1.11k reviews for:

Fathers and Sons

Ivan Turgenev

3.84 AVERAGE

dark inspiring sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging informative reflective medium-paced
reflective slow-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

Als ik lees over een mijmerende Rus, die op zoveel werst van oblast zus-en-zo, waar hij een dorp heeft van 200 zielen, 'in een bestofte jas, zonder hoed, op de lage stoep' voor een herberg zit terwijl zijn paarden worden ververst, dan ben ik direct verkocht.
En ik heb toch echt geen Russisch bloed.
Of dat zou nog moeten blijken.

Maar - hoewel ik niet durf te twijfelen aan de historische betekenis van deze roman - ik vond dit boek zelf minder boeiend dan menige andere Russische roman die ik heb gelezen. Er zijn twee zonen, Arkadi en Bazarov, die zich 'nihilisten' noemen, en er zijn twee vaders, die je als gezapig zou kunnen typeren. En dus: generatieconflict. En dan is er nog een freule, waar de twee nihilisten, die eigenlijk niets zouden moeten voelen, toch iets voor voelen. Ja, liefde laat zich niet nihiliseren (verzonnen werkwoord).

Ik vond het allemaal best wel onderhoudend, maar - omdat allerlei uitweidingen ontbreken waar bijvoorbeeld Dostojevski zich aan overgeeft en die vaak nog verrassend relevant zijn voor onze tijd - ook wat gedateerd.

Wel kan ik zien dat dit boek een grote invloed moeten hebben uitgeoefend op Gerard (van het) Reve, met name wat betreft zijn debuut 'De avonden'. Niet verrassend, de vertaling is van Karel van het Reve. En soms levert dat prachtig Nederlands op. 'Ik kan mij niet ontveinzen dat...' bijvoorbeeld. Waar kom je dat nog tegen?
challenging dark emotional funny sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional hopeful informative reflective relaxing sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Turgenev...I always come back. I always com back and receive something else. On this reading I felt more for the unrequited nature of parental love. Especially maternal, the youthful need to cast off parental love hurt to read. 

I have always found the desire to hide familial love behind artifical independence very sad. I pitied Bazarov and get far less anger towards him. It is a curse to be intelligent and futher, as with Bararov be at the whim of popular philosophy. This to me, clashed interestingly with the women. Especially Katya, who easily sees through the solipsism of the two men. 

And what is more heartbreaking than Bararov, going to the peasantry and realizing he has no dialouge with them, that to them there is no kinship between them and *still* he clings to nihilism. That is a brave man in the face of death. This time I really cried for him and his parents who I can see before my eyes. Ugh it's an incredible book and I would say despite the tags on the story it is not challenging, it's just a wonderful read.
challenging slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Fathers and children/son (I see this changes depending on the translation??) is about the generation difference between ....father and child! 
There's also a bit of talk about nihilism Vs Anglophilia??? 
It's pretty slow going and I did find it a bit boring here and there... Whoops but i was interested in where it was going. I'm still trying to get used to the naming system where some characters would for example call Bazarov..Bazarov, but then I hear him called Yevgeny Vasilyevich...which Bazarov instead says Vasilyev instead of... Vasilyevich.... I think in English first+last name he's Yevgeny Bazarov? And Vasilyevich is his.. patronymic which is kind of like a English middle name? 
So through the story I get confused a bit with who's who.
But the story kinda shows an insight between the old generational views Vs new... Or in my case the old and the older and this was like...nearly 200 years ago which automatically makes it difficult for me to properly analyse with the added bonus of now really known much about what was going on in Russia back in 1850.

But it was a fun insight!

”فهل يعقل أن صلواتهما ودموعهما عقيمة ياترى؟ وهل يعقل أن الحب المقدس، الحب المخلص، عاجز ياترى؟ كلا!
فهما كان القلب الذي أطبقت عليه ظلمة القبر متحمساً متمرداً خاطئاً، فأن الزهور التي تنمو علي ترابه تتطلع إلينا مطمئنة بعيونها البريئة: فهي لا تحدثنا فقط عن السكون الأبدي، عن لُجة سكون الطبيعة «اللامبالية» بل تحدثنا أيضاً عن الرضوان الأبدي وعن حياة اللانهائية.“
funny reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Loveable characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated