First Love and Other Tales

"First Love" is the most famous story in this volume, but the work that affected me the most was "Mumu". Frankly, the stories about adolescent love paled =next to the story about a peasant's love for his faithful dog. Nothing makes the failure and the power imbalance of the Russian feudal system more clear than this simple painful story. It's no wonder to me that it came under the negative gaze of the censors at the time-- a very clear indictment of absolute power over the lives of others. All of the stories are powerful, but in general I found myself more interested in the works that dealt with class differences and life in Russia at the time of publication-- "Mumu", "The Singers", and "Bezhin Meadow". Some of the more romantic stories struck me as being uneven or at least more predictable in the well-trodden melodramatic tradition. "Assya" and "First Love" are both very strong, but "Clara Milich" felt self-indulgent to me in ways from which the other works fail to suffer. (I realize that this is heretical. "Clara Milich" was Turgenev's last story and I should probably talk about it as a masterpiece, but there you go.) Regardless of the occasional weakness in an individual story, the collection overall is extremely moving. I was struck hard by his eye for the moment and character, and like him best when the narrative voice stays in the firm and present. This is the first Turgenev that I have read, and would say that it is a good introduction-- at least in the sense that it made me anxious to read something else that he has written. Predictably, I'll probably go on to read Fathers and Sons). The edition that I read was translated and edited by David Magarshack. It read cleanly, and I was thankful that Magarshack chose not to translate the peasant dialect as Cockney English-- a foible that I've been tripping over lately in other translations from the Russian of late.

This review is about 'First Love'. It follows the reading of three other Turgenev novels - from which you can guess I like this author a lot. In the three earlier novels ('Fathers and Sons', 'Spring Torrents' and 'Virgin Soil') there is one constant theme - men rejecting women - not because they see the women as inadequate, but because they see themselves as unworthy. In this novel it is the woman who does the rejecting - and the person she rejects is herself - instead of withdrawal we now face self-sacrifice. But why did she see herself as so inadequate when she lined up the group of suitors any one of whom would have accepted her much to the envy of all the others? And her self-sacrifice - why is it to the person to whom it is made? Without any regard to the effects on others - they too are all sacrificed. If you enjoy the company of women as I do, perhaps you will be repelled by lines such as 'fear the love of women; fear that bliss, that poison....' On the other hand this novel - despite it troubled ending - is wonderfully readable and it gave me a lot to reflect on.

This book contains three short works that provide a wonderful example of the Russian approach to romantic literature. The form is wonderful, the characters perfectly created and the plot shores up the authors ideas with an most resonant clarity.First love shows the blend of comedy and tragedy that is so prevalent in Russian works of the period. The events portrayed are those that could occur in daily life even to today. The emotions that are evoked are real and timeless. It surely adds proof to the argument that Russian works of this period age so much better than do those authors from other countries whose works have survived.Spring Torrents is the longest of the works and still provides a feel that the length is exactly perfect for the tale. If the prologue does not pull you into the story you have an absences of a great concern that plagues many of us. How many of us fear reaching that point (or have reached that point)in life where we recognize all of the great loss of opportunity which has occurred in our life. From this prologue the story races along explaining how one of us has reached the position when the concern has become a reality. Wonderful feelings are evoked on the path.This book is highly recommended for all and is a must read for the Tolstoy, Chekov, Gogol and Dostoevsky fans.

First love is a wonderful evocation of youth, love and life in 19th century Russian life. I challenge anyone not to be moved by this book, which is both humorous and touchingly melencholic.

If reading in translation has proved difficult for you in the past, Freeborn's translation of Turgenev's short stories will suprise you in a wonderful way. There were times when I forgot that I was in the process of reading, but rather felt that these very scenes were being lived out before me, a bodiless and voiceless viewer. Turgenev's understanding of and ability to capture the complete emotional processes of people in love in this collection touched me in its sincerity and genuine clarity. All the insane, skipping-over-themselves thoughts and quick jealousies that people experience are completely captured in stories like "First Love" and "Diary of a Superfluous Man." Turgenev is a great introduction to Russian fiction. I'm sorry that I didn't discover him earlier.