User:Cnmadd1/sandbox

The Big Green Tent is a book written by Russian novelist and short story writer Lyudmila Ulitskaya. The novel was originally written in Russian titled эеленый шатер (zelenyy shater), but was translated into English for further publication by Polly Gannon.

Plot Summary
The novel The Big Green Tent tells the life stories of three boys: Ilya, Sanya, and Mikha. The boys become friends early on in their childhoods as they attend the same school, and all struggle with the same local bullies, Mutyukin and Murygin. Through their literature teacher, Victor Yulievich, the boys find a passion for reading and poetry. The teacher becomes close friends with them, and spends wednesday evenings touring Moscow with the boys who call their group the LORLs, or the Lovers of Russian Literature. The boys grow up together experiencing a lot of the same joys and struggles, and remain close through their high school graduation. The time comes for college applications, careers, and new beginnings. Ilya plans to attend the Leningrad Institute of Cinema Engineering to pursue his passion for photography. However, he meets Pierre Zand, a czech visiting Moscow for an international student festival. They become close and eventually agree to produce samizdat for foreign publication. Ilya collects photographs and literary works, and sends them out of Russia to Pierre to be published internationally. This work would extend for the entirety of Ilya’s Life. Ilya goes on to first marry Lyudmila, who he has his only son with. Ilya’s son grows to have autism, which divides the family pushing Lyudmila to go to America with her son. Ilya stays in Russia and later marries Olga, who he marries and lives with for many years, helping to raise her son Kostya. Ilya eventually has to flee Russia, leaving Olga and Kostya behind. He marries a French woman, but remains in touch with Olga who desperately seeks to be with him again. He eventually ends up living in Munich, where he later dies of kidney cancer. His wife, Olga, dies forty days after him, still living in Russia. Mikha finds a passion for philology and defectology and seeks to combine the two through teaching deaf-mute children. His mentor, Yakov Petrovich, provides him with knowledge concerning defectology and eventually gets him a job teaching in a rural deaf-mute school. Mikha marries Alyona around the same time his Aunt Genya passes away. Mikha eventually loses his job teaching because of his entanglement with samizdat and anti-Soviet behavior. Mikha, having no other options, begins to work with Ilya creating and distributing samizdat for international publication. This work eventually gets Mikha put in prison. When he is freed, nothing is the same. His marriage and social life fall apart, leading him to commit suicide. Sanya chooses to pursue his interest in music theory and composition. His studies lead him to become cut off from the sociopolitical world until Mikha is arrested. Sanya is driven to take Mikha’s place in caring for Alyona, and even helps her raise Mikha’s newborn son, Maya. When Mikha comes home, Sanya is awkwardly distanced from his friends at the same time that his grandmother, Anna Alexandrovna, dies. Sanya, feeling empty and wanting to leave Russia, allows Pierre to set him up with an American woman. His new wife gives him the opportunity to immigrate to America where he goes on to teach at a world renowned music school. The novel ends with a reunion of Sanya and a childhood friend named Liza. Later on the night of their meeting, he dies—the last of the three boys.

Main Characters in The Big Green Tent

 * Mikha
 * Sanya
 * Anna Alexandrovna (Sanya’s Grandma)
 * Ilya (Married to Lyudmila and have an autistic son, then marry Olga)
 * Olga
 * Kostya (Son of Vova and Olga)
 * Tamara Brin (Brinchik)
 * Galya
 * Afansay Mikhailovich (Olga’s Dad)
 * Antonina Naumovna (Olga’s Mom)

Major Themes and Symbols

 * 1) Anti-Sovietism
 * 2) Friendship
 * 3) Marriage
 * 4) Injustice
 * 5) Loyalty
 * 6) Emigration
 * 7) Milyutin Park
 * 8) The Big Green Tent

Historical Context
The Big Green Tent takes place in the Soviet Union which lasted for 11 years after Stalin’s death.