Children's books about death. Depiction of the disease in works of art A book about it
For those who are already forced to learn to accept loss and live with it:
11. Danilova Anna, “From death to life.” There is a lot of religion, but there are also stories that cut through. Including the story of Anya herself. "Amputation. Year One” and “Year Two” are the first things I read where I recognized myself, my feelings, my emotions.
12. Frederica de Graaf “There will be no separation.” A book permeated with the deep confidence of Frederica herself that there really will be no separation, imbued with love.
13. Ginzburg Genevieve, “Widow to Widow.” In the first days, the only thing that can be heard is the experience of the survivors. A comparison that comes to mind: a person after surgery can only eat liquid oatmeal, whether it tastes good or not, whether he likes it or not, this is the only thing he can eat, and this will give him the strength to live on and recover.
14. Kate Boydell, “Death... And How to Survive It.” A true story of a real woman. This is exactly a book of advice. I don’t really like this, because I think advice is meaningless, everyone has their own path and their own reaction, grief cannot be experienced according to instructions. In any case, there is a lot of useful information in it.
15. Irvin Yalom “Life without fear of death. Looking into the sun." A well-known psychotherapist, I decided to read this book on recommendation. But his method of dealing with the fear of death is that there is nothing after death. Since this concept terrifies me, I couldn’t finish reading it.
The most piercing, pure, without advice, teachings or lengthy reflections are books about teenagers, written in the first person or about them. At least that's how I perceived it.
16. Jodi Picoult, "An Angel for a Sister." The story of a family with a child with cancer. Mom, dad, two daughters and son. And everyone’s character, everyone’s emotions are revealed very deeply
17. Alessandro D'Avenia, “White like milk, red like blood,” about a teenager in love with a girl with leukemia
18. Jesse Andrews, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. There is also a girl with leukemia, but main character He’s not in love with her, he’s not even her friend to begin with, he comes at the insistence of his mother.
19. Jenny Downham, While I Live. The main character is sick, a story about how a young girl tries to realize her desires, already realizing that she has very little time for this.
20. John Green, "The Fault in Our Stars." And here both teenagers are sick; they met at a support group. A very beautiful and sad story.
21. A. J. Betts, "Zach and Mia." And both teenagers are also sick; they met in the hospital.
22. Patrick Ness, “The Voice of the Monster.” A 13-year-old boy's mother dies. About psychological protection, acceptance, perception of very complex and difficult things through images.
23. Johanna Tidel, “Stars Shine on the Ceiling.” A teenage girl's mother dies. Also about the stages of acceptance, but from an everyday point of view.
24. E. Schmitt, “Oscar and the Pink Lady.” A dying boy who managed to live his whole life in 10 days.
25. Antonova Olga, “Confession of a Mother.” A true story, actually a diary. Desperate struggle for a daughter with brain stem glioma.
26. Esther Grace Earle, “This Star Will Never Go Out.” Diary of a girl who died of cancer. Not fiction, just a teenager's diary. More like a memory book.
Stories of adults. They range from very catchy and thought-provoking to irritating. It’s scary to think that neither a healthy lifestyle, nor money, nor medical education, nor the most exotic methods and technologies still guarantee recovery. But the majority - this is amazing - manage to feel happy, come into harmony with themselves and the world before leaving.
27. Christopher Hitchens, The Last 100 Days. A story written in first person. The disease has not ruined his excellent sense of humor and sarcasticity; at some moments it is impossible not to laugh. The last chapter the wife wrote.
28. Zorza Victor, “The Path to Death. Live to the end." Written by the father of a 25-year-old girl who died of melanoma within a few months. She spent her last days in a hospice, where she received such support and love that helped her accept what happened to her. It was Victor Zorza who convinced Vera Millionshchikova to create the First Moscow Hospice.
29. Ken Wilber. Grace and perseverance. There are a lot of discussions about life in general, about spirituality, meditation and so on. I honestly skimmed through it all, reading only what was directly related to the story.
30. Tiziano Terzani. A very, very verbose, albeit charismatic author tells how he tried a huge number of techniques, traveled halfway around the world, experienced all the delights of traditional and alternative medicine.
31. Garth Callahan “Notes on Napkins.” In short, the book is about love. The love of a parent for his child.
32. Eric Segal "Love Story". Just another story where cancer quickly entered the life of a young family. These stories are all very similar: fear, confusion, despair, struggle, acceptance. And each one is absolutely individual.
33. Pavel Vadimov. "Lupetta" It’s not at all clear what Lupetta has to do with it. It feels like the cancer theme was brought up as an action-packed one to add spice to a rather nasty story.
34. Buslov Anton, “Between life and death.” A very well-known story about struggle, strong character and faith in the best. About the feeling of incredible help and support, which resonated very strongly. Anton's actually published blog.
35. Volkov Kirill, “A frivolous book about a tumor.” And another personal story told in the first person. When you read the experience of a specific person, a description of personally experienced emotions, with comments from the closest person who helped along this path - for me personally, this is a way to combat loneliness
36. Ray Clown, "As Long as We're Around." A husband, let's say, adhering to the principles of a very open marriage, remained with his wife dying of cancer, thereby acquiring the status of a hero and a great martyr. I was left with a very disgusting feeling from what I read.
37. Pausch R., “The Last Lecture.” A lot of words, advice and morality, I don’t like this and even thought about quitting without even finishing a third, but I was surprisingly captivated. A life-affirming book that helps you understand and accept.
38. Kharitonova Svetlana, “About us. Before the loss and after.” Our own story, mine and my husband's. A significant difference from other stories is reflected in the title: I wrote both about the disease and about how I had to live after the loss. Most stories end with the last breath, and the feeling that either the whole world has disappeared, or the fate of those who remained here, against the backdrop of the tragedy, is no longer important. The world has not disappeared and fate is important, we live on, although it is difficult, at the first stages it is prohibitive.
39. Henry Marsh, "Do No Harm." This book is not entirely about oncology, it is a book written by a neurosurgeon. It was interesting to read the opinion “from the other side of the surgical table.”
And some fiction.
40. Loginov Svyatoslav, “The Light in the Window.” An interesting look at the afterlife. It’s easy to read, at first the concept raised a lot of questions for me, but the book went much deeper than I thought, and over time it became clear that it gave me personal comfort.
41. Moyes Jodo, The Girl You Left Behind. About a strong woman who experienced a loss, who learned to live again, and conquered her fears.
42. Werber Bernard, “Thanatonauts”, “Empire of Angels”, “We are Gods”. I read it long before it happened. In my opinion, a very life-affirming version of the afterlife.
43. Cecilia Ahern, “P.S. I love you". The girl’s beloved husband died, but before his death he wrote her letters, which she must open at the beginning of each month.
44. Flagg Fenney, “Heaven Is Out There.” All books by this author are imbued with love, confidence, tenderness, and this one is no exception. The magic of letters, when sometimes even involuntarily, it becomes a little easier.
45. Martin-Lugan Agnes, “ Happy people reading books and drinking coffee.” Oddly enough, almost romance novel. Her husband and child died, after a year of complete immersion in grief, the widow decided to change her life and move to another city, chosen at random.
46. Richard Matheson, “What Dreams May Come.” I think it needs no introduction. About the fact that in the afterlife there is love, struggle and victory.
47. Murai Marie-Aude. Oh Boy! Death is not here central character, I included the book here because it describes the experience of being an orphan.
48. Debbie McComber "Little Shop on Flower Street." Also very conventional on the topic, but one of the main characters suffered from recurrent cancer.
49. Carol Rifka Brant, “Tell the Wolves I’m Home.” An excellent, powerful book – about loss, about illness, about experiencing grief when your emotions are “wrong”, about acceptance.
50. Solzhenitsyn, “Cancer Ward.” Doesn't need annotation, I think. A very dark book. But with a “happy ending”.
There is something intriguing about every deviation from the norm. Any disease is associated with the body, but a disease that affects the human psyche has a special nature. If a disease affects personality and sense of self, it can no longer be reduced to simple physiology. Therefore, mental disorders can tell us a lot about how our thinking, emotions and creativity work - about what “humanity” is made of.
We have collected 7 of the most interesting books, which talk about the nature and subjective experience of psychological disorders. Some of them were written or translated into Russian recently, while the other part is already recognized classics.
Daria Varlamova, Anton Zainiev. Go crazy! A City Resident's Guide to Mental Disorders
Real high-quality scientific research on mental disorders, which has been lacking in Russian for a long time. In simple terms and with plenty of examples, the authors show that mental health is relative, describe the major illnesses you are likely to experience (from depression and bipolar disorder to Asperger's syndrome and ADHD) and even give advice on what to do if you feel feeling “weird.”
Even if you don't plan on going crazy, it's best to keep this guide handy.
