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_marco_'s review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
Turgenev paints a sweet little psychological portrait of a man, Rudin, who visits the country estate of a society woman, wooing her and her company with bright and eloquent speeches inundated with philosophy and idealism. He soon falls out of favour, however, when the passion with which he speaks fails to be translated into action.
There is a lot about this book that speaks to me. Rudin is presented not as a hypocrite, in which he practices deeds that directly oppose the ideals of his speeches; but as a man who finds himself too weak to accomplish anything of purpose, regardless of how forcefully he believes in it. This inertia ultimately leads to his destruction, and I had found it so tragically relatable. The idea of a faint heart (Dostoevsky’s dreamer, Turgenev’s Rudin, Goncharov’s Oblomov) has always fascinated me in Russian literature. I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for this man of inaction, despite the (just) vitriol directed towards him by those around him that, almost ceaselessly, he disappoints.
I also loved the character of Natalya. She had such force in her, such intelligence that not only rivals but (as we see in the story) triumphs over Rudin’s weakness. The intimacy of her moments of solitude shine through the rest of book for me.
There is a lot about this book that speaks to me. Rudin is presented not as a hypocrite, in which he practices deeds that directly oppose the ideals of his speeches; but as a man who finds himself too weak to accomplish anything of purpose, regardless of how forcefully he believes in it. This inertia ultimately leads to his destruction, and I had found it so tragically relatable. The idea of a faint heart (Dostoevsky’s dreamer, Turgenev’s Rudin, Goncharov’s Oblomov) has always fascinated me in Russian literature. I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for this man of inaction, despite the (just) vitriol directed towards him by those around him that, almost ceaselessly, he disappoints.
I also loved the character of Natalya. She had such force in her, such intelligence that not only rivals but (as we see in the story) triumphs over Rudin’s weakness. The intimacy of her moments of solitude shine through the rest of book for me.
‘Perhaps you’re right, and I don’t know what I’m saying. But until this moment I’ve placed such faith in you, I’ve believed your every word… in the future, please, do weigh your words, don’t scatter them to the wind. When I told you I loved you, I knew the meaning of each word…’
The beginning of the story felt very slow and unnecessarily intellectual for my tastes. I had almost expected it to be too full of philosophy that the characters themselves become symbols or nonentities in their debates and polemics for one abstract ideal against another (perhaps reading the translator’s introduction set it up in this way for me). By the midpoint of the book, however, it became much more exciting.
As always, I am a huge fan of the author’s gift of natural description. Additionally, Turgenev’s emphasis on dialogue throughout the story gives it the feel of a play or some other dramatic work, which (as I found anyway) further animated the characters throughout. I could hear the tone of their voices, the sharpness of their wit, the rage, joy, reflection, praise, scorn and all of the other emotions through the cold objectivity of the book’s typeface. I’d love to see it adapted into a play or a film.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny
The character of Pigasov is a misogynist, he had nothing but awful things to say about women. His presence in the novel is quite minor, so we don’t hear from him often.o_tulp's review
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
jnnfrglln's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
wynter's review
4.0
This short anthology consists of three stories all connected by a common theme of characters that cannot fit into the rest of the society. Rudin is a lovely short novel about a man who overthinks everything and, by trying to act as he believes was expected of him, brakes a young girl's heart. The confrontation between Rudin and Natalia is as emotionally charged as the infamous confession in [b:Eugene Onegin|27822|Eugene Onegin|Alexander Pushkin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388373138s/27822.jpg|1795311], and undoubtedly the best scene in the book. The girl's strength of character and her pain are splashed across the page in honest and bold manner so typical of Turgenev. I loved it.
Hamlet of the Shchigrovsky District is more of a sketch about a chance meeting of unnamed narrator with a mysterious man, who philosophizes throughout the night about futility of nobility and his own existence. In the morning the stranger vanishes, and we never find out what happens afterwords to either of the characters. The story is just okay, in my opinion, but is probably great to pick apart academically.
The Diary of a Superfluous Man concerns a man on his deathbed reflecting upon a certain event in his life in form of a diary. Having only two weeks to live, he fixates on his past, unrequited love for the beautiful Liza. Often missing his opportunities or unable to properly take advantage of them, as well as not coming to terms with rejection, he feels like an outsider looking in on his own tragedy. Rather an interesting look at a personal misfortune that became an archetype in later Russian literature.
Over all, a solid collection that makes me want to read more Turgenev in the future. Something tells me I'd like him longer, more developed works better.
Hamlet of the Shchigrovsky District is more of a sketch about a chance meeting of unnamed narrator with a mysterious man, who philosophizes throughout the night about futility of nobility and his own existence. In the morning the stranger vanishes, and we never find out what happens afterwords to either of the characters. The story is just okay, in my opinion, but is probably great to pick apart academically.
The Diary of a Superfluous Man concerns a man on his deathbed reflecting upon a certain event in his life in form of a diary. Having only two weeks to live, he fixates on his past, unrequited love for the beautiful Liza. Often missing his opportunities or unable to properly take advantage of them, as well as not coming to terms with rejection, he feels like an outsider looking in on his own tragedy. Rather an interesting look at a personal misfortune that became an archetype in later Russian literature.
Over all, a solid collection that makes me want to read more Turgenev in the future. Something tells me I'd like him longer, more developed works better.
will___to___flower's review against another edition
5.0
Wanted to write a long review, but I feel as if this book is short enough to warrant a gleaming recommendation.
This book is about inaction. In all of us we see Rudin; our under-confidence, over-compensating selves, dreaded to roam from place to place and never finding his home. But Rudin is a greatly flawed man, who tries his best to please all around him and defeats his passion when faced in opposition; doomed to roam the lands of a country he was never familiar with, and this what creates what became of Rudin at the end of the book.
What is most striking was the beautiful extended passages of natural description. I couldn’t help but love how richly detailed and florid in emotion that Turgenev writes everything from description to dialog. It’s remarkable how understated this book is in general. His contemporaries would have wrote 600 page epics that would ultimately pale in comparison to this succinct and masterly crafted work. This is an unsung masterpiece of the Russian 19th century, and we can all learn something about ourselves from the titular ‘superfluous man’ in this book.
Rudin is in all of us, and that is what makes us so beautiful.
This book is about inaction. In all of us we see Rudin; our under-confidence, over-compensating selves, dreaded to roam from place to place and never finding his home. But Rudin is a greatly flawed man, who tries his best to please all around him and defeats his passion when faced in opposition; doomed to roam the lands of a country he was never familiar with, and this what creates what became of Rudin at the end of the book.
What is most striking was the beautiful extended passages of natural description. I couldn’t help but love how richly detailed and florid in emotion that Turgenev writes everything from description to dialog. It’s remarkable how understated this book is in general. His contemporaries would have wrote 600 page epics that would ultimately pale in comparison to this succinct and masterly crafted work. This is an unsung masterpiece of the Russian 19th century, and we can all learn something about ourselves from the titular ‘superfluous man’ in this book.
Rudin is in all of us, and that is what makes us so beautiful.
sleeping_while_awake's review against another edition
4.0
Rudin is the story of Dmitri Nikolaevich Rudin, the titular character, who travels to the Russian countryside to stay with the widowed female landowner Darya Mikhailovna Lasunskaya.
He interacts with her small social circle: her daughter Natalya Aleskeevna Lasunskaya, her secretary Konstantin Diomidych Pandalevskii; and other landowners: the brother and sister Sergei Pavlovich Volyntsev and Aleksandra Pavlovna Lipina, woman hating Afrikan Semenych Pigasov, and social eschewing Mihailo Mihailych Lezhnev.
At first, the intelligence and vivacity of Rudin enraptures them all. However, as time progresses, his true nature, his inability to settle down and put energy into anything substantial, is revealed to all.
Each character ends up responding to Rudin differently by the close of the novel. Lezhnev has empathy, Aleksandra Pavlovna has pity, Volyntsev has irritation, Darya Mikhailovna has disinterest, and Natalya Aeskeevna has scorn.
I liked in the beginning, Turgenev displays Rudin in a very positive manner. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him. This slowly twists in the other direction as the story progresses.
I thought the characters were developed as well as they could be in so short of a novel. Certainly, Turgenev could have doubled the amount of writing to tell the same message. Everything is to the point and there's no extra fluff.
