An ordinary history of potters is a short read. "An ordinary story

The novel was conceived by the author in 1844. The work was first read in the salon of the Maykov family. Goncharov made some adjustments to his novel precisely on the advice of Valerian Maykov. Then the manuscript ended up with M. Yazykov, who was supposed to hand it over to Belinsky at the request of the author himself. However, Yazykov was in no hurry to fulfill the request, as he considered the novel too banal. The manuscript was handed to Belinsky by Nekrasov, who took it from Yazykov. Belinsky planned to publish “Ordinary History” in the almanac “Leviathan”.

However, these plans were never destined to come true. Goncharov received a lucrative offer: he could earn 200 rubles for each page of the manuscript. But Panaev and Nekrasov offered the writer the same amount, and Goncharov sold them his work. It was decided to publish the novel in Sovremennik. Publication took place in 1847. A year later, the novel was published as a separate edition.

Alexander Aduev, the son of a poor landowner, is going to leave his native estate. The young landowner received a decent university education, which he now wants to use in the service of his fatherland. Alexander leaves his first love Sonechka and his inconsolable mother Anna Pavlovna on the estate, who does not want to part with her only son. Aduev himself also does not want to leave his usual way of life. However, the high goals he has set for himself force him to leave his parents' home.

Once in the capital, Alexander goes to his uncle. Pyotr Ivanovich had lived in St. Petersburg for many years. After his brother's death, he stopped communicating with his widow and his nephew. Alexander does not seem to notice that his uncle is not too happy to see him. The young man expects care and protection from close relative. Pyotr Ivanovich receives a letter from the mother of his nephew, who asks him to help his son get a good job. The uncle has no choice, and he takes on the active upbringing of his nephew: he rents an apartment for him, gives him numerous pieces of advice, and finds him a place. Pyotr Ivanovich believes that Alexander is too romantic and out of touch with reality. It is necessary to destroy the fictional world in which the young man lives.

2 years have passed. During this time, Alexander was able to achieve success in his service. The uncle is happy with his nephew. The only thing that upsets Pyotr Ivanovich is the young man’s love for Nadenka Lyubetskaya. According to the stern uncle, “sweet bliss” can prevent his nephew from further promotion. Nadya also likes Alexander. However, the girl’s feelings are not as deep as the feelings of her lover. Nadenka is much more interested in Count Novinsky. Aduev Jr. dreams of a duel with his opponent. Pyotr Ivanovich is trying with all his might to dissuade his nephew from fatal mistake. Uncle never found the necessary words of consolation. Lizaveta Alexandrovna, the wife of Pyotr Ivanovich, had to intervene. Only the aunt managed to calm the young man down and dissuade him from the duel.

Another year has passed. Alexander has already forgotten Nadenka. However, not a trace of the former romantic young man remained in him. Aduev Jr. is bored and sad all the time. Uncle and aunty try different ways distract my nephew, but nothing helps. The young man himself tries to lose himself in love, but he fails. Alexander is increasingly thinking about returning home. In the end, the young man leaves the capital. Life in the village has not changed, only Sonya, Aduev’s first love, got married without waiting for her lover. Anna Pavlovna is glad that her son returned from St. Petersburg, and believes that life in the capital undermines her health.

Fascinating city
But Alexander finds no peace even in his father’s house. Having barely returned, he is already dreaming of moving to St. Petersburg. After the capital's salons, the quiet life in the countryside seems insufficiently dynamic and vibrant. However, the young man does not dare to leave because he does not want to upset his mother. The death of Anna Pavlovna relieves Aduev Jr. of remorse. He returns to the capital.

Another 4 years have passed. The characters in the novel have changed a lot. Aunt Lizaveta became indifferent and indifferent. Pyotr Ivanovich also becomes different. From the former cold and calculating businessman, he turns into a loving family man. Pyotr Ivanovich suspects his wife serious problems with health problems and wants to resign in order to take his wife away from the capital. Alexander was able to get rid of his youthful illusions. Aduev Jr. makes good money, has achieved a high position and is going to marry a rich heiress.

Alexander Aduev

Romanticism and egocentrism are the main character traits of a young man. Alexander is confident in his uniqueness and dreams of conquering the capital. Aduev Jr. dreams of becoming famous in the poetic and writing fields and finding true love. Life in the village, according to the young man, is not for such a talented and exalted personality like him.

Alexander's dreams collapse one after another. Very soon he realizes that there are enough mediocre poets and writers in the capital without him. Aduev will not tell the public anything new. True love also disappointed the young romantic. Nadenka Lyubetskaya easily abandons Alexander in order to prefer a more advantageous game to him. The young man comes to the conclusion that the world that he lived in his imagination does not really exist. Thus began the degeneration of the romantic into an ordinary cynic and businessman, like Alexander’s uncle.

Aduev Jr. realized in time that he was unable to remake reality, force it to be different. However, he can succeed by reconsidering his views and accepting the rules of the game.

Peter Aduev

At the beginning of the novel, Pyotr Ivanovich acts as the antipode of his nephew. The author characterizes this character as a person who is “icy to the point of bitterness.” Thanks to his resourcefulness and composure, Alexander’s uncle was able to get a good job. Pyotr Ivanovich hates people who are unadapted to life, sentimental and sensitive. It is these character traits that he has to fight in his nephew.

Aduev Sr. believes that only those who know how to control their feelings have the right to be called a person. That is why Pyotr Ivanovich despises Alexander’s tendency to “delight.” All the predictions of the experienced uncle came true. His nephew was unable to become famous either as a poet or as a writer, and his affair with Nadenka ended in betrayal.

