Turgenev-Where To Start? Russian Literature 101

Hey everyone! So I'm bringing back my Russian teacher videos. Yay! All of you who wanted. I know that these videos are the most requested videos on my channel, but I just didn't feel like making any of them because I wasn't reading any Russian teacher whatsoever. But now I feel like going back with the videos. And today I want to share with you and I want to talk about my favorite Russian author, one of my favorite Russian authors, who is Turgenev, Ivan Sergeyevich and he is amazing. He is the writer of 19th century, of course, and he's one of my favorite writers among Bulgakov and Dostoevsky. So I want to talk about his writings in this video. So just quick thing about Turgenev because I think that not a lot of people know about him. He is the novelist and short story writer and translator of 19th century who was eager to popularize Russian language and Russian teacher in the Western cultures. And his writing is famous for his language because he uses really, really beautiful structures. And when you read his novels, you can definitely see and feel all of the beauty of Russian language. And if you read it in translation, of course, it will be a little bit different, but I think it still can kind of show the beauty of his language and the way he structures his sentences. And the most famous novel of Turgenev is, of course, Fathers and Sons. It is my personal favorite as well. It's a short novel. I would say it's about 200 pages, I think, maybe less. It's really not that long, but it's so beautiful and definitely one of the most, kind of, in my opinion and in the opinion of a lot of other people, it is one of the most important novels from Russian teacher. I read this first when I was around 15 and it just stuck to my heart since then. And why I love this so much. So, I'm not going to go into the plot so much, but basically, I would say the main theme of the novel is the theme of nihilism. I think I say it right, I don't know, right here. So, this is the philosophical point of view when people, kind of, try to not accept many things, like they just be, like, negative about stuff. It's not like that, but it is, like, the point, I would say. And the main character, Bazarov, he is so good. And a lot of girls fall in love with this character when they read this novel, because this character, he's just really, like, unusual. And he, in a sense, that he just stands upon his point of view and he's true to himself. And the fact that he's a nihilist, I don't know, like, it just really attracts, because he's so independent and he has his own point of view and things. And I really gravitate towards that. When we talk about the novels by Turgenev, I would say that they are all pretty similar. Like, I would say the most popular novels are quite similar in a sense that there is always a family and there is always, kind of, same things brought up. I wouldn't say so, but it is. So, I wouldn't recommend actually reading novels by him, like, one by one gradually, because you will just, like, I did that and I confused all of them and I don't really, I didn't really remember what happened in each novel, because they were all quite similar. So, just give it, like, kind of, spice it up with other things and other authors, if you're going to read that. But they're usually, there is, like, a family, usually, like, more of the high level of society family, but not necessarily. There is always a love problem and a lot of philosophical topics are brought up. I'm not going to go into detail of the plot, because there is really no point in it, because it doesn't even, like, have a plot. Like, this is really common for, I don't want to say, like, I might be wrong, but that's just how I feel it, is that there is not even that much of the plot, like, the action that's happening. It's not going to be, like, a detective story. It's not going to be, like, crime and punishment. Not a lot of things happen, but at the same time, like, even though the flow of the events is not so bright or, like, active and stuff, but it feels like a lot is happening. And because the language of itself is so beautiful, and if you can read it in Russian, which I don't think a lot of people will be able to say that, but if you can, then, of course, read it in Russian. And because of the philosophical, romantical, political topics that are in the story, it's so interesting to read and so interesting to kind of see the development of the thought of the characters and their behavior and their relationship between others. I wouldn't even say that it's, like, more action-based. It's more, like, relationship-based between friends, between family members, between lovers. And since it's called Fathers and Sons, obviously, there is a generation gap problem topic, which is one of the main themes of the novel, of course. I'm just looking at the internet page here. And, yeah, so, if you're going to read a novel by Turgenev, then, obviously, you have to start with Fathers and Sons for sure. So, my second recommendation would be the novel called Rudin. It is the family name of the person. And it is the first novel that Turgenev wrote, actually. And according to the Wikipedia article, this is about a super superfluous, I don't know how to say it, man and his inability to act. And I will agree with that, even though I don't know how to say that superfluous word. But it is actually true that, like, as I already said, one of the main topics, which is in majority of works by Turgenev, is love and relationship of, usually, man from more of the higher level, higher on a hierarchy, than more of the not so sophisticated woman. And their problems and their ways to cope with that. And Rudin is what it is. And also, as for female characters, there is this saying, like, Тургеневская девушка, which is, like, Turgenev's maid, as it says here. And it is true, there is the saying or phrase, which is said in Russian language, like, Тургеневская девушка, like, Turgenev's maid. So, Turgenev's