James Aldridge (English journalist and writer) was born in the small town of White Hill in southeastern Australia on July 10, 1918. The boy's family had five children, of which James was the youngest. Aldridge's parents moved to Swan Hill in the mid-1920s. Then the young man studied at the Melbourne Commercial College, and then, in 1938, he independently moved to London.
When World War II broke out, Aldridge began working as a correspondent in Iran as well as the Middle East. At the same time, his first novel A Matter of Honor (1942) was published, which immediately became a bestseller.
This work, as well as the novel The Sea Eagle (1944) that followed it, were written by the writer under the influence of Ernest Hemingway. The second book of the author, unlike the first, was not so warmly received by critics, but nevertheless in 1945 she received the prestigious John Llewellyn Literary Prize.
One of the most successful works of the writer was also the novel Diplomat (1949). In 1974, Aldridge even wrote a sequel to it called Mountains and Guns. Artistically interesting was the writer's novel The Hunter (1949). In it, Aldridge tried to combine various genres and literary movements.
The writer lived in Cairo for a long time. In 1969, Aldridge dedicated a whole book to this country called “Cairo. Biography of the city.
From the mid-1960s, Aldridge began writing primarily children's and teen books. For a long time, the writer maintained friendly relations with the USSR, and therefore in 1972 he was awarded the honorary Lenin Prize "For the strengthening of peace between peoples." In the same year, Aldridge was awarded the Gold Medal of the International Organization of Journalists.
The writer lived a long and interesting life. He died in London, being at his home, on February 23, 2015. At that time, James Aldridge was 96 years old.
In The Sea Eagle by James Aldridge, three-quarters of the time is spent on boats at sea, dealing with jibs, sheets, masts, rigging, and sails. The action takes place on the coast of the Greek island of Crete, inhabited by fishermen, sponge fishers and winemakers. But the book is still not about the sea, but about the war. The Second World War is coming. Crete is occupied by fascist troops. The few remaining soldiers of the Australian and British armies, who did not have time to evacuate with the main troops, make their way to the coast in groups of two or three in order to get a boat by hook or by crook and leave the island. Getting a boat is very difficult, almost impossible, but it is the only means of salvation. Indeed, even on such an island as Crete it is impossible to hide from the Nazis for a long time, they occupy village after village, their whole hordes.
Enges Burke is one of the many soldiers in hiding. He is an experienced, smart and brave fighter, but he is confused and confused, he feels trapped on the island. At first, I thought that this was the main character, and prepared to watch how he copes with everything. But on his way he meets a Greek named Nis, and the author's attention switches to a new person. With the advent of Nis, the life of Enges and his fellow travelers does not become easier and simpler, no, but at least now Nis clearly sets a goal for them, and they know what needs to be done and in what sequence. Nis is a leader by nature, whether he likes it or not. He himself understands and realizes this not immediately, but people gather around him, look at him with hope, it is he who is able to inspire and direct. If a plan of action is worked out jointly, the final word belongs to him. The crowd, gathered in the square in indecision, is waiting for answers and solutions from him. You probably already guessed who the sea eagle is here.
What I did not like about this book is that it is too unambiguous, correct, black and white, sustained in the right spirit, as if edited and censored. There are "good" ones: Greeks, Australians, British. There are bad ones: Greek Metaxists, Greek scammers and traitors, fascists. Heroes laugh in the face of danger, stand to their full height under the bullets of an enemy machine gun, and even in death their faces are beautiful. In some places, the author uses turns of speech, metaphors that give the text an epic quality, and the appearance of the characters - something from the Olympic gods. Their serenity, calmness and reticence, as it were, show that they are on the right track, so there is nothing to worry about and discuss. However, such epicness often turns into pathos and looks a little ridiculous.
Aldridge's style in this book is relentlessly reminiscent of Hemingway's. The same stinginess of language and brevity of sentences. At the same time, the book is insanely long. Each action of the characters is described in detail, the reader literally follows them in real time.
Yes, it gives immersion in the atmosphere, but it is exhaustingly boring.
We find it funny when the Americans say that they won the Second World War, but, for example, my knowledge is also very one-sided, limited to participation in the war of the Soviet Union. From this book, I partially got an idea of how Greece survived and endured this terrible war, about the suffering of the Greek people and the Greek resistance movement. I learned about the heroes and armies of other countries participating in World War II. But I didn't like this book at all, and what's worse, it's so right that it makes me ashamed that I didn't like it.
James Aldridge
last inch
It's good if, after twenty years as a pilot, you still experience the pleasure of flying by the age of forty; it’s good if you can still rejoice at how artistically precisely you landed the car: you squeeze the handle a little, you raise a light cloud of dust and smoothly win back the last inch above the ground. Especially when you land on snow: snow is a great bed for your wheels, and a good landing on snow is as pleasant as walking barefoot on a fluffy carpet in a hotel.
But with flights on the "DS-3", when you lift an old car, it used to be in the air in any weather and fly over the forests anywhere, it was over. Working in Canada gave him a good start, and it is not surprising that he ended his flying life over the desert of the Red Sea, flying a Fairchild for the Texegypto oil export company, which had oil exploration rights all over the Egyptian coast. He flew the Fairchild over the desert until the plane was completely worn out. There were no landing sites. He landed his car wherever geologists and hydrologists wanted to get off, that is, on sand, and on bushes, and on the rocky bottom of dry streams, and on the long white shallows of the Red Sea. The shallows were the worst: the smooth-looking surface of the sands was always littered with large pieces of white coral, sharp at the edges, like a razor, and if not for the low center of gravity of the Fairchild, it would have turned over more than once due to a puncture of the chamber.
But that was all in the past. The Texegypto Company abandoned costly attempts to find a large oil field that would give the same profits as Aramco in Saudi Arabia, and the Fairchild turned into a miserable ruin and stood in one of the Egyptian hangars, covered with a thick layer of multi-colored dust, all slashed at the bottom narrow, long cuts, with disheveled cables, already only a semblance of a motor and devices that are fit only for scrap.
It was all over: he was forty-three, his wife left him for home, on Linnen Street in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and healed as she liked: she rode the tram to Harvard Square, bought groceries in a store without sellers, visited her an old man in a decent wooden house - in a word, she led a decent life, worthy of a decent woman. He promised to come to her in the spring, but he knew that he would not do this, just as he knew that he would not get a flight job in his years, especially the one he was used to, he would not even get it in Canada. In those parts, supply exceeded demand even when it came to experienced people; the farmers of Saskatchewan taught themselves how to fly their Piper cabs and Austers. Amateur aviation deprived a lot of old pilots a piece of bread. They ended up being hired to serve the mining departments or the government, but both jobs were too decent and respectable to fit him in his old age.
So he was left empty-handed, except for an indifferent wife who did not need him, and a ten-year-old son who was born too late and, as Ben understood somewhere in the depths of his soul, a stranger to both of them - a lonely, restless child who in for ten years he understood that his mother was not interested in him, and his father was an outsider who did not know what to talk about with him, sharp and laconic in those rare moments when they were together.
This moment was no better than the others. Ben took the boy with him on the Auster, which bobbed wildly at an altitude of 2,000 feet above the Red Sea coast, and waited for the boy to get seasick.
If you're sick, Ben said, keep your head low on the floor so you don't mess up the whole car.
Fine. The boy looked very unhappy.
Are you afraid?
The little Auster tossed mercilessly in the hot air from side to side, but the frightened boy still did not get lost and, desperately sucking on a lollipop, looked at the instruments, the compass, the jumping artificial horizon.
A little, - the boy answered in a quiet and shy voice, unlike the rough voices of American children. - And from these shocks the plane will not break?
Ben did not know how to calm his son, he told the truth:
If you don't take care of your car, it's bound to break down.
And this ... - the boy began, but he was very sick, and he could not continue.
This one is all right, - said the father with irritation. - Pretty good plane.
The boy lowered his head and wept softly.
Ben regretted taking his son with him. All generous impulses always ended in failure in their family: both of them had long lacked this feeling - a dry, whiny, provincial mother and a sharp, quick-tempered father. Ben once tried, during one of his rare bouts of generosity, to teach the boy how to fly an airplane, and although his son turned out to be very quick-witted and quickly learned the basic rules, every shout brought him to tears ...
Do not Cry! Ben ordered him now. - You don't have to cry! Raise your head, do you hear, Davy! Get up now!
But Davy sat with his head down, and Ben more and more regretted that he had taken it, and looked dejectedly at the huge barren desert of the Red Sea coast spreading under the wing of the plane - a continuous strip of a thousand miles separating the gently blurred watercolor colors of the land from the faded green of the water. . Everything was motionless and dead. The sun burned out all life here, and in the spring, over thousands of square miles, the winds lifted masses of sand into the air and carried the sand to the other side of the Indian Ocean, where it remained forever: the desert merged with the seabed.
Sit up straight, he said to Davy, if you want to learn how to land.
He knew that his tone was harsh, and he always wondered why he couldn't talk to the boy. Davy raised his head. He grabbed the control board and leaned forward. Ben moved the throttle, waited until the speed slowed down, and then pulled hard on the trimmer handle, which was very uncomfortable on these small English planes - at the top left, almost overhead. A sudden shock shook the boy's head down, but he immediately raised it and began to look over the lowered nose of the car at a narrow strip of white sand near the bay, like a cake, thrown into this coastal wasteland. My father flew the plane right there.
How do you know which way the wind blows? the boy asked.
On the waves, on the clouds, by flair! Ben called out to him.
But he himself did not know what he was guided by when he was flying an airplane. Without thinking, he knew to within one foot where he would land the car. He had to be precise: a bare strip of sand did not give a single extra span, and only a very small plane could land on it. It was a hundred miles from here to the nearest native village, and all around was a dead desert.
It's all about getting it right," Ben said. - When you level the plane, you need to have a distance of six inches from the ground. Not a foot or three, but exactly six inches! If higher, you will hit on landing and the plane will be damaged. Too low - you get on a bump and roll over. All. it's the last inch.
Davy nodded. He already knew it. He saw how in El Bab, where they rented a car, one such Auster turned over one day. The student who flew it was killed.
See! cried the father. - Six inches. When he starts to sit up, I take back the pen. I pull her towards me. Here! he said, and the plane touched the ground as softly as a snowflake.
Last inch! Ben immediately turned off the engine and applied the foot brakes - the nose of the plane was lifted up, and the brakes did not allow him to plunge into the water - she was six or seven feet away.
* * *The two airline pilots who discovered this bay named it Shark - not because of its shape, but because of its population. It was constantly inhabited by many large sharks that swam here from the Red Sea, chasing schools of herring and mullet that sought refuge here. Ben flew here because of the sharks, and now, when he got into the bay, he completely forgot about the boy and from time to time only gave him orders: help with unloading, bury a bag of food in wet sand, moisten the sand by watering it with sea water. water, supply tools and all sorts of little things necessary for scuba gear and cameras.
Does anyone ever come here? Davy asked him.
Ben was too busy to pay attention to what the boy was saying, but he shook his head when he heard the question.
Nobody! No one can get here except by light aircraft. Bring me the two green bags that are in the car and cover your head from the sun. It was not enough for you to get a sunstroke!
Davy didn't ask any more questions. When he asked his father about something, his voice immediately became sullen: he expected a sharp answer in advance. Now the boy did not even try to continue the conversation and silently did what he was ordered to do. He watched intently as his father prepared his scuba gear and camera for underwater filming, about to dive into the clear water to film the sharks.
James Aldridge.
Diplomat
Dear Reader - Attention! This book was published in 1953, so you will find here the original spelling, grammar and punctuation according to the rules adopted in Russian in those years; for example, “devil”, “apparently”, “whisper”, “dance” and so on. Do not be embarrassed by this, and - enjoy your reading!
Translation from English by E. Kalashnikova, I. Kashkin and V. Toper.
FOREWORD
The progressive English writer James Aldridge is familiar to Soviet readers not only as the author of talented works of art, but also as an active fighter for the cause of peace and the security of peoples.
Aldridge was born in 1917 in Australia and was educated at Oxford University. During World War II, as a war correspondent for a number of British and American newspapers, he traveled to many countries of the world, visited many fronts of the war. He was in Norway, Greece, the Middle East, Iran, lived for some time in the Soviet Union.
Creatively, James Aldridge matured during the Second World War. His formation as a progressive writer took place under the influence of the gigantic struggle waged by the Soviet Union and the peoples of other countries - participants in the anti-Hitler coalition against German fascism and Japanese imperialism.
In his first novels A Matter of Honor (1942) and The Sea Eagle (1944), Aldridge depicts the struggle of Greek patriots against the Italian and German fascists who invaded Greece and shows the depth of the national betrayal of the Greek Metaxist fascists who tried to disrupt the struggle of the Greek people. against the fascist invaders.
In 1946, Aldridge's play The Forty-Ninth State appeared. In this work, in the form of political buffoonery, the author raises such an important issue as the Anglo-American contradictions after the Second World War. The writer shows that the desire of the monopolistic circles of the United States of America for world domination creates a direct threat to England, her dominions and colonies. The play feels the anxiety of the progressive English intelligentsia for the fate of their country, which, as a result of the anti-national policy of the Labor government, for the first time in history, “lost its independence and freedom of action in the field of foreign, economic and military policy, submitting to a foreign power - the United States of America” (“The Way of Britain towards socialism” is the program of the Communist Party of Great Britain (see Bolshevik, 1951, No. 3, p. 53).
Aldridge, as an active public figure and a prominent participant in the movement of peoples for peace and international security, takes an active part in the work of the English Committee for the Defense of Peace and participates as a delegate of England in the work of the Stockholm session of the Standing Committee of the World Peace Congress. After the American imperialists, with the support of their British, French and other allies, unleashed a bloody intervention in Korea, Aldridge declared: "If I had not been a member of the peace movement before, I would join it now."
