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The frigate Pallada
English, Russian (translation)
649 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1858
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About the author
Ivan Goncharov
281 books499 followersRussian novelist Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov (/ˈɡɒntʃəˌrɔːf, -ˌrɒf/; Russian: Ива́н Алекса́ндрович Гончаро́в), best known for his novels
A Common Story
(1847),
Oblomov
(1859), and
The Precipice
(1869). He also served in many official capacities, including the position of censor.
Goncharov was born into the family of a wealthy merchant, elevated as a reward for military service of his grandfather to gentry status. A boarding school, then the Moscow college of commerce, and finally Moscow State University educated him. After graduating, he served for a short time in the office of the governor of Simbirsk before moving to Saint Petersburg, where he worked as government translator and private tutor, while publishing poetry and fiction in private almanacs. People published A Common Story , first novel of Goncharov, in Sovremennik in 1847.
Goncharov's second and best-known novel Oblomov was published in 1859 in Otechestvennye zapiski. His third and final novel The Precipice was published in Vestnik Evropy in 1869. He also worked as a literary and theatre critic. Towards the end of his life Goncharov wrote a memoir called An Uncommon Story, in which he accused his literary rivals, first and foremost Ivan Turgenev, of having plagiarized his works and prevented him from achieving European fame. The memoir was published in 1924. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, among others, considered Goncharov an author of high stature. Anton Chekhov is quoted as stating that Goncharov was "...ten heads above me in talent."
Goncharov was born into the family of a wealthy merchant, elevated as a reward for military service of his grandfather to gentry status. A boarding school, then the Moscow college of commerce, and finally Moscow State University educated him. After graduating, he served for a short time in the office of the governor of Simbirsk before moving to Saint Petersburg, where he worked as government translator and private tutor, while publishing poetry and fiction in private almanacs. People published A Common Story , first novel of Goncharov, in Sovremennik in 1847.
Goncharov's second and best-known novel Oblomov was published in 1859 in Otechestvennye zapiski. His third and final novel The Precipice was published in Vestnik Evropy in 1869. He also worked as a literary and theatre critic. Towards the end of his life Goncharov wrote a memoir called An Uncommon Story, in which he accused his literary rivals, first and foremost Ivan Turgenev, of having plagiarized his works and prevented him from achieving European fame. The memoir was published in 1924. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, among others, considered Goncharov an author of high stature. Anton Chekhov is quoted as stating that Goncharov was "...ten heads above me in talent."
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July 7, 2021
Somehow writing the review about a diplomatic voyage in the 19th century has reminded me about my own business travel in Japan at the beginning of this one. The hybrid result is as follows (warning - becomes progressively more comic to the end).
This book was written by the famous Russian writer about his voyage on the aforementioned Russia military frigate. "In the autumn of 1852 Goncharov received an invitation to take part in the Admiral Putyatin-led around the world expedition through England, Africa, Japan, and back to Russia."(Wiki). The main mission was ‘to open” Japan. The Russians were there approximately at the same time as the Americans lead by captain Perry. But they stayed near Nagasaki while Perry’s mission was focused on Tokyo. The book has become a bestseller in Russian in the 19th century and allegedly it was quite popular recently as well.
Though written by Goncharov, the author of Oblomov, I do not think it is a wonderful piece of literature. However, it gives a very interesting point of view on the world of empires in the middle of the 19th century. It shows the forming prejudices and ideologies of the colonising nations. Goncharov interchangeably admires and reviles Britain. But it is evident that Russia aspires to the same mixture of “civilising the savages” and using their resources in the “best way” known only “to the advanced” European nations. Goncharov of course includes the Russians into this lot. He is vexing lyrical how brilliantly the English organised South African colony as opposed to the Dutch. And how clever they were in pacifying the local tribes. He is much less happy about how the English are treating the Chinese in the Opium Wars. But Russia is of course better. And he underlines it when he describes his comeback through Siberia. He admires the acumen of the Russian peasants colonising the land under Tzar’s supervision and how “wonderfully” they are dealing with the locals. All in all, the book is really interesting historical document if read critically. If one is interested in the story, but short of time I would recommend A World of Empires: The Russian Voyage of the Frigate Pallada instead of reading this one. It contains the great modern analysis and puts this story into the proper wider context.
I want to focus only on two observations here. The one is this sheer superiority and entitlement those people felt while visiting strange lands. Here is the extract when they arrived at some Korean village:
“When we tried to glance over the fence or entered the gates - what a noise those Koreans made! They even tried to hold us by our dress or sometimes pushed us rather rudely. For that we’ve beaten their hands, and they were became immediately pacified not dissimilar to the dogs who walk behind pedestrians burning from the desire to bite, but not daring.”
Reading it, I felt something close to rage on behave of those Koreans. Especially as we all know this picture has been replayed so many times over different parts of the Globe. It is plane disgusting for our modern sensibilities. But I am not sure it does not happen somewhere even now when I write this unfortunately.
Another thing is cultural differences. Those often lead to the tragic misunderstanding. But sometimes they are more harmless and very comic. A big chunk of the book is devoted to the trade negotiations between the Russians and the Japanese. Incidentally, when the Japanese asked which nation first “opened” them up for the rest of the world, they apparently refer to the Russians, not to the Americans. The Russians and the Japanese did not have a common language and used Japanese translators communicating in Dutch. This and a huge difference in the etiquette has lead to the enormous potential for misunderstanding and comic situations. I quote below A World of Empires: The Russian Voyage of the Frigate Pallada.
"The Japanese mixture of repulsive and superiority seems to be a mirror image of the Russian one. In the imperial encounters, western and eastern prejudices clashed, though the easterners at least stayed out of lands of those they despised.”
Goncharov does not spare the Japanese of his ridicule on many occasions. “But some of the Russians behaviour may appear equally comical today. Their insistence on using chairs proves a big sticking point in the logistics of this diplomacy. Having firmly rejected sitting on tatami mats, the Russians bring their own chairs from the frigate to Nagasaki’s governor mansion. This forces the Japanese to erect platforms on which to sit, so as not to be placed too low vis-a-vis the Russians. Far from entirely comfortable in their chairs and tight parade uniforms, the Russians have trouble reaching the refreshments placed on. The floor in front of them. During the most active phase of the negotiations in 1854, the Russian ferry chairs to and from the frigate for each meeting. The Japanese refuse to store the chairs, in case damage by fire or rats makes them responsible for these exotic items. The Russians solemnly release their hosts of such liability to no avail. During the initial reception at the governor’s, the Russians also refuse tot take off their footgear, as is proper in Japanese interiors - but on order not to offend their hosts, they place specially sewn calico covers over their shoes. As he shuffles through the corridors of. The governor’s palace, Goncharov keeps losing his shoe covers, those imperilling the successor Russian state diplomacy”.
This story has vividly reminded me my own experience in Japan in 2004. I was on business visiting the office of the one of a Hollywood’s studio. First few days we were getting accustomed to bowing before and after the business meeting, taking business cards with both hands and looking at them in a way as it was something totally revelatory written on them at least for a few minutes. And they were in Japanese. Also it took some time to adjust to listening to a music when someone was flashing the toilet. (I was properly spooked the first time around especially after it took me a while to figure which button is for flashing mechanism). But then, as a part of my work, we needed to visit a warehouse where they were storing film reels. It was called “the backroom” and it was situated somewhere on the outskirts of Tokyo. Needless to say that neither me, nor my boss, a substantial Flemish woman, did not speak any Japanese. The mobile phones were much more advanced in Japan those days. So our phones did not work. There were three of us visiting. Our Japanese translator has shovelled my boss and me into a taxi he has stopped with his hand outside of the office. He said something to the white gloved driver who nodded agreeably. We assumed it was all fine. After we departed, the translator and our colleague, John, were about to catch another taxi for themselves.
So there we went: two of us at the back sit with a silent, very seriously and solemnly looking Japanese driver behind the wheel. We traveled for about an hour without knowing where we were going, different landscape passing behind the window until it changed to a suitably industrially looking buildings in different stages of construction and something which reminded me of slums in between. We have become l little alerted by this stage. But as we were supposed to visit something looking as a warehouse, not too much. However, soon our driver has stopped in front of the huge round building looking like a stadium. It was literally at the middle of nowhere. In his solemn and ceremonial way, he pushed a little button opening out door. You are not supposed and I think you even cannot open the door yourself. So here we were - no single person around, and an empty edifice looking like a stadium, or a cosmodrome, or maybe like British GCHQ intelligence building but not like a backroom in-front of us. Our door is opened and the silent driver is waiting for us to get out.
“No, no. no” - says my boss in her perfect English trying, not successfully to close that door, - “it is not our destination. We need a backroom”.
The man is looking at us totally and understandably without any comprehension and is trying to push his magic button again rather demonstrably. My boss then tells to me:
“Do you think it might be here?”.
I pretty much doubted it. But she says:
“OK. Let’s try to go and look around”.
“But there is no-one here” - I say, “Not a single car passed. How would we catch another taxi, especially without knowing a single word.”
“That is true”- she said. Ok we would not let this one go.”
All of this is happening when our driver just patiently sitting with his back to us. My boss taps him on his shoulder and says rather loudly and carefully articulating her sounds:
“Do not leave please”.
He nods. We are getting out from that door. I am first, she is second. But as soon as she is out of the door, it starts to close, and to her amazement, the car is starting to slowly move! I would have to acknowledge her bravery and self-sacrifice, but she literally jumps in-front of the car with her considerable weight and shouts again:
“No, no, no!”
The driver stops, pushes the button again and the door is starting slowly opening again! I feel a nervous laughter raising inside. It is a competition of the wills: the one of my boss, now red faced and progressively angrier against the driver’s who has hardly moved a muscle through the whole exchange, but starting to look a bit alarmed. Unsuitably I think: “If it would go to the feast fight, she would win.” My boss is telling me:
“Right. You get into the car, but put your foot out on the ground so he could not leave. And I will go and check is this the right place”.
I try to limit the damage:
“Could we swap? I can run faster.”
She agrees. To no-one’s surprise, the place is totally deserted, I found only one small door which was probably last used during the restoration. When I come back, I see a detente scene. My boss is sitting with her both feet out and drawing something on the piece of paper. The driver is trying to call someone and looking a bit less solemn.
“How would you draw a backroom?”
She asks. It is evident that drawing is not her forte and not mine unfortunately. We both try to draw a bunch of film reels. She is pushing the picture in front of the driver’s nose shouting:
“Backroom. Films, Hollywood!”
I feel I would now burst into laughing. That would not be very helpful considering the driver starting to think we are mad and again tries to push his button to demonstrate that we need to leave.
“I have the office’s phone number”, I say. I wish we could call and get someone talking to him”.
I did not expect such a prompt reaction from her but while the driver is still recovering from our collectively produced art piece, my boss jumps from behind, and snatches the phone from his hand. She thinks her smile is totally disarming but I could see the driver is starting to look for escape routes. I try to soften the blow by pointing at us, the drawing, the surrounding and making reconciliatory noises while my boss is trying to dial the number. I am thinking what if he would manage to escape right now? We would be in the middle of nowhere with the car which we could not drive and the phone which we were not sure how to use. So I smile to the driver trying to keep a diplomatic relationship of some shape. Fortunately for us all, she got through and they’ve cleared the confusion to some extent. It took awhile as I suspected he did not want to deal with us any longer. But they convinced him to give us another chance.
When we finally arrived at the proper place after some time, we had an extremely moving reunion with our colleague, John. He faired a bit better, but the first thing we’ve seen on arrival was lonely John sitting on a single chair in the middle of the room surrounded by a dozen by standing and silent Japanese workers all in black suits with a tie. A scene from some thriller about the Westerners and Yakuza. I still do not know who those people were as they promptly disappeared as soon as we arrived. Then we’ve finally been welcomed by the management of the backroom.
As this book has reminded me of this story, I could not give it less than the 4*:-)
This book was written by the famous Russian writer about his voyage on the aforementioned Russia military frigate. "In the autumn of 1852 Goncharov received an invitation to take part in the Admiral Putyatin-led around the world expedition through England, Africa, Japan, and back to Russia."(Wiki). The main mission was ‘to open” Japan. The Russians were there approximately at the same time as the Americans lead by captain Perry. But they stayed near Nagasaki while Perry’s mission was focused on Tokyo. The book has become a bestseller in Russian in the 19th century and allegedly it was quite popular recently as well.
Though written by Goncharov, the author of Oblomov, I do not think it is a wonderful piece of literature. However, it gives a very interesting point of view on the world of empires in the middle of the 19th century. It shows the forming prejudices and ideologies of the colonising nations. Goncharov interchangeably admires and reviles Britain. But it is evident that Russia aspires to the same mixture of “civilising the savages” and using their resources in the “best way” known only “to the advanced” European nations. Goncharov of course includes the Russians into this lot. He is vexing lyrical how brilliantly the English organised South African colony as opposed to the Dutch. And how clever they were in pacifying the local tribes. He is much less happy about how the English are treating the Chinese in the Opium Wars. But Russia is of course better. And he underlines it when he describes his comeback through Siberia. He admires the acumen of the Russian peasants colonising the land under Tzar’s supervision and how “wonderfully” they are dealing with the locals. All in all, the book is really interesting historical document if read critically. If one is interested in the story, but short of time I would recommend A World of Empires: The Russian Voyage of the Frigate Pallada instead of reading this one. It contains the great modern analysis and puts this story into the proper wider context.
I want to focus only on two observations here. The one is this sheer superiority and entitlement those people felt while visiting strange lands. Here is the extract when they arrived at some Korean village:
“When we tried to glance over the fence or entered the gates - what a noise those Koreans made! They even tried to hold us by our dress or sometimes pushed us rather rudely. For that we’ve beaten their hands, and they were became immediately pacified not dissimilar to the dogs who walk behind pedestrians burning from the desire to bite, but not daring.”
Reading it, I felt something close to rage on behave of those Koreans. Especially as we all know this picture has been replayed so many times over different parts of the Globe. It is plane disgusting for our modern sensibilities. But I am not sure it does not happen somewhere even now when I write this unfortunately.
Another thing is cultural differences. Those often lead to the tragic misunderstanding. But sometimes they are more harmless and very comic. A big chunk of the book is devoted to the trade negotiations between the Russians and the Japanese. Incidentally, when the Japanese asked which nation first “opened” them up for the rest of the world, they apparently refer to the Russians, not to the Americans. The Russians and the Japanese did not have a common language and used Japanese translators communicating in Dutch. This and a huge difference in the etiquette has lead to the enormous potential for misunderstanding and comic situations. I quote below A World of Empires: The Russian Voyage of the Frigate Pallada.
"The Japanese mixture of repulsive and superiority seems to be a mirror image of the Russian one. In the imperial encounters, western and eastern prejudices clashed, though the easterners at least stayed out of lands of those they despised.”
Goncharov does not spare the Japanese of his ridicule on many occasions. “But some of the Russians behaviour may appear equally comical today. Their insistence on using chairs proves a big sticking point in the logistics of this diplomacy. Having firmly rejected sitting on tatami mats, the Russians bring their own chairs from the frigate to Nagasaki’s governor mansion. This forces the Japanese to erect platforms on which to sit, so as not to be placed too low vis-a-vis the Russians. Far from entirely comfortable in their chairs and tight parade uniforms, the Russians have trouble reaching the refreshments placed on. The floor in front of them. During the most active phase of the negotiations in 1854, the Russian ferry chairs to and from the frigate for each meeting. The Japanese refuse to store the chairs, in case damage by fire or rats makes them responsible for these exotic items. The Russians solemnly release their hosts of such liability to no avail. During the initial reception at the governor’s, the Russians also refuse tot take off their footgear, as is proper in Japanese interiors - but on order not to offend their hosts, they place specially sewn calico covers over their shoes. As he shuffles through the corridors of. The governor’s palace, Goncharov keeps losing his shoe covers, those imperilling the successor Russian state diplomacy”.
This story has vividly reminded me my own experience in Japan in 2004. I was on business visiting the office of the one of a Hollywood’s studio. First few days we were getting accustomed to bowing before and after the business meeting, taking business cards with both hands and looking at them in a way as it was something totally revelatory written on them at least for a few minutes. And they were in Japanese. Also it took some time to adjust to listening to a music when someone was flashing the toilet. (I was properly spooked the first time around especially after it took me a while to figure which button is for flashing mechanism). But then, as a part of my work, we needed to visit a warehouse where they were storing film reels. It was called “the backroom” and it was situated somewhere on the outskirts of Tokyo. Needless to say that neither me, nor my boss, a substantial Flemish woman, did not speak any Japanese. The mobile phones were much more advanced in Japan those days. So our phones did not work. There were three of us visiting. Our Japanese translator has shovelled my boss and me into a taxi he has stopped with his hand outside of the office. He said something to the white gloved driver who nodded agreeably. We assumed it was all fine. After we departed, the translator and our colleague, John, were about to catch another taxi for themselves.
So there we went: two of us at the back sit with a silent, very seriously and solemnly looking Japanese driver behind the wheel. We traveled for about an hour without knowing where we were going, different landscape passing behind the window until it changed to a suitably industrially looking buildings in different stages of construction and something which reminded me of slums in between. We have become l little alerted by this stage. But as we were supposed to visit something looking as a warehouse, not too much. However, soon our driver has stopped in front of the huge round building looking like a stadium. It was literally at the middle of nowhere. In his solemn and ceremonial way, he pushed a little button opening out door. You are not supposed and I think you even cannot open the door yourself. So here we were - no single person around, and an empty edifice looking like a stadium, or a cosmodrome, or maybe like British GCHQ intelligence building but not like a backroom in-front of us. Our door is opened and the silent driver is waiting for us to get out.
“No, no. no” - says my boss in her perfect English trying, not successfully to close that door, - “it is not our destination. We need a backroom”.
The man is looking at us totally and understandably without any comprehension and is trying to push his magic button again rather demonstrably. My boss then tells to me:
“Do you think it might be here?”.
I pretty much doubted it. But she says:
“OK. Let’s try to go and look around”.
“But there is no-one here” - I say, “Not a single car passed. How would we catch another taxi, especially without knowing a single word.”
“That is true”- she said. Ok we would not let this one go.”
All of this is happening when our driver just patiently sitting with his back to us. My boss taps him on his shoulder and says rather loudly and carefully articulating her sounds:
“Do not leave please”.
He nods. We are getting out from that door. I am first, she is second. But as soon as she is out of the door, it starts to close, and to her amazement, the car is starting to slowly move! I would have to acknowledge her bravery and self-sacrifice, but she literally jumps in-front of the car with her considerable weight and shouts again:
“No, no, no!”
The driver stops, pushes the button again and the door is starting slowly opening again! I feel a nervous laughter raising inside. It is a competition of the wills: the one of my boss, now red faced and progressively angrier against the driver’s who has hardly moved a muscle through the whole exchange, but starting to look a bit alarmed. Unsuitably I think: “If it would go to the feast fight, she would win.” My boss is telling me:
“Right. You get into the car, but put your foot out on the ground so he could not leave. And I will go and check is this the right place”.
I try to limit the damage:
“Could we swap? I can run faster.”
She agrees. To no-one’s surprise, the place is totally deserted, I found only one small door which was probably last used during the restoration. When I come back, I see a detente scene. My boss is sitting with her both feet out and drawing something on the piece of paper. The driver is trying to call someone and looking a bit less solemn.
“How would you draw a backroom?”
She asks. It is evident that drawing is not her forte and not mine unfortunately. We both try to draw a bunch of film reels. She is pushing the picture in front of the driver’s nose shouting:
“Backroom. Films, Hollywood!”
I feel I would now burst into laughing. That would not be very helpful considering the driver starting to think we are mad and again tries to push his button to demonstrate that we need to leave.
“I have the office’s phone number”, I say. I wish we could call and get someone talking to him”.
