Alexander Radishchev is one of the most prominent figures of Russian thought. Having written a bold book "Journey from St. Petersburg", a brief summary of which is given in this article, he put an end to his career, but remained honest with himself.
short biography
Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev was born on August 20 (old style) in 1749. His father was a large landowner, who raised his son in the estate near Moscow, in the village of Nemtsovo. Little Sasha received a good home education, although he was enrolled in one of the gymnasiums in Moscow.
At thirteen, he was enrolled in the Page Corps, where Radishchev studied until 1766. After that, he went to Leipzig, where in addition to studying at the law faculty, he managed to study literature, medicine and foreign languages. After returning to Russia, he worked in the Senate, then at the headquarters of the Finnish division. And since 1780, Radishchev worked in customs.
In addition to the activities of an official, he is engaged in literature: he writes The Word About Lomonosov, an ode to Liberty, and much more. The talented writer was very negative about the policies of Catherine the Great. Actually, you will meet this criticism by reading the chapter summary “Travel from St. Petersburg”. So let's get started.
The idea of ​​"Travel from St. Petersburg to Moscow." Reaction to publication
In the late nineties of the XVIII century. Radishchev’s main work, Travel from Petersburg, was published, a summary of which is presented in our article. Due to strong criticism of the current order in the country, the work was almost immediately banned, and the author himself was convicted and sent into exile. The famous statement of Catherine the Great that Radishchev is a rebel, worse than Pugachev, went down in history. The bold author was initially sentenced to death, but later replaced with a prison term of 10 years.
What is this book about?
The named book is written in the first person and represents travel notes. The author (he is also a storyteller) leaves St. Petersburg, reflecting on the fact that the main weakness of a person is his unwillingness to look directly at many things. That is why, according to the author, and all the troubles. The narrator hopes that at least a few will read and understand his book.
In general, transmitting a brief summary of "Journey from St. Petersburg", it should be noted that each chapter of the work is a negative trait of a person. After reading it to the end, you can see that the author criticized not so much the state and system in it, as the person himself in this state.
Chapter "Departure"
So, a certain traveler (his name is not, but we understand that a story is being kept on behalf of Radishchev, besides there will be references to his biography in the course of the book) leaves St. Petersburg for Moscow. A way of movement is a wagon. The narrator is a middle-aged nobleman who has money and lives well (before dinner, he had dinner with friends, as the book says).
"Journey from St. Petersburg": a summary of the chapters "Sofia" and "Tosno"
Otherwise, this chapter can be called the "Lazy Commissioner", because the main quality described in it is laziness. In Sofia, the author woke up, falling asleep while still leaving Petersburg. The coachman straightened the horses, and the writer entered the postal house. From a conversation with the commissioner, he finds out that there are no fresh horses and there is nothing to help so far - you have to wait in the morning.
In fact, the commissioner is simply too lazy to work at night and he is lying (there are more than two dozen horses in the stable). Unable to get help from the boss, the author turns to the coachmen and those, for payment, harness his wagon with fresh horses.
The narrator complains about the road, which was repaired only on the occasion of the passage of Catherine along with her retinue. The rest of the time, she is just in terrible condition.
Stopping at the Tosno station, the writer gets acquainted with a local official who writes a book, according to which, supposedly, all the nobles will be able to find out about antiquity of a kind. According to the narrator, such a book is a great stupidity, and its author is a stupid and arrogant person. Radishchev's position is this: it is a petty evil - to brag about its roots.
Chapters: "Lyuban" and "Miracle"
Passing a brief summary of Lyuban (Travel from St. Petersburg), we note that the main idea here is the poor attitude of the authorities towards subordinates.
The author, to take a break from the wagon, walks and sees a man who plows in the field. Now it’s a holiday, and working in the field is a sin. In response to the narrator’s question, why the peasant works on weekends, he says that out of seven days he works for the gentleman and only a day to feed his family.
The writer becomes ashamed, because he himself is not very good about his servant. This meeting made the storyteller rethink his attitude to ordinary people.
And in the summary of “Miracle” (“Journey from St. Petersburg”), we note that the main idea here is this: indifference is one of the worst qualities of a person.
