Mikhail Zoshchenko’s "Regained Youth," a summary

"Regained Youth" is a socio-psychological novel by Mikhail Zoshchenko, combining fiction with medical treatises and historical insights. Written in 1933, the book explores the causes of neurasthenia, premature aging, and the practical possibilities for people to manage their own bodies through a sensible regimen and mental hygiene.

The story is part of Mikhail Zoshchenko’s autobiographical and philosophical-psychological trilogy, consisting of three works: "Letters to a Writer" (1931), "Regained Youth" (1933), and "Before Sunrise" (1943). The book ranks second in this series.

Scientific and theoretical preamble

The author opens the story with an apology to medical professionals for invading their professional domain. The narrator defines the genre of his book as a "culture film" — a popular science narrative that combines theoretical articles, footnotes, and diagrams with visual illustrations of the events.

The theoretical chapters explore the problem of premature aging among the intelligentsia. The author notes that many people after age 35 lose their emotional vitality and develop chronic illnesses. This is caused by nervous exhaustion, a chaotic lifestyle, domestic conflicts, and an inability to promptly overcome the body’s harmful inertia.

The book offers a detailed analysis of the biographies of famous artists who died early or abandoned their creative work: Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, Frédéric Chopin, Wolfgang Mozart, Mikhail Lermontov, Vladimir Mayakovsky, and Jack London. Their early deaths are attributed to emotional conflicts, exhausted nervous systems, and a lack of adequate rest.

The author contrasts the deaths of artists with the longevity of scientists and materialist thinkers. Democritus, Hippocrates, Voltaire, Immanuel Kant, Johann Goethe, and Ivan Pavlov retained vigor and high productivity into old age. They treated their bodies as precision machines, maintaining strict hygiene and consciously regulating their nervous systems.

To explain the physiological processes, five short stories are given: about the unconscious smile of a healthy baby, about the senseless physical activity of a gambler who has lost, about a monkey who instantly forgot a grudge for the sake of grapes, about an artist who hiccupped for three days due to a nervous fixation, and about a nursing mother whose body continued to produce milk after the death of her child.

These examples demonstrate that the human brain controls all internal organs, but often acts inertly. Without conscious control, the nerve centers prolong painful conditions, perpetuate faulty functions, and lead to physiological decline and premature aging.

Professor Volosatov’s life in Detskoye Selo

The main narrative revolves around fifty-three-year-old astronomy professor Vasily Petrovich Volosatov, who lives in Detskoye Selo near Leningrad. By the age of fifty-three, he has become an apathetic, decrepit old man with sluggish movements, a flabby face, constant heart attacks, and crippling insomnia.

The professor’s family is gradually falling apart. His wife, Ekaterina Sergeyevna, spends her days playing solitaire and telling fortunes. His daughter, Lida, a twenty-three-year-old researcher and active social activist, constantly argues with her father about politics, accusing him of reactionary tendencies and out-of-touch attitudes. Her ailing son, Kolya, spends his time in sanatoriums.

The Karetnikovs, their neighbors, live in the same house. The head of the family is a hypochondriac accountant, constantly treating imaginary parasite bites by beating mattresses and taking ice baths. His wife leads an idle life. Their home life is dominated by the cynical and licentious lover of the landlady, Alexei Ivanovich Kashkin.

The Karetnikovs’ daughter, nineteen-year-old Tulya (Natalya), is an attractive but extremely superficial young woman who dreams of luxury, cars, and finery. By the age of nineteen, she had had five husbands and several abortions, each time returning to her parents’ home.

Change of character and separation from family

After suffering a severe heart attack on a train, Professor Volosatov decides to overcome his illness on his own. He studies medical encyclopedias and concludes that his old age is the result of a nervous breakdown, a decline in strength, and accumulated bad habits.

