In my late teens or early twenties I seemed to go through a minor Russian period in my reading, perhaps begun by Solzenhitzen and his war accounts. I have memories of discovering delightful parables of Russian peasant life but in recent years, every time I picked up a book by Checkov, I had my doubts. I remembered longer books too, and he’s really mostly famous for short plays. So when I picked up Fathers and Sons (1861) by Ivan Turgenev recently, it was with great hope that I’d found my missing author.
Turns out I was wrong, although it wasn’t an unpleasant discovery. The sort of book that a gifted English Lit teacher could have a field day with – explaining to pupils the significance of the older and newer generations and their unwillingness to compromise, talking about what a nihilist is, the country versus city ideals and maybe even something about the final days of the serfs. As per usual, I read it as a straight love story pretty much, which although frustrating for all the usual reasons of civility, restraint and miscommunication, was quite touching in the end, and was a steady joy to read. 4 stars.
p.s And no, I did not read the 60 page introduction beforehand. It would have spoiled things.
How thick is this book that it justifies a 60-page introduction?!
It’s only a tiny little book. It felt great to cheat and jump ahead 72 pages – I was a third of the way through without even trying! All books should be like that.