Download presentation and a potters. Lesson "I.A. Goncharov. Life and creative path". Goncharov's personal life

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Bio pages

Goncharov was born into a merchant family. He received his initial education in a private boarding school, where he learned French and German.

In 1822 he was sent to the Moscow Commercial School, in 1831 he entered the verbal department of Moscow University.

After graduating from the university (1834), he briefly returned to Simbirsk, then permanently moved to St. Petersburg, where he began serving in the Ministry of Finance, continuing to engage in literature all his free time.

Goncharov entered literature hesitantly, experiencing deep doubts in his abilities: "with piles of scribbled paper ... he heated the stoves."

In 1842 he wrote an essay "Ivan Savich Podzhabrin", published only six years later.

In 1845, Goncharov worked hard on the novel, which he handed over to V. G. Belinsky "for reading and deciding whether it is suitable." This novel - "An Ordinary Story" - caused an enthusiastic assessment of the critic and his entourage.

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In 1852, Goncharov, as Admiral E. V. Putyatin's secretary, went on a round-the-world voyage on the frigate Pallada. Secretarial duties took a lot of effort, nevertheless, already during the expedition, “there was a desire to write.” The notes were eventually compiled into a book of essays, published in 1855-57 in periodicals, and in 1858 published as a separate publication called “Pallada Frigate”.

Upon returning from the trip, Goncharov decided to serve in the St. Petersburg censorship committee. The position of the censor, as well as the invitation he accepted to teach Russian literature to the heir to the throne, turned the writer into "the object of indignation of the liberals"

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Oblomov and Zakhar

The idea for a new novel was formed by Goncharov as early as 1847. Two years later, the chapter "Oblomov's Dream" was published - "the overture of the whole novel." But the reader had to wait another ten years for the appearance of the full text of Oblomov (1859), which immediately won a huge success: “Oblomov and Oblomovism ... flew around all of Russia and became words forever rooted in our speech” (A. V. Druzhinin ).

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"Cliff"

The Cliff (1868) was conceived as early as 1849 as a novel about the complex relationship between the artist and society. By the 1860s the idea was enriched with new problems born of the post-reform era. In the center of the work was the tragic fate of the revolutionary-minded youth, represented in the image of the "nihilist" Mark Volokhov.

• "Cliff" .Faith

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Bio pages

After The Cliff, Goncharov's name rarely appeared in print. He limited himself to publishing only a few memoirs and literary criticism, among which stands out the “critical study” “A Million of Torments” (1872), dedicated to the production of “Woe from Wit” by A. S. Griboyedov on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater, which became a classic analysis of comedy.

Goncharov quietly and closedly spent the rest of his life in a small apartment of 3 rooms on Mokhovaya Street, where he died on September 15, 1891.

Buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

Goncharov was not married and bequeathed his literary property to the family of his old servant.

Ivan Goncharov was born on June 6 (18), 1812 in Simbirsk. His father and mother belonged to the merchant class. In the large stone house of the Goncharovs, located in the very center of the city, with a vast yard, garden, and numerous buildings, the childhood of the future writer passed. Recalling his childhood and his father's house in his old years, Goncharov wrote in his autobiographical essay “At Home”: “Barns, cellars, glaciers were overflowing with stocks of flour, various millet and all kinds of provisions for our food and extensive households. In a word, a whole estate, a village. Much of what Goncharov learned and saw in this “village” was, as it were, the initial impulse in the knowledge of the local, aristocratic life of pre-reform Russia, which was so vividly and truthfully reflected in his “Ordinary History”, “Oblomov” and “Cliff” (three famous novel by Goncharov on "O") of the year to the Simbirsk merchant class "Ordinary History" "Oblomov" "Cliff"

When Goncharov was seven years old, his father died. In the subsequent fate of the boy, in his spiritual development, his godfather Nikolai Nikolayevich Tregubov played an important role. It was a retired sailor. He was distinguished by the breadth of his views and was critical of some phenomena of modern life. "Good sailor" so gratefully called Goncharov his tutor, who actually replaced his own father. The writer recalled: “Our mother, grateful to him for the difficult part of taking care of our upbringing, took upon herself all the worries about his life, about the economy. His servants, cooks, coachmen merged with our servants, under her control, and we lived in one common courtyard. All the material part fell to the lot of the mother, an excellent, experienced, strict housewife. Intellectual concerns fell to him.

Education Initial education Goncharov received at home, under the direction of Tregubov, then in a private boarding house. And ten years old he was sent to Moscow to study at a commercial school. The choice of educational institution was made at the insistence of the mother. boarding house Moscow Goncharov spent eight years at the school. These years were difficult and uninteresting for him. Spiritual and moral development of Goncharov, however, went on as usual. He read a lot. His true mentor was domestic literature. Goncharov recalled: “The first direct teacher in the development of humanity, in general in the moral sphere, was Karamzin, and in the matter of poetry, I and my peers, summer youths, had to eat Derzhavin, Dmitriev, Ozerov, even Kheraskov, who was passed off as a poet at school” Great Revelation for Goncharov and his comrades, Pushkin appeared with his "Eugene Onegin", which was published in separate chapters. He tells: humanity Karamzin Derzhavin Dmitriev Ozerov Kheraskov Pushkin "Eugene Onegin" "My God! What light, what a magical distance suddenly opened up, and what truths, and poetry, and life in general, moreover, modern, understandable, gushed from this source, and with what brilliance, in what sounds! Goncharov retained this almost prayerful reverence for the name of Pushkin for the rest of his life. In the meantime, studying at the school became completely unbearable. Goncharov managed to convince his mother of this, and she wrote a petition to remove him from the list of boarders. Goncharov has already passed eighteen. It's time to think about your future. Even in childhood, a passion for writing, an interest in the humanities, especially in literature, all this strengthened in him the idea to complete his education at the Faculty of Languages ​​of Moscow University. A year later, in August 1831, after successfully passing the exams, he was enrolled there. Moscow University August 1831 exams Three years spent at Moscow University were an important milestone in Goncharov's biography. It was a time of intense reflection about life, about people, about yourself. Simultaneously with Goncharov, Belinsky, Herzen, Ogaryov, Stankevich, Lermontov, Turgenev, Aksakov and many other talented young people studied at the university, who later left one mark or another in the history of Russian literature. BelinskyGerzenOgaryovStankevichLermontovTurgenevAksakov

Life after University After graduating from the university in the summer of 1834, Goncharov felt, by his own admission, a "free citizen" before whom all paths in life were open. First of all, he decided to visit his native lands, where his mother, sisters, Tregubov were waiting for him. Simbirsk, in which everything was so familiar from childhood, struck the matured and matured Goncharov, first of all, by the fact that nothing had changed. Everything here looked like a huge sleepy village. This is how Goncharov knew his hometown in childhood, and then in his youth. 1834 University Even before graduating from the university, Goncharov decided not to return to permanent residence in Simbirsk. A new meeting with him finally strengthened this determination. He was attracted by the prospect of an intense spiritual life in the capitals (Moscow, St. Petersburg), communication there with interesting people. But there was another, secret dream associated with his longtime passion for writing. He decided to definitely leave the drowsy, boring Simbirsk. And he didn't leave. The Simbirsk governor persistently asked Goncharov to take the post of his secretary. After reflection and hesitation, Goncharov accepts this proposal, but the matter turned out to be boring and ungrateful. However, these vivid impressions of the mechanism of the bureaucratic system subsequently suited Goncharov the writer. After eleven months in Simbirsk, he leaves for St. Petersburg. Goncharov decided to build his future with his own hands, without anyone's help. Upon arrival in the capital, he applied to the Department of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Finance, where he was offered the position of a translator of foreign correspondence. The service was not very burdensome. To some extent, she provided financial support for Goncharov and left time for independent literary studies and reading. Goncharov was introduced into this family as a teacher of the two eldest sons of the head of the family, Nikolai Alexandrovich Maykov, Apollo and Valerian, who taught Latin and Russian literature. This house was an interesting cultural center of St. Petersburg. Famous writers, musicians, painters gathered here almost every day. Later Goncharov would say: Nikolai Alexandrovich Maykov Apollo Valerian Maikov's house was seething with life, people who brought here inexhaustible content from the sphere of thought, science and art.

