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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
Muži si ve volné chvíli chtějí vyprávět příběhy o svých prvních láskách, jenže většina z nich nic nečekaného a skandálního neprožila. Jeden z nich však má čím do debaty přispět - tímto se rámcuje příběh jeho první lásky, který poté ostatním představí.
Samotné vzpomínání odpovídá typické mladické lásce, avšak zvrat, ke kterému dojde, bystrý čtenář odhalí předem. Hrdina jej však navzdory svému mládí nevidí, a to byl nejspíš záměr. Mrzelo mě, že příběh nekončil ještě nějakou reflexí daného příběhu, jak hrdinu dále ovlivnil, co si o něm myslí jako starší muž aj. Myslela jsem, že k tomuto bodu dojde v debatě s ostatními muži - že dílo zkrátka skončí tam, kde začalo.
Samotné vzpomínání odpovídá typické mladické lásce, avšak zvrat, ke kterému dojde, bystrý čtenář odhalí předem. Hrdina jej však navzdory svému mládí nevidí, a to byl nejspíš záměr. Mrzelo mě, že příběh nekončil ještě nějakou reflexí daného příběhu, jak hrdinu dále ovlivnil, co si o něm myslí jako starší muž aj. Myslela jsem, že k tomuto bodu dojde v debatě s ostatními muži - že dílo zkrátka skončí tam, kde začalo.
I did not want to know whether I was loved, and I did not want to acknowledge to myself that I was not.
I gave myself up to fruitless speculation, and was always looking for secluded places. I became particularly fond of the ruined greenhouse. I used to climb, I remember, on to the high wall, settle myself on it and sit there, a youth afflicted by such misery, solitude and grief that I would be overcome with self-pity. How I reveled in these melancholy feelings - how I adored them.I am in love with Turgenev's prose - so simple yet so captivating <3
Een kort verhaal, maar met veel dramatische ontwikkeling en plot. Veel moet je uit de subtiele aanwijzingen halen en dat is prachtig gedaan.
Update: Mijn volledige bespreking is hier te vinden: http://bettinaschrijft.blogspot.com/2023/02/eerste-liefde-ivan-toergenjev.html
Update: Mijn volledige bespreking is hier te vinden: http://bettinaschrijft.blogspot.com/2023/02/eerste-liefde-ivan-toergenjev.html
"What rich promise did the future seem to hold out to me, when with scarcely a sigh – only a bleak sense of utter desolation – I took my leave from the brief phantom, risen for a fleeting instant, of my first love?"
This is absolutely a stunning book.
I missed the prologue of the book so I had no idea that Vladimir was telling his group of his friends the story of his first love.
We started with a 16-year old Vladimir (aka Woldemar) who was deeply infatuated with his new neighbor, Princess Zenaida. Vladimir's POV is very easy to get into. He resonated a lot with my character before. At sixteen, I thought I had things figured out but no, it just keeps evolving as I grow older. This is also the case for Vladimir.
Turgenev captured his youth realistically: he was so in love, he was jealous, he felt small in a sea of grown men, and he deeply admired his father. Vladimir grew up having parents whose marriage was dysfunctional and that also played a role in this story.
"he respected my freedom; he displayed – if one can put it that way – a certain courtesy towards me; only he never let me come at all close to him. I loved him, I was full of admiration for him; he seemed to me the ideal man – and God knows how passionately attached to him I should have been if I had not felt constantly the presence of his restraining hand."
- It felt like Turgenev wrote this intending to show parallels between Vladimir & Zinaida and Vladimir's parents.
Firstly, the age gap. Vlad's father is 10 years younger than his mother whereas Vlad himself is 5 years younger than Zinaida. I constantly had to remind myself that this story took place in the 18th century therefore boys at age 15 were already considered mature. Next, Zinaida's like his father: cold, stern, and level-headed. Meanwhile, Vladimir is youthful and very in love with Zinaida.
"My soul would open; I chattered to him as to a wise friend, an indulgent mentor…and then, just as suddenly, he would abandon me, his hand would again push me aside – kindly and gently – but, nevertheless, aside."
Secondly, Vladimir's relationship with his father, Pyotr Vassilitch. Vladimir looks up to him. Moreover, he seems to be more affectionate when it comes to his father but he couldn't fully rely on that connection because his father is a complicated man. He would push him aside only to pull him back again.
And this is also what happened with Zinaida. Vladimir said: At other times, she would suddenly push me away – and then I dared not approach her, dared not look at her.
For Zinaida, I had mixed feelings about her character. She was complex and mysterious. She played with Vladimir's feelings at times and I felt bad for him. But it is her complexity that made her fascinating. Zinaida's childhood had made her a woman with an air of superiority.
Turgenev's writing made me so connected with Vladimir. It felt like I was walking on the surface of calm water and would slip sometimes. I think that's the precise explanation of my experience reading this book.
I knew something was going on with Zinaida and Vlad's father. But still, sometimes I can't help but think I'm just misjudging the situation. What if they don't even have an affair? But they did and it fucking hurt.
I cried for Vladimir because he still didn't bore any ill feelings for his father after what happened.
In the end, when Zinaida had died of childbirth, I don't know if it could've been different had Vladimir saw his first love before she died.
