teagan821 's review for:

Fathers and Children by Ivan Turgenev
3.0

This novel was familiar to the Russian style in using Bazarov, a cynical, attractive yet somewhat repulsive character, as the central figure, and in including a duel. The courting theme and parallels between two sets of characters (Arkady and his father; Bazarov and his father) is also very similar to Lermontov and Pushkin's writing. However, this novel is understood to be "revolutionary," in part for its timing and commentary on emancipation of peasants, even though that seemed to play a limited role. Also, it is supposed to be the first well-recognized Russian novel in the West, as Turgenev is also the "Novelist's Novelist." I'm sure it's from a lack of education, but I fail to recognize how Westernized this novel is, if only in style.