Ordinary Story

By the very title of the novel, the Russian writer Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov (1812—1891) emphasized his ironic attitude towards the prevailing cult of romanticism in literature and marked the transition to realism. That is, to what is real, what happens in life, described without loud words and unnecessary embellishments. The main character of the novel, Alexander Aduyev, positions himself as an incorrigible romantic but becomes disillusioned with his own ideals. The newly minted Petersburg resident quickly has his heart broken, and the cynical city offers the young man neither eternal love, nor unbreakable friendship, nor poetic glory. To heal his emotional wounds, he returns to his mother's estate, and a year and a half later he heads back to Petersburg again. But as a completely different person this time. What awaits him on this occasion?