On the Eve

Turgenev's third novel isn't his most satisfying, the author casting around his cast of characters to find a committed idealist and romantic hero to bring about social reform in his country, but 'on the eve of reform' he fails to find it in the Russian gentry of the time. Initially he examines the characters of Shubin, a talented sculptor, and Bersyenev, a scholar and academic, and, in a Turgenev way, he examines their character and commitment to a cause through their courting of Elena Stahov. In this both men are lacking, failing to show anything but surface attraction and devotion, but backing down when a rival for her affections gets in their way. In On The Eve then, it's in the form of a Bulgarian revolutionary called Insarov that Turgenev finds the characteristics that he is seeking, but the romantic melodrama that follows isn't the strongest section of the novel, and it wouldn't be until the creation of in Bazarov in his subsequent masterpiece Fathers and Sons (Fathers and Children) that Turgenev successfully finds a Russian man of principles and a man of action. On The Eve however does have some good points - there's a great deal of humour, particularly coming from the character of Shubin, and some entertaining though evidently ineffectual philosophising from his Russian gentlemen. Primarily however, Turgenev's depiction of characters, particularly the fatalistic nature of Elena, is superb, with even secondary characters being fully fleshed-out, the author creating a credible dynamic between the differences in their temperament and outlook as well as in their generational and social divisions.

Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (1818-1883) is one of the finest novelists who ever graced God's great and green earth. He is unjustly UNDERRATED.

I've never read a novel with a Bulgarian hero before, so this was a first. If you haven't read any Turgenev, you should. You should, that is, if you like idealistic romances between young people who lack all the cynicism and worldliness of our times or even Balzac's France. Turgenev's heroes and heroines shine in the dark, they're so good. But the brilliantly-drawn, humorous characters surrounding the pure main protagoniste are created with such skill that 144 years after this novel first saw daylight, Turgenev could still get a few laughs out of me.Idealistic, but drifting, Elena is being courted by both an overserious student (known in our times as a `geek') and a budding sculptor who devotes himself mainly to wine, women, and if not song, at least to unorganized messing around. The geek doesn't "get it". The sculptor easily sees through everyone, but is less talented in holding onto anything substantial that comes his way. Elena's parents are weak, her relatives entirely unprepossessing. Her father tries to marry her off to a rather sharp bureaucrat with polished manners. Enter our Bulgarian champion, who only wants to liberate his homeland from the Turks. Elena falls for him and the rest, while not history, is quite predictable. No, this love story is not unique, nor is it extremely complicated.ON THE EVE is a great novel because of Turgenev's style---that seemingly artless, light, flowing prose. Turgenev is one of the eternal masters, no doubt. The world will probably never see his like again. A Turgenev novel resembles a Mozart piano concerto. It looks so easy, sounds so simple, but it is total genius. I recently re-read this novel and found it just as good the second time. What a shame that only two others have reviewed it !

On the Eve deals with the friendships and love affairs between a twenty-year old provincial Russian woman named Elena and a number of men in her social circle: the young artist Shubin; the intellectual Berzeniev; and, ultimately, Berzeniev's friend, the Bulgarian revolutionary Insarov. Though Berzeniev is in love with Elena, he introduces her to Insarov (who Berzeniev describes as the only interesting man he's met at the university), and Insarov and Elena rather quickly fall in love and secretly marry. Elena's parents, particularly her father, don't care much for the impoverished foreigner that their daughter loves, especially since they've recently found her a nice Russian man for a fiance. Worse still, the start of the Crimean War ("on the eve" of which the novel is set) will force Elena to leave her parents and join Insarov in Bulgaria if she is to stay with him. In addition to being an interesting love story in its own right, On the Eve develops a couple of themes often seen elsewhere in Turgenev's work (and also that of some other Russian authors around the same time). In the conflict between Elena and her parents, we see shades of the generational conflict that Turgenev would develop very well two years later in Fathers and Sons. The fact that the only man who can thoroughly win Elena's heart is a Bulgarian (as well as comment by Berzeniev about Insarov mentioned above) reflects the aimlessness and superfluity that so often shows up among Russian men in the literature of this time period (e.g., Turgenev's Rudin). While Shubin has his art and Berzeniev his historical studies, Insarov is driven by a cause (the freedom of the Bulgarian people) that is deeper than anything that Russian men were pursuing at the time and accordingly makes him a more intriguing character. The novel did read, for me at least, a little slowly at first, and I found that some of the characters (Shubin in particular) weren't much more than cliched archetypes when they could have been fleshed out a little better. However, On the Eve is definitely one of Turgenev's better works and was all in all a worthwhile read.

Though its' a very old book still worth reading. It was interesting to read gradual building-up of character - Insarov. The end of Insarov was a melancholy. I think Turgenev had tried to shape his own views in the form of Insarov.How Insarov becomes so soft in front of Elena is also beautiful. This book depicts the frustrations, struggle,revolution,parents' dilemma and love all together in the form of this great story of Insarov & Elena. You can't stop your tears while reading the helplessness of Elena on gradual ending of Insarov. Really a legendary work ! Worth reading many times !