In the town of Chudovo, the narrator meets with a friend Ch. Thoth talks about a boat trip and about the events that happened during her. The ship hit the rocks and began to sink. Pavel, one of the sailors, sailed to the shore for help, but they refused him, because the commander was asleep and did not want to wake him. Finally, someone on the shore responded and people on the ship were saved. In the morning, Mr. Ch. Decided to visit the boss and ask why he was indifferent to people's misfortune, which is why he calmly stated that he was not responsible for saving people.
This story plunged the author into heavy thought.
Chapters "Spasskaya Polest" and "Podberezie"
The next chapter of "Travels from St. Petersburg" - "Spasskaya Leaf", a brief summary which we will tell.
The author spends the night at the station, where the jury and his wife sleep in the same room. A dialogue takes place between the couple, in which the assessor tells his wife about the official who loves oysters very much. For this delicacy, he can push his subordinates, give them ranks and orders.
The next morning, the assessor asks the author to give them a little lift in his wagon, and along the way he says that because of the arbitrariness in the state apparatus, he lost his job, position and flees from the police.
Then the narrator falls asleep and in a dream sees himself as a ruler, in whom everything is perfect in the country. But suddenly a woman comes to him, who calls herself Truth, and removes from the eyes of the author-ruler the veil of deception. He sees clearly, sees the misfortune of the people, the theft of officials and wakes up in horror.
Otherwise, the chapter “Subberezhye” can be called “Meeting with the Seminar”. After reading the summary of Travel from St. Petersburg, I think many will agree with this.
The narrator meets a young man who has just graduated from a theological seminary. The former seminarist has far-reaching plans - he wants to go to Petersburg, because in the capital you can continue training at the highest level. The young man complains about the seminary, for the narrator, for there, according to him, only Latin teach nothing more.
When parting, he loses the paper, which the author then picks up and finds out that the young man is a follower of Martinism. The writer himself condemns any mystical movements, be it Martinism or Freemasonry.
Chapter about Veliky Novgorod
In this chapter, the writer reflects on one of the capitals of the Old Russian state - Novgorod. The author indulges in thoughts about the significance of the city in ancient times, about a democratic society in Novgorod and about the defeat of Ivan the Terrible by his guardsmen. By the way, from the point of view of historians, Radishchev is not right when he talked about democracy in Novgorod. Democracy did not exist there, and power belonged to the rich.
The author visits his acquaintance - the merchant Karp. He is a swindler and deceives people for a lot of money. In fact, deception was never a curiosity for trading Russia. All this forces the author to ask a very interesting question: is law necessary when there is force?
The chapter on divine thoughts or "Bronnitsy", the chapter "Zaitsevo"
While the wagon stood at the station, the author goes to the mountain, where the temple was once located. Thinking about God and man, he comes to the following conclusion: God is, he gave life to everything earthly, including man. But a person must take care of himself to be happy.
A friend of the author, who met in Zaitsevo, talks about a case that he once examined in court. It was dedicated to the cruelty of the landowner towards the peasants. Once, tired of enduring the gentleman, the peasants beat him to death and they wanted to judge them for it. But something unheard of happened - the judge (author of the author) admitted the innocence of the peasants and tried to do everything to let them go. But other fellow judges considered such a decision incorrect and jointly condemned the peasants. The storyteller’s friend quit and left.
After parting with a friend, the narrator receives a letter from St. Petersburg, where his friend writes about the wedding between a lady of sixty-two years and a baron of seventy-eight. Marriage is exclusively on money, everyone understands this and pretends that it is so.
"The Baptists": a chapter in "Journey from St. Petersburg" by Radishchev
The summary of the chapter “Sacred” can be expressed in two words: “fathers and children”.
Here is a scene where a gray-haired father says goodbye to children who leave to start their adult life far from home. He gives children instructions, the sons saddled the horses and left.
The author reflects on whether there is respect and love between generations, or whether everything is based on money and external well-being.
The head where the father bury his son
The author observes the funeral, where the father buries his son and tears his own hair from grief. The father blames himself for the fact that his son was sick from birth and died through his fault.
The narrator understands what is at stake, because in his youth he was sick and took medicine that could affect his children in the future. The main cause of the disease is debauchery, but diseases, of course, are sexually transmitted.
