as a study in the psychology of passionate emotion; for the western
reader, it is also delightful for the glimpses it gives of the old
Russian country life which is slowly passing away. The scene lies beside
one of the small towns on the Volga--"like other towns, a cemetery ...
the tranquillity of the grave. What a frame for a novel, if only he knew
what to put in the novel.... If the image of passion should float over
this motionless, sleepy little world, the picture would glow into the
enchanting colour of life." The storm of passion does break over the
edge of the hill overlooking the mighty river, and, amid the wreckage,
the two victims rise into a nobility that the reckless reformer and the
pleasant dilettante have never conceived.

Goncharov had passed many years in Governmental service and had, in fact,
reached the age of thirty-five when his first work, _"A Common
Story,"_ was published. _"The Frigate Pallada,"_ which followed,
is a lengthy descriptive account of an official expedition to Japan and
Siberia in which Goncharov took part. After the publication of _"The
Precipice,"_ its author was moved to write an essay, _"Better Late
Than Never,"_ in which he attempted to explain that the purpose of
his three novels was to present the eternal struggle between East and
West--the lethargy of the Russian and the ferment of foreign influences.
Thus he ranged himself more closely with the great figures among his
contemporaries. Two other volumes consist of critical study and
reminiscence.




CHAPTER I