“Historical fantasies” of the poet: B. Okudjava's novel “Rendezvous with Bonaparte”

The article discusses the work by B. Okudzhava “Rendezvous with Bonaparte” as an example of historical “prose of the poet”. The novel is characterized by the presence of metered and rhymed fragments: the introduction of poetical beginning, vivid subjectivity, and emotionality of the narrative. Okudzhava’s historical “prose of the poet” is specified by the lyrical styling, which is determined by the presence of the author’s poems and songs, inner textual inclusions, and the presence of the lyrical subject - the bearer of the basic philosophical concepts. The diaries of the story’s characters represent an internal monologue or a confession of the key narrators. The diaries reveal the key creative themes of the writer. Okudzhava is not interested in the historical fact itself, but in the effect the event produces on the consciousness of the individual. The past in the novel is invariably projected onto the modern reality of the writer; as a result, the harmony of distant epochs becomes more apparent. The structure of the diary provided Okudzhava with the opportunity to refer to the topic “A ray of sunshine” (a sip of freedom). The author developed this theme in his latest historical novel “Rendezvous with Bonaparte” in a manner quite different from his previous experience. The author of the article assumes that the context of the given work analysis is appropriate for the discussion of the price of freedom in the life of an accidental bystander, who became an eyewitness of the pivotal events of the Russian history.