A summary of Boris Vasiliev’s "The Negation of the Negation"

The novel "The Negation of the Negation," written in 2004, recounts the tragic fate of the Vereskovsky family, a large noble family, against the backdrop of historical upheavals in Russia from 1917 until the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War. It is a philosophical interpretation of history through the prism of the Marxist law of "the negation of the negation," which, in Russian reality, translates into a comprehensive and destructive denial of life and humanity itself.

Family breakdown and first losses

The action begins in a pre-revolutionary provincial town, home to the prosperous family of retired Captain Vereskovsky. The 1917 Revolution and the subsequent Civil War tear the family apart. Platon Nestorovich Vereskovsky, the head of the family, tries to maintain order, but historical events mercilessly intervene in their lives. His daughter Nastya, captivated by revolutionary ideas, leaves home and joins the Bolsheviks, becoming a ruthless commissar. She actively participates in the Red Terror, renouncing her origins and family. The other children also disperse: some try to survive in hiding, others embrace the new government.

The paths of heroes in the new reality

The Vereskovskys’ life reflects the chaos reigning in the country. Alexander Vereskovsky, a former officer, joins the Red Army, hoping to serve his country despite the regime change. He endures difficult trials, trying to maintain his military honor amid class hatred. Olga Konstantinovna, his mother, grieves the breakup of her family and the destruction of the old world. New figures, such as Ivan Kolosov and Leonty Sukozhnikov, establish power in the city, deciding the fates of the former nobles. Sukozhnikov, who leads a special unit of special forces, is known for his cruelty.

Terror and Survival

The novel meticulously describes the atmosphere of suspicion and fear that permeates society. Tatyana, another heroine, faces the horrors of dispossession and repression. Her fate is intertwined with that of Leonty Sukozhnikov. In a fit of despair and vengeance for the ruined life she has suffered, Tatyana kills Sukozhnikov with Mauser bullets. Afterward, she is forced to hide under a false name — Agafya Silantyevna Kuznetsova. She manages to obtain a certificate from Dr. Trutnev confirming her stay in a psychiatric hospital, allowing her to disappear on the outskirts of the village of Khlopovo, where she lives in poverty, huddled in a barn with her only living creature — a goat.

The fate of Alexander and the Gulag

Despite his service in the Red Army, Alexander Vereskovsky ultimately falls victim to Stalin’s repressions. He is caught in the system’s millstones and ends up in the Gulag. Life in the camp is described as an endless struggle for survival under inhumane conditions on the "Great Construction Projects" of socialism. In the camp, he encounters other repressed prisoners whose lives were also crippled by the state apparatus. In one scene, Alexander, working as a carpenter on a derrick during canal construction, slips and falls into the water, still holding an axe. This fall becomes a symbol of the shattered hopes and physical destruction of the country’s best people.

The end of the story

The system neither forgives nor forgets. Years after Sukozhnikov’s murder, the past catches up with Tatyana-Agafya. NKVD agents arrive in the village of Khlopovo in black cars. They discover that Dr. Trutnev himself confessed to issuing a false certificate. The Chekists arrest Tatyana for the murder of a "faithful comrade." She obediently gets into the car. Her little goat runs after the car carrying Tatyana, screaming until one of the Chekists cold-bloodedly shoots the animal in the head. The goat’s death puts a terrifying and piercing end to the story of the universal denial of life described in the novel. The action ends with the complete destruction of all saplings of humanity and hope.