stories was published in 1961 under the title "He is alive and glowing." Deniskin's adventures became more and more. In 1964, the book "Tell me about Singapore" appeared, in 1963 - "The Man with the Blue Face". In total, about ninety very funny stories were written. For example, about how once Denis poured out a plate of semolina porridge from the window and it got on the hat of an uncle who was going to be photographed: or about how Denis and his dad cooked chicken broth and cut the chicken with scissors, washed it with soap, and she galloped off under the closet .