Daria Varlamova, Anton Zainiev
- In the minds of the majority, the mental norm is something unshakable, like two arms and two legs. [...] But what if we assume that an ordinary Russian can suddenly develop a serious mental disorder? How to deal with this? How to avoid losing your ability to work? How to explain to your family what is happening to you? How to understand this yourself? How to learn to distinguish objective reality from the strange products of your consciousness? And finally, is there a way to accept the idea that you are now “different from everyone else”?
Kay Jamieson. Restless mind. My victory over bipolar disorder
American psychiatrist Kay Jamieson not only made a significant contribution to the scientific understanding of bipolar disorder, but also wrote a wonderful book about how the life of a person with this disease works - a book about herself. BAR throws you from manic euphoria, in which you can walk on the stars, to horrific depression, when the only thought that comes to mind is the thought of suicide.
Jamison shows that even with this diagnosis you can live, and live fruitfully.
Kay Jamieson
Discussing mental disorders provides an opportunity for some to show humanity, while for others it awakens deep-seated fears and prejudices. There are more people who consider mental illness a defect or character flaw than I could have imagined. Public awareness has lagged far behind progress in scientific and medical research into depression and bipolar disorder. Coming face to face with medieval prejudices, seemingly inappropriate in modern world, was scary.
Jenny Lawson. Insanely happy. Incredibly funny stories about our ordinary life
The book by the American writer and blogger tells “funny stories about terrible things.” The author, in addition to clinical depression, also suffers from a whole bunch of diagnoses from obsessive-compulsive disorder to uncontrollable anxiety attacks. Bringing her strangest fantasies to life, she manages to maintain humor and love of life even in the most difficult moments.
She shares her feeling of happy extravagance with her readers.
Jenny Lawson
My new motto was: “Prudence is over-emphasized and is likely to cause cancer.” In short, I did go a little crazy, in slow but steady spurts, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me in my life.
Scott Stossel. An age of anxiety. Fears, hopes, neuroses and the search for peace of mind
Stress and all kinds of neurotic disorders are considered an inevitable background and consequence of the modern rhythm of life. The author of the book is not only the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, but also a complete neurotic. Properly combining popular science and biographical components, he talks about the causes of neurotic disorders, treatment methods and the biological mechanisms behind them.
Personal experience combined with broad erudition make this book both serious and fascinating.
Scott Stossel
Anxiety is a reminder that I am controlled by physiology; physiological processes in the body have a much stronger influence on what is happening in the mind than vice versa. [...] The harsh biological nature of anxiety makes us doubt ourselves, reminding us that we, like animals, are prisoners of our body, subject to withering, death and decay.
Jean Starobinsky. Ink of Melancholy
An outstanding philologist and historian of ideas talks about how European culture described and treated melancholy: from ancient philosophers and physicians, the Middle Ages, when melancholy was considered the “sin of despondency,” to modern medical ideas about depression. Starobinsky is interested in what place melancholy occupies in culture - primarily in its literary incarnations.
He finds experience in understanding melancholy in a variety of authors - from Kierkegaard to Baudelaire and Mandelstam. As a result, this experience takes on many additional dimensions.
The melancholic is the favorite prey of the devil, and the evil influence of supernatural forces can be added to the specific consequences of humoral imbalance. The question is whether the patient became a victim of an evil spell (in which case the one who cast it should be punished) or whether he himself succumbed to the influence of his temperament (in which case the blame lies entirely with him). The bewitched person is usually treated with prayers and exorcism, but the sorcerer faces the risk of fire. The stakes are extremely high.
Daniel Keyes. The Mysterious Story of Billy Milligan
Perhaps the most famous book about multiple personality disorder belongs to the author of the even more famous novel “Flowers for Algernon”. The book tells the life story of Billy Milligan, who had 24 personalities. The novel is based on real story, which happened in the United States in the 1970s and resulted in Billy becoming the first person to be found not guilty of crimes due to his extremely rare diagnosis.
How does such a disorder arise and how can a person live with it? Daniel Keyes's book is a fascinating psychological exploration of these difficult topics.
Daniel Keyes
Are you saying that a person is mentally ill when he is angry or depressed? - That's right. - Don't we all have periods of anger or depression? - In essence, we are all mentally ill.
Karl Jaspers. Strindberg and Van Gogh
A classic work by a German philosopher and psychiatrist that explores the role mental illness can play in the work of writers and artists. The connection between genius and insanity is recognized as almost natural - but what is the actual situation? Why does illness become a source of inspiration in some cases, while in others it brings only suffering?
Examining the cases of the playwright Strindberg, Van Gogh, as well as Swedenborg and Hölderlin, Jaspers comes to important conclusions that are far from obvious.
Karl Jaspers
Just as in times before the eighteenth century there must have been some natural spiritual predisposition to hysteria, so schizophrenia seems to correspond in some way to our time. [...] Previously, many, so to speak, tried to be hysterical; today one could say about many that they are trying to be schizophrenics.
Victory over death and hell is what Christ accomplished. “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the next century” - this is our hope and goal, and not at all “waiting in horror for the coming of the Antichrist,” as is often the case now. The fact that jubilation and hope gave way to fear signals something very bad in the history of Christianity.
Implicitly, the fear of the Antichrist correlates with the phantasm of the living dead - one of the main symbolic figures of our time. Our era, judging by the media, in principle does not accept the Christian hope of the resurrection of the dead. She is only capable of reviving the archaic fear of the dead.
Victory over death, hope for the resurrection of the dead - this is central to Christianity.
A small book (recording of four lectures) about probably the main thing in Christianity - victory over death. “What does this mean for us - those who will die anyway?” - main question Alexander's father. But not the only one.
Father Alexander Schmemann expresses important thoughts in “The Liturgy of Death” about the relationship between Christianity and secularism, because the second part of the book’s title is “ modern culture" One of these thoughts - “there is a consumer only in Christianity” - is precise, sharp, and, unfortunately, not expanded.
Secularism is a product of Christendom. Secular attitude towards death - “we will not notice it; it doesn't make sense." How could a world brought up on “Christ is risen from the dead” come to such an understanding? Christianity, the religion of the resurrection of the dead and the aspirations of the future century, at a certain stage “forgot” the eschatological dimension. “Victory over death”, hope in the Kingdom “fell out” of real life.
Why this happened and what to do about it - says Fr. Alexander.
A poignant book about the death of a loved one, in some places approaching the boldness of Job. Lewis wrote these diaries after the death of his wife Joy. Perhaps “The Pain of Loss” is Lewis’s toughest book: why does God give people happiness and then cruelly deprive them of it?
Joy Davidman (1915–1960; her photo on the cover) was a Jewish American writer and a member of the American Communist Party. She first wrote to Lewis to argue with his arguments for the faith. Joy was sick with cancer: they got married, confident of her imminent death. However, Joy went into remission. At the same time, Lewis began to experience severe pain: he was diagnosed with blood cancer. Lewis was sure that with his suffering he atoned for the suffering of his wife. However, two years later the disease returned to Joy and she died. Three years later, Lewis himself died.
Reflecting on these events, Lewis asks: " Is it reasonable to believe that God is cruel? Can He really be so cruel? What, is He a cosmic sadist, an evil cretin?"Lewis takes us through all the stages of despair and horror before the nightmare of our world and in the end it seems to see the light... "The Pain of Loss" is a deep and honest reflection (or cry?) about joy and suffering, love and family, death and the world's meaninglessness , about honesty and self-deception, religion and God. In "The Pain of Loss" there is no rational argumentation typical of Lewis: only desperate standing before the Lord.
Another book written by a husband who lost his wife. In addition, its author served as a cemetery priest.
“No... Whatever you say to the heart, it is akin to grieving the loss of loved ones; No matter how you hold back your tears, they involuntarily flow in a stream over the grave in which the ashes that are kindred and precious to us are hidden.
He hears from everywhere: “don’t cry, don’t be cowardly.” But these exclamations are not a band-aid on wounds, but often inflict new wounds on the heart. - “Don’t be cowardly.” But who can say that Abraham was faint-hearted, and he also wept and wept for his wife Sarah?
« All of them [the deceased], of course, are alive - but they live a different life, not the one you and I live now, but the life to which we will come in due time, and everyone will come sooner or later. Therefore, the question of that other life, which is eternal life and which we celebrate by celebrating Easter - the Resurrection of Christ, is especially close to us, it concerns not just our mind, but, perhaps, to a greater extent concerns our heart“- writes Osipov in “The Afterlife of the Soul”.
“The Afterlife of the Soul” by Osipov - a short and simple summary Orthodox teaching about life after death.
« But who doomed me to the eternal torment of hell, in which, like a drop in the ocean, my poor earthly life dissolves? Who, with his mighty curse, gave me into the slavery of an irresistible necessity? Is it God who mercifully created me? There is nothing to say: good is mercy, good is Divine love! - Create me without even asking whether I want it, and then doom me to the eternal torment of meaningless decay!“- boldly, like Job, Karsavin asks in “Poem about Death”.
In this work, Karsavin expressed his innermost thoughts. Like “St. Petersburg Nights,” “Poem about Death” has an artistic form and is addressed to Karsavin’s beloved, Elena Cheslavovna Skrzhinskaya. Her name in the “Poem on Death” is rendered by the Lithuanian diminutive “Elenite”.
In one of the letters to Skrzhinskaya (dated January 1, 1948), Karsavin writes “ It was you who connected metaphysics in me with my biography and life in general“, and further regarding “Poem about Death”: “ For me, this little book is the most complete expression of my metaphysics, which coincided with my life, which coincided with my love.».
« A Jewish woman was burned at the stake. - The executioner fastens her to the post with a chain. And she asks: has she become like this, is it convenient for him... Why should she care about the executioner’s device? Or is he more likely to get the job done this way? Or is he fate itself, inexorable, soulless - yet last man? “He won’t answer anything and, probably, won’t even feel anything.” But perhaps something is stirring in his soul, responding to her gentle question; and his hand trembles for a moment; and a person’s compassion, unknown to himself, unknown to anyone, will, as it were, ease her mortal torment. But the torment is still ahead, unbearable, endless. And until the last moment - already alone, completely alone - she will scream and writhe, but will not call for death: death itself will come, if only... it comes».
« My mortal melancholy does not pass and will not pass, but will come stronger, unbearable. I don’t go crazy because of it, I don’t die; and I will not die: I am doomed to immortality. My torment is greater than that from which people die and go crazy. If you die, your pain will not go with you; If you go crazy, you won’t know about yourself or her. Here there is no end, no outcome; yes and there is no beginning - lost».
This book is made up of various speeches, lectures, sermons (before confession, at the funeral service, etc.) by Father Alexander, united by the theme of life and death.
“Should Christians, as Christians, necessarily believe in immortality? human soul? And what does immortality really mean in the space of Christian thought? Such questions only seem rhetorical. Etienne Gilson, in his Gifford Lectures, found it necessary to make the following astonishing statement: “ In general,” he said, “Christianity without immortality is quite meaningful, and the proof of this is that at first it was conceptualized this way. Christianity is truly meaningless without the resurrection of man».
This book illuminates main problem human life is death. “The Mystery of Death” examines its unsolvability by “external” philosophy and the Christian vision of death. The book widely presents the opinion of the Holy Fathers on this topic.
In fact, the entire “Sacrament of Death” is an attempt to once again give the only answer to death for the Church - an explication of the story of the Passion of Christ. Vassiliadis writes: “X Christ had to die in order to bequeath to humanity the fullness of life. This was not the need of the world. It was the need for Divine love, the need for Divine order. This mystery is impossible for us to comprehend. Why did true life have to be revealed through the death of the One Who is the Resurrection and Life? (John 14:6). The only answer is that salvation had to be a victory over death, over human mortality».
Perhaps the best book about the post-mortem state of mind. The weight, thoroughness and lack of myth-making fantasies reveal the author as a doctor. Thus, the combination of a scientist and a Christian in one person gives Kalinovsky’s presentation the necessary harmony and versatility.
The theme of “transition” is the life of the soul after physical death. The testimonies of people who experienced clinical death and returned “back” either spontaneously, or, in most cases, after resuscitation, experiences before death, during a serious illness, are analyzed.
Anthony of Sourozh was both a surgeon and a shepherd. Therefore, like no one else, he could speak fully about life, illness and death. Anthony of Sourozh said that in his approach to these issues he “cannot separate within himself a person, a Christian, a bishop and a doctor.”
« The being that has received mind and reason is a person, and not a soul in itself; therefore, man must always remain and consist of soul and body; and it is impossible for him to remain like this unless he is resurrected. For if there is no resurrection, then the nature of men as men will not remain“- Athenagoras teaches about the bodily-spiritual unity of man in his essay “On the Resurrection of the Dead” - one of the first (and, moreover, the best!) texts on this topic.
