Title: Fathers and Sons
Author: Ivan Turgenev
Pages: 215
Finished: June 15, 2017
First Sentence: "Well, Petr, no sight of him yet?" asked a gentleman about forty years old wearing a short, dusty coat and checkered trousers, standing hatless on the low steps of an inn on the *** road.
Summary: Would you rather a summary of plot points or themes? It's a whole lot of Arkadii and Bazarov traveling around an area of Russia, pissing off the older generation, and disagreeing with each other as they try to deal with their own views of the world.
Thoughts: This was my first ever foray into Russian literature. The first 50 or so pages of the book were fascinating to me as the arguments between Bazarov and Pavel Petrovich echoed arguments I've heard between Millennials and Baby Boomers (or really, our arguments echo theirs). Even though I don't agree with nihilism, I found the constant lamentation of the younger generation and the frustration with the older generation very interesting.
When the book turned to Arkadii straying from the path of nihilism and Bazarov trying to control his feelings in order to keep on the path of nihilism, I started getting bored.
In general, I hated the way Bazarov treated both his hosts and his parents. I understand rebelling from your parents, but I hate it when people treat their families with so little respect. (I have the same issue with Rose Tyler in Doctor Who.) I had a difficult time connecting with any of the characters, though I found myself feeling bad for the anyone who had to deal with Bazarov. He was too obnoxious.
As an introduction to Russian Literature, this was not exactly great.
Read for Back to the Classics Challenge 2017
When the book turned to Arkadii straying from the path of nihilism and Bazarov trying to control his feelings in order to keep on the path of nihilism, I started getting bored.
In general, I hated the way Bazarov treated both his hosts and his parents. I understand rebelling from your parents, but I hate it when people treat their families with so little respect. (I have the same issue with Rose Tyler in Doctor Who.) I had a difficult time connecting with any of the characters, though I found myself feeling bad for the anyone who had to deal with Bazarov. He was too obnoxious.
As an introduction to Russian Literature, this was not exactly great.
Read for Back to the Classics Challenge 2017
That's too bad, but I give you props for trying something besides the obvious Tolstoy or Dostoevsky. However, having said that I've loved everything I've read by those two so don't give up on the Russian authors.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I will freely admit I didn't pick this out of trying to avoid the obvious. I googled "short Russian literature," and grabbed this for that. I also enjoyed the symmetry between the title Fathers and Sons and the book Wives and Daughters which I read for my women author category.
Delete