A brief retelling of "Ordinary History" Goncharov I.A. (very briefly)

Brief retelling

"Ordinary story" Goncharov I.A. (very briefly)

Sasha Aduev, the protagonist of the novel, lives in the village in an Oblomov-style carelessly. Mother with a lot of kisses and instructions sends him to St. Petersburg to his uncle - Peter Ivanovich Aduev. With squeamish bewilderment, the uncle reads a letter from a girl (now she is already an old woman), whom she was fond of in her youth: what provincial sentimentality! Another letter from Sasha's mother (the wife of the late brother Pyotr Ivanovich) - she hands over her child to the "dear little girl." In vain did the woman hope that her uncle would settle his nephew in his place and would “cover his mouth with a handkerchief from flies”. Pyotr Ivanovich rents a room for Sasha and gives him his first lessons in urban practicality. He is amused by the naive romanticism of his nephew, his magnificent speeches, his naive poems. Uncle even rejects his nephew's education: all these "philosophies" and "rhetoric" are unsuitable for business. Sashenka is arranged to copy papers in the office. There is also a "literary" job for him (he knows languages!) - translating articles on manure and potato molasses for an economic journal.

Several years pass. A touch of provinciality fell from young Aduev. He dresses fashionably, acquired a metropolitan gloss. He is appreciated in the service. His uncle no longer pastes over utility rooms with his poems and prose, but reads with interest. But then Aduev decided to tell his uncle about his love - the only one in the world. Uncle ridicules him: young romantic feelings, in his opinion, are worth nothing. And of course, this feeling cannot be eternal: someone will “cheat” someone. The uncle himself was also going to get married, not "by calculation" (to marry money), but "with the calculation" - so that his wife would suit him as a person. The main thing is to do the job. And Sashenka, because of love, doesn’t even submit articles to the editor on time.

Time has passed. Nadenka (the one and only) preferred Count Novinsky to Alexander. The count (a young, handsome secular lion) visits every day, rides with a girl on horseback. Sashenka suffers. He curses female infidelity, wants to challenge the count to a duel. With all this, he comes to his uncle. Pyotr Aduev tries to explain to his nephew that Nadenka is not to blame for falling in love with another, that the count is not to blame if he managed to capture the girl's imagination. But Aduev does not listen to his uncle, he seems to him a cynic, heartless. The uncle's young wife, Lizaveta Alexandrovna (ta tante), consoles Alexander. She also has a drama: her husband seems too rational to her, he does not tell her about his love. It’s not enough for a young sensitive woman that he remembers all her desires, he is ready to provide the contents of his wallet to satisfy her whims - and after all, money means a lot to Peter Aduev.

Sasha Aduev manages to be disappointed in friendship: why didn’t a friend of his youth pour tears on his chest, but only invited him to dinner and began to ask about business? He is also disappointed in magazines that are not able to evaluate his literary work (very grandiloquent and abstract arguments 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. Taking care of Alexander, ma tante (aunt), as it were, makes up for that share of sentimentality that her soul seeks.

The uncle gives his nephew an important assignment: to "fall in love" with the widow Yulia Tafaeva. This is necessary because the uncle's partner in the porcelain factory, the amorous and smart Surkov, spends too much money on this widow. Seeing that his place is taken, Surkov will not waste his money. The assignment was carried out with brilliance: Sashenka carried away the sentimental nervous widow, and he himself was carried away. They are so similar! Julia also does not imagine "simple quiet love", it is absolutely necessary for her to "fall at her feet" and swear "with all the powers of the soul." At first, Alexander is so inspired by the relationship of souls and the beauty of Julia that he is ready to marry. However, the widow is too intrusive, too submissive in her feelings - and young Aduev begins to be weary of this relationship. He doesn’t even know how to get rid of the widow, but his uncle saves him after talking with Tafaeva.

Disillusioned, Alexander falls into apathy. He is not interested in promotion, work in the editorial office. He dresses casually, often spending whole days on the couch. He is entertained only by summer fishing. While sitting with a fishing rod, he meets a poor girl Lisa - and is already ready to seduce her, without burdening himself with the obligations of marriage.

Lisa's father gives the younger Aduev a turn from the gate. 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"). Enough money for a modest life? And enough! Uncle tries to distract him and in response receives accusations that the younger Aduev, through the fault of Aduev Sr., grew old in soul before he gained the necessary experience for this.

