Henry James
"Every...type of character...passes through his hands...He has an eye for all our passions and a...sympathetic sense of the...complexity of our souls."


Book Description
Turgenev was unquestionably the most liberal-spirited and unqualifiedly humane of all the great nineteenth-century Russian novelists, and in Virgin Soil, the biggest and most ambitious of all his works, he sought to balance his deep affection for his country and his people with his growing apprehensions about what their future held in store. At the heart of the book is the story of a young man and a young woman, torn between love and politics, who struggle to make headway against the complacency of the powerful, the inarticulate misery of the powerless, and the stifling conventions of provincial life. This rich and complex book, at once a love story, a devastating, and bitterly funny, social satire, and, perhaps most movingly of all, a heartfelt celebration of the immense beauty of the Russian countryside, is a tragic masterpiece in which one of the worldÕs finest novelists confronts the enduring question of the place of happiness in a political world.


Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian


The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
Novel by Ivan Turgenev, published in Russian as Nov in 1877. Its focus is the young populists who hoped to sow the seeds of revolution in the virgin soil of the Russian peasantry. Turgenev presents realistic and somewhat sympathetic portraits of the many different types of characters who were involved in the revolutionary movement, from the ardent young Nezhdanov, whose speeches to peasants only confuse them, to his lover Marianna, who wears peasant clothes and affects peasant mannerisms in order to be an effective revolutionary worker, to the crude Markeloff, whose speeches advocating total armed revolution cause the peasants to turn him over to the police. The novel's strongest character, and the one most representative of Turgenev's own views, is Solomin, a calm, efficient factory manager who despises the aristocracy and advocates gradual liberalization.


About the Author
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (1818-1883) was born into a wealthy family from the class of landed gentry and educated at the universities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. He first made his name with A Sportsman's Sketches, a realistic portrayal of Russian country life that is said to have influenced Tsar Alexander II to liberate the serfs. In later life, Turgenev lived in Europe and returned only occasionally to his native country. Among his most famous works are the novels Fathers and Sons, Rudin, and On the Eve.

SYNOPSIS

Turgenev was unquestionably the most liberal-spirited and unqualifiedly humane of all the great nineteenth-century Russian novelists, and in Virgin Soil, the biggest and most ambitious of all his works, he sought to balance his deep affection for his country and his people with his growing apprehensions about what their future held in store. At the heart of the book is the story of a young man and a young woman, torn between love and politics, who struggle to make headway against the complacency of the powerful, the inarticulate misery of the powerless, and the stifling conventions of provincial life. This rich and complex book, at once a love story, a devastating, and bitterly funny, social satire, and, perhaps most movingly of all, a heartfelt celebration of the immense beauty of the Russian countryside, is a tragic masterpiece in which one of the world￯﾿ﾽs finest novelists confronts the enduring question of the place of happiness in a political world.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (1818-1883) was born into a wealthy family from the class of landed gentry and educated at the universities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. He first made his name with A Sportsman￯﾿ﾽs Sketches, a realistic portrayal of Russian country life that is said to have influenced Tsar Alexander II to liberate the serfs. In later life, Turgenev lived in Europe and returned only occasionally to his native country. Among his most famous works are the novels Fathers and Sons, Rudin, and On the Eve.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING