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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.
romanoirs's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Turgenev is becoming one of my favourite Russian novelists. His prose is breathtaking and his character drawing is something to behold. This novel is quite dense in parts but if you love Russian novels, philosophy and nature this is not a book that should be missed. The only thing I didn't particularly like about it was Insarov. He just didn't sit well with me. I would have preferred if Bersyenev or Shubin were the main character/s.
emily_britton's review against another edition
4.0
This was not an incredibly original or unusual story, but it was a good one nonetheless, supposedly based on a true story, which makes it even better. For nineteenth century Russian literature, it was very easy to read, though it still contained all the usual tropes, and Turgenev's writing was beautiful.
romanoirs's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. Turgenev is becoming one of my favourite Russian novelists. His prose is breathtaking and his character drawing is something to behold. This novel is quite dense in parts but if you love Russian novels, philosophy and nature this is not a book that should be missed. The only thing I didn't particularly like about it was Insarov. He just didn't sit well with me. I would have preferred if Bersyenev or Shubin were the main character/s.
smcleish's review against another edition
4.0
Originally published on my blog here in October 1999.
Turgenev's short novel is based around a memoir written by a friend, who suggested he might like to turn it into a novel. It tells the stories of a small group of upper class teenagers in Russia on the eve of the outbreak of the Crimean War. Elena comes from a home troubled by the infidelities of her father, and this has hardly given her a taste for any kind of marriage that might be arranged by her parents. She is loved by one of a small group of friends, Pavel Shubin, who introduces her to the Bulgarian revolutionary Dimitry Insarov. (Bulgaria was at this time ruled by Turkey, whose oppression of the Slavs in its domains was one of the major causes of the Crimean War.) Shubin thinks Insarov an interesting person, but not one likely to arouse the passions of a woman, and he is very upset when he becomes a favoured rival for Elena's love.
It is Insarov's patriotic devotion which makes him a romantic figure to Elena; no matter how passionate he may be about her, his duty to his country must come first, and this is what fascinates her. It is a total contrast to the meaningless lives of the upper class Russians she sees around her.
Though Turgenev's writing pointed the way to the psychological dramas of [a:Tolstoy|85|Leo Tolstoy|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1265491361p2/85.jpg] and [a:Dostoyevsky|3137322|Fyodor Dostoyevsky|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1328375676p2/3137322.jpg], his work is far more mild and serene in the effect it has on the reader. This is especially true of On the Eve, despite the potential for melodrama in its plot. The title is in fact most apt, for it gives the impression of great things eagerly awaited around the corner, and this is the emotion that Turgenev seeks to produce in his readers throughout the novel.
Turgenev's short novel is based around a memoir written by a friend, who suggested he might like to turn it into a novel. It tells the stories of a small group of upper class teenagers in Russia on the eve of the outbreak of the Crimean War. Elena comes from a home troubled by the infidelities of her father, and this has hardly given her a taste for any kind of marriage that might be arranged by her parents. She is loved by one of a small group of friends, Pavel Shubin, who introduces her to the Bulgarian revolutionary Dimitry Insarov. (Bulgaria was at this time ruled by Turkey, whose oppression of the Slavs in its domains was one of the major causes of the Crimean War.) Shubin thinks Insarov an interesting person, but not one likely to arouse the passions of a woman, and he is very upset when he becomes a favoured rival for Elena's love.
It is Insarov's patriotic devotion which makes him a romantic figure to Elena; no matter how passionate he may be about her, his duty to his country must come first, and this is what fascinates her. It is a total contrast to the meaningless lives of the upper class Russians she sees around her.
Though Turgenev's writing pointed the way to the psychological dramas of [a:Tolstoy|85|Leo Tolstoy|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1265491361p2/85.jpg] and [a:Dostoyevsky|3137322|Fyodor Dostoyevsky|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1328375676p2/3137322.jpg], his work is far more mild and serene in the effect it has on the reader. This is especially true of On the Eve, despite the potential for melodrama in its plot. The title is in fact most apt, for it gives the impression of great things eagerly awaited around the corner, and this is the emotion that Turgenev seeks to produce in his readers throughout the novel.
lnatal's review against another edition
4.0
Free download available at eBooks@Adelaide.
Opening lines:
On one of the hottest days of the summer of 1853, in the shade of a tall lime-tree on the bank of the river Moskva, not far from Kuntsovo, two young men were lying on the grass. One, who looked about twenty-three, tall and swarthy, with a sharp and rather crooked nose, a high forehead, and a restrained smile on his wide mouth, was lying on his back and gazing meditatively into the distance, his small grey eyes half closed.
3* Spring Torrents
4* Fathers and Sons
4* On the Eve
TR Virgin Soil
TR King Lear of the Steppes
TR A House of Gentlefolk
TR First Love
TR Sketches from a Hunter's Album
TR The Diary of a Superfluous Man and Other Stories
Opening lines:
On one of the hottest days of the summer of 1853, in the shade of a tall lime-tree on the bank of the river Moskva, not far from Kuntsovo, two young men were lying on the grass. One, who looked about twenty-three, tall and swarthy, with a sharp and rather crooked nose, a high forehead, and a restrained smile on his wide mouth, was lying on his back and gazing meditatively into the distance, his small grey eyes half closed.
3* Spring Torrents
4* Fathers and Sons
4* On the Eve
TR Virgin Soil
TR King Lear of the Steppes
TR A House of Gentlefolk
TR First Love
TR Sketches from a Hunter's Album
TR The Diary of a Superfluous Man and Other Stories
brynhammond's review against another edition
5.0
Revisited. Turgenev's short novels were second to Dostoyevsky for me, as far as Russians go (and Russians go far). Though I can see why Turgenev's despair of Russia as instanced here might have annoyed D... 'Go to foreign parts'. Anyhow, never mind that. I can also see why this one spoke closely to me as a girl. Yelena is a serious girl who needs an ethical and active life, and finds a freedom fight to throw herself into -- Bulgaria from the Turks. I was always impressed by Turgenev's young women, whose engagement with the questions of the day he can put centre-stage.
Bersenev is eminently likeable from page one; Uvar Ivanovich grows on you. Insarov, Yelena's Bulgarian hero, is astutely mocked by other participants and you can make up your own mind.
I didn't remember his descriptiveness, which I found of real beauty now. I dare say I paid little attention then: my idol D. is famous for describing a tree, once, in his entire writings. That may be an exaggeration. The intro to mine says the atmospherics of his Venice must have fed into [b:Death in Venice|53061|Death in Venice|Thomas Mann|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388347705s/53061.jpg|17413130] (another I was in love with, so maybe I did notice).
Sad end.
Bersenev is eminently likeable from page one; Uvar Ivanovich grows on you. Insarov, Yelena's Bulgarian hero, is astutely mocked by other participants and you can make up your own mind.
I didn't remember his descriptiveness, which I found of real beauty now. I dare say I paid little attention then: my idol D. is famous for describing a tree, once, in his entire writings. That may be an exaggeration. The intro to mine says the atmospherics of his Venice must have fed into [b:Death in Venice|53061|Death in Venice|Thomas Mann|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388347705s/53061.jpg|17413130] (another I was in love with, so maybe I did notice).
Sad end.
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