The summary of the book "Journey from St. Petersburg" reached the chapter "Valdai" (although now the name sounds like Valdai). This town was famous as a city of debauchery and fallen women. The narrator in this chapter compares it to a large brothel.
Chapters: "Edrovo", "Khotilov" and "Vyshny Volochok"
In a brief summary of the chapter "Edrovo" ("Journey from St. Petersburg") we can mention that in it the author travels past the village, where he meets peasant Anna. She cannot marry, as she and her groom do not have enough money for the wedding. The narrator wants to help, but the lovers refuse. In the chapter, the author reflects on unequal marriages and the fact that girls from the village are more beautiful than secular ladies.
In the chapter "Khotilov", the author, leaving the wagon, stumbles upon a bundle that lies on the ground. It contains a draft on the abolition of serfdom. The narrator leaves a bundle to himself and reads with pleasure what is written there.
In the chapter "Vyshny Volochok" Radishchev reflects on the terrible working conditions of the peasants and the cruelty of the landowners.
Chapters: "Gull", "Torzhok" and "Copper"
Among the papers that were in the convolution, the author finds a project that says that it would be necessary to reduce the luxury of the courtyard, because no one is interested in such wastefulness.
In the chapter "Torzhok" the conversation is transmitted with a young man who is in a hurry to Petersburg to achieve the abolition of censorship in Torzhok. This young man would like to print newspapers and magazines dedicated to what is happening in the city, but he is not allowed to. The author reflects on the origin of censorship as a historical phenomenon.
In a brief summary of the chapter "Copper" ("Journey from St. Petersburg"), we mention the bitter truth that the peasants in Russia of that era are a commodity. They are separated, families are divided, they are sold, they are drunk.
Tver city and the head of "Gorodnya"
In this city, the author meets one newfangled poet who complains that poetry does not develop in Russia. He reads the writer the ode to Liberty, which he really wants to print.
The chapter "Gorodnya" describes the wires to the army. The old mother, losing her son, will now starve to death without a breadwinner. But the son is satisfied, because for him to join the army, it means to leave the landowner. Here are other peasants, whom the owner sold to serve in order to buy a carriage.
Heads of "Zavidovo" and "Wedge"
The idea of ​​the head of "Zavidovo" is to show that people are used to humiliating themselves in front of the authorities, and that one is becoming bolder, seeing such slavish submission. There is a clash between the narrator and some boss, in which the author gives a fitting rebuff to the insolent.
At Klin station, the author meets a blind old man and gives it to him. The old man refuses, asking for something instead of money, for example, a scarf. He soon dies, and the narrator learns that the old man did not take off his scarf until his death.
Pawns and Black Mud
In a brief summary of "Pawns" ("Journey from St. Petersburg"), it is impossible not to mention that the author devoted her to describing the life of peasants not in the field, but at home, in the hut. He convincingly paints poverty, dirt, hungry and sick children. In the same chapter, the landlords should be encouraged to think about their peasants.
A summary of the story "Journey from St. Petersburg", comes to the chapter "Black Mud". Here, the author describes a wedding that takes place under the compulsion of the master. Husband and wife can not stand each other, but are required to obey.
Reflections on Lomonosov and the conclusion
Even in Tver, the author was presented an essay about Lomonosov. Actually, that poet who complained about poetry in Russia made such a gift. This essay states that Lomonosov is a very important figure for Russian culture. The poet believes that Lomonosov is a pioneer in many areas, but he brought the most important thing in the development of the language.
Reading this essay, the author arrives in Moscow.
Conclusion from the foregoing
We tried to convey a summary of Travel from Petersburg by Radishchev. Recall that for this work the author was sent into exile by personal decree of Catherine the Great.
The manuscript was almost unknown to anyone until the middle of the nineteenth century. Prior to this period, "Travel" was forbidden and went around only in a few copies. It is known that one of them was in the personal library of Alexander Pushkin.
There is nothing surprising in the fact that the composition caused such a reaction from the authorities. After reading the Journey from St. Petersburg now, a brief summary of which was given in the article, we see that for that time and that era it was very bold. And Radishchev had to be a really strong man, so as not to be afraid to write this work.