In March 1952, Aldridge came to the USSR to take part in the celebrations dedicated to the centenary of the death of the great Russian writer N.V. Gogol. Aldridge's speech at the anniversary meeting is evidence of friendly feelings towards the Soviet people; it is full of optimism and faith in the final victory of the cause of peace over the forces of reaction. He stigmatizes the vileness and meanness of the Anglo-American imperialists, who regard war as a profitable business, says that “thousands of other conferences, popular conferences of peace supporters, are gathering all over the world. They protect our hopes, our future, and where our people's peace conferences come into play, there will be a limit to cynicism and violence” (New Time, 1952, No. 12, p. 19).
For Aldridge, the struggle for peace is inextricably linked with his work. The novel The Diplomat (1949), on which the author worked for four years, is convincing evidence of this.
In The Diplomat, the author, using artistic means, exposed with great force the reactionary imperialist essence of England's foreign policy, revealed its perfidious, provocative methods, showed the people who are the executors of the practical measures taken in terms of this policy. In parallel with this, the author gave the image of an honest young English scientist MacGregor, who happened to be in the diplomatic service after the Second World War. Realizing the true goals of British diplomacy - the preparation of a new world war - MacGregor breaks with the diplomatic service and comes to the camp of fighters for peace.
The author used real historical events as a background against which the fictional characters of the novel act: the people's liberation movement in Iranian Azerbaijan after the Second World War and the creation of a local democratic government there, which carried out some democratic transformations. The reactionary Tehran government waged a fierce struggle against the democrats. Britain and the United States came to the aid of the Iranian reaction. In an effort to mislead the world community and slander the Iranian democrats, the British ruling circles launched a false version that the democratic movement in Iran was "organized by Moscow."
Against this background, the action of the novel unfolds. The British Labor government sends one of its most experienced diplomats, Lord Essex, to Moscow and instructs him to obtain the consent of the Soviet government to the creation of an international commission, supposedly intended to investigate the situation in Iranian Azerbaijan, but in fact designed to serve as an instrument for crushing the democratic movement in Azerbaijan. Essex is accompanied by an employee of the British diplomatic service, a young paleontologist, a participant in the Second World War, Ivr MacGregor.
Essex and MacGregor are the main characters in the novel.
Essex is a representative of the English aristocracy. Occupying a high diplomatic post, he pursues a foreign policy that meets the interests of British imperialist circles.
MacGregor comes from the layers of the labor intelligentsia. He grew up in Iran, fell in love with this country and realized that the reasons for the backwardness and poverty of the Iranian people lie in Iran's dependence on British imperialism, which brutally exploits the country's natural resources and its people. At the beginning of the novel, MacGregor is shown as a novice in diplomacy and politics, he is still captivated by naive ideas and believes that the reactionary course of British foreign policy is due to the fact that unscrupulous diplomats are sitting in the field, supplying the government with false information. He thinks that it is possible to change the line of Essex's behavior, "based on facts", it is possible to convince the British diplomat that the cause of the Iranian democrats is right. However, he becomes dismayed when he is convinced that the facts do not make any impression on Essex, that Essex is not looking for truth in Iran, but only materials that would justify his policy in the interests of the British ruling circles. Being an honest man, MacGregor is unwilling to help Essex in his dirty political machinations and at the end of the novel openly opposes Essex and the foreign policy of the English government.
James Aldridge(born July 10, 1918) is an English writer and public figure.
James Aldridge entered English literature in the early 1940s; in a relatively short time, he went through a significant creative evolution. The birth of Aldridge as a writer, his ideological growth are closely connected with the liberation struggle of the peoples during the Second World War. Most of Aldridge's writings are extremely topical; at the same time, journalistic sharpness is combined with the gift of artistic generalizations. The focus of the writer is a man with his search for freedom and happiness. The power of Aldridge's satirical denunciations is directed against those who, in his words, are trying to "base their calculations on lucrative deals with dead souls."
James Aldridge (James Aldridge, p. 1918) was born in Australia, in Swanhill (Victoria), in the family of an English writer who settled here shortly before his birth. Already at the age of fourteen, he entered the editorial office of one of the Melbourne newspapers as a messenger, while continuing to study. He also lived on the Isle of Man (near Scotland) in his mother's old house.
After moving to England, Aldridge entered the university at Oxford; then he attended flight courses and actively collaborated in a number of London newspapers.
During the years of the liberation struggle of the Spanish people, young Aldridge followed with ardent sympathy all the vicissitudes of the historical battles against fascism in Spain, where many outstanding representatives of the British intelligentsia fought. The events of those days played a big role in the ideological formation of Aldridge - an anti-fascist.
Aldridge was 21 years old when he headed to Finland as a war correspondent. A sharp-eyed journalist correctly assessed the events unfolding before his eyes. In the messages of the astute correspondent, there was a condemnation of the destructive anti-national policy of the Finnish ruling circles of that time and recognition of the historical correctness of the Soviet Union. For this he was expelled from Finland.
During the Second World War, Aldridge traveled as a correspondent in many countries (Norway, Greece, Egypt, Libya, Iran, etc.) and in many theaters of war. He also visited the Soviet Union, where he spent almost a year (1944-1945). The writer was an eyewitness to the selfless struggle of the Soviet people, who gave everything for victory and played a decisive role in the defeat of the Nazi war machine.
The first books of Aldridge aroused considerable interest not only for their truthfulness and authenticity of the story, but also for the deep democracy of the writer, who is vitally interested in the victory of the people.
James Aldridge's early works Signed with Their Honor (1942), The Sea Eagle (1944) and Of Many Men (1946) are major achievements in cutting-edge English military literature. time. These works pleased with novelty, freshness of the writer's voice, clarity of political thought. They were perhaps the first messengers in England from the fields of war, bringing the truth about the suffering of millions and the determination of peoples to defend their independence and freedom.
The first novel by James Aldridge, A Matter of Honor, paints a vivid picture of the popular liberation movement in Greece, from the moment of the invasion of the Italo-fascist invaders in October 1940 until the capture of the country by the Nazis in April 1941. The Greek people, defending their freedom, are opposed in novel of the rotten fascist-metaxist elite in power. The writer shows how selflessly poorly armed Greek soldiers fought for their land and what an ominous, treacherous role the Metaxists and representatives of the British high command played.
Already by the first novel, marked by an undoubted talent, one can judge Aldridge's democracy, his significant life experience, great powers of observation, persistent search for his own individual style of writing.
In the early works of Aldridge, especially in the novel A Matter of Honor, echoes of the Hemingway intonation are heard. However, this influence, which Hemingway had on Aldridge at the time of the formation of his creative method, should not be overestimated. The young writer inevitably enters into a kind of ideological and artistic polemic with him. Aldridge rethinks the theme of courage in the face of death, takes a new approach to depicting the patriotism of the people fighting for their independence. Its heroes experience the same bitterness as the heroes of Hemingway's novel A Farewell to Arms, but they see more clearly the perpetrators of the senseless and tragic death of people, and all of them make their way to the truth in one way or another, overcoming the mood of political indifference, characteristic of many representatives of the English bourgeois intelligentsia. .
Aldridge very soon discovers his independence as an artist, and this is greatly facilitated by the breadth of his views and the ever-increasing historical experience he has taken from the liberation struggle of peoples. Aldridge's path in this sense is directly opposite to the path of various Hemingway epigones, who blindly canonize the early manner of their teacher, his deliberately simplified, stylized tale, which Hemingway himself later largely abandoned.
The desire to depict noble human characters, which is one of the main features of Aldridge's work, makes him related to the best traditions of English and world classical literature.
The lyrical theme - the love of the Greek patriot Elena Stangu and the English pilot John Quayle, the awakening and development of this love, its tragic nature, due to the harsh environment of the war - occupies a large place in the novel "A Matter of Honor". The personal destinies of the heroes, inextricably linked with the nationwide struggle against fascism, are, as it were, illuminated by its light. In the family of Elena Stangu, John Quail found the true patriots of Greece, people of advanced convictions who were persecuted by the Metaxists. Communication with this family, bitter military experience encourage the hero to think about a lot, reevaluate his views on life.
Quail saw that "his views are not ugly" and that he was not alone. And Mann, and young Gorelle, and many others are in the same mood as he is. "The day will come when they will all unite," is Quail's conclusion.
The novel "A Matter of Honor", dedicated to the fate and searches of John Quayle, brings the writer close to the theme of the people who have risen to fight. This theme is developed in the novel "The Sea Eagle", in which the clarity of political thought, the courage to denounce the perpetrators of the tragedy of the Greek people are combined with high artistic merit.
The novel is preceded by an epigraph, which gives the key to the author's intention and introduces him into a dynamically developing action full of passionate struggle.
“Nys defended Megara,” the epigraph says, “when the Minotaur invaded the country. His half-brother planned to take Megara into his own hands as soon as Nis defeated the Minotaur. Nis penetrated his plan and told Zeus about it. Zeus turned his half-brother into a fish, and gave Nisu the power to turn into a sea eagle at will, in order to pursue his half-brother in this image and observe the actions of enemies.
The action of the novel "The Sea Eagle" takes place on the island of Crete at the moment when the last act of the drama that the Greek people were experiencing came: having occupied Greece, the Nazis occupied Crete, destroying the Australian, New Zealand and English detachments that did not have time to leave the island.