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

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

In the epilogue, the reader encounters Aunt Lizaveta's unexpected illness - she is struck by a deep indifference to life. This gave rise to the "methodical and dryness" of her husband's attitude towards her. Pyotr Ivanovich would be happy to correct this (he resigns and sells the plant!), but his wife's illness has gone too far, she does not want victims - nothing can revive her. Uncle is going to take her to Italy - his wife's well-being has become the highest value for him.

But Alexander triumphs - he marries a rich (very rich!) young girl (does it matter what she feels!), He is doing great in the service and in magazines. He is finally happy with himself. The only bad thing is that the lower back began to ache a little ...

The novel, first published in Sovremennik in 1847, is autobiographical: Ivan Goncharov is easily recognized in Sasha Aduev at the time when he devoted all his free time from service to writing poetry and prose. “I then drowned the stoves with piles of scribbled paper,” the writer recalled. "An Ordinary Story" is the first work with which Goncharov decided to go public. In the poems attributed to Sasha, literary critics recognize the author's original poems (remaining in drafts). In Sasha's poems, the "common places" of romanticism are sung: both melancholy and joy are causeless, have nothing to do with reality, "swoop in like a sudden cloud", etc., etc.

Literary direction

Goncharov is a bright representative of that literary generation which, in the words of the contemporary researcher V.G. realism was in the 1840s. something like self-rehabilitation, calculation with a romantic past.

Genre

An Ordinary Story is a typical upbringing novel, depicting a fundamental change in the outlook and character of the protagonist - a typical young man of his generation - under the influence of changes in society and everyday ups and downs.

Issues

The problem of the inevitability of changes in a person under the influence of changes in society is the main one in the novel, but the attitude towards it is by no means unambiguous: the title itself contains a share of bitter irony, regret for the naive, but pure ideals of youth. And hence the second important problem, which consists in the fact that an individual, perfectly adapted socially, is by no means able to guarantee simple universal human values ​​(physical health, moral satisfaction, family happiness) either to himself or to his loved ones.

Main characters

Aduev Jr. (Alexander) is a beautiful-hearted young man with whom, in the course of the novel, an “ordinary story” of maturation and hardening takes place.

Aduev Sr. (Pyotr Ivanovich), Alexander's uncle, is a "man of action."

Lizaveta Alexandrovna is the young wife of Pyotr Ivanovich, she loves and respects her husband, but sincerely sympathizes with her nephew.

Style, plot and composition

Goncharova's novel is an exceptional case of stylistic maturity, the true mastery of a debut work. The irony that permeates the author's presentation is subtle, sometimes elusive and manifests itself in hindsight, when the simple but elegant composition of the novel makes the reader return to some plot conflicts. Like a conductor, the author controls the tempo and rhythm of reading, forcing you to read a particular phrase, or even go back.

At the beginning of the novel, Sasha, having completed the course of science, lives in his village. His mother and servant pray for him, his neighbor Sophia is in love with him, his best friend Pospelov writes long letters and receives the same answers. Sasha is firmly convinced that the capital is looking forward to him, and there is a brilliant career in it.

In St. Petersburg, Sasha lives in an apartment next to his uncle, forgets Sonechka and falls in love with Nadenka, to whom he dedicates romantic poems. Nadia, soon forgetting her vows, is carried away by a more mature and interesting person. So life teaches Sasha the first lesson, which is not as easy to brush aside as from failures in poetry, in the service. However, Alexander's "negative" love experience was waiting in the wings and was in demand when he himself had the opportunity to recapture the young widow Yulia Tafaeva from her uncle's companion in love with her. Subconsciously, Alexander longed for "revenge": Yulia, who was soon abandoned by him, was to suffer instead of Nadia.

And now, when Sasha is gradually beginning to understand life, she is disgusted with him. Work - even in the service, even in literature - requires labor, and not just "inspiration". And love is work, and it has its own laws, everyday life, trials. Sasha confesses to Lisa: "I have experienced all the emptiness and all the insignificance of life - and I deeply despise her."

And here, in the midst of Sasha's "suffering", a real sufferer appears: an uncle enters, suffering unbearably from pain in the lower back. And his ruthless nephew also blames him for the fact that his life did not work out either. The reader already has a second reason to regret Aduev Sr. - in the form of a suspicion that he did not work out not only with his lower back, but also with his wife. But, it would seem, he achieved success: he will soon receive the post of director of the office, the title of a real state councilor; he is a wealthy capitalist, a "breeder", while Aduev Jr. is at the very bottom of the worldly abyss. 8 years have passed since his arrival in the capital. 28-year-old Alexander returns to the village in disgrace. “It was worth coming! He shamed the Aduev family!” - Pyotr Ivanovich concludes their dispute.

Having lived in the village for a year and a half and having buried his mother, Sasha writes smart, affectionate letters to his uncle and aunt, informing them of his desire to return to the capital and asking for friendship, advice and patronage. These letters end the dispute, and the very plot of the novel. That seems to be the whole “ordinary story”: the uncle turned out to be right, the nephew took up his mind ... However, the epilogue of the novel turns out to be unexpected.

... 4 years after Alexander's second arrival in St. Petersburg, he reappears, 34-year-old, plump, bald, but with dignity wearing "his cross" - an order around his neck. In the posture of his uncle, who has already “celebrated his 50th birthday”, dignity and self-confidence have diminished: his wife Liza is ill, and perhaps dangerous. The husband tells her that he decided to quit the service, sells the factory and takes her to Italy to dedicate "the rest of his life" to her.

The nephew comes to his uncle with good news: he has looked after himself a young and rich bride, and her father has already given him his consent: “Go, he says, only in the footsteps of your uncle!”

“Do you remember what letter you wrote me from the village? Lisa tells him. - There you understood, explained life to yourself ... "And the reader involuntarily has to go back: "Not to be involved in suffering means not to be involved in the fullness of life." Why did Alexander consciously reject the found correspondence between life and his own character? What made him cynically prefer a career for the sake of a career and marriage for the sake of wealth and without any interest in the feelings of not only a rich, but a young and, apparently, beautiful bride, who, like Lisa, “needs a little more than a healthy sense! ”?.. There is no space left in the epilogue to answer all these questions, and the reader must simply believe in such a degeneration of the romantic poet into a boring cynic, and must guess the reasons for himself.

In the center of the novel is the story of Sasha Aduev, and the title suggests that his evolution is a common phenomenon for his time. Showing us the transformation of an enthusiastic, romantically inclined young man into a prudent businessman and calling the novel "An Ordinary Story", Ivan Alexandrovich makes a broad generalization. Sasha Aduev's disputes with his uncle Pyotr Ivanych are of philosophical significance. They touch on eternal themes - the themes of love, friendship and creativity, and in this regard, the author has the opportunity to consider many of the most important problems. The first problem Sasha faces is the question of what love is. He claims that this is an eternal and romantic feeling that can change the whole human life, but he himself is not able to prove this view with his actions. Love, as Sasha Aduev imagines it at the beginning of the novel, is symbolized by the "Yellow Flower". "Yellow flower" - a sign of vulgarity and stupid sentimentality. Pyotr Ivanovich generally denies the existence of love, but argues that the relationship between a man and a woman is based on habit and mutual benefit. But life also refutes his theories. In the end, Aduev Sr. decides to quit all his affairs, forget about the benefits and go to Italy in order to improve the health of his beloved wife.

The author's position is somewhere in the middle between these two opposing points of view. Both characters during the disputes about love are presented in an ironic light. For example, when Aduev Sr. talks about his theory (they say that human relations are built only on a business, practical basis), his wife Lizaveta Aleksandrovna enters and refutes all his constructions on the move.

On the issue of friendship, the positions of the heroes also diverge. Sasha Aduev dreams of "bloody hugs", "oaths of friendship on the battlefield." Pyotr Ivanovich, acting in this case as a reasoner, teaches his nephew to distinguish true friendship, expressed in concrete practical help, from hypocritical outpourings. But on the other hand, when Sasha needed psychological, emotional help, when he was depressed, his uncle was not able to provide him with this help, but Lizaveta Alexandrovna consoled Sasha, simply feeling sorry for a woman.

And finally, the third topic of conversation between uncle and nephew is creativity. Sasha Aduev, who writes completely graphomaniac poetry and dreams of literary fame at the same time, claims that creativity is inherent only in art. The uncle is convinced that a poet, a mathematician, and a watchmaker can be a true creator; in a word, any person who loves his job and is able to bring something new into the usual craft.

The problems that the author raises in the novel "Ordinary History" are universal. The disputes between the two characters - Aduev Jr. and Aduev Sr. - are like a dispute between the author and himself. The author looks at problems from different points of view, shows the possibility of opposing views on the same issue. But the last word always remains with Goncharov, he always clearly expresses his author's position. In this sense, "Ordinary History" is a philosophical novel, which, although it claims to be a social topicality (after all, Sasha Aduev is also a kind of "hero of his time"), nevertheless remains modern to this day, since the problems raised in it , are eternal.

