The Precipice, Ivan Goncharov
The Precipice, Ivan Goncharov
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The Precipice

Author: Ivan Goncharov

Narrator: Eloise Fairfax

Unabridged: 9 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/19/2025

Categories: Fiction, Humorous

Synopsis

Ivan Goncharov’s The Precipice is a richly layered novel exploring love, ambition, and societal expectations in 19th-century Russia. The story follows Vera, a spirited young woman torn between three men: the idealistic artist Boris, the pragmatic nobleman Pechorin, and the manipulative charmer Volokhov. Each represents different facets of passion, duty, and selfishness, embodying the tensions between personal desires and societal norms. Set against the backdrop of rural estates and bustling cities, the novel delves into themes of morality, art, and human frailty. Goncharov’s keen eye for detail and psychological insight captures the complexity of relationships and the struggle for self-fulfillment. A poignant blend of romance and social critique, The Precipice examines the fine line between love and obsession, freedom and responsibility, leaving readers to ponder the choices that define our lives.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Evoli on January 04, 2026

3.5 ☆ It is EXTREMELY NOTICEABLE that Goncharov has been PONDERING AND CHEWING on this book for 20 years... The vast majority of themes in this book was really interesting, however, it got extremely tedious to read (and mind you, I read it in the original language)... I've been CHEWING on it for half a......more

Goodreads review by MJ on January 20, 2025

Goncharov’s swansong is a sprawling monster where an impatient dilettante returns to his country estate and tries his luck with two cousins—the first, a flighty, immature pixie under her Granny’s heel, the second an aloof and headstrong enigma with a gorgeous phizog. Across 500 pages or so, we follo......more

Goodreads review by Richard on June 24, 2018

By the time The Precipice was published in 1869 the Superfluous Man, embodied here by Raisky, and the New Man, embodied here by Volokhov, were already well established characters in Russian literature. Raisky is a bit more energetic than Goncharov's more famous Superfluous Man, Oblomov, but equally......more

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