The meaning of the work is what to do by Chernyshevsky. N

The novel begins on July 11, 1856. A message is found in a hotel room in St. Petersburg, in which it is written that the author will soon become the cause of conversation on the Liteiny Bridge and that there is no need to look for those responsible for this event. Soon it actually becomes known that a man shot himself on the Liteiny Bridge at night. His headdress with a trace of a bullet was caught from the water.

At this time, Vera Pavlovna is sewing in a house on Kamenny Island. A maid comes in and hands her a letter, after reading which Vera Pavlovna begins to sob, pushing away the young man who came into her room, saying that it was all his fault.

The novel then tells the story that led to this outcome. Vera Pavlovna grew up in St. Petersburg. Her father managed a multi-storey building, and her mother lent money at interest. The mother’s main concern was to give Vera a profitable marriage, and for this Marya Alekseevna spared no expense. Soon the son of the owners of the house, Storeshnikov, drew attention to Vera. The mother, having learned about this, told Vera to be kinder to him, but Vera understands that Storeshnikov’s true goal is not to marry her. Dmitry Sergeevich Lopukhov, a medical student invited as a teacher for Vera’s brother Fedya, helps Vera get out of this situation. At first he tries to find a position as a governess for Vera, and when he fails, he quits his studies, takes up private lessons and translating textbooks, and marries Vera. Vera has the first of a series of dreams. In this dream, she talks to a beauty who is nothing but love for people. Vera seems to have been released from a dark basement, and she promises that now she herself will do everything to release other girls from the basements.

Lopukhov and Vera settle in a rented apartment, the owner of which, looking at their relationship, is very surprised - the newlyweds sleep in different rooms, always knock and wait for an answer before entering their husband’s room, and never go into the common room undressed. Vera explains to her that this is the real family life of spouses who want to experience love for each other for as long as possible.

Vera Pavlovna not only runs the household and gives private lessons, she also decides to start her own business. Vera organizes a sewing workshop, taking on girls as her assistants, who, like her, receive a percentage of the workshop's income. And after a short time she sees another dream - a field on which ears of corn grow. There is real dirt on the field, this is caring for what a person needs, from this dirt the ears of corn grow, and fantastic dirt - caring about an empty, unnecessary matter, and from this dirt nothing grows.

Alexander Matveevich Kirsanov, Dmitry’s friend, often comes to the Lopukhovs’ house. He spends a lot of time with Vera, and then suddenly disappears and returns again only when Dmitry falls ill. The reason for this disappearance is love for Vera. Vera also feels that she loves Kirsanov. This is confirmed by her next dream, in which she reads a diary, which says that she does not love her husband, and only feels gratitude towards him. Dmitry finds a way out of this situation - he goes to the Liteiny Bridge, and a shot is heard there.

Rakhmetov, one of Kirsanov’s friends, a “special person,” comes to Vera. Rakhmetov was once rich, but he sold his estate and gave away all the money. Now he leads an extremely ascetic lifestyle. Rakhmetov gives Vera a letter from Lopukhov. She reads the letter and calms down, a smile appears on her face. After this, she becomes Kirsanov’s wife. The letter received says that Vera and Dmitry are very different people. The letter was written by a medical student who introduced himself as a friend of Lopukhov and reported that after breaking up with Vera Lopukhov was feeling great.

The way of life of the Kirsanov family is no different from the way of life to which Vera was accustomed while living with Lopukhov. But she feels that Kirsanov not only loves her, but is always ready to listen and help. She has another dream in which she sees pictures from the lives of women at different times. In this dream, the beauty from the first dream appears again, explaining to Vera what gender equality and women's freedom are.

Soon, the Beaumont family appears among the people visiting the Kirsanov house. Having met with Charles Beaumont, Kirsanov realizes that this is Lopukhov. Soon the Beaumonts and Kirsanovs decide to live in the same house and run the household together.