girl, Turgenev's woman. It is the type of a female character, which is noticeable in pretty much all of his works, where there is a female character. It is usually, like, a girl, which is really mannered, well-mannered. And she is just, like, the perfect example of a girl that is there. She is usually quite intellectual and self-conscious. And she is just an example of a good woman. And that is one of the features of Turgenev's novels, that there is this female character. And, yes, it is the thing that we also use sometimes in real life, like, saying, like, оh, you're, like, a Turgenev's maid. Not really common, like, usually people who know literature, they will say. But, yeah, I'm just saying. So, if you want to read Rudin, then definitely do so. And the main character, Rudin, is also a nice character in the sense that I just like this kind of type of, like, independent men, who are, like, really, I don't know, hard to reach. I don't know. I just really like that in literature and in real life also. And also, in all of the works by Turgenev, you can definitely see the Russia of 19th century, how the life was then, what people do, and all that kind of stuff. It's really interesting to read about that as well. And I'm a huge fan of 19th century Russia, so I definitely found a lot. And another thing, which Turgenev is really, really famous for, is his description of nature. Now, in modern literature, like, description of nature or, like, beauty of outside world is not that interesting, like, not that popular, because people want to read more about just things that actually happen and stuff. But back then, especially for Turgenev, it was really important to portray the beauty of the nature and all of the things that were outside. And it's really nice to read about that. And sometimes, when you have these descriptions, like, from other authors, you're like, well, I just want to skip this. In Turgenev's writing, it's not like that. You want to read more and more, because his language is really beautiful. And because the novels are not super long, like, they're usually 200 pages, 200, 300 pages. They're quite short, I would say. And you can read them in a couple of hours. And because of that, like, you want to read more and more and more. But just don't read them one by one, because you will literally confuse all of them. Another novel, which I would definitely recommend reading is called Mumu. And it is different, because this is the story that animal has to take place. I would kind of compare it to Hachiko, because it's not completely different and it's different. I'm not going to say what, but you have to read it, because it will make you cry like a bitch. I swear, I did cry a lot. The main character, he definitely couldn't speak. I think he was not deaf. He was just, he couldn't speak. The man, he was quite old. And then there is this dog called Mumu. And this story will break your heart to pieces, because always, like, if there is an animal in the story, it's bound to make you feel sad if something is going to happen to the animal. And this is more about cruelty of people and, like, things that you have to do what you're told to do if you're on a lower social level. So definitely read this book. I think it's worth reading. Just be prepared for being sad after reading it. But I really like this, even though it was really sad. But it is also a compulsory read in schools in Russia. I think I read it, like, fifth or sixth grade. And the last novel that I want to recommend to you is The Home of the Gentry. Or there is also translation as Nest of Gentle Folk and A Nest of the Gentry. And by the way, as I can see on the internet, all of these are Penguin Classics translated. So I think the translation should be good as well. So check that out if you're interested. And it is, again, the same theme as the novels that I mentioned before. So there's a The main character here is also a male, of course, and his name is Lavretsky. And I also really, really like his character, of course. I always do. With Lavretsky and his story throughout the novel, there are quite a lot of similarities of the actual history of Turgenev. So his life, his biography. Turgenev's life generally was quite interesting, because he was living abroad, and he had, like, all of these crazy love stories and stuff. But he ended up living all by himself, and it was quite, like, a long life, but with lots of difficulties and stuff. And yeah, if you want to read about that, you can. And I make a video if you want to. Should I make videos about lives of authors? If you want me to do about, like, Tolstoy and any other person, like Dostoevsky, about their lives and interesting facts about their life, I can definitely do so, because I think it's a good idea. So as for the Holy Home of the Gentry. So again, there is same pretty much topics that are brought up, but in a different way, of course. And there is the theme of truth, and should the truth be told, or should the truth be hidden, which is, I think, very up-to-date, timeless topic. And again, the love relationship, and there's, like, some tragedies, and some things going on. Me, personally, like, out of all the novels, and I read pretty much all the novels, and all the short stories that he wrote, these I mentioned are definitely the best. So I would suggest starting with Fathers and Sons, and see if you like the writing, because that is definitely his best work. If you like that, then you can definitely go more into detail, and then just do your own research, and see more, and just find out about all the beauty of the Guinness writing. So yeah, if you have read his novels, or if you want to read something, then please let me know in the comment section below, because I'm always curious about that. And if you have any questions, if you want to know more, if you have any suggestions for other videos, then also leave them in the comment section below, please. And thank you so much for watching, and I'll see you in the next video. Bye-bye!