Reviews

First Love and Other Stories by Ivan Turgenev

sarahsjr's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

Je sais pas quoi dire, j’ai pas aimé. La première histoire ça va, mais les 2 autres c’était juste chiant (surtout la dernière, j’ai survolé les pages juste pour terminer le livre)

adelianova's review against another edition

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4.5

Read a different edition that included A Quiet Place, On the Eve, Faust, Yakov Pasynkov, Asya and First Love. 
My favorites are Yakov Pasynkov and Asya – i found those particularly touching. 
Turgenev’s prose is gorgeous as always. Already have A Sportsman’s Sketches ready to go. 

hin_lxxrs's review against another edition

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3.0

J'ai apprécié la lecture bien que le développement des personnages manque. 

merry_pensieve's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

m_____artha's review

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4.0

“She was - I saw this myself - being carried along on the crest of a wave. Like a young tree, already half torn from the bank, she was bending greedily over the torrent, ready to surrender to it forever both the first bloom of her springtime and her entire life.”

The descriptions of young and inexperienced love were so beautifully conveyed. 

jacket7227's review

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challenging emotional reflective

4.5

travelling_bookworm's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

 “My heart, so ready and willing to love, will soon stop beating. Will it fall quiet forever without once having known happiness or once having expanded under a sweet burden of joy?”

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Already known for his fantastic depiction of rural Russian life and cutting criticism of life under serfdom, Turgenev also shows his mastery at creating deep character studies in a short space of time in this somewhat autobiographical collection.

With lines such as “To keep parents from being bored is what children are for,” his stories are unexpectedly humorous without losing anything from its depth and fluidity. The effortless flow from profound and hard truths to bitter humor is executed so easily, so naturally, that it is impossible not to enjoy this book. What I enjoyed most of all in Turgenev’s style was his masterful rhythm of building tension and breaking it a moment later, always keeping you on your toes, which makes this one of the classics that is read with pleasure and surprise. 

hornygoldfish's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bloodyvampirishreads's review against another edition

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4.0

4.12*

Le livre parfait à lire en moins d'une après-midi (un peu plus de 100 pages). Et le bouquin est beau à lire. Je vous le recommande vivement.

C'est un récit qui prend place au XIXème siècle dans la campagne russe. C'est le compte du premier amour de Vladimir Petrovitch (j'ai probablement mal écrit son nom de famille, je m'en excuse), qui a seize ans. C'est un récit autobiographique et d'apprentissage.

Honnêtement, j'ai appris quelques nouveaux mots. Et ce n'était pas déplaisant.

Très vite, en lisant ce roman, vous comprendrez que ce n'est pas une romance mignonne. A lecture des quelques premières pages, on devine qu'il s'agit d'un premier amour non réciproque, donc déjà tu sens la c****** arriver. Tout l'intérêt de la nouvelle réside dans le "plot twist". Plot twist, que nous, lecteurs, devinons dès le début. Cependant, le personnage principal, le narrateur, ne semble pas remarquer l'évidence, présente sous son nez. Et une fois que le plot twist lui est dévoilé, l'histoire devient brutale, crue. Non pas parce que événements sont violents, mais plutôt parce qu'ils s'enchaînent brutalement.

Quant aux personnages ; ils sont assez intéressants, car imparfaits.

galatee's review against another edition

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5.0

définitivement très heureuse d’avoir enfin découvert cet auteur dont les nouvelles sont de véritables bijoux du romantisme russe. Tourgueniev allie tragique, amour de la Russie et amour de la poésie avec une virtuosité d’une simplicité et d’une beauté étonnantes