For the first time, Chernyshevsky’s most famous work, the novel “What is to be done?”, was published as a separate book. - published in 1867 in Geneva. The initiators of the book's publication were Russian emigrants; in Russia the novel was banned by censorship by that time. In 1863, the work was still published in the Sovremennik magazine, but those issues where its individual chapters were published soon found themselves banned. Summary “What to do?” The youth of those years passed Chernyshevsky on to each other by word of mouth, and the novel itself in handwritten copies, so much so did the work make an indelible impression on them.

Is it possible to do something

The author wrote his sensational novel in the winter of 1862-1863, while in the dungeons of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The dates of writing are December 14-April 4. From January 1863, censors began working with individual chapters of the manuscript, but, seeing only a love line in the plot, they allowed the novel to be published. Soon the deep meaning of the work reaches the officials of Tsarist Russia, the censor is removed from office, but the job is done - a rare youth circle of those years did not discuss the summary of “What is to be done?” With his work, Chernyshevsky wanted not only to tell Russians about the “new people”, but also to arouse in them a desire to imitate them. And his bold call echoed in the hearts of many of the author’s contemporaries.

The youth of the late 19th century turned Chernyshevsky’s ideas into their own lives. Stories about the numerous noble deeds of those years began to appear so often that for some time they became almost commonplace in everyday life. Many suddenly realized that they were capable of Action.

Having a question and a clear answer to it

The main idea of ​​the work, and it is doubly revolutionary in its essence, is personal freedom, regardless of gender. That is why the main character of the novel is a woman, since at that time the dominance of women did not extend beyond the confines of their own living room. Looking back at the life of her mother and close friends, Vera Pavlovna early realizes the absolute mistake of inaction, and decides that the basis of her life will be work: honest, useful, giving the opportunity to live with dignity. Hence morality - personal freedom comes from the freedom to perform actions that correspond to both thoughts and capabilities. This is what Chernyshevsky tried to express through the life of Vera Pavlovna. "What to do?" chapter by chapter, he paints readers a colorful picture of the step-by-step construction of “real life.” Here Vera Pavlovna leaves her mother and decides to open her own business, so she realizes that only equality between all members of her artel will correspond to her ideals of freedom, so her absolute happiness with Kirsanov depends on Lopukhov’s personal happiness. interconnected with high moral principles - this is all Chernyshevsky.

Characteristics of the author's personality through his characters

Both writers and readers, as well as omniscient critics, have the opinion that the main characters of the work are a kind of literary copies of their creators. Even if not exact copies, they are very close in spirit to the author. The narration of the novel “What to do?” is told in the first person, and the author is an active character. He enters into conversation with other characters, even argues with them and, like a “voice-over,” explains to both the characters and the readers many points that are incomprehensible to them.

At the same time, the author conveys to the reader doubts about his writing abilities, says that “he doesn’t even speak the language well,” and he certainly doesn’t have a drop of “artistic talent.” But for the reader his doubts are unconvincing; this is also refuted by the novel that Chernyshevsky himself created, “What is to be done?” Vera Pavlovna and the rest of the characters are so accurately and versatilely drawn, endowed with such unique individual qualities that an author who does not have true talent would be unable to create.

New, but so different

Chernyshevsky’s heroes, these positive “new people”, according to the author’s conviction, from the category of unreal, non-existent, should one day by themselves firmly enter our lives. To enter, to dissolve in the crowd of ordinary people, to push them aside, to regenerate someone, to convince someone, to completely push the rest - those who are intractable - out of the general mass, ridding society of them, like a field of weeds. The artistic utopia that Chernyshevsky himself was clearly aware of and tried to define through its name is “What to do?” A special person, in his deep conviction, is capable of radically changing the world around him, but how to do this, he must determine for himself.

Chernyshevsky created his novel as a counterweight to Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons”; his “new people” are not at all like the cynical nihilist Bazarov, who irritates with his peremptory attitude. The cardinality of these images is in the implementation of their main task: Turgenev’s hero wanted to “clear a place” around him from everything old that had outlived his own, that is, to destroy, while Chernyshevsky’s characters tried more to build something, to create, before destroying.

Formation of the “new man” in the middle of the 19th century

These two works of great Russian writers became for readers and the literary community of the second half of the 19th century a kind of beacon - a ray of light in a dark kingdom. Both Chernyshevsky and Turgenev loudly declared the existence of a “new man” and his need to create a special mood in society capable of bringing about fundamental changes in the country.

If you re-read and translate the summary of “What to do?” Chernyshevsky in the plane of revolutionary ideas that deeply affected the minds of a certain part of the population of those years, then many of the allegorical features of the work will become easily explainable. The image of the “bride of her grooms”, seen by Vera Pavlovna in her second dream, is nothing more than “Revolution” - this is precisely the conclusion drawn by writers who lived in different years, who studied and analyzed the novel from all sides. The rest of the images that are narrated in the novel are also marked by allegory, regardless of whether they are animated or not.

A little about the theory of reasonable egoism

The desire for change not only for oneself, not only for one’s loved ones, but also for everyone else runs like a red thread through the entire novel. This is completely different from the theory of calculating one’s own benefit, which Turgenev reveals in Fathers and Sons. In many ways, Chernyshevsky agrees with his fellow writer, believing that any person not only can, but should also reasonably calculate and determine his individual path to his own happiness. But at the same time, he says that you can only enjoy it surrounded by equally happy people. This is the fundamental difference between the plots of the two novels: in Chernyshevsky, the heroes forge well-being for everyone, in Turgenev, Bazarov creates his own happiness without regard to those around him. Chernyshevsky is all the closer to us through his novel.

“What to do?”, the analysis of which we give in our review, is ultimately much closer to the reader of Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons.”

Briefly about the plot

As the reader who has never picked up Chernyshevsky’s novel has already been able to determine, the main character of the work is Vera Pavlovna. Through her life, the formation of her personality, her relationships with others, including men, the author reveals the main idea of ​​her novel. Summary “What to do?” Chernyshevsky's list of characteristics of the main characters and details of their lives can be conveyed in a few sentences.

Vera Rozalskaya (aka Vera Pavlovna) lives in a fairly wealthy family, but everything in her home disgusts her: her mother with her dubious activities, and her acquaintances, who think one thing, but say and do something completely different. Having decided to leave her parents, our heroine tries to find a job, but only with Dmitry Lopukhov, who is close to her in spirit, gives the girl the freedom and lifestyle that she dreams of. Vera Pavlovna creates a sewing workshop with all seamstresses having equal rights to its income - a rather progressive idea for that time. Even her suddenly flared up love for her husband’s close friend Alexander Kirsanov, which she became convinced of while caring for the sick Lopukhov with Kirsanov, does not deprive her of sanity and nobility: she does not leave her husband, she does not leave the workshop. Seeing the mutual love of his wife and close friend, Lopukhov, staging suicide, frees Vera Pavlovna from all obligations to him. Vera Pavlovna and Kirsanov get married and are quite happy about it, and a few years later Lopukhov appears in their lives again. But only under a different name and with a new wife. Both families settle in the neighborhood, spend quite a lot of time together and are quite satisfied with the circumstances that have arisen in this way.

Does being determine consciousness?

The formation of Vera Pavlovna’s personality is far from the pattern of character traits of those of her peers who grew up and were brought up in conditions similar to her. Despite her youth, lack of experience and connections, the heroine clearly knows what she wants in life. Getting married successfully and becoming an ordinary mother of a family is not for her, especially since by the age of 14 the girl knew and understood a lot. She sewed beautifully and provided the whole family with clothes; at the age of 16 she began earning money by giving private piano lessons. Her mother's desire to get her married is met with a firm refusal and she creates her own business - a sewing workshop. The work “What to do?” is about broken stereotypes, about courageous actions of a strong character. Chernyshevsky in his own way gives an explanation for the well-established statement that consciousness determines the existence in which a person finds himself. He defines, but only in the way he decides for himself - either following a path not chosen by him, or finding his own. Vera Pavlovna left the path prepared for her by her mother and the environment in which she lived and created her own path.

Between the realms of dreams and reality

Determining your path does not mean finding it and following it. There is a huge gap between dreams and their implementation in reality. Someone does not dare to jump over it, but someone gathers all their will into a fist and takes a decisive step. This is how Chernyshevsky responds to the problem raised in his novel “What is to be done?” The analysis of the stages of formation of Vera Pavlovna’s personality is carried out by the author himself instead of the reader. He guides him through the heroine’s embodiment of her dreams of her own freedom in reality through active work. It may be a difficult path, but it is a straight and completely passable path. And according to it, Chernyshevsky not only guides his heroine, but also allows her to achieve what she wants, letting the reader understand that only through activity can the cherished goal be achieved. Unfortunately, the author emphasizes that not everyone chooses this path. Not every.

Reflection of reality through dreams

In a rather unusual form he wrote his novel “What is to be done?” Chernyshevsky. Vera's dreams - there are four of them in the novel - reveal the depth and originality of those thoughts that real events evoke in her. In her first dream, she sees herself freed from the basement. This is a certain symbolism of leaving her own home, where she was destined for an unacceptable fate. Through the idea of ​​liberating girls like her, Vera Pavlovna creates her own workshop, in which each seamstress receives an equal share of her total income.

The second and third dreams explain to the reader through real and fantastic dirt, reading Verochka’s diary (which, by the way, she never kept) what thoughts about the existence of different people possess the heroine at different periods of her life, what she thinks about her second marriage and the very necessity of this marriage. Explanation through dreams is a convenient form of presentation of the work that Chernyshevsky chose. "What to do?" - content of the novel , reflected through dreams, the characters of the main characters in dreams are a worthy example of Chernyshevsky’s use of this new form.

Ideals of a bright future, or Vera Pavlovna’s Fourth Dream

If the heroine’s first three dreams reflected her attitude towards accomplished facts, then her fourth dream reflected dreams about the future. It is enough to remember it in more detail. So, Vera Pavlovna dreams of a completely different world, implausible and beautiful. She sees many happy people living in a wonderful house: luxurious, spacious, surrounded by amazing views, decorated with flowing fountains. In it no one feels disadvantaged, there is one common joy for everyone, one common well-being, everyone is equal in it.

These are the dreams of Vera Pavlovna, this is how Chernyshevsky would like to see reality (“What to do?”). Dreams, and they, as we remember, are about the relationship between reality and the world of dreams, reveal not so much the spiritual world of the heroine, but the author of the novel himself. And his full awareness of the impossibility of creating such a reality, a utopia that will not come true, but for which it is still necessary to live and work. And this is also what Vera Pavlovna’s fourth dream is about.

Utopia and its predictable ending

As everyone knows, his main work is the novel “What is to be done?” - Nikolai Chernyshevsky wrote while in prison. Deprived of family, society, freedom, seeing reality in the dungeons in a completely new way, dreaming of a different reality, the writer put it on paper, without believing in its implementation. Chernyshevsky had no doubt that “new people” are capable of changing the world. But he also understood that not everyone will survive under the power of circumstances, and not everyone will be worthy of a better life.

How does the novel end? The idyllic coexistence of two families close in spirit: the Kirsanovs and the Lopukhovs-Beaumonts. A small world created by active people full of nobility of thoughts and actions. Are there many similar happy communities around? No! Isn't this the answer to Chernyshevsky's dreams about the future? Whoever wants to create his own prosperous and happy world will create it; whoever doesn’t want to will go with the flow.

Year of writing: Publication:

1863, "Contemporary"

Separate edition:

1867 (Geneva), 1906 (Russia)

in Wikisource

"What to do?"- a novel by Russian philosopher, journalist and literary critic Nikolai Chernyshevsky, written in December - April, during his imprisonment in the Peter and Paul Fortress of St. Petersburg. The novel was written partly in response to Ivan Turgenev's novel Fathers and Sons.

History of creation and publication

Chernyshevsky wrote the novel while in solitary confinement in the Alekseevsky ravelin of the Peter and Paul Fortress, from December 14, 1862 to April 4, 1863. Since January 1863, the manuscript has been transferred in parts to the investigative commission in the Chernyshevsky case (the last part was transferred on April 6). The commission, and after it the censors, saw only a love story in the novel and gave permission for publication. The censorship oversight was soon noticed, and the responsible censor, Beketov, was removed from office. However, the novel had already been published in the magazine Sovremennik (1863, No. 3-5). Despite the fact that the issues of Sovremennik, in which the novel “What is to be done?” were published, were banned, the text of the novel in handwritten copies was distributed throughout the country and caused a lot of imitations.

“They talked about Chernyshevsky’s novel not in a whisper, not in a low voice, but at the top of their lungs in the halls, on the entrances, at Madame Milbret’s table and in the basement pub of the Stenbokov Passage. They shouted: “disgusting,” “charming,” “abomination,” etc. - all in different tones.”

“For Russian youth of that time, it [the book “What is to be done?”] was a kind of revelation and turned into a program, became a kind of banner.”

The emphatically entertaining, adventurous, melodramatic beginning of the novel was supposed to not only confuse the censors, but also attract a wide mass of readers. The external plot of the novel is a love story, but it reflects new economic, philosophical and social ideas of the time. The novel is permeated with hints of the coming revolution.

• In the novel by N. G. Chernyshevsky “What to do?” aluminum is mentioned. In the “naive utopia” of Vera Pavlovna’s fourth dream, it is called the metal of the future. And this great future By now (mid XX - XXI centuries) aluminum has already reached.
• The “lady in mourning” who appears at the end of the work is Olga Sokratovna Chernyshevskaya, the writer’s wife. At the end of the novel we are talking about the liberation of Chernyshevsky from the Peter and Paul Fortress, where he was while writing the novel. He never received his release: on February 7, 1864, he was sentenced to 14 years of hard labor followed by settlement in Siberia.
• The main characters with the surname Kirsanov are also found in Ivan Turgenev’s novel “Fathers and Sons”.

Literature

• Nikolaev P. Revolutionary novel // Chernyshevsky N. G. What to do? M., 1985

Film adaptations

• 1971: Three-part teleplay (directors: Nadezhda Marusalova, Pavel Reznikov)

Notes

see also

Links

Categories:

• Literary works in alphabetical order
• Nikolai Chernyshevsky
• Political novels
• Novels of 1863
• Novels in Russian

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See what “What to do? (novel)” is in other dictionaries:

- "What to do?" the philosophical question of various thinkers, religious figures, prophets, as well as literary works with this title: “What to do?” novel by Nikolai Chernyshevsky, his main work. "What to do?" book... ...Wikipedia

The name of the famous socio-political novel (1863) by Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky (1828 1889). The main question that in the 60s and 70s. XIX century was discussed in youth circles, there was, as the revolutionary P. N. Tkachev writes, “the question that ... ... Dictionary of popular words and expressions

Date of birth: June 16, 1965 Place of birth: Makeevka, Ukrainian SSR, USSR ... Wikipedia

Nikolai Chernyshevsky’s novel “What to do?” contemporaries perceived it ambiguously. Some considered him an “abomination,” others considered him a “charm.” This is due to the complex composition, attempts to hide the main idea behind the dreams of the main character and the love triangle, and, finally, to the peculiarities of the language design. Nevertheless, the novel had a serious influence on Russian society in the 19th century. Schoolchildren study it in 10th grade. We offer a brief analysis of the work “What to do?”, which will help you prepare qualitatively for the lessons and for the Unified State Exam.

