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Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is
generally regarded as one of the three greatest
Russian novelists. Born in Orel, he was able to study
in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Berlin. He was the
first Russian writer to receive wide recognition
outside his native Russia. He published his book A
Sportsman's Sketches in 1852. These sympathetic
tales, largely about the life of peasants, gained a
reputation for Turgenev. He added to it with a series
of brilliant novels, most notably Fathers and Sons,
Soil, and A Nest of Gentlefolk.
An analysis of the works of Ivan Turgenev reveals him
as broadly sympathetic to a group in Russia called
"The Westerners". They believed that Russia's well
being depended upon its ability to learn from the
best of western European culture. His heroes are
often frustrated and disillusioned liberals, the
so-called "superfluous men" of the time. His
heroines, on the other hand, are usually
strong0willed and have a powerful sense of duty.
Although he wrote realistically, his prose, and
especially his descriptions of nature, often contains
a beautiful poetic atmosphere.
Turgenev tried to find favor with the liberals of his
day, but they criticized him for the politically
ineffective heroes in his novels. This criticism
mounted to considerable heights over the character
Bazarov in Fathers and Sons. Turgenev called him a
nihilist, a man who opposed all tradition and
authority. Offended by the unfavorable reception, he
spent more and more time abroad, and died near Paris
in 1883.
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