This is easily one of my favourite novels.
Lastly, 5 stars because Vladimir and I have daddy issues.
This is absolutely a stunning book.
I missed the prologue of the book so I had no idea that Vladimir was telling his group of his friends the story of his first love.
We started with a 16-year old Vladimir (aka Woldemar) who was deeply infatuated with his new neighbor, Princess Zenaida. Vladimir's POV is very easy to get into. He resonated a lot with my character before. At sixteen, I thought I had things figured out but no, it just keeps evolving as I grow older. This is also the case for Vladimir.
Turgenev captured his youth realistically: he was so in love, he was jealous, he felt small in a sea of grown men, and he deeply admired his father. Vladimir grew up having parents whose marriage was dysfunctional and that also played a role in this story.
"he respected my freedom; he displayed – if one can put it that way – a certain courtesy towards me; only he never let me come at all close to him. I loved him, I was full of admiration for him; he seemed to me the ideal man – and God knows how passionately attached to him I should have been if I had not felt constantly the presence of his restraining hand."
- It felt like Turgenev wrote this intending to show parallels between Vladimir & Zinaida and Vladimir's parents.
Firstly, the age gap. Vlad's father is 10 years younger than his mother whereas Vlad himself is 5 years younger than Zinaida. I constantly had to remind myself that this story took place in the 18th century therefore boys at age 15 were already considered mature. Next, Zinaida's like his father: cold, stern, and level-headed. Meanwhile, Vladimir is youthful and very in love with Zinaida.
"My soul would open; I chattered to him as to a wise friend, an indulgent mentor…and then, just as suddenly, he would abandon me, his hand would again push me aside – kindly and gently – but, nevertheless, aside."
Secondly, Vladimir's relationship with his father, Pyotr Vassilitch. Vladimir looks up to him. Moreover, he seems to be more affectionate when it comes to his father but he couldn't fully rely on that connection because his father is a complicated man. He would push him aside only to pull him back again.
And this is also what happened with Zinaida. Vladimir said: At other times, she would suddenly push me away – and then I dared not approach her, dared not look at her.
For Zinaida, I had mixed feelings about her character. She was complex and mysterious. She played with Vladimir's feelings at times and I felt bad for him. But it is her complexity that made her fascinating. Zinaida's childhood had made her a woman with an air of superiority.
Turgenev's writing made me so connected with Vladimir. It felt like I was walking on the surface of calm water and would slip sometimes. I think that's the precise explanation of my experience reading this book.
I knew something was going on with Zinaida and Vlad's father. But still, sometimes I can't help but think I'm just misjudging the situation. What if they don't even have an affair? But they did and it fucking hurt.
I cried for Vladimir because he still didn't bore any ill feelings for his father after what happened.
In the end, when Zinaida had died of childbirth, I don't know if it could've been different had Vladimir saw his first love before she died.
This is easily one of my favourite novels.
Lastly, 5 stars because Vladimir and I have daddy issues.
Een zestienjarige Vladimir die verliefd is op eenentwintigjarige Zinaïda, die veel aanbidders heeft. Ik heb echter geen positieve indruk over deze jonge vrouw, maar overal vind ik dat Ivan Turgenev het gevoel van jonge Vladimir heel goed heeft kunnen beschrijven, en dat het verhaal prachtig geschreven is.
emotional
sad
tense
Initial reaction: Beautifully nostalgic and sweet.
I think this book will haunt me for some time. There's something about its compellingly sweet prose (at least in the translation I read) that draws you in, that lures you with such delights as natural scenery and fair skin, then keeps you hanging for foolish jumps and stinging whips. The tragedy of this story is twisted, like in many of the short novels we read for this class, Middle Fictions, but in its wickedness is great. I think I echo the words of my teacher when I say so, but nevertheless, it is true. Love in this arena is something Zinaida uses as weapon, as a defense against the ills of poverty and her mother's disgruntled state. It is something she can use to set herself apart, a natural aptitude to this manipulation. I would read this again and then a hundred times more if ever I need a reminder of a more tragic first love than mine.
I think this book will haunt me for some time. There's something about its compellingly sweet prose (at least in the translation I read) that draws you in, that lures you with such delights as natural scenery and fair skin, then keeps you hanging for foolish jumps and stinging whips. The tragedy of this story is twisted, like in many of the short novels we read for this class, Middle Fictions, but in its wickedness is great. I think I echo the words of my teacher when I say so, but nevertheless, it is true. Love in this arena is something Zinaida uses as weapon, as a defense against the ills of poverty and her mother's disgruntled state. It is something she can use to set herself apart, a natural aptitude to this manipulation
Spoiler
, one that is so readily mirrored in her true love. Sometimes I wonder if the title refers not to Vladimir's first love, but Zinaida's, her first true love, all encompassing and unrealistic and deadly. She has only thought that she experienced love before this, before the relationship with the nameless father, but only when it happens does she truly know. Only when it happens can she say that she has loved. And how does she die? Childbirth. She cannot, in my eyes, become a mother just as Vladimir's father was unsuited for fatherhood. Their dispositions much prevent them from such, and no child would benefit from any wisdom they may think to impart
A little predictable but really well written. Turgenev is one of my favorite Russian authors and this didn't disappoint.
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes