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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
I had heard so much about this novel and had been meaning to read it for so long that I began it almost as a duty. I expected it to be dry and intellectual, since it is often referred to in dry and intellectual terms by modern commentators.
So I was surprised from the very first by how comical and tender it is.
It begins with a delightful description of Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov impatiently awaiting the arrival of his son, who has just graduated from St. Petersburg University. His pride as he falls into a daydream, staring at a grey dove sipping from a puddle, is very touching. Even the description of his servant, Peter, with his turquoise earring and pomaded multi-coloured hair, who out of propriety disappears beyond the gate of the post-station to smoke his pipe, is beautifully evocative. It shows how economically Turgenev conveys social context, character and emotion.
Nikolai’s son, Arkady arrives in a flurry of excitement, accompanied by his friend and mentor, Evgeny Vasilev Bazarov, and immediately the tone changes and a note of tension creeps in as Bazarov, who has kindly consented to stay with them, presents a view of his long thin face with its quiet smile and self-assured intelligence.
Bazarov is a Nihilist, which means he doesn’t believe in anything except tearing down the existing social structures and cutting up frogs for his scientific researches. When he meets Arkady’s uncle, Pavel Petrovich, the sparks fly. Pavel is a retired, aristocratic army captain. Like Turgenev, he spent his younger days chasing a pretty coquette around Europe but now, at the grand old age of 48, grey and tired, he has given up chasing women and has nothing to do but put on the finest clothes, dab perfume on his whiskers and sit around looking melancholy.
This is not just about a clash of ideas, it is an endearing social comedy.
The plot unfolds gently in a series of short chapters. It is such a good story that it is best not to read any commentaries on the novel until you’ve finished it. There are several twists and turns. There are unexpected revelations, new characters and significant changes of direction.
Unfortunately, with a classic novel like this it’s easy to get ambushed by major plot spoilers. The introduction of the Oxford World Classics edition gives a summary of the plot within the first few paragraphs and an appendix presents Turgenev’s detailed outline. If you even so much as glance at these, certain words will leap out that give the game away.
Nevertheless, it’s still worth reading even if that does happen because of the deft and skilful way Turgenev handles the story. I won’t give away any more details but certain incidents remain etched in my memory for their visual and verbal impact — some funny, some sad, some charming.
Of course, the social history is important. This was published in 1862, one year after the emancipation of the serfs and two years before Dostoevsky’s Notes From The Underground. The influential anti-establishment critic Belinksy, to whom it is dedicated, was dead and the reformer and rationalist Chernyshevsky had just been arrested and incarcerated in the Peter and Paul Fortress to await exile to Siberia. For these reasons alone the novel has a central place in Russian literature of the nineteenth century, but the best reason to read it is for pleasure. I enjoyed it enormously.
So I was surprised from the very first by how comical and tender it is.
It begins with a delightful description of Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov impatiently awaiting the arrival of his son, who has just graduated from St. Petersburg University. His pride as he falls into a daydream, staring at a grey dove sipping from a puddle, is very touching. Even the description of his servant, Peter, with his turquoise earring and pomaded multi-coloured hair, who out of propriety disappears beyond the gate of the post-station to smoke his pipe, is beautifully evocative. It shows how economically Turgenev conveys social context, character and emotion.
Nikolai’s son, Arkady arrives in a flurry of excitement, accompanied by his friend and mentor, Evgeny Vasilev Bazarov, and immediately the tone changes and a note of tension creeps in as Bazarov, who has kindly consented to stay with them, presents a view of his long thin face with its quiet smile and self-assured intelligence.
Bazarov is a Nihilist, which means he doesn’t believe in anything except tearing down the existing social structures and cutting up frogs for his scientific researches. When he meets Arkady’s uncle, Pavel Petrovich, the sparks fly. Pavel is a retired, aristocratic army captain. Like Turgenev, he spent his younger days chasing a pretty coquette around Europe but now, at the grand old age of 48, grey and tired, he has given up chasing women and has nothing to do but put on the finest clothes, dab perfume on his whiskers and sit around looking melancholy.
This is not just about a clash of ideas, it is an endearing social comedy.
The plot unfolds gently in a series of short chapters. It is such a good story that it is best not to read any commentaries on the novel until you’ve finished it. There are several twists and turns. There are unexpected revelations, new characters and significant changes of direction.
Unfortunately, with a classic novel like this it’s easy to get ambushed by major plot spoilers. The introduction of the Oxford World Classics edition gives a summary of the plot within the first few paragraphs and an appendix presents Turgenev’s detailed outline. If you even so much as glance at these, certain words will leap out that give the game away.
Nevertheless, it’s still worth reading even if that does happen because of the deft and skilful way Turgenev handles the story. I won’t give away any more details but certain incidents remain etched in my memory for their visual and verbal impact — some funny, some sad, some charming.
Of course, the social history is important. This was published in 1862, one year after the emancipation of the serfs and two years before Dostoevsky’s Notes From The Underground. The influential anti-establishment critic Belinksy, to whom it is dedicated, was dead and the reformer and rationalist Chernyshevsky had just been arrested and incarcerated in the Peter and Paul Fortress to await exile to Siberia. For these reasons alone the novel has a central place in Russian literature of the nineteenth century, but the best reason to read it is for pleasure. I enjoyed it enormously.
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes