Part one
Boris Pavlovich Raisky, 35 years old, talks in his St. Petersburg apartment with Ivan Ivanovich Ayanov, a 40-year-old official. Friends are going to visit Sofya Nikolaevna Belovodova, Raisky’s second cousin.
Belovodova is a 24-year-old widow. Her mother died before her daughter’s marriage, and her father spent his fortune on women. Sophia lives with two rich aunts who love to play cards with Ayanov while Raisky talks with his cousin.
Raisky is bored. He observes the deep calm of his cousin, like a painting or a statue, and wants to understand whether she has feelings and passions. Boris persuades Sophia to live not according to the rules of her ancestors, but to live her own life, to love, to suffer. Raisky wants to paint a portrait of Sophia, and he is also planning a serious matter - writing a novel.
Raisky has been living in St. Petersburg for about 10 years. He is a retired college secretary. Raisky left his service as soon as he entered it. He was raised by a guardian. At school he loved to read and draw, he loved music, but he played it not from notebooks, but by ear. A German teacher characterizes him this way: “his abilities are amazing, but his laziness is even more amazing.”
After entering the university, Raisky went on vacation to his great-aunt Tatyana Markovna Berezhkova. The grandmother managed the estate of Raisky’s parents in the village of Malinovka near the Volga and raised her orphaned cousins, 6 and 5 years old, Verochka and Marfinka. Next to her parents’ old house, her grandmother ordered a new one to be built, in which she and Marfinka lived. Vera lived alone in an old house.
Raisky is hospitably greeted and treated like a host. Boris seemed to have a mother, sisters, and a kind uncle. This uncle is grandmother’s friend Vatutin Tit Nilych. He is a retired military man who bought a house in the city. There was a rumor that in their youth, grandmother and Vatutin loved each other, but they wanted to marry her off to someone else, which is why she remained an old girl.
Boris is attracted by the cliff above the Volga, from which a beautiful view opens. During the life of his parents, the jealous man killed his wife and lover on this cliff, and then stabbed himself to death and was buried right there. There is a gazebo below, now abandoned.
After staying there, Raisky returned to the university. It was difficult for him to study because he could not reason about anything, but saw images. He became close to the poor man Leonty Kozlov, the son of a deacon, who knew Greek and Latin and introduced Raisky to ancient authors. Raisky began writing poetry and prose.
After graduating from the university, Raisky entered the ranks of a cadet. He lived like all the “golden youth”. Then he applied for a transfer to the civil service, but did not stay there long either and began going to the art academy, but rarely attended classes. Six months later he painted “Hector’s Farewell to Andromache.” The professors appreciated the artist’s talent, but advised him to study for another 3 years, and Raisky wanted immediate fame.
Raisky switched to the novel. He rereads and edits several autobiographical chapters of his future novel. It describes how Natasha, who fell in love with Raisky two years ago, dies. He became bored with her devotion and did not marry. Raisky began to sketch out the beginning of a new novel.
Raisky decided to complete the portrait of Sophia. Ayanov thought the portrait was too revealing, and the artist Kirilov didn’t like the portrait either: one arm was shorter than the other. Kirilov proposes to draw a praying figure and turn the portrait into a harlot.
Boris brings the portrait to Sophia and declares his love to her. Sophia believes that the portrait embellishes the original and offers friendship. Raisky suspects that she is in love with the Italian Count Milari. As soon as Sophia rejects Raisky, his passion fades away.
Part two
At the request of his grandmother, Raisky comes to his Malinovka estate for the summer. He is not interested in accounts and management reports; he admits that he tore them up in St. Petersburg. Boris wants to give the estate to his sisters Marfinka and Verochka. The grandmother does not agree, the girls have their own dowry, but, in the end, she undertakes to manage the estate further, fearing that Raisky will pawn it or sell it. Under her management, the estate is in complete order.
Raisky meets with Marfinka, a blond, plump, cheerful girl of about 20. Vera is with a priest friend across the Volga.
