Turgenev: A Study

Garnett, Edward, 1868-1937Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 241K words
Chapters: 25

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.Turgenev: A Study by Edward GarnettAuthor: Garnett, Edward, 1868-1937,Language: English, Class: PG: Language and Literatures: Slavic (including Russian), Languages and Literature, Release Date: Mar 22, 2018

Editor's review

Edward Garnett was a renowned British literary critic and translator, and his study of Turgenev combines critical depth with readability. This book is not a simple biography; rather, it starts from the works themselves and traces the creative development and artistic characteristics of Turgenev as a leading figure of Russian realist literature. Writing from the perspective of English-speaking readers, Garnett analyzes the relationship between Turgenev's character portrayal, social themes, and aesthetic pursuits in concise, lucid prose. For readers who want to understand nineteenth-century Russian literature, and especially the reception history of Turgenev in the English-speaking world, this short study offers a solid introductory path. It is suitable as supplementary reading after works such as Fathers and Sons and A Sportsman's Sketches, helping readers re-examine the texts from a critical angle. Because it was written early, some views bear the mark of their era, but precisely for this reason it also serves as a document for observing how early English-language scholarship understood Russian literature.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in nineteenth-century Russian literature
Those currently reading Turgenev's works who want a critical perspective
Literature students studying the reception history of Russian literature in the English-speaking world
Readers who enjoy short monographs on individual authors

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a detailed biography and anecdotes about the author's life
Those who only want to read Turgenev's original works and do not need critical accompaniment
Readers sensitive to older methods of literary criticism

Reading tips

Read one or two of Turgenev's major works first, then compare them with the critical views in this book for a more concrete understanding.
Use the book as a reading guide, marking Garnett's analyses of characters and themes as you go and checking them against the original texts.
If you are interested in reception history, note the English-language critical perspective reflected in the book and read it alongside later scholarship.
The book is short enough to read in two or three sittings; after each, write a few notes on your own comparisons.

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 book a biography of Turgenev?

No. It is a work of literary study focused on analyzing Turgenev's creative characteristics and the value of his works, rather than narrating the author's life chronologically. Readers can regard it as a critical monograph on the author, best read alongside the original works.

Can I read this book without having read Turgenev's works?

You can, but you will get less out of it. Much of the discussion centers on specific works; having read Fathers and Sons or A Sportsman's Sketches first will make Garnett's critical points easier to follow. It is advisable to read at least one major work before opening this book.

How difficult is the English in this book?

The original is in English and belongs to literary-critical writing. The sentences are fairly standard, but it involves literary terminology and the nineteenth-century Russian social context. Readers with college-level English can finish it with a dictionary; there is no need to read word by word—just grasp the main line of argument.

Why is this book said to have value for reception history?

Garnett was one of the early critics who introduced Russian literature to English-speaking readers, and this book reflects how English-language scholarship of the time understood Turgenev and what it focused on. Readers can gain critical insight while also seeing the aesthetic and value judgments of a particular era, which gives the book documentary significance.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Garnett, Edward, 1868-1937 Author

Edward Garnett (1868–1937) was an English writer, literary editor and critic. Publicly available information about his life and educational activities is limited, so nothing is speculated here. One work by him is held in this collection, namely Turgenev: A Study. The book examines the life and writings of the Russian author Ivan Turgenev, combining biographical narrative with textual analysis, and belongs to the genre of single-author studies. Garnett was long immersed in the fields of English literary editing and criticism; his writing favors close reading and character analysis, and his prose is plain, restrained and unshowy. A study of this kind is of reference value for understanding the reception of Turgenev in the West, and it reflects Garnett's sustained attention to the art of fiction.