The uncle and nephew embody in the novel two sides of the author's contemporary Russia. The country is divided into dreamers, who bring no practical benefit to anyone with their actions, and businessmen, whose activities benefit only themselves. Alexander represents a “superfluous person”, unsuitable for the real business and causing a sense of irony even among close relatives. The “superfluous” will not benefit his fatherland, because, in fact, he himself does not know what he wants. Pyotr Ivanovich is overly practical. According to the author, his callousness is as destructive for others as the dreaminess of his nephew.

Some critics draw a parallel between “Ordinary History” and “Oblomov”, where the antipodes are Oblomov and his friend Stolz. The first, being kind, sincere person, too passive. The second, like Pyotr Aduev, is practical to the point of callousness. The title of the novel is " An ordinary story“- indicates that all the events described in the book are taken from life. Goncharov himself seems to admit that the story he tells is not unique. The transformation of romantics into cynics occurs every day. The “superfluous person” has only 2 options: leave this life, like Oblomov, or transform into a soulless machine, like Alexander Aduev.

5 (100%) 2 votes

Ordinary History

Sasha Aduev, the hero of the novel, lives in the village in Oblomov’s carefree manner. His mother, with a lot of kisses and instructions, sends him to St. Petersburg to his uncle, Pyotr Ivanovich Aduev. The uncle reads with disgusted bewilderment the letter from the girl (now she is an old woman) whom he was fond of in his youth: what provincial sentimentality! Another letter from Sasha’s mother (the wife of Pyotr Ivanovich’s late brother) - she hands over her child to her “dear little brother.” It was in vain that the woman hoped that the uncle would settle his niece with him and would “cover his mouth from flies with a handkerchief.” Pyotr Ivanovich rents a room for Sasha and gives him his first lessons in urban practicality. He is amused by his nephew’s naive romanticism, his pompous speeches, his naive poems. The uncle even rejects his nephew’s education: all these “philosophies” and “rhetorics” are unsuitable for business. Sasha is assigned to the office to copy papers. He also has a “literary” job (he knows languages!) - translating articles on manure and potato molasses for an economics magazine.

Several years pass. The patina of provincialism has disappeared from young Aduev. He dresses fashionably and has acquired a metropolitan flair. He is appreciated in his service. My uncle no longer wallpapers the utility rooms with his poetry and prose, but reads with interest. But Aduev decided to tell his uncle about his love - the only one in the world. His uncle makes fun of him: young romantic feelings, in his opinion, are worthless. And of course, this feeling cannot last forever: someone will “cheat” someone. The uncle himself was also planning to marry, not “out of convenience” (it was common to marry for money), but “out of consideration” - so that his wife would suit him as a person. The main thing is to do the job. And Sasha, out of love, no longer submits articles to the editor on time.

Time has passed. Nadenka (the one and only) chose Count Novinsky over Alexandra. The Count (a young, handsome socialite) comes to visit every day and rides horses with a girl. Sasha is suffering. He curses female infidelity and wants to challenge the count to a duel. With all this he comes to his uncle. Pyotr Aduev is trying to explain to his nephew that it is not Nadenka’s fault that she fell in love with another, that the count is not to blame either if he managed to capture the girl’s imagination. But Aduev does not listen to his uncle, he seems to him a cynic and heartless. The uncle's young wife, Lizaveta Alexandrovna (ta tante), consoles Alexander. She also has drama: her husband seems too rational to her, he does not tell her about his love. For a young sensitive woman, not only does he remember all her desires, he is ready to provide the contents of his wallet to satisfy her whims - but money means a lot to Pyotr Aduev.

Sasha Aduev manages to become disillusioned with his friendship: why didn’t a friend from his youth wet his chest with tears, but just invited him to dinner and began asking him about his affairs? He is also disappointed in magazines that are unable to evaluate his literary work (very pompous and abstract discussions from life). The uncle welcomes the renunciation of literary works (Alexander has no talent) and forces his nephew to burn all his sublime writings. Aunt Lizaveta takes a kind of patronage over Sashenka. By taking care of Alexander, ma tante (auntie) seems to replenish that share of sentimentality that her soul seeks.

The uncle gives his nephew an important assignment: to “make the widow Yulia Tafaeva fall in love with him.” This is necessary because the uncle’s partner in the porcelain factory, the amorous and dapper Surkov, spends too much money on this widow. Seeing that his place is taken, Surkov will not waste his time. The assignment was carried out brilliantly: Sashenka captivated the sentimental, nervous widow, and he himself became carried away. They are so similar! Julia also cannot imagine “simple quiet love”; she absolutely needs to “fall at her feet” and swear “with all the strength of her soul.” At first, Alexander is so inspired by the kinship of souls and the beauty of Julia that he is ready to get married. However, the widow is too intrusive, too submissive in her feelings - and young Aduev begins to be burdened by this relationship. He doesn’t know how to get rid of the widow, but his uncle saves him after talking with Tafaeva.

Having lost his illusions, Alexander falls into apathy. He is not interested in promotions or editorial work. He dresses casually and often spends entire days on the couch. The only thing that entertains him is summer fishing. While sitting with a fishing rod, he meets a poor girl, Lisa, and is ready to seduce her without burdening himself with the obligations of marriage.

Lisa's father gives the younger Aduev a turn away. Indifference to everything overcomes Alexander. He is unable to follow in his uncle’s footsteps and find himself in society and in business (as they would say now, “in business”). Is there enough money for a modest life? And that's enough! The uncle tries to distract him and receives in response accusations that the younger Aduev, through the fault of the elder Aduev, grew old in soul before acquiring the necessary experience for this.

Peter Aduev received his “reward” for diligent service to the cause (and for playing cards every night) - he has lower back pain. Alexander Aduev’s lower back certainly won’t hurt! That's what my uncle thinks. Alexander does not see any joy in “business.” Therefore, he needs to go to the village. The nephew listened to the advice and left. My aunt cried all day.

In the village, Alexander first rests, then gets bored, then returns to his magazine (economic) work. He is going to return to St. Petersburg, but does not know how to announce this to his mother. The old woman saves him from these troubles - she dies.

In the epilogue, the reader is faced with the unexpected illness of Aunt Lizaveta - she is struck by a deep indifference to life. This gave rise to the “methodical and dry” attitude of her husband towards her. Pyotr Ivanovich would be glad to correct this (he resigns and sells the plant!), but his wife’s illness has gone too far, she does not want sacrifices - nothing can revive her. The uncle is going to take her to Italy - his wife’s well-being has become the highest value for him.

But Alexander is triumphant - he marries a rich (very rich!) young girl (does it matter what she feels!), he is doing great at work and in magazines. He's finally happy with himself. The only bad thing is that my lower back started to ache a little...

Brief retelling

“Ordinary history” Goncharov I.A. (Very briefly)

Sasha Aduev, the hero of the novel, lives in the village in Oblomov’s carefree manner. His mother, with a lot of kisses and instructions, sends him to St. Petersburg to his uncle, Pyotr Ivanovich Aduev. The uncle reads with disgusted bewilderment the letter from the girl (now she is an old woman) whom he was fond of in his youth: what provincial sentimentality! Another letter from Sasha’s mother (the wife of Pyotr Ivanovich’s late brother) - she hands over her child to her “dear little brother.” It was in vain that the woman hoped that the uncle would settle his niece with him and would “cover his mouth from flies with a handkerchief.” Pyotr Ivanovich rents a room for Sasha and gives him his first lessons in urban practicality. He is amused by his nephew’s naive romanticism, his pompous speeches, his naive poems. The uncle even rejects his nephew’s education: all these “philosophies” and “rhetorics” are unsuitable for business. Sasha is assigned to the office to copy papers. He also has a “literary” job (he knows languages!) - translating articles on manure and potato molasses for an economics magazine.

Several years pass. The patina of provincialism has disappeared from young Aduev. He dresses fashionably and has acquired a metropolitan flair. He is appreciated in his service. My uncle no longer wallpapers the utility rooms with his poetry and prose, but reads with interest. But Aduev decided to tell his uncle about his love - the only one in the world. His uncle makes fun of him: young romantic feelings, in his opinion, are worthless. And of course, this feeling cannot last forever: someone will “cheat” someone. The uncle himself was also planning to marry, not “out of convenience” (it was common to marry for money), but “out of consideration” - so that his wife would suit him as a person. The main thing is to do the job. And Sasha, out of love, no longer submits articles to the editor on time.

Time has passed. Nadenka (the one and only) chose Count Novinsky over Alexandra. The Count (a young, handsome socialite) comes to visit every day and rides horses with a girl. Sasha is suffering. He curses female infidelity and wants to challenge the count to a duel. With all this he comes to his uncle. Pyotr Aduev is trying to explain to his nephew that it is not Nadenka’s fault that she fell in love with another, that the count is not to blame either if he managed to capture the girl’s imagination. But Aduev does not listen to his uncle, he seems to him a cynic and heartless. The uncle's young wife, Lizaveta Alexandrovna (ta tante), consoles Alexander. She also has drama: her husband seems too rational to her, he does not tell her about his love. For a young sensitive woman, not only does he remember all her desires, he is ready to provide the contents of his wallet to satisfy her whims - but money means a lot to Pyotr Aduev.

Sasha Aduev manages to become disillusioned with his friendship: why didn’t a friend from his youth wet his chest with tears, but just invited him to dinner and began asking him about his affairs? He is also disappointed in magazines that are unable to evaluate his literary work (very pompous and abstract discussions from life). The uncle welcomes the renunciation of literary works (Alexander has no talent) and forces his nephew to burn all his sublime writings. Aunt Lizaveta takes a kind of patronage over Sashenka. By taking care of Alexander, ma tante (auntie) seems to replenish that share of sentimentality that her soul seeks.

The uncle gives his nephew an important assignment: to “make the widow Yulia Tafaeva fall in love with him.” This is necessary because the uncle’s partner in the porcelain factory, the amorous and dapper Surkov, spends too much money on this widow. Seeing that his place is taken, Surkov will not waste his time. The assignment was carried out brilliantly: Sashenka captivated the sentimental, nervous widow, and he himself became carried away. They are so similar! Julia also cannot imagine “simple quiet love”; she absolutely needs to “fall at her feet” and swear “with all the strength of her soul.” At first, Alexander is so inspired by the kinship of souls and the beauty of Julia that he is ready to get married. However, the widow is too intrusive, too submissive in her feelings - and young Aduev begins to be burdened by this relationship. He doesn’t know how to get rid of the widow, but his uncle saves him after talking with Tafaeva.

Having lost his illusions, Alexander falls into apathy. He is not interested in promotions or editorial work. He dresses casually and often spends entire days on the couch. The only thing that entertains him is summer fishing. While sitting with a fishing rod, he meets a poor girl, Lisa, and is ready to seduce her without burdening himself with the obligations of marriage.

Lisa's father gives the younger Aduev a turn away. Indifference to everything overcomes Alexander. He is unable to follow in his uncle’s footsteps and find himself in society and in business (as they would say now, “in business”). Is there enough money for a modest life? And that's enough! The uncle tries to distract him and receives in response accusations that the younger Aduev, through the fault of the elder Aduev, grew old in soul before acquiring the necessary experience for this.

Peter Aduev received his “reward” for diligent service to the cause (and for playing cards every night) - he has lower back pain. Alexander Aduev’s lower back certainly won’t hurt! That's what my uncle thinks. Alexander does not see any joy in “business.” Therefore, he needs to go to the village. The nephew listened to the advice and left. My aunt cried all day.

In the village, Alexander first rests, then gets bored, then returns to his magazine (economic) work. He is going to return to St. Petersburg, but does not know how to announce this to his mother. The old woman saves him from these troubles - she dies.