Raisky examines the city, which seems to him like a cemetery or desert. The city is a good setting for his future novel. Marfinka may become the center of the novel, but there is not enough passion: Marfinka is obedient to her grandmother and fearful, she did not go to the cliff with Raisky.
In the city, Raisky finds a student friend, Leonty Kozlov, a gymnasium teacher. Leonty is immersed in ancient books. Raisky helped him settle in a city near his estate and transferred books from his library to his care. In the letter, Kozlov wrote that several books were damaged by Mark Volokhov. Leonty compiled a catalog of library books from the Raisky estate. Later it turns out that Vera helped him. Raisky gives Kozlov his library and reproaches him for being out of touch with life.
Ugly Kozlov is married to Ulinka, the daughter of the steward of a government institution, where the students dined. Ulinka is still very good, her head reminds Kozlov of an antique statue. 5 years after graduation, Leonty took her from Moscow from her aunt, where she ended up after the death of her father and was seriously ill. Later, Ulyana admits to Raisky that she does not love Kozlov, she got married only because he called.
The grandmother believes that her grandson got away with it and that fate will punish him. Boris and Tatyana Markovna reach a truce and decide that everyone will live as they please. From Raisky’s point of view, the grandmother is torn between common sense and legends.
Marfinka is a happy child under her grandmother’s protection. Raisky wants to awaken passion in her, but he fails. Marfinka does not understand his hints, but she is excited and embarrassed by his conversations, and does not even say anything to her grandmother. Raisky draws a portrait of Marfinka and corrects the essay about Natasha in order to insert it into the novel.
On the estate, Raisky observes a drama: the peasant Savely punishes his wife Marina for fornication. The grandmother admits that the servants are all sinners, but Marina is especially promiscuous in her relationships. Passion for love adventures also happens among landowners. Grandmother's guest Polina Karpovna Kritskaya, a widow, likes someone to be in love with her, she flirts with all the young people, with Raisky, but she doesn't go beyond words.
Raisky meets Mark Volokhov, whom he found climbing into the window of Leonty Kozlov. Mark is inclined to break traditions and even the law. Boris invites Mark to have dinner at his grandmother's. In the conversation, Mark calls Raisky a loser.
Raisky is overcome by boredom. Vera comes from the priest. The sisters are as different as day and night. Raisky leaves Marfinka, who has shown no hope of transforming from a child into a woman, and watches the dark-haired beauty Vera. He is indifferent to everything except beauty.
The landowner Vikentyev, 23 years old, Marfinka’s friend, comes to visit. They suit each other very well: lively and cheerful. Other guests arrive, each with their own character and story.
Raisky is bored. He draws the servants, goes to the city, visits Kozlov, but finds his wife with her lover. From there he goes to Mark Volokhov. Mark makes a bet with Paradise that in 2 weeks Boris will fall in love.
Vera avoids Raisky. He can't stop thinking about her. They explain themselves. Vera says that if she doesn’t feel free, she will leave. Raisky wonders who emancipated her. Raisky and Vera agree on friendship.
“Cliff” by Ivan Goncharov
I think people don't read the classics enough. For a modern person, these are complex and boring books - the good scientist Roland Barthes admitted that if you try to read Zola’s novels without stopping, you fall asleep very quickly. But we must understand that they are given at school for a reason - it’s just that the classics clearly require treatment not only at school age, when a person has blue and love in his head. Unlike the stupid plots of most modern works of mass art, in classical literature morality, edification and correct guidance to action are always obvious. All this has been tested by time - you understand that people have lived this way for centuries and solve problems in the same way, and already in the 19th century people understood in great detail how to live well and correctly, and what needs to be done for this.
Reading a classic novel takes anywhere from 10 to 50 hours - about the same as finishing Mass Effect.
Most often, Goncharov is known as the author of the novel “Oblomov” about an incredibly lazy man, brought up in hothouse conditions, who loved, was sick, suffered and eventually died. In fact, in addition to this, Goncharov wrote two even cooler novels, and was a character in his own right.
