This morning it‘s coffee with a side of Russian literature.
Having finished George Saunders‘s A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, my friend and I agreed that the Turgenev story Saunders included was our favorite and that we wanted to read and discuss more of his work. We picked the tagged book and I‘m definitely looking forward to our discussions about it.
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so-soI've found commenting on everything tends to unravel my knowledge, yet reveals small strands.Turgenev has a way of describing the outdoors and indoors that is pleasant, and easier to appreciate when you're outside. I must comment on the delicious prose, which renders touching renditions to peasants no-one seems so familiar as Ivan Turgenev. Yet the narrator is so self-abasing, humorous and humble for how could one know everyone.
pickMason's pick for the year. I didn't love any of the characters, but it was fun to read as a political satire. I'd definitely recommend the NYRB version with the introduction. If you're like me and don't remember what was going on in Russia at the time from high school world history, the intro does a fantastic job of putting it in context and explaining how prescient Turgenev was in writing this. #litsyatoz #catsoflitsy
pickNot at all what I was expecting! This is half a satire of the upper class revolutionaries of mid-late 19th century Russia (I liked this part) and half romance (not so much this part). Interesting, frustrating, and depressing. #1001books
pickI found this novella charming. If it had an ironic awareness of the illusory quality of love, I missed it. Told as the elderly narrator reminiscing about a youthful adventure, it depicts first love but also provides the reader closure, outlining the eventual outcome of those involved. #1001books
This is what happens when I listen to book podcasts #canneverhavetoomanybooks
pickHe is a very readable Russian, this Turgenev! In this book he writes an interesting story about Russia before the revolution. Ruled by czars and aristocrats, the country looks just like other European countries, in with the rich live their lives in a similar way as when I read a 19th century English novel. People speaking French, dining out, travelling in carriages in beautiful dresses, etc. #1001books Picture: Markthallen, Rotterdam