The beginning of creativity Gradually begins the serious work of the writer. It was formed under the influence of those moods that prompted the young author to treat the romantic cult of art that reigned in the Maikovs' house more and more ironically. The 40s are the beginning of the flowering of Goncharov's creativity. This was an important time in the development of Russian literature, as well as in the life of Russian society as a whole. Goncharov meets Belinsky. Communication with the great critic was important for the spiritual development of the young writer. Goncharov himself testified in one of his letters what role Belinsky played for him: 40s Only when Belinsky regulated all yesterday's chaos of tastes, aesthetic and other concepts, etc., then the look at these heroes of the pen (Lermontov and Gogol) more definite and stricter. Conscious criticism appeared... In his Notes on the Personality of Belinsky, Goncharov spoke with sympathy and gratitude about his meetings with the critic and about his role as a "publicist, aesthetic critic and tribune, herald of new future beginnings of social life." In the spring of 1847, The Ordinary History was published on the pages of Sovremennik. In the "novel" (1847), the conflict between "realism" and "romanticism" appears as an essential collision of Russian life. Goncharov called his novel "An Ordinary Story", thereby he emphasized the typical nature of the processes that were reflected in this work by Lermontov Gogol in 1847 and the novel in 1847

Round-the-world trip and the Pallada frigate In October 1852, an important event happened in Goncharov's life: he became a participant in a round-the-world trip on a sailing warship, the Pallada frigate, as secretary to the head of the expedition, Vice Admiral Putyatin. She was equipped to inspect Russian possessions in North America, Alaska, which at that time belonged to Russia, as well as to establish political and trade relations with Japan. Goncharov imagined how many impressions he would enrich himself and his work with. From the very first days of the trip, he begins to keep a detailed travel journal. He formed the basis of the future book "Frigate Pallas". The expedition lasted almost two and a half years. England, the Cape of Good Hope, Java, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, China, the Lycian Islands, the Philippines, the return journey through Siberia are the main milestones of this journey. Goncharov's trip can be considered circumnavigation only conditionally. In 1852, the frigate "Pallada" PutyatinNorth AmericaAlaskaRussiaJapan"Frigate Pallada"England Cape of Good HopeJavaSingaporeHong KongJapanChinaLykean IslandsPhilippinesSiberia He returned to St. Subsequent fragments were published in the Marine Collection and various magazines for three years, and in 1858 the entire work was published as a separate edition. The cycle of travel essays "Pallada Frigate" () is a kind of "writer's diary". The book immediately became a major literary event, striking readers with the richness and variety of factual material and its literary merits. The book was perceived as the writer's entry into a large and poorly known world to the Russian reader, seen by an inquisitive observer and described by a sharp, talented pen. For 19th-century Russia, such a book was almost unprecedented. Meanwhile, Goncharov returned to the department of the Ministry of Finance and continued to regularly perform his official duties, to which his soul did not lie. Soon, however, a change came in his life. He got the job of censor. This position was troublesome and difficult, but its advantage over the previous service was that it was at least directly connected with literature. However, in the eyes of many writers, this position put Goncharov in an ambiguous position. The idea of ​​a censor in the progressive strata of society was then far from flattering. He was perceived as a representative of a hated power, as a persecutor of free thought. The image of a stupid and cruel censor was somehow stigmatized by I. A. Pushkin in his “Message to the Censor”: February 13, 1855, 1858 of the 19th century censor I. A. Pushkin “Oh barbarian! Which of us, the owners of the Russian lyre, did not curse your destructive ax? Soon Goncharov himself became weary of his position and at the beginning of 1860 he retired. Among other things, the difficult and troublesome service strongly interfered with the writer's own literary pursuits. By this time, Goncharov had already published the novel "Oblomov". 1860 "Oblomov"