In the epilogue, the reader is faced with the unexpected illness of Aunt Lizaveta - she is struck by a deep indifference to life. This gave rise to the “methodical and dry” attitude of her husband towards her. Pyotr Ivanovich would be glad to correct this (he resigns and sells the plant!), but his wife’s illness has gone too far, she does not want sacrifices - nothing can revive her. The uncle is going to take her to Italy - his wife’s well-being has become the highest value for him.

But Alexander is triumphant - he marries a rich (very rich!) young girl (does it matter what she feels!), he is doing great at work and in magazines. He's finally happy with himself. The only bad thing is that my lower back started to ache a little...

This summer morning in the village of Grachi began unusually: at dawn, all the inhabitants of the house of the poor landowner Anna Pavlovna Adueva were already on their feet. Only the culprit of this fuss, Adueva’s son, Alexander, slept “as a twenty-year-old youth should sleep, in a heroic sleep.” Turmoil reigned in Rooks because Alexander was going to St. Petersburg for service: the knowledge he acquired at the university, according to the young man, must be applied in practice in serving the Fatherland.

The grief of Anna Pavlovna, parting with her only son, is akin to the sadness of the “first minister in the household” of the landowner Agrafena - his valet Yevsey, Agrafena’s dear friend, goes with Alexander to St. Petersburg - how many pleasant evenings did this gentle couple spend playing cards!.. Alexander’s beloved, Sonechka, - the first impulses of his sublime soul were dedicated to her. Aduev’s best friend, Pospelov, bursts into Grachi at the last minute to finally hug the one with whom they spent the best hours of university life in conversations about honor and dignity, about serving the Fatherland and the delights of love...

And Alexander himself is sorry to part with his usual way of life. If high goals and a sense of his purpose had not pushed him into long journey, he, of course, would have stayed in Rooks, with his mother and sister who loved him infinitely, old maid Maria Gorbatova, among hospitable and hospitable neighbors, next to her first love. But ambitious dreams drive the young man to the capital, closer to glory.

In St. Petersburg, Alexander immediately goes to his relative, Pyotr Ivanovich Aduev, who at one time, like Alexander, “was sent to St. Petersburg at the age of twenty by his elder brother, Alexander’s father, and lived there continuously for seventeen years.” Not maintaining contact with his widow and son, who remained in Rrach after the death of his brother, Pyotr Ivanovich is greatly surprised and annoyed by the appearance of an enthusiastic young man who expects from his uncle care, attention and, most importantly, the sharing of his heightened sensitivity. From the very first minutes of their acquaintance, Pyotr Ivanovich almost by force has to restrain Alexander from pouring out his feelings and trying to embrace his relative. Along with Alexander, a letter arrives from Anna Pavlovna, from which Pyotr Ivanovich learns that great hopes are placed on him: not only by his almost forgotten daughter-in-law, who hopes that Pyotr Ivanovich will sleep with Alexander in the same room and cover the young man’s mouth from flies. The letter contains many requests from neighbors that Pyotr Ivanovich had forgotten to think about for almost two decades. One of these letters was written by Marya Gorbatova, Anna Pavlovna’s sister, who remembered for the rest of her life the day when the still young Pyotr Ivanovich, walking with her through the village surroundings, climbed knee-deep into the lake and picked a yellow flower for her to remember...

From the very first meeting, Pyotr Ivanovich, a rather dry and businesslike man, begins raising his enthusiastic nephew: he rents Alexander an apartment in the same building where he lives, advises where and how to eat, and with whom to communicate. Later he finds a very specific thing to do: service and - for the soul! - translations of articles devoted to agricultural problems. Ridiculing, sometimes quite cruelly, Alexander’s predilection for everything “unearthly” and sublime, Pyotr Ivanovich gradually tries to destroy the fictional world in which his romantic nephew lives. Two years pass like this.

After this time, we meet Alexander already somewhat accustomed to the difficulties of St. Petersburg life. And - madly in love with Nadenka Lyubetskaya. During this time, Alexander managed to advance in his career and achieved some success in translations. Now he has become enough important person in the magazine: “he was involved in the selection, translation, and correction of other people’s articles, and he himself wrote various theoretical views on agriculture.” He continued to write poetry and prose. But falling in love with Nadenka Lyubetskaya seems to close the whole world before Alexander Aduev - now he lives from meeting to meeting, intoxicated by that “sweet bliss with which Pyotr Ivanovich was angry.”

Nadenka is also in love with Alexander, but, perhaps, only with that “little love in anticipation of a big one” that Alexander himself felt for Sophia, whom he had now forgotten. Alexander's happiness is fragile - Count Novinsky, the Lyubetskys' neighbor in the dacha, stands in the way of eternal bliss.

Pyotr Ivanovich is unable to cure Alexander of his raging passions: Aduev Jr. is ready to challenge the count to a duel, to take revenge on an ungrateful girl who is unable to appreciate his high feelings, he sobs and burns with anger... Pyotr Ivanovich’s wife, Lizaveta Aleksandrovna, comes to the aid of the distraught young man ; she comes to Alexander when Pyotr Ivanovich turns out to be powerless, and we do not know exactly how, with what words, with what participation the young woman succeeds in what her smart, sensible husband failed to do. “An hour later he (Alexander) came out thoughtfully, but with a smile, and fell asleep peacefully for the first time after many sleepless nights.”

And another year has passed since that memorable night. From the gloomy despair that Lizaveta Alexandrovna managed to melt, Aduev Jr. turned to despondency and indifference. “He somehow liked to play the role of the sufferer. He was quiet, important, vague, like a man who, in his words, had withstood the blow of fate...” And the blow was not slow to repeat: an unexpected meeting with an old friend Pospelov on Nevsky Prospekt, a meeting that was all the more accidental because Alexander did not even know about the move his soulmate to the capital - brings confusion into the already disturbed heart of Aduev Jr. The friend turns out to be completely different from what I remember from the years spent at the university: he is strikingly similar to Pyotr Ivanovich Aduev - not valuable

He wears out the wounds of the heart experienced by Alexander, talks about his career, about money, cordially welcomes his old friend in his home, but does not show any special signs of attention to him.

It turns out to be almost impossible to cure sensitive Alexander from this blow - and who knows what our hero would have come to this time if his uncle had not applied “extreme measures” to him!.. Discussing with Alexander about the bonds of love and friendship, Pyotr Ivanovich cruelly reproaches Alexander is that he closed himself only in own feelings, not knowing how to appreciate someone who is faithful to him. He does not consider his uncle and aunt his friends; he has not written to his mother for a long time, who lives only in thoughts of her only son. This “medicine” turns out to be effective - Alexander again turns to literary creativity. This time he writes a story and reads it to Pyotr Ivanovich and Lizaveta Alexandrovna. Aduev Sr. invites Alexander to send the story to the magazine to find out the true value of his nephew’s work. Pyotr Ivanovich does this under his own name, believing that this will be a fairer trial and better for the fate of the work. The answer was not slow to appear - he puts last point in the hopes of the ambitious Aduev Jr....

And just at this time, Pyotr Ivanovich needed the service of his nephew: his companion at the plant, Surkov, unexpectedly falls in love with the young widow of Pyotr Ivanovich’s former friend, Yulia Pavlovna Tafaeva, and completely abandons his affairs. Valuing business above all else, Pyotr Ivanovich asks Alexander to “make Tafaeva fall in love with himself,” pushing Surkov out of her home and heart. As a reward, Pyotr Ivanovich offers Alexander two vases that Aduev Jr. liked so much.

The matter, however, takes an unexpected turn: Alexander falls in love with a young widow and evokes a reciprocal feeling in her. Moreover, the feeling is so strong, so romantic and sublime that the “culprit” himself is not able to withstand the gusts of passion and jealousy that Tafaeva unleashes on him. Raised on romance novels Having married a rich and unloved man too early, Yulia Pavlovna, having met Alexander, seems to throw herself into a whirlpool: everything she read and dreamed about now falls on her chosen one. And Alexander does not pass the test...

After Pyotr Ivanovich managed to bring Tafaeva to her senses with arguments unknown to us, another three months passed, during which Alexander’s life after the shock he experienced is unknown to us. We meet him again when he, disappointed in everything he lived before, “plays checkers with some eccentrics or fishes.” His apathy is deep and inescapable; nothing, it seems, can bring Aduev Jr. out of his dull indifference. Alexander no longer believes in either love or friendship. He begins to go to Kostikov, about whom Zaezzhalov, a neighbor in Grachi, once wrote in a letter to Pyotr Ivanovich, wanting to introduce Aduev Sr. to his old friend. This man turned out to be just the right thing for Alexander: he “could not awaken emotional disturbances” in the young man.

And one day on the shore where they were fishing, unexpected spectators appeared - an old man and a pretty young girl. They appeared more and more often. Lisa (that was the girl’s name) began to try to captivate the yearning Alexander with various feminine tricks. The girl partially succeeds, but her offended father comes to the gazebo for a date instead. After an explanation with him, Alexander has no choice but to change the place of fishing. However, he doesn’t remember Lisa for long...

Still wanting to awaken Alexander from the sleep of his soul, his aunt asks him one day to accompany her to a concert: “some artist, a European celebrity, has arrived.” The shock experienced by Alexander from meeting beautiful music strengthens the decision that had matured even earlier to give up everything and return to his mother, in Grachi. Alexander Fedorovich Aduev leaves the capital along the same road along which he entered St. Petersburg several years ago, intending to conquer it with his talents and high appointment...

And in the village, life seemed to have stopped running: the same hospitable neighbors, only older, the same endlessly loving mother, Anna Pavlovna; Sophia just got married without waiting for her Sashenka, and her aunt, Marya Gorbatova, still remembers the yellow flower. Shocked by the changes that have happened to her son, Anna Pavlovna spends a long time asking Yevsey how Alexander lived in St. Petersburg, and comes to the conclusion that life itself in the capital is so unhealthy that it has aged her son and dulled his feelings. Days pass after days, Anna Pavlovna still hopes that Alexander’s hair will grow back and his eyes will sparkle, and he thinks about how to return to St. Petersburg, where so much has been experienced and irretrievably lost.

The death of his mother relieves Alexander from the pangs of conscience, which do not allow him to admit to Anna Pavlovna that he was again planning to escape from the village, and, having written to Pyotr Ivanovich, Alexander Aduev again goes to St. Petersburg...

Four years pass after Alexander's return to the capital. Many changes happened to the main characters of the novel. Lizaveta Alexandrovna was tired of fighting her husband’s coldness and turned into a calm, sensible woman, devoid of any aspirations or desires. Pyotr Ivanovich, upset by the change in his wife’s character and suspecting she has a dangerous illness, is ready to give up his career as a court councilor and resign in order to take Lizaveta Alexandrovna away from St. Petersburg at least for a while. But Alexander Fedorovich reached the heights that his uncle once dreamed of for him: “collegiate adviser, good government support, through outside labor” earns considerable money and is also preparing to get married, taking three hundred thousand and five hundred souls for his bride...

At this point we part with the heroes of the novel. What, in essence, is an ordinary story!..

Good retelling? Tell your friends on social networks and let them prepare for the lesson too!

Part 1
One summer, from the village of Grachi, the estate of the poor landowner Lina Pavlovna Adueva, she was escorted to St. Petersburg for service. only son Anna Pavlovna - Alexander Fedorovich, a blond young man in the prime of life, health and strength. The valet Yevsey goes with him. Anna Pavlovna is beside herself with grief, she either begins to cry, or scolds Yevsey for not paying due attention to the master’s things, or reads the last instructions to Sashenka. Evsya is accompanied by Agrafen's partner, a powerful and strict woman, trying with all her might to restrain her emotions. Neighbor Marya Karpovna comes to see off with her daughter Sophia. Sophia has an affair with Alexander, she embroiders his marks on the linen, supplies the hundred with a ring and a lock of cut hair for the journey. Before leaving, the young people swear to each other eternal love and loyalty. At the last moment, Alexander’s friend, Pospelov, appears, who rode one hundred and sixty miles just to hug Alexander. Young Aduev really likes this; according to his ideas, friendship should manifest itself in exactly this way. Alexander and Yevsey are leaving. Pyotr Ivanovich Aduev, Alexander’s uncle, was also sent to St. Petersburg by Alexander’s father at one time and lived there for seventeen years. He had not communicated or corresponded with his relatives for a long time. In St. Petersburg he was known as a man with money, and perhaps not without reason; served under some important person as an official on special assignments and wore several ribbons in the buttonhole of his tailcoat; lived on a large street, occupied a good apartment, kept three people and the same number of horses. He was a tall, proportionally built man, with large, regular features of a darkish face, with an even, beautiful gait, with restrained but pleasant manners... One could also notice in his face... the ability to control himself... He was reputed to be an active and business man. He always dressed carefully, even smartly, but not too much, but only with taste... When the footman announces to Pyotr Ivanovich the arrival of his nephew (with gifts like dried raspberries and village honey and a mass of accompanying letters of petition from relatives and old acquaintances from the provinces) , he first decides to get rid of Alexander under the first plausible pretext. With disgust, he throws several letters into the trash bin (including from Aunt Alexander, with whom Pyotr Ivanovich had a stormy affair in his youth, she did not marry and still remembers that story), but something in the letter to his mother Alexandra touches Aduev Sr., and he remembers how Anna Pavlovna cried many years ago, seeing him off to the capital, and how she sincerely took part in him. Pyotr Ivanovich is horrified that Anna Pavlovna orders him to stand up for Sashenka before his superiors, to baptize him in his sleep and to cover the boy’s mouth with a handkerchief against flies at night. When Alexander appears, Pyotr Ivanovich behaves very restrainedly, does not allow his nephew to hug him, does not invite him to live in his apartment (but shows him a room to rent), does not invite him to dine together (but takes him to a tavern). All these recommendations, which are the order of the day in St. Petersburg, bring melancholy to the exalted and overly emotional Alexander.
From the very beginning, the communication between uncle and nephew is like a conversation between two deaf people. Alexander expects sincere outpourings from Pyotr Ivanovich; he needs constant verbal confirmation of his uncle’s friendly disposition towards him. Pyotr Ivanovich, an extremely reserved person, does not at all accept his nephew’s romantic attitude towards life, and does not miss a single opportunity so as not to reproach Alexander for the inappropriateness of showing feelings in public. Soon he generally invites his nephew to go back to the village: You are obsessed with love, friendship, the delights of life, happiness; they think that this is all life consists of: Oh yes, oh! They cry, whine and be nice, but don’t do anything... how can I wean you off all this... Pyotr Ivanovich ridicules Alexander’s unnatural, pretentious manner of expressing himself in romantic cliches, throws away the material signs of immaterial relationships (Sophia’s ring and hair), pastes the wall with poems Alexandra forces him to write a letter to a friend in a normal style, where he characterizes himself as follows: Uncle loves to do business... knows more than one Pushkin by heart... reads in two languages... loves art, has an excellent collection of paintings from the Flemish school... often He goes to the theater, but doesn’t fuss, doesn’t rush around, doesn’t gasp, doesn’t groan, thinking that this is childish, that he must restrain himself, not impose his impressions on anyone, because no one cares about them. He also does not speak in a wild language... Pyotr Ivanovich gradually brings Alexander from heaven to earth and assigns him to serve. In his dreams, voiced out loud, Alexander imagines a dizzying career (up to minister) because everyone should instantly appreciate his outstanding merits, and because he imagines his service extremely vaguely. It seems to him that he will immediately be entrusted with solving some important state matter and will be offered to implement one of his projects - one of those projects that have been completed for a thousand years or which cannot and should not be carried out, according to the uncle’s remark. It turns out that Alexander did not even succeed in penmanship. The young man is still attracted by the career of a writer or poet, but his uncle debunks the myth of the celestial poets and explains that art in itself, craft in itself, and creativity can be in both. He constantly encourages Alexander not to have his head in the clouds, but to build his life and career brick by brick with hard work. As a literary activity, the uncle is looking for translations for his nephew for an agricultural magazine.
Two years pass. Alexander diligently follows the recommendations of Pyotr Ivanovich, acquires elegant manners and a smart suit, becomes more balanced and self-confident, speaks a wild language less often, and learns to control himself. Employers praise Alexander, Pyotr Ivanovich was about to decide that he had finally set his nephew on the right path, when suddenly Alexander falls in love with a certain Nadenka Lyubetskaya. Pyotr Ivanovich’s entire upbringing goes to waste: happy Alexander begins to do a lot of stupid things one after another, abandons his career, and increasingly freezes in one place with a stupid smile on his face. The uncle gets angry and tries to convey to his nephew that he needs to get married in a more mature age that in order to provide for a family, you need to have a solid income, and a career is not made in one day; finally, that in addition to sighing on the bench, a man should be able to captivate a woman with the game of his mind and know women’s habits. Alexander is primitive and simple-minded; Pyotr Ivanovich warns him. that Nadenka’s