One of the main roles was played not by a professional actor, but by a big businessman

The remarkable Russian writer Goncharov, who was part of the curriculum of the Soviet school with just one novel, like no one came to our time. Kirill Serebrennikov presented a stage version of his outstanding novel An Ordinary Story (year of creation 1847) at his Gogol Center. To the heated question - how to stage classics today so as not to offend the memory of the creators and the feelings of believers - the director answers with his premiere - to stage hard and well.

In Serebrennikov's staging, the storyline is not changed at all - the boy Sasha Aduev (with a guitar, ideals and dreams) left point "A" (one village in the Russian province) to point "B" - the Russian capital with pure intentions to conquer the impregnable with his talent. His uncle Pyotr Ivanovich Aduev lives there, a sensible, respectable, but very cynical gentleman, dousing his sober nephew with his sobriety, like a cold shower. The clash of youthful idealism and experienced cynicism is the main conflict of Goncharov's novel, unchanged at all times. Only our time has given it a special sharpness and cruelty.

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From the MK dossier: Ivan Goncharov wrote his first novel, Ordinary History, at the age of 35 and was published in the Sovremennik magazine. It has often been compared to Fathers and Sons. He has a successful stage fate: "An Ordinary Story" in 1970 directed by Galina Volchek received a state award, and Oleg Tabakov (Aduev Jr.) and Mikhail Kazakov (Aduev Sr.) were considered the standard performers of these roles. It is to Tabakov, who is celebrating his jubilee this year, that Kirill Serebrennikov dedicates his performance.

On the stage there is only light and shadow in the truest sense of the word: the successful and wealthy Aduev Sr. turned out to be a monopolist in the lighting equipment market. It also becomes a decoration: three giant letters “O” hit the hall with cold neon and, in various combinations, break up the gloomy space. That rare case when the scenographic solution becomes the most expressive metaphor (light and shadow, black and white), continuing in the costumes (the author is Serebrennikov himself). Serebrennikov's monochrome, boring but stylish, is so rich in semantic nuances (more than 50?) that allow you to avoid flat answers to flat questions: who is good / bad? who is right/wrong? And what are the current values?

In Ordinary History, the director did not answer, as it turns out, ordinary questions: with the help of Goncharov, he examined the time and generations that lived or were born in New Russia. One went through the difficult circles of Russian business (from crimson jackets to expensive ones from Francesco Smalto or Patrick Helman), without lyrics, cynical, efficient, smart as hell, but for some reason the mind brings its portion of grief. His antipode is a sweet lip-slapping poet, impulsive, but infantile and with an atrophied sense of responsibility. The director does not hide his sympathies - they are on the side of Aduev Sr. A serious study, similar to a duel with a sad end - no one was killed, but the uncle and nephew are alive, like corpses, sitting on a cemetery bench and staring into the hall with dead eyes.

The interest in the almost three-hour duel (the audience is not breathing) is due to the performance of the actors. In the role of Aduev Jr. Philipp Avdeev, but in the role of his uncle, quite unexpectedly for everyone, was Alexei Agranovich, who is known in Moscow primarily as the owner of his own company, producer, director of the opening ceremonies of the Moscow Film Festival. Surprisingly, it is Agranovich and his performance that give the action a special authenticity, and as a result, Serebrennikov's performance is more than successful. Not a picture painted in black and white, but a deep portrait of generations against the backdrop of time. It seems that Agranovich does not even play in the proposed circumstances, but exists in them, since they are familiar to him. Having lived and cooked in the post-perestroika meat grinder, it seems that he is ready to subscribe to many of Goncharov's texts. Interview with the actor after the performance.

- Alexei, it seems to me or do you really know the business environment that the play is about so well?

— I know this drama in myself. Yes, money is an important thing, but I know the drama of a man who convinced himself that he was not given unique abilities from God, and he began to replace nature with common sense and efficiency. Life is a cruel thing, you constantly face a choice that concerns not only work, but also your personal life.

- Still, make it clear: do you have an acting education? You have a wonderful stage speech, you feel so easy on stage.

- I was expelled from the third year of VGIK, I studied with Albert Filozov. I played in the play "The Seagull", I worked a little with Trushkin, but that was 20 years ago, and since then I have not played in the drama.

- And how did you get into this unusual story for you?