The heyday of creativity So, in 1859, for the first time in Russia, the word "Oblomovism" was heard. In the novel, the fate of the protagonist is revealed not only as a social phenomenon (“Oblomovism”), but also as a philosophical understanding of the Russian national character, a special moral path that resists the hustle and bustle of all-consuming “progress”. Goncharov made an artistic discovery. He created a work of great generalizing power. The publication of Oblomov and its enormous success with readers cemented Goncharov's fame as one of the most prominent Russian writers. But Goncharov does not leave his writing activity and begins his new work "Cliff". However, the writer had to not only write, but also earn money. After leaving the post of censor, he lived "on free bread." In mid-1862, he was invited to the post of editor of the newly established newspaper Severnaya Pochta, which was an organ of the Ministry of the Interior. Goncharov served here for about a year. Then he was appointed to a new position as a member of the press council, his censorship activities began again. But in the current political conditions, it has already acquired a clearly conservative character. He caused a lot of trouble to Nekrasov's Sovremennik and Pisarev's Russian Word, he waged an open war against "nihilism", wrote about the "miserable and dependent doctrines of materialism, socialism and communism" Goncharov defended government foundations. This continued until the end of 1867, when he retired at his own request. Now it was possible to vigorously take up the “Cliff” again. 1859 Oblomovism Cliff of 1862

The heyday of creativity By that time, Goncharov had already written a lot of paper, but he still did not see the end of the novel. The impending old age frightened the writer more and more and turned him away from work. Goncharov once said about "Cliff": "it is a child of my heart." The author worked on it for a long time (twenty years) and tirelessly. At times, especially towards the end of the work, he fell into apathy, and it seemed to him that he did not have enough strength to complete this monumental work. In 1868, Goncharov wrote to Turgenev: apathy in 1868 “You ask if I am writing: yes no; maybe I would have tried, if I hadn’t set myself for a long time the intractable task known to you, which, like a millstone, hangs around my neck and prevents me from turning. And what kind of writing is now in my years. In another place, Goncharov noted that, having finished the third part of The Cliff, he "wanted to leave the novel altogether, without finishing it." However, he added. Goncharov was aware of the work of what scale and artistic significance he was creating. At the cost of enormous efforts, overcoming physical and moral ailments, he brought his "child" to the end. "Cliff" thus completed the trilogy. Each of Goncharov's novels reflected a certain stage in the historical development of Russia. For one of them, Alexander Aduev is typical, for another Oblomov, for the third Raisky. And all these images were constituent elements of one common holistic picture of the fading era of serfdom.

The Cliff was Goncharov's last major work of art. But after the end of work on the work, his life was very difficult. Sick, lonely, Goncharov often succumbed to mental depression. At one time he even dreamed of starting a new novel, “if old age does not interfere,” as he wrote to P. V. Annenkov. But he didn't get on with it. He always wrote slowly, strainedly. More than once he complained that he could not quickly respond to the events of modern life: they must be thoroughly defended in time and in his mind. All three of Goncharov's novels were devoted to depicting pre-reform Russia, which he knew and understood well. Those processes that took place in subsequent years, according to the writer's own admission, he understood worse, and he did not have enough physical or moral strength to immerse himself in their study. But Goncharov continued to live in an atmosphere of literary interests, intensively corresponding with some writers, personally communicating with others, and leaving no creative activity. He writes several essays: "Literary Evening", "Servants of the Old Age", "Trip along the Volga", "Across Eastern Siberia", "May in St. Petersburg". Some of them were published posthumously. It should be noted a number of remarkable speeches by Goncharov in the field of criticism. Such, for example, his studies as "A Million of Torments", "Notes on the Personality of Belinsky", "Better Late Than Never", have long and firmly entered the history of Russian criticism as classic examples of literary and aesthetic thought. V. Annenkov Volgeetudes Million torments Goncharov remained completely alone and on September 12 (24), 1891 he caught a cold. The disease developed rapidly, and on the night of September 15, he died of pneumonia at the age of eightieth. Ivan Alexandrovich was buried at the New Nikolsky cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra (reburied in 1956, the ashes of the writer were transferred to the Volkovo cemetery). An obituary published on the pages of Vestnik Evropy noted: “Like Turgenev, Herzen, Ostrovsky, Saltykov, Goncharov will always occupy one of the most prominent places in our literature”