« [The Apostle Paul] deals a mortal blow to those who humiliate the physical nature and reproach our flesh. The meaning of his words is as follows. It is not the flesh, as he says, that we want to lay off, but corruption; not the body, but death. The other is the body and the other is death; the other is the body and the other is corruption. Neither the body is corruption, nor is corruption the body. True, the body is perishable, but it is not corruption. The body is mortal, but it is not death. The body was the work of God, and corruption and death were introduced by sin. So, I want, he says, to remove from myself what is alien, not mine. And what is alien is not the body, but corruption and death attached to it"- Christians fight death for the flesh. This is what John Chrysostom teaches in his Discourse on the Resurrection of the Dead.
Conversations about the death of one of the best Russian preachers - Bishop-philosopher Innocent of Kherson.
Collection of letters of Theophan the Recluse. Illness and death are the fate of every person and one of the most tragic issues of theology. Of course, in “Illness and Death” there is no systematic teaching of Theophan the Recluse. But there is a lot of specific advice and instructions in specific life situations. And behind this multitude one can discern a certain unified vision of these issues by Saint Theophan.
Here are a few headings from “Sickness and Death,” taken at random, perhaps they will give some idea of the teachings of Theophan the Recluse: “Illness is the work of God’s Wisdom,” “Serving the sick is serving Christ,” “Illnesses from God for our salvation,” “We must prepare for the afterlife judgment”, “The afterlife share of the dead”, “How to justify yourself at the Last Judgment?”
“Death is a great mystery. She is the birth of a person from earthly temporary life into eternity. When performing the mortal sacrament, we lay aside our gross shell - the body and as a spiritual being, subtle, ethereal, we pass into another world, into the abode of creatures similar to the soul. This world is inaccessible to the gross organs of the body, through which, during our stay on earth, feelings operate, which, however, belong to the soul itself. The soul that leaves the body is invisible and inaccessible to us, like other objects of the invisible world. We see only when performing mortal mysteries the breathlessness, the sudden lifelessness of the body; then it begins to decompose, and we hasten to hide it in the ground; there it becomes a victim of corruption, worms, oblivion. So countless generations of people died out and were forgotten. What happened and is happening to the soul that has left the body? This remains unknown to us, given our own means of knowledge.
One of the most popular texts of “folk” Orthodoxy of the Middle Ages. The “Life” consists of three different texts written by Vasily’s student Gregory Mnich: the Life itself (the text offered here, unfortunately, is more of a condensed retelling), and two visions on eschatological themes - the famous “Ordeal of Theodora” (Vasil’s student) and “ Vision of the Last Judgment" - "private" and "general" eschatology, respectively. The bright, expressive eschatology of “The Life of Basil the New” had a huge influence on the consciousness and culture of the Middle Ages.
Vasily Novy is a hermit who accidentally fell under the suspicion of the authorities and suffered innocently. The text wonderfully describes the saint's humility and meekness under torture: the saint remains silent, to his own detriment - he does not want to participate in any way in all this. He miraculously escapes and remains to live in Constantinople as a vagabond. After his release, Vasily criticizes the authorities, heals, instructs disciples, and plays the fool. Through his prayers, Gregory is visited by visions that make up the main body of the text.
“The Ordeal of Theodora,” like “The Vision of the Last Judgment,” should in no case be perceived as dogmatic texts. These are apocrypha, fiction, “spiritual novels” - as Kazansky puts it - symbols filled with deep meaning, but in no case a “report”. Here are a few comments from theologians on this matter. Seraphim (Rose): " Even a baby can understand that descriptions of ordeals cannot be taken literally."; St. Nicodemus Svyatogorets: " Those who babbled that the souls of the dead righteous and sinners are found on earth for forty days and visit the places where they lived” sow prejudices and myths. For such statements are “incredible and no one should accept them as truth.”"; A. Kuraev (from whose note we took the above quotes): “ the text [of the Life] is incorrect because it leaves no room for God’s Judgment. The Savior said that “the Father handed over all the judgment to the Son,” but in this book the whole judgment is carried out by demons" Let us cite the words of A.I. Osipov: “ The ordeals... for all the simplicity of their earthly depiction in Orthodox hagiographic literature, have a deep spiritual, heavenly meaning. ...This is a trial of conscience and a test of the spiritual state of the soul in the face of God’s love, on the one hand, and devilish passionate temptations, on the other».
One of the most brilliant stories in world literature. Before death, the average person discovers the emptiness of his life, and at the same time some new reality is revealed to him...
Social and philosophical fiction with a detective plot. Most residents voluntarily fell into suspended animation, believing in the promises of future immortality. The novel tells about the investigation into the abuses of the Center for suspended animation. Protesters against potential immortality come from Christian views on death and immortality. It’s remarkable how Simak shows the faith of modern people:
“...He probably simply does not exist, and I made a mistake in choosing the path, calling on a non-existent and never-existent God. Or maybe I called by the wrong name...
