The Torrents of Spring

I liked the other reviews of the book except for the Australian's reference to Bonobo monkeys and Mike Nichol's comparison of it to 'High Fidelity' - Christ, why don't we bring up Harry Potter while we're at it? No, this is a masterwork from a Russian I had not previously known. The fervor of young love, the rigidities of custom, the fatal decisions that make us wonder about missed opportunities the rest of our lives - it's all here, in fine brushstrokes. The chase through the forest towards the end still sticks in my mind in a way all good novels should. Read it and wonder why we spend most of our reading hours on the garbage at airport gift shops. Turgenev gives us a wonder of the old school.

This challenging novel contrasts the two forms of love that the Russian Sanin is confronted with - his beloved Gemma and the 'free' woman, Maria Nikolaevna. Maria warns Sanin that he will have to be able to forget as she diverts him from Gemma for her own pleasure - the frenzy of physical love. For Turgenev this was clearly not an easy matter - he wanted the purity of untarnished love - apparently what the French call 'amities amoureuses'; erotic but not genital. But Sanin is a man - how can he resist the passion when the opportunity arises, the passion that all of nature calls to action? Having been sullied by his actions - in his own eyes - he flees his Gemma, fails to forget, and slips into an unsatisfactory existence. But Turgenev is kind to us - and Sanin, because at the end of the novel he allows Sanin to make contact again with Gemma (then living in America) and to be comforted by her mature forgiveness and learn that her life has been good despite the disaster of Sanin's abandonment. Perhaps the hardest of all human experiences is just not knowing ..... By chance I was reading D H Lawrence, 'Sons and Lovers', at the same time as I was reading 'Spring Torrents'. And here is another experience - the struggle between the maturing love of Paul for Miriam, and the inability of Paul's mother to approve of Miriam or to release Paul. It amazes me that great writers can point to the terrible traumas that initiating sexual activity causes, and yet it is the very cornerstone of survival of the species. But why does it have to be the way it is - why are humans not more like bonobo monkeys (another surviving species) and be promiscuous in a way that removes all these traumas and uncertainities - relieving men such as Turgenev from that set of troubles in their lives? But would we be the poorer for not then having such great novels as 'Spring Torrents'? If you do read this novel - and I heartily recommend it despite some of its bleakness - you should also read the essay by the translator, Leonard Shapiro. It is very readable and gave me a lot to reflect on. Other recommendations: Turgenev - 'Fathers and Sons' Wedekind - 'Springtime Awakening' Lawrence - 'Sons and Lovers'

I hope the amount of reviews posted here is not a reflection of how many people have actually read this novel. That would really be a shame. I've always felt Turgenev doesn't get the wide audience he deserves. He's one of my all time favorite authors. My favorite piece of work has to be "First Love". An emotional recalling of what first love is all about. That novel captured so many sincere emotions, so many things I could connect with and here with "Spring Torrents" Turgenev is spinning the same magic. It's setting up characters and situations we can relate to. It then causes us to think back to our own memories. Turgenev was a master. People need to become more familiar with his work. Those who don't not read his stories are missing out on tender, beautifully written, intelligent works of art. If you enjoy this book buy "First Love", "A Month in the Country", and the extremely popular "Fathers and Son". Bottom-line:A novel that causes us to relive our past (or maybe current) situations dealing with love. Resembles the genuis of his story "First Love". Well worth reading.

A marvelous tale of love's labors lost, this novella encapsulates the Russian spirit in a lighthearted and enjoyable fashion (despite its characteristic tragic outcome ... this is Russian literature, after all) that reads like a dream. One of the few books I forced myself to intentionally prolong the reading of (not wanting the pleasure to end), it is (at the same time) a book I hated to put down. Spirited like Lermontov, poetic like Pushkin, and wry like Bulgakov, this is a short tale of summer love that teaches volumes about the follies of (male) human nature. If the struggle of the main character portrayed by John Cusack in "High Fidelity" rang true with you, this is a book with a life lesson you should not miss.

'Spring Torrents', albeit a romantic tragedy, is infused withcomic elements at the will of an omnicient narrator, a style similarto yet distinct from Turgenev's friend Flaubert. What makes Turgenev's craft so brilliant is his ability to make us weep at the misfortunes of Dimitry Sanin yet not without reproval of Sanin's actions. Whereas Sanin is the protagonist of the novel, he also plays the antagonist of his own moral degeneration in the pursuit of love. 'Spring Torrents' is not as didactic as Turgenev's 'Fathers and Sons' which employs little subtlety in criticizing Russian gentry. This can be a welcome relief for the reader lacking familiarity with Russian Revolution; consequently, the book is very engaging and reads quicker than some of Turgenev's more political works, forgiving the moments that we are forced to pause, mulling over his beautifully ordinary prose, a graceful verse in German, or a breath-taking allusion to Virgil's Aeneid. If you are a man it will change you; if you are a woman it will change the way you look at men and their infinite vulnerabilities.