All of Goncharov’s works are based on the best idea in the world: you urgently need to stop suffering from bullshit and get down to business, and then everything will be fine. This idea runs like a red thread through all three of the author’s novels. His characters are typical of literature of the 19th century, where the protagonist is usually far from ideal, is a loser and constantly finds himself in awkward situations, gradually getting out of them - in fact, this makes it easier for the reader, especially a young one, to associate himself with the main character and, in the end, not be a moron like him.
In the first novel, “An Ordinary Story,” the hero comes to Moscow from the village in the hope of getting a creative profession and becoming happy - which is the key mistake of all canonical literary heroes of the 19th century. Balzac came up with this plot device, about which some other time. The uncle of the main character, who has long been on his feet in Moscow and knows the value of his time, hints in every possible way to his nephew that to achieve happiness you need to work a lot and hard, and not “creatively”, but with your head and maybe even with your hands. After several shovels of shit in the face, including on the love front, the young man seems to be on the right path. In the novel “Oblomov” we find the hero in the stage of decomposition on the sofa, and a short excursion into his sunny childhood (aka Oblomov’s famous dream) makes us understand that it will only get worse - which is what happens. In both novels, the hero is either still too young or already too stupid to fight back against his smart relatives or dubious friends; in “The Precipice” everything turns out much cooler.
In the debut of the novel, the main character Boris Palych Raisky discovers that he is over 30, all his friends are in business, and he famously screwed up all possible chances of becoming a man in St. Petersburg. Once upon a time, Raisky came to St. Petersburg in the hope of becoming an artist/writer/musician, that is, never working in an office - you understand: in our realities, this is what it is. But of course, I didn’t become either one, or the other, or the third - why? See the novel "Ordinary History". Disappointed with everything, he decides to go for the summer to the village where his respectable and completely healthy-headed grandmother and her complete opposite, Raisky’s cousin named Vera, live.
Of course, Raisky, who is in a creative search, instead of doing something useful, ends up in a series of love entanglements, and this path of his begins with a maid. The centerpiece becomes a romance with a cousin, who, due to her youth, is lost between three grown men, does not deny herself anything and generally behaves disgustingly. The drama is off the charts all the way: in terms of the degree of persistence with his own imagination, the hero has no equal in European literature of that period. Taxi driver Shlykov from the film “Taxi Blues,” upon seeing Raisky, would absolutely recommend that he get the black stuff out of his head through push-ups with a clap. The image of Vera, who is worthy of a good spanking at many points, is no less skillfully written. Sometimes you feel sorry for the hero, like Willem Dafoe in the film “Antichrist”, there is something in common here, yes. The theme of the normal in the novel is dealt with, as usual, in a deliberately very bad way - the only character in this category is one of Vera’s admirers, a forester named Tushin: he rarely behaves adequately, which slightly sets off the clowning of the protagonist, although she is not in this needs. Raisky’s grandmother also commands respect, but due to her age, she too allows common sense to take over and generally keeps a terrible secret.
The novel answers many questions in terms of relationships between young and not so young people of different sexes. Much is also said about the vile nature of individuals. But the most important thing is that the tenacity of the main character allows us to understand from his experience what not to do in life. With great skill, Goncharov displays the processes of the characters’ brains being carried away to each other, thereby forcing the reader to think about their own behavior. This is how classics are supposed to work, guys.
Part three
In order not to think about Vera, Raisky is engaged in imaginary activities: he goes to the fields, promises to go with his grandmother on visits. Guests arrive on Sunday. Nil Andreevich Tychkov (a well-known person in the city, chairman of the chamber, an example of morality) laughed rudely at Kritskaya. Raisky accuses him of insulting a woman and recalls the old story of how Tychkov once robbed his own niece and locked him in an insane asylum. Tatyana Markovna kicked out Nil Andreevich. Raisky, delighted with her act, kisses her.
Tychkov's authority has been undermined. His grandmother respected him for 40 years and kicked him out one day. Raisky draws a portrait of his grandmother. His relationship with Vera is improving. She is calmly indifferent to him, but allows him to talk to her.