I did not expect such a prompt reaction from her but while the driver is still recovering from our collectively produced art piece, my boss jumps from behind, and snatches the phone from his hand. She thinks her smile is totally disarming but I could see the driver is starting to look for escape routes. I try to soften the blow by pointing at us, the drawing, the surrounding and making reconciliatory noises while my boss is trying to dial the number. I am thinking what if he would manage to escape right now? We would be in the middle of nowhere with the car which we could not drive and the phone which we were not sure how to use. So I smile to the driver trying to keep a diplomatic relationship of some shape. Fortunately for us all, she got through and they’ve cleared the confusion to some extent. It took awhile as I suspected he did not want to deal with us any longer. But they convinced him to give us another chance.
When we finally arrived at the proper place after some time, we had an extremely moving reunion with our colleague, John. He faired a bit better, but the first thing we’ve seen on arrival was lonely John sitting on a single chair in the middle of the room surrounded by a dozen by standing and silent Japanese workers all in black suits with a tie. A scene from some thriller about the Westerners and Yakuza. I still do not know who those people were as they promptly disappeared as soon as we arrived. Then we’ve finally been welcomed by the management of the backroom.
As this book has reminded me of this story, I could not give it less than the 4*:-)
October 1, 2022
Когда думаешь просто послушать милую, проверенную классику на ночь, а оттуда вдруг лезет все то же – тоска, неизведанность, война. С одной стороны, немного утешает, что все это уже было, и все было пережито, но как же хочется, чтобы это так и оставалось в прошлом.
«В последнее наше пребывание в Шанхае, в декабре 1853 г., и в Нагасаки, в январе 1854 г., до нас еще не дошло известие об окончательном разрыве с Турцией и Англией; мы знали только, из запоздавших газет и писем, что близко к тому, – и больше пока ничего. Я помню, что в Шанхае ко мне все приставал лейтенант английского флота, кажется Скотт, чтоб я подержал с ним пари о том, будет ли война или нет? Он утверждал, что не будет, я был противного мнения. Пари не состоялось, и мы ушли сначала в Нагасаки, потом в Манилу – все еще в неведении о том, в войне мы уже или нет, – и с каждым днем ждали известия и в каждом встречном судне предполагали неприятеля.
В этой неизвестности о войне пришли мы и в Манилу и застали там на рейде военный французский пароход. Ни мы, ни французы не знали, как нам держать себя друг с другом, и визитами мы не менялись, как это всегда делается в обыкновенное время. Пробыв там недели три, мы ушли, но перед уходом узнали, что там ожидали английскую эскадру.
Так как мы могли встр��тить ее или французские суда в море, – и, может быть, уже с известиями об открытии военных действий, – то у нас готовились к этой встрече и приводили фрегат в боевое положение. Капитан поговаривал о том, что в случае одоления превосходными неприятельскими силами необходимо-де поджечь пороховую камеру и взорваться.
Все были более или менее в ожидании, много говорили, готовились к бою, смотрели в зрительные трубки во все стороны.
Один только отец Аввакум, наш добрый и почтенный архимандрит, относился ко всем этим ожиданиям, как почти и ко всему, невозмутимо-покойно и даже скептически. Как он сам лично не имел врагов, всеми любимый и сам всех любивший, то и не предполагал их нигде и ни в ком: ни на море, ни на суше, ни в людях, ни в кораблях. У него была вражда только к одной большой пушке, как совершенно ненужному в его глазах предмету, которая стояла в его каюте и отнимала у него много простора и свету».
«В последнее наше пребывание в Шанхае, в декабре 1853 г., и в Нагасаки, в январе 1854 г., до нас еще не дошло известие об окончательном разрыве с Турцией и Англией; мы знали только, из запоздавших газет и писем, что близко к тому, – и больше пока ничего. Я помню, что в Шанхае ко мне все приставал лейтенант английского флота, кажется Скотт, чтоб я подержал с ним пари о том, будет ли война или нет? Он утверждал, что не будет, я был противного мнения. Пари не состоялось, и мы ушли сначала в Нагасаки, потом в Манилу – все еще в неведении о том, в войне мы уже или нет, – и с каждым днем ждали известия и в каждом встречном судне предполагали неприятеля.
