The Precipice (Ivan Goncharov)
Encyclopedia
The Precipice is the third novel by Ivan Goncharov
, first published in January-May 1869
issues of Vestnik Evropy
magazine. The novel, conceived in 1849, took twenty years to be completed and has been preceded by the publication of the three extracts: "Sophja Nikolayevna Belovodova" (Sovremennik
, #2, 1860), "Grandmother" and "Portrait" (Otechestvennye zapiski
, ##1-2, 1861). The author considered it to be his most definitive work, where he was able to realize fully his grand artistic ambition. Less successful than its predecessor Oblomov
(1859), The Precipice is still regarded as one of the Russian literature
's classics.
and France
, Goncharov completed the 4th and 5th parts of the novel. Back in Saint Petersburg
he re-hashed the whole text and added an epilogue.
On August 21, 1866, in a letter to Alexander Nikitenko Goncharov wrote:
One character, that of Mark Volokhov, has undergone considerable evolution. Initially, according to the author, "this figure was never supposed to fit into the novel's major scheme, being part of a backgrownd, in shadows", a mere "introductory face, serving for Vera's character fuller realisation". Soon, though, he turned out to be one of the novel's most prominent figures. Among rough drafts of The Precipice there was Volokhov's short 'biography' which showed him to be initially a "domestic kind of nihilist", struggling in vain to realize his life potential to the full, then evolving into a kind of ideologist figure preaching "new truth", materialism and atheism. Goncharov admitted later that Volokhov proved to be a challenging character and in the long run, a stumbling block, hindering the whole process. The author himself conceded later that "the Volokhov character came like a piece of two-part cloth, one half belonging to pre-1850s, another coming from the modern times when 'new people' started to emerge".
Goncharov considered The Precipice to be his best work where he was able to realize his artistic ambition to the full. "Dreams and aspirations of Raisky for me sound like a sonorous chord, praising a Woman, Motherland, God and love", he wrote in a letter to Mikhail Stasyulevich
.
, 1869, #6) focused only on chapter 6 of the last part of the novel. Having scrutinized Volokhov's character, he came to the conclusion that this type of person in no way could be seen as a Russian free-thinking man's role model. Vexed by the fact that it was the 'domestic nihilist' type to whom Goncharov had attributed this status of a 'doctrine-holder', the critic saw this as a sign of the novel's tendentiousness and accused its author for "a penchant for abstract humanism". Traditional valued of 'goodness' were totally irrelevant for the 'new Russia' with its social problems that were needed to be solved, Schedrin argued.
Despite all this, The Precipice has had enormous success. Goncharov remembered: "Stasyulevich
related to me, how, every first day of a month, people would queue at the Vestnik Evropy’s doors as if it were bakers’ - those were couriers, eager to grab copies for their subscribers".
Ivan Goncharov
Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov was a Russian novelist best known as the author of Oblomov .- Biography :Ivan Goncharov was born in Simbirsk ; his father was a wealthy grain merchant and respected official who was elected mayor of Simbirsk several times...
, first published in January-May 1869
1869 in literature
The year 1869 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Macmillan Publishing opens first American office in New York City headed by George Edward Brett-New books:*Louisa May Alcott - Good Wives...
issues of Vestnik Evropy
Vestnik Evropy
Vestnik Evropy was the major liberal magazine of late-nineteenth-century Russia; it lasted from 1866 to 1918....
magazine. The novel, conceived in 1849, took twenty years to be completed and has been preceded by the publication of the three extracts: "Sophja Nikolayevna Belovodova" (Sovremennik
Sovremennik
Sovremennik was a Russian literary, social and political magazine, published in St. Petersburg in 1836-1866. It came out four times a year in 1836-1843 and once a month after that...
, #2, 1860), "Grandmother" and "Portrait" (Otechestvennye zapiski
Otechestvennye Zapiski
Otechestvennye Zapiski was a Russian literary magazine published in St Petersburg on a monthly basis between 1818 and 1884. The journal served liberal-minded readers, known as the intelligentsia...
, ##1-2, 1861). The author considered it to be his most definitive work, where he was able to realize fully his grand artistic ambition. Less successful than its predecessor Oblomov
Oblomov
Oblomov is the best known novel by Russian writer Ivan Goncharov, first published in 1859. Oblomov is also the central character of the novel, often seen as the ultimate incarnation of the superfluous man, a symbolic character in 19th-century Russian literature...
(1859), The Precipice is still regarded as one of the Russian literature
Russian literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union...
's classics.
Background
According to Goncharov, the idea of the third novel came to him 1n 1849 when he returned to his native Simbirsk after fourteen years of absence. "Old memories of early youth, new encounters, landscapes of Volga banks, local scenes and situations, customs and manners, – all this stirred up my fantasies and I've drawn the plan for the novel in my head, at the time, when Oblomov was being completed – on the mental level, too. Both projects had to be aborted as I embarked upon the round the world journey on frigate "Pallada" in 1852, 1853 and 1854. It was only after this journey's end, and when the book Frigate Pallada has been written and published, that I was able to return to these novels, both still only conceived. […] In 1857-1858 I finished and published Oblomov and only after that was able to concentrate on The Precipice, some fragments of which I had read to my friends and others published in magazines in 1860-1861", he remembered. Only in 1868, while in GermanyGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Goncharov completed the 4th and 5th parts of the novel. Back in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
he re-hashed the whole text and added an epilogue.
On August 21, 1866, in a letter to Alexander Nikitenko Goncharov wrote:
One character, that of Mark Volokhov, has undergone considerable evolution. Initially, according to the author, "this figure was never supposed to fit into the novel's major scheme, being part of a backgrownd, in shadows", a mere "introductory face, serving for Vera's character fuller realisation". Soon, though, he turned out to be one of the novel's most prominent figures. Among rough drafts of The Precipice there was Volokhov's short 'biography' which showed him to be initially a "domestic kind of nihilist", struggling in vain to realize his life potential to the full, then evolving into a kind of ideologist figure preaching "new truth", materialism and atheism. Goncharov admitted later that Volokhov proved to be a challenging character and in the long run, a stumbling block, hindering the whole process. The author himself conceded later that "the Volokhov character came like a piece of two-part cloth, one half belonging to pre-1850s, another coming from the modern times when 'new people' started to emerge".
Goncharov considered The Precipice to be his best work where he was able to realize his artistic ambition to the full. "Dreams and aspirations of Raisky for me sound like a sonorous chord, praising a Woman, Motherland, God and love", he wrote in a letter to Mikhail Stasyulevich
Mikhail Stasyulevich
Mikhail Matveevich Stasyulevich was a Russian writer and scholar, author of books on ancient history, journalist, editor and publisher, best known as the founder and editor-in-chief of Vestnik Evropy, one of Russia's leading literary magazines...
.
Reception
The novel, upon its release, received mixed reviews. At the time of the sharp division in the Russian cultural elite, critics came to assume the novel each according to their own current political stand. Russky Vestnik, a conservative magazine, not just praised the way Goncharov allegedly "poeticized the old times" but saw this as the novel's major asset. Critics close to the democratic camp (among them Nikolay Shelgunov and Maria Tsebrikova) have left negative reviews. Characteristically, Mikhail Saltykov-Schedrin in his essay The Street Philosophy (Otechestvennye zapiskiOtechestvennye Zapiski
Otechestvennye Zapiski was a Russian literary magazine published in St Petersburg on a monthly basis between 1818 and 1884. The journal served liberal-minded readers, known as the intelligentsia...
, 1869, #6) focused only on chapter 6 of the last part of the novel. Having scrutinized Volokhov's character, he came to the conclusion that this type of person in no way could be seen as a Russian free-thinking man's role model. Vexed by the fact that it was the 'domestic nihilist' type to whom Goncharov had attributed this status of a 'doctrine-holder', the critic saw this as a sign of the novel's tendentiousness and accused its author for "a penchant for abstract humanism". Traditional valued of 'goodness' were totally irrelevant for the 'new Russia' with its social problems that were needed to be solved, Schedrin argued.
Despite all this, The Precipice has had enormous success. Goncharov remembered: "Stasyulevich
Mikhail Stasyulevich
Mikhail Matveevich Stasyulevich was a Russian writer and scholar, author of books on ancient history, journalist, editor and publisher, best known as the founder and editor-in-chief of Vestnik Evropy, one of Russia's leading literary magazines...
related to me, how, every first day of a month, people would queue at the Vestnik Evropy’s doors as if it were bakers’ - those were couriers, eager to grab copies for their subscribers".