Rudin - Paperback

by Constance Garnett (Translator), Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (Author)

Rudin, by Ivan Turgenev, is a Russian fiction classic and a nostalgic story of a man in his late twenties, torn between his much loved but barbaric homeland and a comfortable but unsatisfactory life in Europe. Translated by Constance Garnett, 1894 edition. The novel begins with the introduction of three of the characters - Aleksandra, Lezhnev, and Pandalevskii. Pandalevskii relates to Aleksandra Dar'ya Mikhailovna's invitation to come and meet a Baron Muffel'. Instead of the Baron, Rudin arrives and captivates everyone immediately with his intelligent and witty speeches during the argument with Pigasov. Interestingly, Rudin's arrival is delayed until Chapter Three. After his success at Dar'ya Mikhailovna's, he stays the night and the next morning meets Lezhnev who arrives to discuss some business affairs with Dar'ya Mikhailovna. This is the first time the reader finds out that Rudin and Lezhnev are acquainted, and studied together at university. During the day that follows Rudin has his first conversation with Natasha; as she speaks of him highly and says he "ought to work", he replies with a lengthy speech. What follows is a description quite typical of Turgenev, where the character of Rudin is shown not through his own words, but through the text which underlines Rudin's contradictory statements: "Yes, I must act. I must not bury my talent, if I have any; I must not squander my powers on talk alone - empty, profitless talk - on mere words, ' and his words flowed in a stream. He spoke nobly, ardently, convincingly, of the sin of cowardice and indolence, of the necessity of action."[5] On the same day, Sergei leaves Dar'ya Mikhailovna's early and arrives to see that Lezhnev is visiting. Lezhnev then gives his first description of Rudin.