The Rendezvous

Turgenev, Ivan Sergeevich, 1818-1883Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

4.1

Word count: 19K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Rendezvous by Ivan Sergeevich TurgenevAuthor: Turgenev, Ivan Sergeevich, 1818-1883,Language: English, Class: PG: Language and Literatures: Slavic (including Russian), Languages and Literature, Release Date: Oct 17, 2007

Editor's review

A short work by Turgenev, The Rendezvous carries on his characteristic restrained style and lyrical mood. Taking a single encounter as its thread, the story renders the subtle emotional distances, hopes, and disappointments between its characters with understatement that lingers. Turgenev excels at building atmosphere within a modest span: natural scenery, the silences between lines of dialogue, and the fine shifts in his characters' feelings are the heart of his narrative. More rewarding than the plot here is the tone and the space left unfilled—this is a work to read slowly and quietly. For Chinese readers it is a short sample of Turgenev's "poetic realism," and it can be read alongside the sketches in A Sportsman's Sketches to observe how he handles encounter, missed connection, and time. This edition is a public-domain English ebook from Project Gutenberg, suitable as supplementary material for foreign-language reading or a literature seminar.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy a lyrical tone and delicate psychological portraiture
Literature lovers who want a short work as an introduction to Turgenev's style
Learners who need a public-domain English short story for extensive reading

Not a good fit for

Readers who want a strong plot and fast-paced narrative
Readers who prefer clear endings and dramatic conflict
Readers hoping for the full scope of Turgenev's major novels

Reading tips

Read slowly and notice how the descriptions of scenery echo the characters' emotions.
After finishing, recall the silences in the dialogue of the encounter scene and appreciate Turgenev's use of the unspoken.
Read it against a sketch from A Sportsman's Sketches to observe similarities in narrative perspective.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this work suitable as an introduction to Turgenev?

It works well as a short introduction. It is not long and shows Turgenev's lyrical, restrained style; for a fuller picture, also read A Sportsman's Sketches or Fathers and Sons.

What should I pay attention to while reading?

Focus on the atmosphere and the subtle shifts in the characters' psyches rather than plot alone. Turgenev's power often lies outside the dialogue, in the scenery.

Is this edition in Chinese or English?

The information shows it is an English ebook from Project Gutenberg. If reading English is difficult, look for a Chinese translation to compare, or read the Chinese first to grasp the content before returning to the original.

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About the author

Turgenev, Ivan Sergeevich, 1818-1883 Author

Turgenev, Ivan Sergeevich (1818–1883), was a nineteenth-century Russian novelist. Because the available records are limited, his early life and education cannot be described in detail here. What can be confirmed is his achievement as the author of several widely influential works; this collection holds thirty-five of his books, including Fathers and Sons (also known as Fathers and Children), the second volume of A Sportsman's Sketches, and the novels On the Eve, Rudin, and Asya. His writing is noted for delicate psychological portrayal and a restrained, concise style, and for showing social change through the interplay of personal feeling and social reality, with characters often caught between ideal and actuality. These works hold an important place in Russian literature and the European novel tradition, and retain lasting value for readers seeking to understand nineteenth-century Russian society and the spiritual character of its educated classes.