An Ordinary Story: Including the Stage Adaptation of the Novel

Advanced notice of the power of what would be the Russian novel was given in 1847 when Goncharov's An Ordinary Story started to come out in a Petersburg journal. It was immediately acclaimed by critics as an answer to what they saw as the unrealistic worlds portrayed in the romantic literature of the period. This novel has kept its place in the literary pantheon of Russian literature due to its modern psychological perceptiveness, especially concerning relations between the sexes, as well as its artistry. All in all, it is a delightful work, providing charming characters and an almost classical balance of scenes and types.
Goncharov himself had vast experience in the world of bureaucratic career and disillusionment he describes in the course of telling the story of his hero, Alexander Aduyev, the romantic young man who makes the trip from the provinces to the capital, and searches for love and a career. The young Alexander's foil in the novel is his sophisticated uncle, an unsentimental rational man who is a successful bureaucrat and entrepreneur. The dialogue between these two contrasting types provides much of the novel's energy and humor. No less important, however, is the contribution of Alexander's aunt, who has compassion for her nephew's situation, and understands the problem of relying too much on reason as well as the perils of romanticism. The key to this novel is its humanity and thorough knowledge of both people and the life they lived in this period. Alexander's coming of age is indeed an "ordinary story," but it is told in an extraordinary way.

Ivan Goncharov (1812-1891) was one of the most important writers of the nineteenth century. He spent most of his life as a civil servant, eventually becoming a censor. In addition to An Ordinary Story and Oblomov, he published The Precipice, a novel, and The Frigate Pallada, an account of his travels on an 1853 international expedition.