From Library Journal
Dover's wonderful "Thrift" line now offers Turgenev's 1862 chestnut on the cheap.Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Turgenev's masterpiece about the generation gap gives us endless philosophizing in the Russian style and endearing, unforgettable characters. British actor David Horovitch wonderfully impersonates the dramatis personae, communicating their full dimension. As in the novel, Bazarov, the arrogant, young nihilist with a heart of gold, steals the show. Anyone intrigued but daunted by those weighty Russian novels should start with this tape. Y.R. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine


The Boston Globe, January 6, 1999
"For classic literature, check out the new "Cover to Cover" series. All are 19th and 20th century works produced in England. They are handsomely packaged in sturdy, decorative cardboard boxes. The series carries the exclusive Royal Warrant from Charles, Prince of Wales."


Deirdre Donahue, USA TODAY, December 3, 1998
"These Cover to Cover tapes offer up a delectable feast for fans of the spoken word. We're talking class act here - from the elegant covers to the accomplished readers."


Gramophone
"David Horovitch is brilliant, in the heated exchanges between Arkady and his revolutionary friend Bazarov, it is hard to believe there are not two separate voices. This is not a reading but a nine-hour performance from Horovitch."


Daily Telegraph
"Turgenev's eye for absurdity, irony and pathos, in his novel Fathers And Sons, is emphasized in this superb reading by David Horovitch."





Language Notes
Text: English, Russian (translation)


The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
Novel by Ivan Turgenev, published in 1862 as Ottsy i deti. Quite controversial at the time of its publication, Fathers and Sons concerns the inevitable conflict between generations and between the values of traditionalists and intellectuals. The physician Bazarov, the novel's protagonist, is the most powerful of Turgenev's creations. He is a nihilist, denying the validity of all laws save those of the natural sciences. Uncouth and forthright in his opinions, he is nonetheless susceptible to love and by that fact doomed to unhappiness. In sociopolitical terms he represents the victory of the revolutionary nongentry intelligentsia over the gentry intelligentsia to which Turgenev belonged. At the novel's first appearance the radical younger generation attacked it bitterly as a slander, and conservatives condemned it as too lenient in its characterization of nihilism.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

One of the world's greatest novels-in a brand new package

A vivid, timeless depiction of the clash between the older Russian aristocracy and the youthful radicalism that foreshadowed the revolution. This controversial classic offers modern readers much to reflect upon amidst today's tumultuous, changing world.

FROM THE CRITICS

AudioFile - Yuri Rasovsky