A month has passed since the bet was made. Raisky is eager to leave. When he comes to say goodbye to Leonty, he finds Mark with him. Mark teases him that he won't finish the novel because he's a loser, and that he's in love.
Raisky asks Vera to show the letter she is reading. Boris suspects that Vera hid the letter on blue paper. Raisky, who thought that his feelings for Vera had subsided, is jealous of Vera for the author of the letter.
Raisky is forced to paint a portrait of Kritskaya and drives her to exhaustion. He wants to find out from Vera who the letter is from. Vera announces that she loves someone else.
Raisky, at the request of Mark, who, living in the city under police surveillance, gave him forbidden books to read, takes the blame upon himself and goes to explain himself to the governor.
Vera leaves again for the priest. Paradise is lonely. He asks his grandmother who Vera might be in love with. Grandmother assumes that he is a forester. This is the nickname of the landowner Ivan Ivanovich Tushin, with whom Vera is friends. Tushin has a steam saw factory, he sells timber and lives in its thicket with his sister.
Raisky spends a lot of time with Kritskaya, there is even a rumor in the city that he is in love. Boris comes to Kozlov to reason with his wife, who is constantly cheating on her husband. His persuasion ends in a love scene. Raisky is amazed by his own lack of will.
Vera admits to Raisky that her hero is not Tushin. To protect her, her grandmother orders a moral novel to be read aloud. After reading it, Vikentyev makes an offer to Marfinka, which she tells her grandmother about. The next day, Vikentyev’s mother arrived and the matchmaking ceremony took place.
Preparations for the wedding are underway in the house. Raisky talks to Vera. She believes that he does not love her, but is carried away by her, as he was carried away by other women.
Raisky, walking in the garden, is mistaken by Vera for someone else. This is how he finds out about Vera’s upcoming date. But he doesn’t know that this is a date with Mark, whom Vera met last summer when he was stealing apples from her garden.
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Part four
Vera met Mark in the old gazebo. They have very different views on life, although they love each other. Vera asks not to give prohibited books to young people, to be quiet. Mark accuses her of wanting to get married, and he is looking for a comrade in her. They decide to break up.
Vera was unable to break off her relationship with Mark. She again leaves for the Volga to the priest. From there, Raisky receives friendly or mocking letters. As it turned out later, Vera and the priest wrote them one by one as a joke. One of the notes called on Raisky to help someone in need. Raisky sent him 220 rubles. Subsequently, it turned out that Vera did not know anything about this note; it was written by Mark, who already owed Raisky 80 rubles and threatened that he would not give them back.
Kozlov fell ill, and his wife and Frenchman Charles left him. The grandmother offers to take Leonty to her place.
Raisky receives a letter from Ayanov, from which he learns that Sophia was compromised by a note to Count Milari, and the Count himself emigrated to Paris, where he, it turns out, has a fiancee-cousin.
Raisky is saddened by Vera's departure, but suddenly she appears when he is pining over a cliff. She doesn't look like herself. She says passion changed her. When asked who she loves, Vera replies that Raisky. He doesn't believe her, he thinks she's crazy. Vera asks Raisky to help her: to hold her by force, not to let her go onto the cliff.
Vera, hearing the shot (conventional signal), ran to the cliff. Raisky detained her, but she begged “for Christ’s sake” for 5 minutes.
Vera and Mark in the gazebo decide to part forever. Vera insists that love is not an animal attraction, but a duty; Mark does not promise eternal love and is not going to get married. All year Vera wanted to influence Mark, but did not achieve her goal. Mark, although he overcame Vera’s heart, did not overpower his mind and will. When parting, Mark warns that if Vera turns around, she will be his. Vera turned around and shouted: “Mark, goodbye!”
Raisky waited for Vera until 11. He is in despair: for 5 months their relationship has not been defined. Raisky decides to spy on who Vera’s chosen one is. When Raisky found out everything, he was furious. He rudely pushes Kritskaya away in the garden, who was looking for a date with him, and waits until the morning for Vera to look into her eyes. Arriving home, Vera collapses.
