Rudin

Rudin is Ivan Turgenev’s novel about an eloquent intellectual whose powers of speech exceed his ability to act decisively. His conversation impresses those around him, but the consequences of personal attachment require more than a persuasive statement of ideals. The country-house setting allows contrasting temperaments to expose one another’s limits. Turgenev preserves both the inspiration Rudin can offer and the disappointment his conduct brings, giving the distance between thought and action a human form.