Natasha was an intriguing character. I wondered what her future would be like. I underestimated her ability to see through Rudin and was surprised at that scene. It's great to see a strong, young female character pull through a torrent of emotion.
Overall, Rudin is a man full of passion, without an actual passion to put all the energy towards.
He interacts with her small social circle: her daughter Natalya Aleskeevna Lasunskaya, her secretary Konstantin Diomidych Pandalevskii; and other landowners: the brother and sister Sergei Pavlovich Volyntsev and Aleksandra Pavlovna Lipina, woman hating Afrikan Semenych Pigasov, and social eschewing Mihailo Mihailych Lezhnev.
At first, the intelligence and vivacity of Rudin enraptures them all. However, as time progresses, his true nature, his inability to settle down and put energy into anything substantial, is revealed to all.
Each character ends up responding to Rudin differently by the close of the novel. Lezhnev has empathy, Aleksandra Pavlovna has pity, Volyntsev has irritation, Darya Mikhailovna has disinterest, and Natalya Aeskeevna has scorn.
I liked in the beginning, Turgenev displays Rudin in a very positive manner. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him. This slowly twists in the other direction as the story progresses.
I thought the characters were developed as well as they could be in so short of a novel. Certainly, Turgenev could have doubled the amount of writing to tell the same message. Everything is to the point and there's no extra fluff.
Natasha was an intriguing character. I wondered what her future would be like. I underestimated her ability to see through Rudin and was surprised at that scene. It's great to see a strong, young female character pull through a torrent of emotion.
Overall, Rudin is a man full of passion, without an actual passion to put all the energy towards.
romanoirs's review against another edition
4.0
I have read 22 of Turgenev's short stories, novels and novellas and even after all this time he still can render me speechless. That is the mark of a great writer and it is unfathomable to me that this was his first novel - it was wonderful.
Rudin, I would argue, is not what someone would describe as a 'likeable' character. He is endlessly chasing ideas and notions and theories but never follows through. He is empty; hollow. He is charismatic but when you look past his surface level intelligence and knowledge he is someone with no substance. But, with all that said, he is someone everyone has met. You will find people like him in university classrooms the world over. Once the shiny layer is broken you can see him for what he really is: the superfluous man. In later novellas and novels Turgenev explores this kind of character time and time again and I'm never not charmed by it. No one explores this kind of type of character better.
Rudin the novel follows Rudin the character as he is introduced to a country aristocratic circle. They are all enamoured with him until his real self is discovered underneath his 'golden' physical image. He is weak compared to Natalya, the main young girl who falls in love with him. She goes on to live a fulfilled and happy life and, unfortunately for Rudin, that life was never on the cards for him.
Rudin is a novel that explores elements of the human psyche in a way I haven't seen before. It's very much a first novel with it's occasional spiels into philosophical ideas that are just there and references of literature and mythology that inspired a younger Turgenev. This is a novel where Turgenev is finding his voice and who he is as a writer. It's a must read for all who like Turgenev and it is a brilliant first novel.
Rudin, I would argue, is not what someone would describe as a 'likeable' character. He is endlessly chasing ideas and notions and theories but never follows through. He is empty; hollow. He is charismatic but when you look past his surface level intelligence and knowledge he is someone with no substance. But, with all that said, he is someone everyone has met. You will find people like him in university classrooms the world over. Once the shiny layer is broken you can see him for what he really is: the superfluous man. In later novellas and novels Turgenev explores this kind of character time and time again and I'm never not charmed by it. No one explores this kind of type of character better.
Rudin the novel follows Rudin the character as he is introduced to a country aristocratic circle. They are all enamoured with him until his real self is discovered underneath his 'golden' physical image. He is weak compared to Natalya, the main young girl who falls in love with him. She goes on to live a fulfilled and happy life and, unfortunately for Rudin, that life was never on the cards for him.
Rudin is a novel that explores elements of the human psyche in a way I haven't seen before. It's very much a first novel with it's occasional spiels into philosophical ideas that are just there and references of literature and mythology that inspired a younger Turgenev. This is a novel where Turgenev is finding his voice and who he is as a writer. It's a must read for all who like Turgenev and it is a brilliant first novel.