Arkady and Georgy Vainer, "Loop and stone in the green grass": description, plot and features

"Loop and stone in the green grass" - a detective.At least, this is evidenced by the name of the authors. The Weiner brothers are the most popular detective writers in the Soviet Union. In the book "The Loop and the Stone in Green Grass" we are talking about an investigation of a once-in-fact crime, but its fictional characters are leading it. This artistic work differs significantly from the others in the work of the Weiner artists. What are the features of the novel?

Time of lies

The events of the novel take place in the seventies.Stalin's body was long ago taken out of the mausoleum and buried. The bloody meat grinder is stopped, hundreds of thousands of people are released from the camps. But although Stalin is no longer there, the state machine created by him works without interruptions.

In the cellars of the Lubyanka there are no murders, forNew victims do not drive cars in the middle of the night. But the apparatus of violence is still omnipotent and powerful. Fear, grafted for years, does not leave, it would seem, even intelligent and educated people. They are ready to condemn colleagues and comrades for a fictitious offense. And this is despite the fact that the time of the investigatory offices and stages on the Kolyma has long ago passed.

The cultural figures are vexing their colleagues.They are not threatened by the fate of the prisoner. The cruelest thing that can happen is a ban on going to France or refusing to publish a new book. It's all a matter of fear, deep in the minds of Soviet citizens. A self-interest and fear of losing a warm place deprives people of the latest moral principles. In this atmosphere of lies and fear live, act and die heroes of the novel "The Loop and the Stone in the Green Grass."

Plot

In the center of the work are the fates of Jewess SulamithGinzburg and the Russian writer Alexei Epanchin. "Loop and stone in the green grass" - a kind of chronicle of the life of one family. Father Epanchina - the former head of "bodies." He once worked under Stalin, Yezhov, and Beria. Now he is retired, but he has a "general's apartment," rations and respect for others. His children are worthy sons of his father. Except for one - Alexey.

The book "Loop and stone in the green grass" narratesabout the love of the general's son to a Jewish girl. The main character, Alexei, is not an official or an intelligence agent. He, contrary to family traditions, moved into literature. His beloved is the daughter of a writer who mysteriously died in 1948. It was the death of her father, Sulamith, that prompted Alexei to conduct an independent investigation.

The murder of Ginzburg is directly connected withthe death of political figure Solomon Mikhoels. Therefore, it is from the search for the perpetrators of the death of this famous man that Alexei begins his investigation. Attempts by Alexey and Uly (Sulamith) to find the truth lead to the fact that a woman is expelled from the country. The writer miraculously avoids arrest, however, broken in spirit, is sleeping alone.

Detective or historical novel?

The fact that the book is only truth and nothing buther, say in the preface Weiners. "Loop and stone in the green grass" - this is, therefore, not a detective story? But in the work, naturally existing personalities are naturally combined, as well as those whose characters and destinies are nothing but the fruit of literary imagination. What did the Arkady and Georgy Weiners mean when they spoke of the truth? “The loop and the stone in the green grass” is a novel in which the main role is not even played by the heroes with their difficult destinies, but by time.

The atmosphere that prevailed in the "era of stagnation,"depicted in the book exclusively in gray and black tones. Everywhere cowardice, denunciations, and hatred — these were the writers who saw the distant seventies. That is their truth. However, the readers who remember that time disagree with the opinion of the Weiners. This is evidenced by the many angry reviews about the book. “The loop and the stone in the green grass” is, apparently, a work that has an indelible impression on the readers of the younger generation. For those who know little about the social and political situation that prevailed in our country in the second half of the last century.

Jewish question

Anti-Semitism in the USSR manifested itself in various spheres anddifferently. Starting from small squabbles and elements of xenophobia in the kitchens of Moscow communal apartments, ending with crimes of a national scale. The hero of the novel often becomes a witness of quarrels between neighbors. His close relatives - parents and brothers - have no sympathy for the Jews. But Alexey, being a rebellious person, has an affair with a woman of Semitic origin.

The protagonist of the novel rebels quietly, almostimperceptibly. His modest protest is expressed in the drinking of alcohol and in the fact that he does not want to use the material benefits available to him. But, having learned that Ula, after thirty years, still seeks to find out the names of his father’s executioners, he takes on a detective investigation. The killing of Solomon Mikhoels is one of the events from which the drama of the Jewish people began in the Soviet Union. And this acute social theme is central to the novel.

The death of the artist

Solomon Mikhoels was not only politicalfigure, but also a famous actor and director. In addition, this man led the Moscow Jewish Theater. The circumstances of his death began to reveal only after the death of Stalin. Until 1953, the official version of the death of Mikhoels and his colleagues was an accident.

The investigation revealed thatthe murder was organized on the direct orders of Stalin. The perpetrators of the crime were arrested, but apparently not all. In any case, in the novel Weiners it is about the fact that the murderers are still at large. And truth lover Aleksey is striving with all his might to find the thread that will lead to the real organizers of this dastardly act.

Name

Loop and stone in green grass - symbolsTribunal "Feme" - an organization struggling with dissidents. In the first chapter of the hero, being in a half-dream, sees a strange dream. He is sentenced to death for freethinking and fussing. His executioners are the leaders of the aforementioned organization. The authors did not say anything about the title in their short preface. But perhaps it has a double meaning.

Childhood memories

The hero of the novel is the son of prosperous parents. Since childhood, he does not know what a need is. But with external well-being, Aleksei suffers from an early age, disgusted with lies and silence of crimes, which is happening everywhere. He witnesses the mass death of hundreds of people at Stalin’s funeral. The father of the MGB, returning home after a working day, expresses his feelings to his wife: he is sorry for his colleague, who is likely to be removed from his post after an annoying incident in the center of Moscow. Hundreds of innocent victims do not cause him pity.

In his dream, Alexei is killed by the judgesTribunal just because I read the case "Feme". And only judges can do it. Any crimes, whether mass murder or the removal from office of an uncomfortable person, were not discussed in the Soviet Union. Similar questions were solved by employees of the state apparatus. Thus, "Feme" - a symbol of the MGB.

Soviet society

The opinion of readers about the novel is twofold. The plot captures, constantly keeps in suspense. However, the background of this literary work causes a depressing impression. How is the Soviet society shown in the novel “The Loop and the Stone in Green Grass”?

Reviews of the book are negative exactlybecause the citizens of the USSR at Weiners are depicted in the most disgusting quality. They are all sneaky, opportunists, scammers and alcoholics. Hatred of Jews is their characteristic. Almost all Russian characters in the book are anti-Semites. Not every reader can agree with such a vision. Perhaps xenophobia in Soviet society did occur, but not in such a concentrated form. By the way, the representatives of Jewish nationality in the novel are people of exceptional morality.

The disadvantages of this work of the Weiner brothers,according to readers, is a distortion of historical facts and an excessive focus on the so-called Jewish question. Advantages - an exciting plot and vivid image of the life of the Soviet era.