Paths that Oblomov did not choose. The novel "Oblomov" was written by I.A. Goncharov in 1859 and immediately attracted the attention of critics with the problems posed in the novel. Russian revolutionary democracy, represented by N.A. Dobrolyubov, rated Goncharov's novel as something "more than just the successful creation of a strong talent." She saw in him "a work of Russian life, a sign of the times." Thus, the exceptional topicality of Goncharov's novel was determined. And in those same years, very authoritative contemporaries expressed judgments that evaluated Oblomov as a work that would have a long life. Today's intense attention and keen interest in it of the theater and cinema, readers and researchers, the inclusion of the novel in the sphere of disputes about recent history and future problems is a direct confirmation of the prophetic predictions of those years. What is the secret of this novel? Apparently, in the fact that Goncharov, as a brilliant artist, was able to reveal a typically national phenomenon close to all of us. A phenomenon that has become a symbol, a household name. This phenomenon is Oblomovism.

Who is Ilya Ilyich Oblomov? A life like a dream and a dream like death, this is the fate of the protagonist of the novel and many other characters. And outside the novel, the reader saw a great many Oblomovs. The tragedy of Goncharov's novel lies precisely in the commonness of the events taking place. A kind, intelligent man, Oblomov lies on the sofa in a comfortable dressing gown, and life is gone forever. The wonderful girl Olga Ilyinskaya, who fell in love with Oblomov and tried in vain to save him, asks: "What ruined you? There is no name for this evil ... There is ... "Oblomovshchina," our hero answers. The kingdom of serf Russia is the source of Oblomov's apathy, inactivity, fear before life.The habit of getting everything for free, without putting any effort into it, is the basis of all Oblomov's actions and ways of acting.And not only of him alone.

Now let's try for a moment to imagine what Oblomov refused, and in what direction his life could go. Imagine a different course of the plot of the novel. Indeed, many of Oblomov's contemporaries, who grew up in the same conditions, overcome their pernicious influence and rise to the service of the people, the Motherland. Imagine: Olga Ilyinskaya manages to save Oblomov. Their love unites in marriage. Love and family life transform our hero. He suddenly becomes active and energetic. Realizing that serf labor will not bring him great benefits, he frees his peasants. Oblomov orders the latest agricultural equipment from abroad, hires seasonal workers and begins to manage his economy in a new, capitalist way. In a short time, Oblomov manages to get rich. In addition, a smart wife helps him in business activities.

Let's imagine another option. Oblomov "wakes up" from sleep himself. He sees his vile vegetative existence, the poverty of his peasants, and "goes into the revolution." Perhaps he will become a prominent revolutionary. His revolutionary organization will entrust him with a very dangerous task, and he will successfully complete it. They will write about Oblomov in the newspapers, and all of Russia will know his name. But these are all fantasies... Goncharov's novel cannot be changed. It was written by an eyewitness of those events, it reflected the time in which he lived. And this was the time before the abolition of serfdom in Russia. Waiting time for change. A reform was being prepared in Russia, which was supposed to drastically change the course of events. In the meantime, thousands of landowners exploited the peasants, believing that serfdom would exist forever. Until now, Goncharov's novel "Oblomov" has retained its charm as a work of high moral pathos, merciless authorial frankness, and genuine humanism.