These days, the wounded Australian Enges Burke wanders in search of salvation. A skeptical person, he tries to remain an outside observer of the events unfolding before him. He meets on his way the Greek patriot Nis; close acquaintance with him and participation in a joint struggle prompt Burke to think and doubt the correctness of his position of political indifference. Fate brings another Australian with Nees, the simple-hearted giant Stone, a man of unbending will, possessing endurance and humor; Accepted as a brother by the kind-hearted Lithosian fishermen, Stone becomes close to them.
The image of the freedom-loving Greek Nis - the "sea eagle" - a man of great spiritual strength and nobility, who knows how to be a devoted friend and a passionate, uncompromising fighter, helps to understand how deep the roots of the people's liberation movement are. This is one of the best images of the folk hero in the literature of the Second World War period.
James Aldridge proves himself in this novel as a master of intense, fascinatingly developing plot. He knows how to convey the drama of life, to show the clash of social forces, the deep antagonism between the people and their enemies. The novel shows that the reactionary aims and plans of the metaxist clique claiming power found sympathy and support in well-known English circles.
Showing how people infected with ironic skepticism overcome it and join the ranks of the fighters against fascism, Aldridge does not separate this theme from the image of the nobility and strength of ordinary people, like Nis or the giant Sarandaki, boldly going towards danger. The lyrical subtext is especially noticeable in the masterful dialogues, which eloquently testify to the deep emotional experiences of the characters in The Sea Eagle.
The book "About Many People" consists of separate chapters-short stories, of essays written at different times, but connected by the unity of the ideological concept and the image of the protagonist. In bright fragments, she gives a brief chronicle of the outbreak of the Second World War, outlines its dramatic course and completion.
The book is, as it were, a survey of the most important theaters of the war. Events are given through the perception of the protagonist, the sharp-sighted journalist Wolf, a Scot by birth. Wolf visited Spain during the war of the Spanish people against the fascist invaders and is full of sympathy for the anti-fascists. The book contains silhouettes of many people he has seen. He writes about his encounters on the mountain roads of Norway, where he comprehended the calm courage of the Norwegian people, writes about people he encountered in the rear, in America. He talks about close friends and literary snobs deeply alien to him, whom he mentally calls "corrupt creatures." In Italy, Wolf saw such folk heroes as the Italian anti-fascist Fabiano, who was held accountable by the representatives of the Anglo-American command for punishing fascist murderers who mocked the Italian people. Wolf characterizes the persecution to which Fabiano was subjected as a typical manifestation of a certain policy of encouraging revanchism. Wolf visited the USSR, where the people gave everything for victory, met with persistent people who defended Stalingrad.
The figure of Wolf, a man seeking truth, plays a fundamentally important role in the book. It enables the author not only to cement together disparate fragments, but also to show the aspirations of one of the typical representatives of the English democratic intelligentsia.
The genre of the book "About Many People" is peculiar: it is more like links of short stories, closely related to each other, than a complete novel. Aldridge proved himself here as a brilliant storyteller, possessing the secret of a dynamic development of action, prominently outlining his images, skillfully building a dialogue, always with a deep undercurrent of thought.
The book "About Many People" is one of the writer's approaches to the great epic canvas - the novel "The Diplomat".
Written in 1946, the play Forty-Ninth State can also, to some extent, be seen as a forerunner of The Diplomat. And not only because Aldridge turned to acute international problems, which in itself is indicative of his creative development, but also because this work fully revealed an important side of the writer's talent - the ability to create satirical images.
The events depicted in the play take place "80 years after our time", but it bears the stamp of our days.
The novel "The Diplomat" (The Diplomat, 1949), on which James Aldridge worked for four years and in which, according to him, he invested himself, is one of the most significant phenomena of English literature of the post-war period. Despite the attacks of reactionary criticism, this novel found its way to a wide range of readers and was a well-deserved success.
The novel is set in the winter of 1945/46, first in the Soviet Union, then in Iran and England. The sharp vicissitudes of the struggle between the two main characters - Lord Essex, who arrived in the Soviet Union on a "special" diplomatic mission, and his assistant, a geologist, the Scot MacGregor, who gradually discovers the true goals of his patron and courageously opposes him, express the inner essence of the central conflict of the novel. The essence of the conflict is emphasized by the very composition of the novel, which is divided into two books: the first is called Lord "Essex", the second - "MacGregor". In the first book, the figure of Lord Essex is given in close-up, trying to play a dominant role in everything and showing his diplomatic skills; in the second part, Lord Essex gives way to MacGregor.