Brief Analysis

History of creation- N. Chernyshevsky created the novel while he was in the Peter and Paul Fortress. The writer was arrested for radical ideas. The work was conceived as a response to Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons,” so there is a certain similarity between the images of Evgeny Bazarov and Rakhmetov.

Subject– In the work, two main themes can be distinguished - love and life in a new society built on the basis of the laws of labor and equality.

Composition- The structure of the work has its own peculiarities. The through lines of the novel are the life of Vera Pavlovna, the fates of Lopukhov and Kirsanov. Love twists and turns play a major role in these storylines. Vera Pavlovna’s dreams are closely intertwined with reality. With the help of them, the author encrypted socio-political motives.

Genre– A novel in which one can notice the features of several genre varieties - a utopian novel, socio-political, love and philosophical novels.

Direction– Realism.

History of creation

The writer worked on the analyzed work for several months: from December 1862 to April 1863. At that time he was under arrest in the Peter and Paul Fortress. He was imprisoned for his radical views. The novel was conceived as a response to Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons,” so there is a certain similarity between the images of Yevgeny Bazarov and Rakhmetov.

While working on the novel, N. Chernyshevsky understood that censorship would not allow it to be published if it noticed an acute political subtext. To deceive the regulatory authorities, the writer resorted to artistic techniques: he framed social motives with a love context and introduced dreams into the plot. He managed to publish his work in Sovremennik, but soon the authorities prohibited not only distributing the novel, but even imitating it. Permission was granted to publish Chernyshevsky’s work “What is to be done?” only in 1905

Subject

The novel displays motifs characteristic of Russian literature of the 19th century. The writer implemented them in an extraordinary, intricate plot. He presented situations that should push the reader to independent conclusions.

N. Chernyshevsky revealed several topics, among which the following stand out: love, which is nourished by common interests and mutual respect; dreams of a new life. These topics are closely intertwined and determine Problems“What to do?”: marriage without love, friendship, equality of men and women, the role of work in human life.

A significant part of the novel is devoted to the life of Vera Pavlovna. The heroine's mother wanted to marry her to a rich man. She considered the owner's son to be a profitable match. The mother did not even think that he was a womanizer with whom her daughter would not find happiness. Verochka was saved from an unsuccessful marriage by medical student Dmitry Lopukhov. A tender feeling arose between the young people and they got married. Vera became the owner of a sewing workshop. However, she did not use hired labor. The heroine made the girls who worked for her co-owners, and they shared the income equally. In the story about Vera Pavlovna’s workshop, the author embodied the idea of ​​equal labor.

The marriage with Lopukhov soon broke up: Verochka fell in love with her husband’s friend, Kirsanov. To untie the love knot, Lopukhov decided to shoot himself. It turns out that he left the note discussed at the beginning of the novel. In the message, he stated that no one was to blame for his death, and Vera Pavlovna calmly married Kirsanov.

The married couple lived happily. Vera Pavlovna was passionate about her favorite activity - sewing workshops; she began to study medicine, and her husband helped her in every possible way. In the descriptions of the family life of these people, the idea of ​​​​equality of men and women is manifested. At the end of the novel we learn that Lopukhov is alive. Now he took the surname Beaumont and married Ekaterina Vasilievna Polozova. The Kirsanov and Beaumont families begin to become friends and spread the ideas of a “new” life.

Composition

In “What to do?” the analysis should be supplemented with a characterization of the composition. Features of the formal and semantic organization of the text allow the author to reveal several topics and veil forbidden motives. At first glance, love twists and turns play the main role in the novel. In fact, they are a mask that hides socio-political problems. To reveal the latter, the author used the description of Vera Pavlovna’s dreams.

The components of the plot are placed inconsistently: the author presents the event from the development of actions before the exposition, and only then the plot elements are arranged in a logical chain. Both at the beginning and at the end of the novel the image of Lopukhov appears. This creates a kind of frame.

Main characters

Genre

The genre of the work is a novel, as it has several plot lines, and the central problem remains open. The work is characterized by genre syncretism: it intertwines the features of love, philosophical, socio-political novels and utopia. The direction of the work is realism.

Work test

Rating Analysis

Average rating: 4.1. Total ratings received: 74.

Nikolai Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky

What to do?

From stories about new people

FROM THE EDITOR

Novel by N. G. Chernyshevsky “What to do?” was written within the walls of the Peter and Paul Fortress in December 1862-April 1863. Soon published in Sovremennik, it played a colossal, incomparable role not only in fiction, but also in the history of Russian socio-political struggle. It is not for nothing that thirty-eight years later V.I. Lenin also entitled his work dedicated to the foundations of the new ideology.

Printed in a hurry, with a constant eye on censorship, which could prohibit the publication of subsequent chapters, the journal text contained a number of negligence, typos and other defects - some of them remained uncorrected to this day.

The 1863 issues of Sovremennik, which contained the text of the novel, were strictly confiscated, and for more than forty years the Russian reader was forced to use either five foreign reprints (1867-1898) or illegal handwritten copies.

Only the revolution of 1905 lifted the censorship ban on the novel, which rightfully received the name “textbook of life.” Before 1917, four editions were published, prepared by the writer’s son, M. N. Chernyshevsky.

After the Great October Socialist Revolution and until 1975, the novel was republished in Russian at least 65 times, with a total circulation of more than six million copies.

In 1929, the Politkatorzhan publishing house published a draft, half-encrypted text of the novel, recently discovered in the royal archives; his reading is the result of the heroic work of N. A. Alekseev (1873-1972). ([Obituary]. - Pravda, 1972, May 18, p. 2.) However, from the point of view of the requirements of modern textual criticism, this publication cannot in any way satisfy us today. Suffice it to say that it does not reproduce the options and crossed out places. There are also many inaccuracies in the publication “What is to be done?” as part of the 16-volume “Complete Works” of Chernyshevsky (vol. XI, 1939. Goslitizdat, prepared by N.A. Alekseev and A.P. Skaftymov): in comparison, this book contains more than a hundred corrections.

Strange as it may seem, a scientific publication of the novel has not yet been carried out. Its text has never been fully commented on: some parts, understandable to contemporaries, but dark for us, remained undisclosed or incorrectly interpreted.

This edition for the first time provides a scientifically verified text of the novel and fully reproduces the draft autograph. In addition, a note from Chernyshevsky to A. N. Pypin and N. A. Nekrasov is printed, which is important for understanding the concept of the novel and remained misunderstood for a long time. The appendix contains articles on the problems of studying the novel and notes necessary for its correct understanding.

Sincere gratitude to the granddaughter of the great revolutionary and writer, N. M. Chernyshevskaya for a number of advice and constant friendly assistance and M. I. Perper for important textual guidance.

The main text of the novel, a note for A. N. Pypin and N. A. Nekrasov, the article “Problems of studying the novel “What is to be done?”” and notes were prepared by S. A. Reiser; article “Chernyshevsky the Artist” - G. E. Tamarchenko; draft text - T. I. Ornatskaya; bibliography of translations into foreign languages ​​- B. L. Kandel. The general editing of the publication was carried out by S. A. Reiser.

"What to do?"

From stories about new people

(Dedicated to my friend O.S.Ch.)