— I met Kirill Serebrennikov in different companies. And he once asked me if I knew an artist of such and such age, with such qualities - in general, he described me. I called him a few, he said that he knew, but something didn’t work out there. "Don't you want to try it yourself?" - he asked. I thought, I was not sure of myself and he was not sure of me. But then I decided that such proposals are not refused. I still feel like I'm in a bad/good American drama.

Have you seen the recordings of that legendary performance with Kazakov and Tabakov?

— No, I’ll say more, I haven’t read the novel before. I was afraid to watch, now that they have already played, look ..

- And how do you solve the dilemma for yourself: murderous cynicism or irresponsible idealism?

“There is no truth here. There are two Aduevs in each of us, and to remain one of them in its purest form means to be either an idiot or a complete cynic. We must trust God, fate - do what you must, and come what may. For me, the ending that Kirill came up with is very important in this performance - it is such a requiem for the disappearing human species. New people came, but... we raised them ourselves. Everything turns into nothing - this is the main merit and statement of Cyril.

As often happens with Serebrennikov, the new generation (the wonderful Filipp Avdeev, Ekaterina Steblina) and the actors of the former Gogol Theater troupe - Svetlana Bragarnik (she has two roles) and Olga Naumenko (the bride of Zhenya Lukashin from The Irony of Fate "). I must say that the latter has, in fact, one way out (not counting the singing in the trio in the background), but one way out is worth a lot.

The premiere of Kirill Serebrennikov's new play "An Ordinary Story" based on the novel of the same name by Ivan Goncharov took place on the stage of the Gogol Center. The director showed a master class on how modern theater should handle the classics in order to be honest and truthful. We visited the show

Goncharov's first novel was published back in 1847. Since then, the petty nobility, serfdom and the table of ranks have disappeared. Everything else seems to be left. The plot of the novel is universal at all times. Judge for yourself: the green provincial comes to conquer the capital, where all sorts of disappointments, difficulties and temptations await him. How many such fellows have been sent by French literature to "lose illusions" in sparkling Paris, and American literature - to Chicago and New York in search of a notorious dream. Nowadays, perhaps, every inhabitant of Moscow recognizes Sasha Aduev in one of his acquaintances or, reluctantly, in himself. Unless not everyone has the right uncle.

Therefore, to modernize the "Ordinary Story" (the title, however, speaks for itself) was not so difficult. Instead of noble habits, give the hero a guitar and jeans, move the capital from St. Petersburg to Moscow in accordance with historical realities, and make the uncle an enterprising businessman, symbolically selling light (truth, enlightenment, hope - the associative series can be continued endlessly). And voila - welcome to the 21st century. With the loss of the gallant details of the 19th century, history has noticeably grown coarser - like rubbed with a pumice stone. A nobleman's son would hardly have been lying around drunk in garbage bags and using the unprintable equivalent of the word "pancake." But such is the price of the truth of life: every time you have to weather the smell of naphthalene.

The scenography of the performance gravitates toward symbolic abstraction: the black-covered stage was equipped with practical tables and chairs and several conceptual inclusions, such as a luminous “MAMA” sign, a reddening letter “M” from the entrance to the metropolitan subway, and huge “O”, which are unobtrusively manipulated by either heroes or workers. scenes. All this, coupled with light nudity and ironic hints of BDSM, creates a harmonious environment for translating eternal meanings from the language of the 19th century into the modern one.

To each ideal of an inexperienced nephew, the uncle shows solid "figs". However, all of them only forestall the real ones, which are being prepared by harsh reality. Falling in love passes, the line between talent and mediocrity is gradually erased, illusions melt. Life experience breaks rose-colored glasses and crumples pages with naive verses, deceives and forces to deceive.

Often the conflict between Sasha and Peter Ivanovich is called the dress rehearsal for the confrontation between Oblomov and Stolz. But if the latter, "having butted", each remain true to his nature, then the author turns the Aduevs inside out. The dreamy poet turns into a hopeless cynic, and the stern uncle is waiting for the loss of true love. Because there is no place for her here. “There is no better / The Other World,” the slogan generated by the newly minted Sasha the businessman speaks for itself. Heroes want to be baptized.

The modern "Ordinary Story" came out gloomy hopeless, frightening, like a shabby entrance with knocked out light bulbs - life to the touch in a symphony of unpleasant sensations and smells. This is precisely how the Russian analogy of the myth of the “American dream” should be. The credibility is beyond doubt. It turned out paradoxically: having maximally altered the literary source in a modern way, Kirill Serebrennikov confirmed Goncharov's right to immortality.