... “But they say,” the man grinned, “about eternal life. That you don't have to die. What use is God then? Why then have any other life?...
...And why should she, Mona Campbell, alone search for an answer that only God can give - if he exists?..."
Perhaps this feature - the combination of sadness, uncertainty, faith, despair - is the most attractive in the novel. Main topic it, as is already clear, is the social and existential position of a person before the possibility of changing his biological nature.
“Unforgettable. Anglo-American tragedy" is a black tragicomedy about the modern (here - American) attitude towards death: commercialized, not feeling the mystery in it, wanting to close their eyes, hungry for comfort - and nothing more; the smiling corpse of the “unforgettable.” In fact, “Unforgettable” is a Christian satire on the godless death industry.
George MacDonald - Scottish novelist and poet, priest. He can be called the founder of fantasy. His prose received the highest praise from Auden, Chesterton, Tolkien, and Lewis.
"The Gift of the Christ Child" is a Christmas story, but not Dickensian at all. A tragic story of how death brought a family together; about how the Lord is present in our lives. In essence, the story is that true joy is known only after the Cross - resurrected.
A collection of texts by Russian philosophers, theologians and writers about death: Radishchev, Dostoevsky, Solovyov, Fedorov, Tolstoy, Rozanov, E. Trubetskoy, Berdyaev, Bakhtin, Shestov, Florovsky, N. Lossky, Fedotov, Karsavin, Druskin, Bunin, Bulgakov, etc. .
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Virtual book exhibition Children's diseases in fiction The Year of Literature and the All-Russian Library Day are dedicated to Fiction is a model of life, albeit partly fictitious. It reflects reality and fiction, events that took place in the author’s life, historical facts. And in works of art there are often descriptions of various diseases, and often very figurative and vivid. Section I Coming from childhood Childhood does not leave us, Childhood is always with us, Those who leave childhood live as old people from childhood. Remembering these leaden abominations of wild Russian life, I ask myself for minutes: is it worth talking about this? And, with renewed confidence, I answer myself: it’s worth it; for this is a tenacious, vile truth, it has not died out to this day. Created over the course of two decades, “The Last Bow” is an epoch-making canvas about village life in the difficult pre-war decades and a confession of a generation whose childhood was during the years of the “great turning point”, and whose youth was in the fiery forties.” At the age of 26, Pavel Sanaev wrote a story about his childhood. Because this is an extract of circumstances and hyperbole that are familiar to all Soviet children, but have never been presented in such a concentrated form. Jean was born almost blind, writes her works using a special computer and walks with a guide dog. She graduated from the University of Toronto in 1955 with a bachelor's degree in English and taught handicapped children until her first book was published in 1962. Section II From the horse's mouth... Both of them, the doctor and the writer, are passionately interested in people, both of them try to unravel what is obscured by deceptive appearances. Both forget about themselves and their own lives, peering into the lives of others A. Maurois A doctor - if he is a doctor and not a medical official - must first of all fight to eliminate those conditions that make his work meaningless and fruitless, he must be a public figure in in the broadest sense of the word. V. Veresaev In the summer of 1916, having graduated from the medical faculty of Kyiv University, the future writer received his first appointment and in the fall he arrived at a small zemstvo hospital in the Smolensk province, in the village of Nikolskoye. Here he began writing the book “Notes of a Young Doctor” - about a remote Russian province, where anti-malaria powders prescribed for a week are swallowed immediately, people give birth under a bush, and mustard plasters are placed on top of a sheepskin coat... I think, perhaps, I’m using medical terminology in vain. Apparently, professional “glasses” still remain. Where can we get away from them? These are skills. If you worked as a wine taster, then you will drink wine like a professional taster, even if you just want to relax. T. Solomatina Doctors, biologists and all those who have natural science training are always distinguished by a special attitude towards people. Man is an object of study and observation. In the case of a doctor, there is an additional feature: the doctor is called upon to alleviate a person’s physical suffering, to help him live, survive and die. L. Ulitskaya Section III Who will accept this child for my sake... Preaching from the pulpit, captivating from the rostrum, teaching from the pulpit is much easier than raising one child. A. Herzen Dina Rubima's prose (which can never be called text) is stitched with endless jokes and irony, but their rhythm - out of pity, not out of anger - is paid for by its own biography. The book is read in one gulp - on the subway, on the sofa, at a lecture - in a word, one of those that you leaf through, checking how much is left, in the hope of “more.” About what? About clowns, gymnasts and circus dogs. About tomatoes, sleds and the red Zaporozhets. About the little boy from orphanage, who suddenly had a dad. And about true love, of course. Mostly about the parents, but not about the parents either. There is a lot about this book, so small in appearance. And cheerful, and sad, and life-affirming. Section IV Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature is an annual award given by the Nobel Foundation for achievements in the field of literature. The Literature Prize has been awarded since 1901. From 1901 to the present, 105 people have been laureates of the prize. The novel amazed his contemporaries with its perfection. With a scrupulous historically accurate depiction of the life and everyday life of the Norwegians at the beginning of the 14th century. the writer managed to create a psychological and philosophical drama, in the center of which is fate main character Christine. In 1928, Undset was awarded the Nobel Prize "for her perfect description of the Norwegian Middle Ages." In 1967, the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude caused a “literary earthquake” and made Gabriel García Márquez a living classic. Now “One Hundred Years of Solitude” is included in the list of the twenty greatest world masterpieces. In 1982, Marquez received the Nobel Prize with the wording ““For novels and stories in which fantasy and reality, combined, reflect the life and conflicts of an entire continent.” Both anatomy and belles lettres have the same noble origin, the same goals, the same and the same enemy is the devil, and they have absolutely nothing to fight about. If a person knows the doctrine of blood circulation, then he is rich; if, in addition, he learns the romance “I remember a wonderful moment,” then he becomes not poorer, but richer... A.P. Chekhov Thank you for your attention! The exhibition was prepared by Gubanova I.V.
Just yesterday, for once, I turned on the TV and saw a program about children's books. The topic was just about children's books about death. The authors of the program recommend reading such books with your child, explaining to him the meaning of what is written. We recommended several for different age categories.
Below are excerpts from the book “The Kindest in the World” by Ulf Nilsson, illustrations by Eva Erikson.
The story begins with the fact that one day the girl Esther finds a dead bumblebee on the windowsill and decides to bury it. Esther Friend (on whose behalf the story is told) and her younger brother Putte help. Since Putte is very small, the older guys explain to him what death is
After the bumblebee's funeral, the girl decides that the guys should bury all the dead animals, birds, insects in the forest...
Having buried many animals during the story, Esther comes to the conclusion:
At the end of the book, the burial ceremony of a thrush named Little Papa is described (the children gave names to all the little animals)
Maria Poryadina about this book:
Children do not even think of profaning the sacred - mocking sacred rites, mocking the grief of human loss, parodying the solemn rite of burial. They simply take death into the game - just as naturally as they take everything else into the game: cooking dinner, a wedding, buying apples at the store. They play funerals as seriously as they play “visiting” or “playing daughters and mothers” - and no adult, if he is reasonable, would scold children for such a game.
If an adult is reasonable, this clarification is necessary. A reasonable person, having read the book, will see that there is nothing dangerous or frightening in it. For children it is vital, but for adults, I must admit, it is terribly funny.
But the book may shock a person who is not very intelligent: there are too many dead...
After all, Swedish teachers - and Swedish children - are more free. They are not afraid of “forbidden” topics and “unusual” actions: they simply do not focus their attention on them.
Our children - here in Russia - would get the first number: both for the fact that they “touch all sorts of nasty things”, and for the fact that they took a suitcase and a blanket without asking, and for the process itself - for playing with something something unusual, that is, from the point of view of an adult reinsurer, indecent.
But for the Swedes everything is fine.
It is no coincidence that the Swedish Astrid Lindgren Foundation is taking the exhibition “I have the right to play” around the world. It is no coincidence that Lindgren herself argued that you can always play anything. “How could we not play to death!” - she was surprised, no longer young, remembering her free childhood in the vicinity of the Nes farm. Everything was a game - and everything became life that goes on.
The publishers intend the book for family reading, and this is correct, because “The Kindest in the World” is a completely two-fold thing. Children understand it as an ordinary story from the lives of their peers, absolutely traditional; adults in this story perceive a certain flavor of “absurd dramaturgy”, which takes a simple plot into the area of “eternal questions” about the place and purpose of man in existence.
The book turned out to be very life-affirming: after all, the children in it are literally playing with death! And since death can become a game, then it is not scary. That is, like any other game, it can be postponed indefinitely. And live happily ever after.