Volosatov radically changed his lifestyle: he began doing daily gymnastics, running around the garden in his underwear, dousing himself with cold water, going for walks in a summer net, and ice skating. Along with his physical strengthening, the selfish rigidity of youth began to creep into his character.

The professor begins to mock his daughter Lida, casts aside his old doubts, and feels a surge of strength. Soon, Kashkin encourages Tulya to flirt with her rejuvenated neighbor, counting on his professorial income, foreign possessions, and personal pension.

Volosatov falls passionately in love with Natalya Karetnikova. He trims and dyes his mustache, buys her gifts and sweets, and promises a trip to the south. One spring day, the professor leaves a note for his wife, packs his suitcases, and moves in with his neighbors.

Her husband’s departure triggers a profound tragedy. Ekaterina Sergeyevna attempts to drown herself in a pond but passes out in the snow. Lida and Kashkin bring her home. Meeting her father on the street, arm in arm with Tulya, Lida slaps him in the face, but Volosatov only smirks indifferently in response.

Soon, his son Kolya dies in the hospital after surgery. Having received the sad news on the eve of his departure, the professor decides not to cancel the trip and sets off for Crimea with Natalia.

A trip to Yalta and disaster

Volosatov and Tulya arrive in Yalta and stay at a hotel overlooking the sea. The professor experiences an incredible surge of energy and elation, but he begins to suffer from headaches and a constant ringing in his ears, caused by extreme physical and emotional stress.

Soon, Tula grows tired of the professor’s stories about planets and the structure of the universe. She begins to get bored, dresses up, and openly flirts with young men on the beach and in restaurants.

Returning to his room after a swim in the sea, Volosatov finds Tulya in the arms of a young engineer. A sudden, devastating blow leads to disaster: the professor suffers a cerebral hemorrhage. He loses the use of the right side of his body and loses speech.

Arriving in Yalta, Kashkin takes charge. Despite the local doctor’s warnings about the dangers of transporting the paralyzed professor and the tearful Tulya, Kashkin transports them back to Leningrad, where Volosatov is hospitalized.

Returning and correcting errors

Lida visits Volosatov at the hospital. The professor weeps, kisses his daughter’s hand, and chokes out, "There are mistakes, but the line is right." A month later, the hemorrhage resolves, and Volosatov is discharged.

Returning to Detskoye Selo, Volosatov gives up on continuing his affair with Tulya. He enters his home, kneels before Ekaterina Sergeyevna, and begs for forgiveness. His wife forgives him, and they decide to start a new life.

The professor recovers his health without extreme strain: he engages in moderate exercise, goes boating, plays volleyball, and returns to his academic work. He becomes involved in community service, joins a shock-worker brigade, and harmoniously integrates into the socialist system.

Ekaterina Sergeyevna begins learning shorthand. Tulya marries a naval engineer, becomes pregnant, and becomes a housewife. Accountant Karetnikov dies suddenly of a heart attack during a thunderstorm. Kashkin organizes his funeral and continues to find advantage in any situation.

Physiological commentary by the author

The story is accompanied by eighteen authorial commentaries, in which Zoshchenko delves deeply into medical and biological issues. The author draws on Ivan Pavlov’s theory of higher nervous activity, exploring the mechanisms of conditioned reflexes and neural inhibition.

Zoshchenko examines the phenomenon of sublimation — the conversion of sexual energy into creative energy — using Alexander Pushkin’s "Boldino Autumn" as an example. The author thoroughly analyzes the ways in which the psyche influences the body’s somatic state, explaining the nature of psychoneuroses.

The commentary provides autobiographical information: the writer talks about his birth in 1895, participation in the First World War, gas poisoning, changing twelve professions, and his own many years of experience overcoming severe neurasthenia.

The book contains reflections on the laws of the body’s energy system, the influence of the subconscious, and self-hypnosis on overcoming physiological pathologies. The author shares his personal experience of practical healing, demonstrating the possibility of restoring vitality through conscious control of one’s nervous system.