passion will not last long. Alexander indignantly rejects all advice; is amazed to the extreme when he learns that Pyotr Ivanovich himself is going to get married, he passionately reproaches his uncle for acting with calculation in order to perform this sublime rite. Alexander begins to visit the Lyubetskys’ house more and more often. Nadenka was not a beauty and did not attract immediate attention... Thoughts and varied sensations of her extremely impressionable and irritable soul were constantly replaced by one another... Everything in her showed an ardent mind, a wayward and fickle heart. She enjoys complete freedom from her mother. At first, Nadenka shares Alexander’s ardor, and she is quite happy with long sittings opposite each other, loving glances, conversations about nothing and walks under a magnifying glass. Alexander is passed over for promotion, he visits Pyotr Ivanovich less and less, realizing that he is unlikely to share his intoxication with love to the detriment of business. Alexander again takes up literary creativity, but the publishers unanimously conclude that his works are immature, unnatural, and there are no such heroes. The last thing hurts Alexander the most: It doesn’t happen, but I myself am the hero. Gradually, Nadenka begins to get tired of the monotony of her admirer: her heart was busy, but her mind remained idle. The year of probation she assigned to Alexander is coming to an end, Nadenka avoids by all means a decisive explanation and proposal from her mother. One of the reasons is the visit of Count Novinsky - a young socialite, well-mannered and educated, who knows how to interest a woman. Novinsky begins to visit the Lyubetskys every day and teaches Nadenka horse riding. Nadya is increasingly avoiding Alexander. He either falls into panic, then into black melancholy, then bothers the girl, reminding her of her vows of eternal love, then disappears for a couple of weeks so that they will regret him and begin to look for him. Nothing like that happens. Alexander, in the end, calls Nadenka for a decisive conversation. She admits that she is infatuated with the Count. Leaving her, Alexander begins to sob loudly without tears. A janitor and his wife appear, they decide that it is a dog howling, and when they notice Alexander, they conclude that he is drunk.
Alexander runs in the middle of the night to Pyotr Ivanovich, trying to evoke sympathy for himself in him. He asks his uncle to be his second in a duel with Novinsky. Pyotr Ivanovich refuses and explains to Alexander the pointlessness of the duel: he can no longer return Nadenka’s heart, but he can certainly acquire her hatred if he harms the count. Moreover, the uncle reveals to his nephew what will happen to him if he kills Novinsky (exile, hard labor). Pyotr Ivanovich is trying to explain young man that the opponent could have been outplayed if Alexander had not done all his stupid things, but had been able to quietly convince Nadenka of his superiority - primarily intellectual - over the count.
He proves that it is not Nadenka’s fault that she fell in love with Novinsky, but Alexander made a tactical miscalculation. It all ends with Alexander bursting into tears, and Pyotr Ivanovich’s wife, Alexandra’s young aunt Lizaveta Alexandrovna, comes to console him.
Part 2
A year passes. Alexander little by little moved from gloomy despair to cold despondency. He no longer thundered curses... against the count and Nadenka, but branded them with deep contempt, the aunt spends a lot of time comforting her nephew. Alexander likes to play the role of a sufferer. He demands complete selflessness from love, offering little in return (sighs, glances, lying at his feet). To Lizaveta Alexandrovna’s objection that real love does not strive to demonstrate himself to everyone, Alexander immodestly notes that, for example, Pyotr Ivanovich’s love for his wife is hidden so deeply that it is not visible at all. She mentally agrees with him, because, although she has no right to complain about her husband (Pyotr Ivanovich’s wealth, busyness with business and politeness are proverbial), she subconsciously wants a greater manifestation of feelings for her than a credit card or new furniture. Lizaveta Aleksandrovna sometimes feels like another a beautiful thing in her husband’s nice apartment, a thing that was acquired only out of decency. One day Alexander comes to his aunt in a fit of some kind of evil mood against the entire human race. It turns out that Alexandra Once again betrayed. One of his friends, whom Aduev had not seen for many years, met Alexander on Nevsky Prospekt. As soon as Alexander was about to begin his sincere outpourings, he, in accordance with decency, inquired about Alexander’s service, reported something about his successes and went to a dinner party, not forgetting, however, to invite his friend to his place the next day. In addition to Alexander, there are about a dozen more guests at his dinner. Instead of abandoning them all and indulging in an intimate conversation with only Alexander, who is sitting alone on the sofa with a capricious and pouty look, a friend either invites him to play cards, then hands him a cigar, then a pipe, then invites him to join the company, then invites him to help if Alexander needs money, etc. All this causes a storm of indignation in Alexander. He begins to talk about his unhappy love, and his friend laughs. Alexander reads excerpts from French novelists to Lizaveta Alexandrovna and Pyotr Ivanovich, who define friendship in a very romantic and pretentious way. Pyotr Ivanovich loses his temper. He harshly reprimands Alexander, ridicules the novelists, and reminds him that his betrayed friend behaved (after many years of separation) more than decently towards Alexander. He declares that it’s time for his nephew to stop whining and complaining about people when he has friends who are ready to do a lot for him (Petr Ivanovich counts himself and his wife among these).
In response to the boyish barbs of Alexander, who declares all his acquaintances to be characters in Krylov’s fables, his uncle asks him whether he deserved such a good attitude from these animals (promotion, invitations to the house, patronage), without having done anything for them personally, without his, Pyotr Ivanovich, recommendations. Finally, his uncle reminds Alexander that he has not written to his mother for four months, and therefore has no right to talk about love or anything sublime; Alexander is completely crushed. ""As in his old age, having allowed himself to hate and despise people, having examined and discussed their insignificance, pettiness, weaknesses, having gone through each and every one of his acquaintances, he forgot to examine himself! What blindness! And his uncle gave him a lesson, like a schoolboy, took him apart, and even in front of a woman... Alexander... gave himself the word to look after himself strictly and at the first opportunity to destroy his uncle: to prove to him that no amount of experience can replace that , what was invested from above... To console him, Lizaveta