Ivan Turgenev

When a young graduate returns home he is accompanied, much to his father and uncle's discomfort, by a strange friend "who doesn't acknowledge any authorities, who doesn't accept a single principle on faith." Turgenev's masterpiece of generational conflict shocked Russian society when it was published in 1862 and continues today to seem as fresh and outspoken as it did to those who first encountered its nihilistic hero.

Written in 1850, The Diary of a Superfluous Man is Turgenev's novella in the form of the diary of a dying man. With two weeks to live, Tchulkaturin takes stock of his life only to discover how purposeless, loveless, and futile it has been. The other stories in this collection are "Three Portraits," an historical reminiscence ignited by three paintings; "Three Meetings," a tale of remarkable coincidences; "Mumu." the heartbreaking story of a peasant...

"Fathers and Sons" is not only a portrait of individual characters but also a reflection of the broader societal changes taking place in 19th-century Russia. Turgenev's narrative captures the tension between traditional aristocratic values and the rise of revolutionary ideas that would shape the course of Russian history. He offers a poignant critique of both generations, showcasing their strengths, weaknesses, and their struggle to adapt to the shifting...

Rudin was written by Turgenev in the immediate aftermath of the Crimean War, when it became obvious to many educated Russians that reform was needed. The main debate of Turgenev's own generation was that of East versus West. Rudin depicts a typical man of this generation, aka the men of forties, intellectual but ineffective. Rudin is often compared to Pushkin's Eugene Onegin and Lermontov's Pechorin.

Ovsyanikov reminded me of the Russian boyars of the times before Peter the Great.... The national holiday dress would have suited him well. He was one of the last men left of the old time. All his neighbors had a great respect for him, and considered it an honor to be acquainted with him. His fellow peasant-proprietors almost worshipped him, and took off their hats to him from a distance: they were proud of him.

Published in 1867, Smoke contributed to Turgenev's ongoing argument with the Slavophiles and was to trigger his heated political quarrel with Dostoyevsky about the deplorable state of Mother Russia. Part love story, part political commentary, the novel tells of Litvinov, a quiet, ordinary young man, who travels to study European technology and scientific farming.

Once, as I was wandering about the fields after partridges with Yermolai, I saw some way off a deserted garden, and turned into it. I had hardly crossed its borders when a snipe rose up out of a bush with a clatter. I fired my gun, and at the same instant, a few paces from me, I heard a shriek; the frightened face of a young girl peeped out for a second from behind the trees, and instantly disappeared. Yermolai ran up to me: 'Why are you shooting...

Lavretsky pursues an education in Moscow, and while he is studying there, he falls in love with a beautiful young woman Varvara. The two move to Paris, where Varvara becomes a very popular salon hostess and begins an affair with one of her frequent visitors. Lavretsky learns of the affair only when he discovers a note written to her by her lover. Shocked by her betrayal, he severs all contact with her and returns to his family estate.

Generally thought to be the work that led to the abolishment of serfdom in Russia, Sketches from a Hunter's Album (A Sportsman's Sketches) is a series of short stories, written in 1852, that gained Turgenev widespread recognition for his unique writing style. These stories were the result of Turgenev's observations while hunting all over Russia, particularly on his abusive mother's estate at Spasskoye. A definitive work of the Russian Realist tradition,...

The first major writing by Turgenev that gained him recognition. The stories in this collection were written based on Turgenev's own observations while hunting at his mothers' estate. This work exposed many injustices of serfdom and led to Turgenev's house arrest and eventual abolishment of serfdom in Russia. A fine example of realist tradition in Russian literature.