В этой неизвестности о войне пришли мы и в Манилу и застали там на рейде военный французский пароход. Ни мы, ни французы не знали, как нам держать себя друг с другом, и визитами мы не менялись, как это всегда делается в обыкновенное время. Пробыв там недели три, мы ушли, но перед уходом узнали, что там ожидали английскую эскадру.
Так как мы могли встр��тить ее или французские суда в море, – и, может быть, уже с известиями об открытии военных действий, – то у нас готовились к этой встрече и приводили фрегат в боевое положение. Капитан поговаривал о том, что в случае одоления превосходными неприятельскими силами необходимо-де поджечь пороховую камеру и взорваться.
Все были более или менее в ожидании, много говорили, готовились к бою, смотрели в зрительные трубки во все стороны.
Один только отец Аввакум, наш добрый и почтенный архимандрит, относился ко всем этим ожиданиям, как почти и ко всему, невозмутимо-покойно и даже скептически. Как он сам лично не имел врагов, всеми любимый и сам всех любивший, то и не предполагал их нигде и ни в ком: ни на море, ни на суше, ни в людях, ни в кораблях. У него была вражда только к одной большой пушке, как совершенно ненужному в его глазах предмету, которая стояла в его каюте и отнимала у него много простора и свету».
October 24, 2021
Вот это я понимаю, тревел блог! Вообще Гончаров каков глобалист, практически всё предугадал, кроме будущего Японии. А ещё действовал, как я (не зря земляк), в первую очередь обедал раз пять в каждой новой стране, и рассказывал, какие они все недалёкие, но милые)
July 30, 2024
Wonderful to read the insights of someone who had never sailed before but who joined a trade and diplomatic mission that sailed around the world in the mid 19th century, from St Petersburg to England, South Africa and Japan; including stays in Singapore, Manila and Shanghai.
Rather than focusing on himself and the many struggles and achievements of ship and crew, Goncharov displays his innate humanity by focusing on the native peoples and the local flora and fauna (while tolerating the various colonialists and bureaucrats along the way). By doing so it made me realise how much adventure writers tend to talk about themselves rather then the peoples they meet. Give me Goncharov and his genuine concerns for the black tribes of South Africa any day. Eg on spotting black prisoners building roads in South Africa he asks to visit them in jail, which he does, twice over. I also enjoyed his naive surprise when seeing native wildlife for the first time, and noticed that he had no desire to kill any of it, unlike other more famous writers before him…
The diaries of Goncharov benefit enormously from being written by a novelist. In that regard as he has a huge advantage over many other travel writers. I will read this relatively short book again for sure.
Rather than focusing on himself and the many struggles and achievements of ship and crew, Goncharov displays his innate humanity by focusing on the native peoples and the local flora and fauna (while tolerating the various colonialists and bureaucrats along the way). By doing so it made me realise how much adventure writers tend to talk about themselves rather then the peoples they meet. Give me Goncharov and his genuine concerns for the black tribes of South Africa any day. Eg on spotting black prisoners building roads in South Africa he asks to visit them in jail, which he does, twice over. I also enjoyed his naive surprise when seeing native wildlife for the first time, and noticed that he had no desire to kill any of it, unlike other more famous writers before him…
The diaries of Goncharov benefit enormously from being written by a novelist. In that regard as he has a huge advantage over many other travel writers. I will read this relatively short book again for sure.
September 14, 2021
Uma das mais fascinantes narrativas de viagem que li. Expressa a descoberta e o encanto de descobrir novas culturas. Oferecendo um retrato da sociedade da época, ao mesmo tempo que demonstra as dificuldades de viajar numa época repleta de perigos.
July 4, 2020
Nice deep dive in 19th century and the era of deep discoveries! Strongly recommended!
July 30, 2024
Be careful, this book can cause you a strong desire to travel☺️
I knew Goncharov had a wonderful writing style, but thanks to “Frigate” he revealed from a completely new side for me. This’s such a sweet, witty, deep, bright work. Even, I would say, the first travel blog of its kind. You immerse yourself with the author in new adventures, discover new exotic places, try unusual cuisines of the world, study the customs of different countries, laugh, feel sad, reflect. I have never regretted I took it to read.
