Fathers and Sons

“Our higher officials are fond as a rule of nonplussing their subordinates; the methods to which they have recourse to attain that end are rather various.”

“... a thin little woman with a pinched-up face, drawn together like a fist... “


“Who's crying there?' he added, after a short pause—'Mother? Poor thing! Whom will she feed now with her exquisite beetroot-soup?”

“The estate had only recently been put on to the new reformed system, and the new mechanism worked, creaking like an ungreased wheel, warping and cracking like homemade furniture of unseasoned wood.”

“There's no help for it, Vasya! A son is a separate piece cut off. He's like the falcon that flies home and flies away at his pleasure; while you and I are like funguses in the hollow of a tree, we sit side by side, and don't move from our place. Only I am left you unchanged for ever, as you for me.'“

“The whole person of Arkady's uncle, with its aristocratic elegance, had preserved the gracefulness of youth and that air of striving upwards, away from earth, which for the most part is lost after the twenties are past.”

“People are like trees in a forest; no botanist would think of studying each individual birch-tree.”

“A man's capable of understanding anything—how the æther vibrates, and what's going on in the sun—but how any other man can blow his nose differently from him, that he's incapable of understanding.”

Masterpiece, masterpiece, masterpiece.

I dove into Fathers & Sons after dabbling in some of Turgenev's other short stories. Wow.
It is interesting to read this book after Dostoevsky's “Demons”. Fathers & Sons is a more compelling, lucid and moving version of the former. With this, Turgenev has firmly won me over to his side in the Dostoevsky vs Turgenev brawl.
His depiction of the female cast is stunning in its understated soulfulness and accuracy, similar to Tolstoy's.

The danger of nihilism, the legitimate grievances that underlie the mindset of those who succumb to nihilism, and the unbearable inertia that underlies both the lifestyle that conforms to tradition versus the lifestyle that breaks away from its entirety - Fathers & Sons is a pitiful, inspiring train-wreck of the Russian psyche that you cannot tear yourself away from.

Refreshing and short, this is the most accessible Russian novel I have read. It covers changing worldviews, father son dynamics and changing relationships, and most of all the vast differences between two generations. The 1860's in Russia is a fantastic setting to explore the latter theme too, so much is being debated and challenged.

Summary: Ivan Turgenev’s novel, originally written in Russian, follows a young self-proclaimed nihilist and his impressionable friend. The work gives a look into the political turmoil of 19th century Russia, but, more than that, it exposes the unexpectedness of life as it presents itself to people of all philosophical mindsets.

Fathers and Sons has all the characteristics of a great novel. It is moving; the characters are well-developed; there are climactic highs and lows; it is well-written; it was historically situated well; etc. Nonetheless, it is undoubtedly just “not for” some people. I am a huge fan of Dostoevsky; I enjoy his novels because of how he examines misery, struggle, destitution, faith, and redemption. Certainly, there is some of that in Fathers and Sons, but it still feels quite lacking. Furthermore, I never felt as deeply connected to any of the characters (barring the parents of Bazarov) as I do with Dostoevsky's. Fathers and Sons is a spectacular book, and I would recommend it, for either you will enjoy Turgenev or you will realize what you like about another author more.