Aleksandrovna advises him to return to literary creativity. Alexander writes a story where the action takes place in a Tambov village, and the characters are slanderers, liars and all kinds of monsters. He reads the story to his aunt and uncle. Pyotr Ivanovich writes a letter to an editor he knows, in which he assures that this story is his work, that he wants to publish it, and certainly for a fee. Having received the answer, he immediately appears to the tribe. The editor saw through the deception, he notes: The author must be a young man. He is not stupid, but for some reason he is angry with the whole world... Self-love, daydreaming, premature development of heart inclinations and immobility of the mind, with the inevitable consequence - laziness - these are the causes of this evil. Science, work, practical work - this is what can sober up our idle and sick youth. The editor also writes that, in his opinion, author of the story. Alexander has no talent. Alexander burns all his literary experiments. The uncle asks Alexander to help him: to compete with a certain Surkov, a partner of Pyotr Ivanovich. Surkov is in love (and according to Pyotr Ivanovich, he thinks he is in love) with Yulia Tafasva, a young widow, and for her sake he is going to diligently waste money, and intends to take it from Pyotr Ivanovich. Alexander begins to visit Tafaeva, they have a lot in common (daydreaming, a gloomy view of the world without passionate love). Soon Alexander is in love again, and Tafaeva, brought up on sentimental French literature and early married to a man much older than her, reciprocates his feelings. Talk about a wedding begins, Alexander turns to Lizaveta Alexandrovna for assistance, begging him to keep all preparations secret from his uncle. The aunt pays Yulia a visit, she is horrified that Lizaveta Aleksandrovna is young and beautiful, and Tafaeva begins to actively protest against Alexander’s communication with the Aduev couple. Alexander treats Yulia extremely despotic, demands unquestioning obedience and fulfillment of his most absurd whims (he forbids her to travel, isolates Tafaeva from all male acquaintances). Julia puts up with all this with pleasure, looking for Alexander’s constant company, but soon they become bored. Alexander begins to find fault with Yulia, realizes that he has wasted two years in vain (his career has suffered once again), that he wants to break away from Yulia, communicate with friends, go out into society, work - but she still passionately and despotic demands so that he belongs only to her. Julia makes a scene, humiliates herself, even begs him to marry her on the condition that Alexander is given complete freedom. Alexander rushes to his uncle for help: he doesn’t want to get married, but he doesn’t know how to break free from the captivity of circumstances. Julia has a nervous attack. Pyotr Ivanovich goes to her and settles the matter, explaining to her that Alexander does not know how to love. Alexander falls into apathy, he does not appear at Uncle’s, grows cold towards service, and does not strive for anything. Peering into life, questioning his heart, his head, he saw with horror that neither here nor there there was not a single dream left, not a single rosy hope... naked reality spread out before him like a steppe. Confront this reality, arrange your life in real world Alexander is not ready. He gets along with the old man Kostikov, a grouch and a miser, and goes fishing with him. One day they meet an elderly summer resident and his daughter Lisa, who is trying in every possible way to attract Alexander’s attention. He plays the role of uncle in front of her, teaches her to be more sober about life and love, and criticizes Byron. Alexander himself notices that he is primarily interested in the features of Lisa’s figure, and is horrified by the change in his hitherto romantic consciousness. Lisa's father privately forbids Alexander to fool his daughter and kicks him out. Alexander is thinking about suicide, at this moment the bridge on which he is standing is raised, and Alexander jumps onto a solid support. In the fall, Alexander receives a note from his aunt asking him to take her to a concert: his uncle is unwell. The music makes such a deep impression on Alexander that he cries right in the hall. They laugh at him. Alexander finally loses faith in humanity, seeks the sleep of his soul and decides to return to the village. He tells Pyotr Ivanovich that he does not blame him for trying to open his nephew’s eyes to things, but having seen things as they are, he was completely disappointed in life, in women, in friendship and other values. In Rrachi, Alexander learns that Sophia has been married for a long time and is expecting her sixth child. The mother is amazed at how thin and pale her Sasha has become. He begins to fatten him up and allows him to spend whole days in inactivity. Anna Pavlovna hints to Alexander that it is time for him to get married, but he refuses. Alexander thinks a lot about how Petersburg broke him, begins to write again, is interested in agriculture and remembers how out of touch with reality his magazine articles about land, etc. were. A thirst for activity slowly awakens in him, and he realizes that he must return to St. Petersburg. Alexander writes polite letters to his uncle and aunt, admits that he is ashamed of his selfishness, and asks for moral support upon his return to the capital. Alexander also brings evidence to his uncle - his passionate letter to that Grachev aunt, in which Pyotr Ivanovich once talked about those flowers in the same romantic vein as Alexander himself. Epilogue Four years after Alexander's return to St. Petersburg, he finally announces to his uncle that he is getting married and taking a huge dowry. He decided about this with the bride’s father, but he barely remembers her. The uncle, who should be proud of this turn of events, cannot wholeheartedly support his nephew. During this time, changes occurred in Pyotr Ivanovich. He began to treat his wife differently. He tries to show his feelings for her, but it’s too late: Lizaveta Aleksandrovna doesn’t care, she doesn’t want anything, lives silently obeying her husband, does not react to his timid attempts to show that he loves her. The doctor finds a strange illness in her, says that the reason is also that she did not have children, and advises her to change the situation as soon as possible. Pyotr Ivanovich decides to resign for the sake of his wife, sell the plant, take her on a trip, but Lizaveta Aleksandrovna is not ready to accept a single sacrifice from a person whom she has never treated as a loved one. She has lived her life in a fortress built around her by her husband, and she does not need either freedom or belated love. When asked by her husband if she loves him, Lizaveta Aleksandrovna monotonously replies that she is used to him. She feels sorry for the old Alexander. Pyotr Ivanovich, despite the fact that he himself has rethought his attitude towards marriage, still hugs his nephew tightly - for the first time in the entire time they met.