I knew Goncharov had a wonderful writing style, but thanks to “Frigate” he revealed from a completely new side for me. This’s such a sweet, witty, deep, bright work. Even, I would say, the first travel blog of its kind. You immerse yourself with the author in new adventures, discover new exotic places, try unusual cuisines of the world, study the customs of different countries, laugh, feel sad, reflect. I have never regretted I took it to read.
September 23, 2016
Not my favorite book by Goncharov. I guess nowadays we have quite different expectations from a book of this kind. We know more and expect more, so Goncharov's adventure tends to be perceived as a curiosity from the XIX century full of rather odd details rather than a full fledged tour report.
April 24, 2024
This is an excellent mid-nineteenth century account of an around-the-world sailing adventure.
June 11, 2007
A good old leisurely travel book that takes great Russian writer Goncharov (his novel "Oblomov" is canonic) to the Pacific and back in the 1850s.
May 16, 2013
Какие-то записки помещика - где катался, что ел. Никаких стоящих наблюдений кроме зарисовок природы.
August 9, 2016
Временами занудно, но местами очень любопытно. Особенно интересно описание поездки с Охотского моря в Иркутск и цунами в Японии.
August 19, 2022
An interesting travelogue from the age of imperial trade.
September 17, 2023
As piece of Literutur is amazing... Fist Travel review in history))) but it is a bit boring to read
August 11, 2019
«Обрыв» Гончарова мне вовсе не нравится.
Но вот эти путевые заметки просто бесподобны своей непосредственностью и выпуклым и осязаемым ощущением того времени. Оно буквально как живое.
Занятно именно личное, зачастую бытовое восприятие - "сахара у них нет, только песок.. сахарный"..
И интересно наблюдать за развитием языка. Скажем, он панцирь черепахи называет "спинной костью".
В тоже время, он использует термин "невралгия" в том же контексте, что и "простуда". Что мне показалось странным в обиходе столь далекого времени - если бы автор не писал про свое время, наверно, я был бы точно уверен, что это анахронизм..
Но вот эти путевые заметки просто бесподобны своей непосредственностью и выпуклым и осязаемым ощущением того времени. Оно буквально как живое.
Занятно именно личное, зачастую бытовое восприятие - "сахара у них нет, только песок.. сахарный"..
И интересно наблюдать за развитием языка. Скажем, он панцирь черепахи называет "спинной костью".
В тоже время, он использует термин "невралгия" в том же контексте, что и "простуда". Что мне показалось странным в обиходе столь далекого времени - если бы автор не писал про свое время, наверно, я был бы точно уверен, что это анахронизм..
July 8, 2023
Очень замедляющее чтение - то что и было мне нужно в эти безумные полтора года.
Понравились рассуждения Гончарова о глобализации и распространение комфорта. Спустя 150 лет можно подтвердить, что все так и реализовалось. Еще классные описания еды и немного лени - очень человечно.
Но такой момент: надо помнить, что книга написана во времена империй - от некоторых эпизодов сейчас может бомбить.
Понравились рассуждения Гончарова о глобализации и распространение комфорта. Спустя 150 лет можно подтвердить, что все так и реализовалось. Еще классные описания еды и немного лени - очень человечно.
Но такой момент: надо помнить, что книга написана во времена империй - от некоторых эпизодов сейчас может бомбить.
July 19, 2023
Документальное описание полукругосветного путешествия, совершенного Гончаровым в середине 19 века. Совершенно очаровательно и даже познавательно, но это, по-моему, первая книжка в моей жизни, над которой я натурально засыпала. Дело наладилось только в отпуске, оказалось, что хорошо идет на пляже, когда вообще никаких других дел нет, или прямо перед сном.
December 31, 2021
Скучно. Никаких морских приключений не будет, не ждите. Встречается внезапный бессмысленный сексизм
December 31, 2024
Душнила-юморист-домосед отправляется в морское путешествие, где набирается впечатлений и понимания, что дома на диване лучше.
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October 27, 2025Удивительная книга, раскрывает множество фактов о исторической жпохе, нравах ��ого времени в разных уголках мира.
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