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_vickigreenwood's review against another edition
4.0
(4.5)
this really had everything I love about 19th century russian literature, specifically all the staples of a turgenev novel
✅ men dramatically waxing lyrical about philosophy/art/love
✅ unnecessarily detailed descriptions of characters which are basically “in a word, she was ugly”
✅ a tragedy that definitely could’ve been prevented with modern medicine
this really had everything I love about 19th century russian literature, specifically all the staples of a turgenev novel
✅ men dramatically waxing lyrical about philosophy/art/love
✅ unnecessarily detailed descriptions of characters which are basically “in a word, she was ugly”
✅ a tragedy that definitely could’ve been prevented with modern medicine
daniellecarr's review
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
blissful_day's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
nadiaanderson's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
emirin's review against another edition
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
hayesstw's review against another edition
4.0
I've read quite a lot about [a:Ivan Turgenev|410680|Ivan Turgenev|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1239589274p2/410680.jpg], especially in connection with nihilism, but this is the first book of his that I've actually read, mainly because it's the first one I've seen. I picked it up from a toss-out box at the Russian Church in Midrand. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this.
It's a story about romantic love and romantic nationalism during the build-up to the Crimean War There's not a breath of nihilism in it that I could discern.
Concerning nationalism, I was once inveigled into joining a web site called Quora, where people ask questions and other people try to answer them, though most of them are quite unanswerable, and if you want examples of "begging the question", you'll find plenty on Quora. One of those questions was Why is nationalism bad?. I was tempted to respond with corollary question: Why is imperialism good?.
[b:On the Eve|9297774|Eve (Eve, #1)|Anna Carey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389188190s/9297774.jpg|14180376] will not answer either question. But what it does do is give a sympathetic portrayal of the nationalist hero, which, I think, shows insight into the mindset of 19th-century romantic nationalists. Though the hero is not a poet, and is in fact rather prosaic, he did remind me of romantic poets like Byron and Shelley who sympathised with nationalist struggles in the Balkans.
Twentieth-century nationalism seems somehow to have been less romantic. There were plenty of nationalist struggles in Africa and elsewhere against imperialist powers, and some of them generated poetry and novels, but nothing, to my knowledge, as overtly romantic as this.
To the person who asked "Why is nationalism bad?" on Quora, I would recommend this book. As I said, it won't answer the question, but it may show why it is the wrong question to ask. ,
It's a story about romantic love and romantic nationalism during the build-up to the Crimean War There's not a breath of nihilism in it that I could discern.
Concerning nationalism, I was once inveigled into joining a web site called Quora, where people ask questions and other people try to answer them, though most of them are quite unanswerable, and if you want examples of "begging the question", you'll find plenty on Quora. One of those questions was Why is nationalism bad?. I was tempted to respond with corollary question: Why is imperialism good?.
[b:On the Eve|9297774|Eve (Eve, #1)|Anna Carey|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389188190s/9297774.jpg|14180376] will not answer either question. But what it does do is give a sympathetic portrayal of the nationalist hero, which, I think, shows insight into the mindset of 19th-century romantic nationalists. Though the hero is not a poet, and is in fact rather prosaic, he did remind me of romantic poets like Byron and Shelley who sympathised with nationalist struggles in the Balkans.
Twentieth-century nationalism seems somehow to have been less romantic. There were plenty of nationalist struggles in Africa and elsewhere against imperialist powers, and some of them generated poetry and novels, but nothing, to my knowledge, as overtly romantic as this.
To the person who asked "Why is nationalism bad?" on Quora, I would recommend this book. As I said, it won't answer the question, but it may show why it is the wrong question to ask. ,
annewithabook's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It demonstrates a lush backdrop of early 19th century Russia, especially the conflicts between Russians and Bulgarians. The ending is not unexpected, but also rather sad.
frauleinherr's review against another edition
“Death is like a fisherman, who, having caught a fish in his net, leaves it in the water for a time; the fish continues to swim about, but all the while the net is round it, and the fishermen will snatch it out in his own good time.”
One of my favorites from the Russians thus far. Though it has undoubtedly proven that my knowledge of the Crimean War is shaky at best. I definitely see a lot of research on the Ottoman Empire in my future as well.
One of my favorites from the Russians thus far. Though it has undoubtedly proven that my knowledge of the Crimean War is shaky at best. I definitely see a lot of research on the Ottoman Empire in my future as well.