The image of Lord Essex is a great creative achievement of Aldridge. This character embodies the typical features of bourgeois politicians who imagine themselves to be the arbiters of the destinies of the nation. This image, which has its predecessors in the gallery of portraits of "polyps" and "snobs" created by Dickens and Thackeray, is snatched from modern life and shown in a new way by an artist who stands at the height of an advanced worldview.
It is as natural for Essex to weave dirty intrigues, to cynically recruit hired agents from among the most criminal elements, as it is unnatural for the whole and honest MacGregor.
The image of the geologist MacGregor, a thoughtful, direct, honest, internally independent person, represents the democratic circles of the English intelligentsia in the novel.
Aldridge portrays this character in development, showing how MacGregor overcomes his weaknesses and shortcomings, his narrowness. The artistic power and persuasiveness of the novel "The Diplomat" lies, in particular, in the fact that the image of an advanced contemporary, a representative of the English democratic intelligentsia, is depicted not straightforwardly, but in his complex and painful search, in overcoming many illusions, in the process of accumulating new observations and generalizations. , which lead to sudden changes in the mind and actions of the hero.
In the contest with Lord Essex, MacGregor wins politically and morally. Subtly using the weapon of irony, Aldridge debunks Lord Essex. The further the action of the novel develops, the clearer becomes the inconsistency of the ideas defended by Essex, who has a blind hatred for the people, for the forces of historical progress, for the world of socialism. Readers are convinced of how pitiful his personal goals, his concerns about his career, how deceptive his "greatness" is, and what an essentially small man he appears in comparison with MacGregor.
Having embarked on the path of struggle, MacGregor will be true to his social vocation - such is the logic of the development of this integral character. “Only now,” he admits, “a real fight has begun for me, and I see that I cannot leave the field.” MacGregor can no longer refuse to fight. “It even seems to me that I have only just begun to live, and I know that my time and my labors have not been in vain.”
The novelist depicts social events in the life of English society in the light of great historical perspectives. He clearly sees the features of the new in the destinies of the peoples of the Middle East, he knows that the victory of the democratic forces is inevitable, although the reaction may temporarily triumph. The system of images of his novel serves to reveal the opposite of the two worlds. Full of tension and drama, the novel "Diplomat" is imbued with a sense of historical optimism, faith in the strength of the people.
The writer came so close to the problems of today, to the chronicle of the events of our time, that he was in danger of slipping into the path of illustration and cursory sketches. But the artist happily avoided this. Unfolding before readers a motley string of events of international significance, the novelist created capacious, plastic images against their background, revealed the complex and contradictory play of public interests, showed the connection and clash of various human destinies as an expression of social antagonisms, as a manifestation of contradictions between the outgoing world and the world that is being born in fight.
The special success of Aldridge, the satirist, is the image of Essex precisely because it is not given in isolation, but included in a larger perspective, and this allowed the writer to show with all persuasiveness how hopeless the cause that Essex defends, how tragicomic his attempts to make history. In a deep and consistent debunking of the philosophy of a sophisticated diplomat, who plays a tragic role in the life of peoples, lies the vital truth of this image.
Using all the positive that he obtained in the early period of his work, the author deeply solves the problem of the positive hero of our time. In rapprochement with the people and their liberation struggle, the best sides of the character of John Quail, Enges Burke, Stone, Wolf - the positive heroes of Aldridge's early works, appeared. All the previous artistic discoveries of the writer were further developed in the novel "Diplomat", acquired a new quality. Compared to earlier works, the tone and style of the novel The Diplomat takes on a different character. Aldridge appears in it both as a deeper and more mature realist artist, boldly invading the world of political passions, clarifying the subtle connection between the hero's personal feelings and actions and the social situation, and as a militant satirist. The novel "Diplomat" is an important milestone on the creative path of a talented artist. And at the same time, it testifies to the victory of innovative tendencies, marking the emergence of a new stage in the development of advanced English literature of our day.
“It has been a long time since I read such a good novel, which gives such a topical political lesson as this book,” wrote Harry Pollitt about the novel The Diplomat. “It can make a great contribution to the cause of the struggle for peace and national independence.”1
In June 1953, the World Peace Council awarded James Aldridge a gold medal for The Diplomat. This testifies to the recognition by the world community of the great merits of this outstanding artist and fighter for peace.
The novel The Hunter (1950), which followed The Diplomat, Aldridge dedicates to working people who have preserved nobility and purity of soul in the cruel conditions of their existence. Aldridge shows interest in the spiritual world and the fate of such people from the very first steps of his literary activity. In this book, he contrasts his understanding of man with the mockery of him, which is characteristic of modernist literature.
Although "The Hunter" does not have the breadth of the social horizons of "The Diplomat", the author in this novel also touches on the disturbing social problems facing his heroes - Canadian hunters and farmers. Aldridge is deeply concerned about human destinies.
The novel reveals the tragedy of Indian Bob, a driven, lonely, withdrawn and proud man. He treats Roy with love and respect, who sacrifices his interests for him, and despises his oppressors. Democratic views of Aldridge and his humanism are also manifested in the historically truthful depiction of Indian tribes doomed to slow death by capitalism. The author shows the unity of the white and colored peoples in their struggle for their vital interests. In the friendship of Roy McNair and Indian Bob, in their growing mutual understanding, the best aspects of their nature are revealed - integrity of character, responsiveness and humanity, manifested in a restrained form that only emphasizes the strength of their emotions.
Beautiful descriptions of the harsh nature in the novel, among which Aldridge's heroes live, fight and win. The writer, as it were, returns to the mood of the novel "The Sea Eagle" and writes a book imbued with lyrics and philosophical reflection on the fate of people who are close to nature and feel their inextricable connection with it, leading a fierce struggle so as not to perish and become brutalized in vast forest wilderness.
“The Hunter is a beautifully constructed novel,” wrote the Daily Worker, “reflecting hope, struggle and the victory of man over despair; this side of the book is very important at the moment. This novel, of course, does not have the scope and scale of the Diplomat” , but thanks to the skill of the author, dedication, "Hunter" is immeasurably higher than most of the books that appear today"
True and meaningful coverage of the significant social problems put forward by reality is combined in Aldridge with the art of creating images that express the characteristic features of this reality.
The protagonists of Aldridge's writings about the Second World War are modest heroes, born of the trials of a just war, brought forward by fierce struggle from the most national depths. The writer emphasizes their humanity, camaraderie, severity and ruthlessness towards the enemy. Their inherent shortcomings and weaknesses do not obscure from him their spiritual beauty, their civic feelings, awakening in the struggle. Following the best traditions of English literature, and above all the traditions of Byron and Shelley, Aldridge, along with the images of his compatriots, draws images of participants in the liberation movement of other countries - Greek, Italian patriots, courageous fighters against Hitlerism, full of hatred for the invaders.
The problems of the post-war world, significant events in the life of the English people are also of great concern to Aldridge, who takes an active part in the struggle for peace. In one of his articles entitled “This is Patriotism,” he wrote: “Before my eyes lay in all its charm the nature of England, its beautiful cities and villages. And I suddenly thought: in the event of war, these densely populated and closely spaced cities and villages, our islands are a good target for atomic bombings. One had only to imagine how little of all this beauty and human comfort would be left after a few atomic explosions - and any of these charming landscapes suddenly acquired a gloomy, tragic coloring, as if reminding us that only in the struggle to preserve peace on our earth can we find true peace. patriotism, that people who deliberately endanger their peoples and their country should be branded as traitors ... The world will win because patriotism wins, the feeling of humanity wins. By loving our own country, we learn to love all other countries and want peace for all."
The writer illuminates specific national problems and general, international problems - in close interconnection, shows the revolutionary development of reality; this is one of the essential features of the creativity of the innovative artist. Aldridge exposes the social contradictions of bourgeois society, revealing the potential forces of the people who create history, showing the justice and inevitability of the victory of advanced, democratic tendencies in modern life.
Aldridge's works are usually built on acute dramatic situations, they are always full of action, revealing the interconnections of reality, intense social conflicts, the struggle of opposing tendencies in social development, the psychological structure of images, and fundamental changes in the minds of the characters.
Aldridge's work has undergone a significant artistic evolution from the first front-line sketches and novels to the latest works.
The ideological and artistic searches of Aldridge the realist are reflected in his meaningful and interesting statements on the development of advanced literature and aesthetics.
In his speech at a solemn meeting in Moscow dedicated to the centenary of the death of V. V. Gogol, James Aldridge highly appreciated the power of the great writer's smashing satire and at the same time vividly expressed his ideological and aesthetic views, clearly defined the artist's place in the struggle for happiness and freedom of peoples.
Aldridge highly appreciates the life-giving value of the realistic traditions of both national and world literature. At one of the meetings with Soviet readers, Aldridge spoke about the enormous contribution of Leo Tolstoy to the development of the artistic thought of mankind, about the strength of his genius and the unfading power of his realism.
James Aldridge sees all the deceit and madness of the rotten old world and all the grandeur of the victories of the new world, where free people are embraced by the enthusiasm of creative labor.
Aldridge's books, translated into Russian and published in large editions, enjoy the well-deserved love of the reader, attracting with their great ideological and artistic merits, the exciting significance of the problems raised in them and the vital brightness of the images and characters depicted in them. The creations of an outstanding realist artist have an enduring aesthetic value, they testify to the significant victories of advanced English literature, reflecting the needs and aspirations of the broad masses of the people, their desire for peace and independence.