On the morning of July 11, 1856, the servants of one of the large St. Petersburg hotels near the Moscow railway station were perplexed, partly even alarmed. The day before, at 9 o'clock in the evening, a gentleman arrived with a suitcase, took a room, gave him his passport for registration, asked for tea and a cutlet, said that he should not be disturbed in the evening, because he was tired and wanted to sleep, but that tomorrow they would definitely unwind him at 8 o'clock, because he had urgent business, he locked the door of the room and, making noise with a knife and fork, making noise with the tea set, soon became quiet - apparently, he fell asleep. The morning has come; at 8 o'clock the servant knocked on the door of yesterday's visitor - the visitor did not give a voice; the servant knocked harder, very hard, but the newcomer still did not answer. Apparently, he was very tired. The servant waited a quarter of an hour, started to wake him up again, but again he didn’t wake him up. He began to consult with other servants, with the barman. “Did something happen to him?” - “We need to break down the doors.” - “No, that’s not good: you have to break down the door with the police.” We decided to try to wake him up again, harder; If he doesn’t wake up here, send for the police. We made the last test; didn’t get it; They sent for the police and are now waiting to see what they see with them.

Around 10 o'clock in the morning a police official came, knocked himself, ordered the servants to knock - the success was the same as before. "There's nothing to do, break down the door, guys."

The door was broken down. The room is empty. “Look under the bed” - and there is no passer-by under the bed. The police official approached the table; there was a sheet of paper on the table, and on it was written in large letters:

“I’m leaving at 11 o’clock in the evening and will not return. They will hear me on the Liteiny Bridge, between 2 and 3 o’clock in the morning. Do not be suspicious of anyone.”

So here it is, the thing is clear now, otherwise they couldn’t figure it out,” said the police official.

What is it, Ivan Afanasyevich? - asked the barman.

Let's have some tea and I'll tell you.

The story of the police official was for a long time the subject of animated retellings and discussions in the hotel. This is what the story was like.

At half past 3 o'clock in the morning - and the night was cloudy and dark - a fire flashed in the middle of the Liteiny Bridge, and a pistol shot was heard. The guards rushed to the shot, a few passers-by came running - there was no one and nothing at the place where the shot was heard. This means he didn’t shoot, but shot himself. There were hunters to dive, after a while they brought in hooks, they even brought some kind of fishing net, they dived, groped, caught, caught fifty large chips, but the bodies were not found or caught. And how to find it? - the night is dark. In these two hours it’s already at the seaside - go and look there. Therefore, progressives arose who rejected the previous assumption: “Or maybe there was no body? Maybe a drunk, or just a mischievous person, was fooling around, shot, and ran away, or else, perhaps, he’s standing right there in the bustling crowd, yes.” he laughs at the trouble he has caused.”

But the majority, as always when reasoning prudently, turned out to be conservative and defended the old: “he was fooling around - he put a bullet in his forehead, and that’s all.” The progressives were defeated. But the winning party, as always, split up immediately after the fight. Shot himself, yes; but why? “Drunk,” was the opinion of some conservatives; “squandered,” other conservatives argued. “Just a fool,” someone said. Everyone agreed on this “just a fool,” even those who denied that he shot himself. Indeed, whether he was drunk, or wasted, shot himself, or was a mischievous person, he didn’t shoot himself at all, but just threw something away - it doesn’t matter, it’s a stupid, stupid thing.

This was the end of the matter on the bridge at night. In the morning, in a hotel near the Moscow railway, it was discovered that the fool was not fooling around, but had shot himself. But as a result of history, there remained an element with which the vanquished agreed, namely, that even if he did not fool around and shot himself, he was still a fool. This result, satisfactory for everyone, was especially lasting precisely because the conservatives triumphed: in fact, if only he had fooled around with a shot on the bridge, then, in essence, it was still doubtful whether he was a fool or just a mischief-maker. But he shot himself on the bridge - who shoots himself on the bridge? how is it on the bridge? why on the bridge? stupid on the bridge! and therefore, undoubtedly, a fool.

Again some doubts arose: he shot himself on the bridge; They don’t shoot on the bridge, so he didn’t shoot himself. “But in the evening, the hotel servants were called to the unit to look at the bullet-ridden cap that had been pulled out of the water - everyone recognized that the cap was the same one that was on the road. So, he undoubtedly shot himself, and the spirit of denial and progress was completely defeated.