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Старый Валаам
Иван Сергеевич Шмелев (1873-1950) - знаменитый писатель-эмигрант, последний певец дореволюционной православной Руси, "писатель от Бога, классик чистой воды и высокой пробы". Посетив в юности Валаам, он оставил о нем чудесные светлые воспоминания…
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1935
2 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Ivan Shmelyov
68 books11 followers Иван Сергеевич Шмелёв
Russian émigré writer, member of the Moscow literary group Sreda.
Shmelev was born into a merchant family. He graduated from the law faculty of Moscow University in 1898. His works first appeared in print in 1895. Shmelev’s best prerevolutionary prose works showed a profound knowledge of city life and popular language; they employed the narrative technique of oral folktales. The novellas Collapse (1907), Citizen Ukleikin (1908), and The Man From the Restaurant (1911), which was the most significant of the three, were written in the traditional style of critical realism.
Shmelev emigrated in 1922 and later published anti-Soviet stories and books filled with nostalgia for the prerevolutionary past, for example, The Lord’s Summer (1933).
Russian émigré writer, member of the Moscow literary group Sreda.
Shmelev was born into a merchant family. He graduated from the law faculty of Moscow University in 1898. His works first appeared in print in 1895. Shmelev’s best prerevolutionary prose works showed a profound knowledge of city life and popular language; they employed the narrative technique of oral folktales. The novellas Collapse (1907), Citizen Ukleikin (1908), and The Man From the Restaurant (1911), which was the most significant of the three, were written in the traditional style of critical realism.
Shmelev emigrated in 1922 and later published anti-Soviet stories and books filled with nostalgia for the prerevolutionary past, for example, The Lord’s Summer (1933).
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August 3, 2025
Voyaging about Ladoga and visiting Valaam I couldn’t help but read this highly empathic novella by one of the subtlest Russian writers Ivan Shmelyov.
Old Valaam is a very special story… Forty years after the event the author recalls how as a newlywed student he and his wife took a trip to the Valaam Monastery… And this nostalgic pilgrimage was something like their honeymoon…
Their ship sails… They arrive on the island… They stay in a monastery hostel… A convent charter is very severe… And all those who fail to obey must do hard penance for any tiny misstep…
Seclusion… Anachoresis… Asceticism… Prayers… Penitence… Obedience…
Every monk must exist under the sign of humility…
“As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.” Psalm 103:15
Some seemingly insignificant experience of youth may leave an inerasable imprint on personality and influence the entire future life.
Old Valaam is a very special story… Forty years after the event the author recalls how as a newlywed student he and his wife took a trip to the Valaam Monastery… And this nostalgic pilgrimage was something like their honeymoon…
“In an hour the boat Alexander departs,” says Brother Tikhon, a novice. “It arrived last night, it bewared the waves.”
“Is the lake stormy?”
“Not that much… Just choppy. There will be no great tempest but you will be rocked significantly.”
Their ship sails… They arrive on the island… They stay in a monastery hostel… A convent charter is very severe… And all those who fail to obey must do hard penance for any tiny misstep…
Brother Vasily brings in dinner.
“I’ve brought it only for your wife,” he says, “and upon you Father Antipas prescribed an obedience – you must go to our refectory. Everything is very solemn there. We are dining while listening to Lives of the Saints. All the harmful thoughts are forfended. And the food becomes blessed.”
Seclusion… Anachoresis… Asceticism… Prayers… Penitence… Obedience…
On Valaam isle there is no time for leisure… They don’t angle fish – it’s just naughtiness. They don’t bathe in the strait – it’s a sin, the water is holy. They don’t hunt mushrooms and don’t gather berries for fun. They do it out of necessity.
Every monk must exist under the sign of humility…
“As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.” Psalm 103:15
Some seemingly insignificant experience of youth may leave an inerasable imprint on personality and influence the entire future life.
Displaying 1 of 1 review