The Idea of Art in the Novel "The Ladder of Jacob" by L.Ulitskaya

The idea of art in the novel “Jacob’ladder” by L. Ulitskaya is essential. The novel consists of 50 chapters, which take place in different times and places. But the thoughts of characters about art, creativeness and Creation are the basis for compositional and themantical unity of the book. The novel is multitextual – there are many crossings with the masterpieces of Chekhov, Tolstoy, Bulgakov and Nabokov. “Jacob’ladder” is the “novel in novel”. The letters and diaries from the past go there together with creative writing. The uniting thred between two different structures of the texts are the thoughts about music, literature and art. We can watch the evolution of the characters – their way of cooperation in creation and love to the oblivion and the end of relationship. The art in the novel is the tuning fork, with the help of which the characters tune their lives. The ladder - as a constant transition from one state of man to another, as a search for new ideas and directions, as an attempt to break the deadlock of time - this is the main leitmotif of the novel. Theatrical plots become timeless and eternal. Life is like a played performance, but the one in which the characters open to us in the end, become younger and transfigure, do not die and remain immortal; art is like the eternal life of mankind, like a non-dying Divine text that every generation reads in its own way — this is what constitutes the main life force of nations, unite the peoples, space and time. It is not a Revolution at all, not equality, which is impossible to achieve, but the deep things embedded in a culture related to the depths of human consciousness, coming from communication with the Creator - this is the main thing the author of the novel wanted to say.