The novel by I. A. Goncharov "The Cliff" I. A. Goncharov, in his belated explanation - the preface to the second edition of the novel "The Cliff", published only in 1938, regrets that "no one (of the critics) bothered to take a closer look and deeper, no one saw the closest organic connection between all three books: "Ordinary History", "Oblomov" and "Cliff"! "Indeed, critics-contemporaries of Goncharov: N.A. Dobrolyubov, A.V. Druzhinin, D.I. Pisarev and others considered each novel separately, and not as a whole. Ivan Alexandrovich lamented: "All the young and fresh generation greedily responded to the call of the times and applied their talents and strength to the malice and work of the day." However, in defense of the critics, it can be said that their concept, as we would say now, the concept of the "sixties" with the wishes of quick and radical political and cultural transformations did not correspond to the "Better late than never" program of "Monsieur de Laziness" with his dreams of stability and some earthliness: "I wrote only what I experienced, what I thought, felt, loved, what I saw and knew closely - in a word, I wrote my life and everything that grew to it." According to Goncharov, it was more than difficult for the "sixties" to cover more than thirty years of writing a single novel. Let's try to prove the accuracy of Goncharov's first cited statement by comparing three great novels with each other: we will find something in common in them.

Despite the fact that each work is separated from another by a ten-year period of time, one can speak of them as a single whole, since their themes have something in common, and by their nature novels, notes L. N. Tolstoy in his letter to A. V. Druzhinin , are "capital", therefore their success is "non-temporal", that is, not associated with specific historical events. At the same time, the themes of the trilogy are closely connected with the historical situation of the 1950s and 1980s. In my opinion, there is no paradox here, because social topics those years: the relationship between the rich and the poor, the contradictions between the positions of the authorities and the people, etc. - are relevant in Russia at all times. The talent of a true seer helped Goncharov to capture the mood of the times. Critic Chuiko draws attention to the originality of the historical context in the artist's work: "the epic of the 19th century, in which the writer managed to reduce the entire historical, state and social life of his time to one final synthesis." These words were said about the "Cliff" - it seems to me that they can be attributed to all the work of Ivan Alexandrovich, because - according to the idea of ​​Yu. him, then "Cliff" - a lock of the vault and a dome with a cross directed to the sky.

Take for example the first facts of the biographies of the main characters - their birth and upbringing. Each of them was born in the village: in Rooks in "Ordinary History" (by the way, rooks are the first birds that arrive in early spring - the name of the village of the first novel was not chosen by chance), in Oblomovka in "Oblomov" (this name is derived from the name of the landowner - the only case in the trilogy), in Malinovka in "The Cliff", - everywhere cute mothers and grandmothers dove and pamper their sons and granddaughters (here we can recall the image of Arina Vlasyevna in "Fathers and Sons" by I.S. Turgenev). But not only this unites the characters. Also their relationship to their native land. This is empathy. Both the "warm corner" in "Ordinary History", and the "blessed corner" in "Oblomov", and "Eden" in "Cliff" are conceived as a shelter from failures, problems and hardships, as a place where there is no need to restrain oneself and match the pace society. It is in the village that the characters are most fully revealed. This does not apply to the younger Aduev, who, as if being the "starting point" to the next stages of the development of the "Hero", lives and burns life in the city

Oblomov's Dream deserves a separate analysis. Firstly, this "overture" appeared much earlier than the novel itself, the original title of which was "Oblomovka". Secondly, "Oblomov's Dream" is indicative as an artistic and psychological device. This chapter was later placed in the middle of the work and was a transitional moment in the plot. It seems to contrast one period of life with another. However, this is not a full-fledged antithesis, because in the mind of Ilya Ilyich there were always elements of such a dream. In the course of the novel, the theme of Oblomovka, a certain image of reality and thoughts, is traced more strongly, sometimes weaker. In addition, his dream is a dream-prediction: it was not for nothing that Oblomov's death overtook it in peace and quiet. If we consider the "Dream ..." from a psychological point of view, we can come to the conclusion that it is an archetype. Taking the form of a dream, Oblomovka takes the form of convention: space and time in it are not linear, but cyclic. The "reserved" region itself is surrounded by high mountains, and people in it live happily, do not get sick and almost die. Using the technique of the archetype, Goncharov fully reveals the subconscious essence of his hero.

On the other, already real side, the native land frightens the heroes with the prospect of living in inactivity. This is where the difference between them comes in. Young Aduev unconsciously turns away from home, feeling an instinctive impulse to the "promised land" - to the capital, to St. Petersburg. Oblomov, on the contrary, lives happily, "as [as they lived in sleepy Oblomovka], and not otherwise." Raisky - the most controversial character - throughout the novel changes his attitude towards Malinovka, its inhabitants and orders more than once: when he first arrived there as a young man, he feels a surge of creative forces: "What views are around - each window in the house is the frame of its own special picture!" ; after a long separation, he "not without embarrassment" is waiting for a meeting with his native places, which, however, he soon sees as one picture "in a narrow, definite frame in which a person has taken refuge", and after a while "Raysky almost does not feel that he lives ", then boredom is replaced by interest, but not in the village, but in its keepers (Berezhkova, Vera, Marfenka). As we can see, the heroes of three novels, as I.A. Goncharov aptly put it, "make one person, hereditarily reborn ..." And the trilogy is "one huge building, one mirror, where three epochs are reflected in miniature - old life, sleep and awakening."

The novel The Ordinary History (1847) The novel The Ordinary History (1847) is sometimes regarded only as an approach to the more complex and multifaceted subsequent two. Moreover, the somewhat schematic construction of the novel facilitates such a task: it is easy to see in it the initial blueprint for the future full-blooded creation of Oblomov. But if you look at the "Ordinary Story" as the ovary from which all novelism developed, as a clot of creative energy that gave impetus to all of Goncharov's work, then this particular novel will require the closest consideration. In The Ordinary Story, all Goncharov's preferences in the choice of traditions, genre, plot, hero, and, accordingly, all other elements of the novel, have already manifested themselves, while the preferences are so definite that, although they have undergone further changes, but not to the extent that the very essence of the choice made has changed. At the same time, in the first novel, not only the freedom of creative choice, but also its "non-freedom" has already made itself felt, the dependence on the recommendations put forward by the temporary situation and authorities in art has affected.

During the life of Goncharov, in situations of social and literary struggle, the topical aspects of his works were usually brought to the fore (at the expense of all others). For example, in The Ordinary Story, only after decades was the deep theme of a universal character accentuated (against the background of the novel's attachment to its era). The novel “depicts the discord between idealism and practicality that is eternally inherent in mankind, however, in the phenomena noticed in Russian life”, a “dual course of life is reproduced, as true as the immortal images of Cervantes” (a reference to the mention of “Don Quixote” in the above-quoted letter). In Goncharov's novel, such an "ordinary story" was seen, which, repeating itself in all ages, was expressed "in his (Goncharov's) time in the peculiar forms of Russian social life." The context of the decade has rightly been expanded to the context of centuries.

The noticed counterpoint (intention and super-intention) is caught with all obviousness, first of all, in the fate of the protagonist. Alexander Aduev is a young provincial of the 1930s, who mastered the nature of feelings and the manner of behavior of popular characters of his contemporary literature (pre-romantic and romantic). Imitativeness, which has entered the very essence of a young man, determines the unnaturalness of behavior, the strainedness of speeches that are easily amenable to ridicule. At the same time, this is "an ordinary healthy young man, only in the romantic stage of his development." "Book clothes" falls off Alexander as he grows up, along with naivety and exaltation of youth. This is how a kind of intermittent double “highlighting” is created in Goncharov’s text: it is read both as a psychological narrative about the norm of life in the era of youth, and as a comic story of the delusions of a dreamy Russian provincial of a particular era. But since youth is always inclined to prefer dreams to sober reality and easily dresses up in “other people's dresses” everywhere, the psychological integrity of Goncharov's “man for all time” is not seriously undermined by concession to a specific “topic of the day”.

However, the question of what is of prime importance in the novel (the disclosure of signs “eternally inherent in humanity” or the discovery of “peculiar forms of Russian social life” in which these signs are clothed) remains the subject of discussion to this day. True, the very tone of the discussions is changing radically. It is argued, for example, that in the novel "little is connected with a certain moment in Goncharov's contemporary social history. But, when it enters a novel, it serves only as an illustration of the fundamental problems of human existence, or even more as an incentive to try to get in touch with them.