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A review by dsundy
Home of the Gentry by Ivan Turgenev
5.0
Simply one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read.
and suddenly dead silonce ensued, nothing tapped, nothing stirred; one by One swallows swooped along the ground without a murmur, and the very silence of their fight made the heart sad."'Here am I as though I were at the bottom of a river, Laveetsky thought again. 'And here always, at all times, life is quiet and unhurried,' he reflected.
Whoever enters its charmed circle
must submit to it: here there is nothing to worry about, nothing to disturb one; here success comes only to him who carves out his own unhurried path as the ploughman carves out the furrows with his plough. And what strength there is everywhere, what vigour in this static peace! Just there, beneath the window, a rugged burdock shoves its way through the thick grass; above it lovage stretches its juicy stalk, angels tears unfurls its rosy curls higher still; and there, further off, in the fields, the rye gleams brightly burnished, and the oats have formed their little trumpet ears, and every leaf on every tree, and every blade of grass on its stalk, has broadened out to its fullest breadth. My best years have passed in loving a woman,
, Lavretsky continued to reflect. 'Now let this boredom bring me to my senses, let it calm me and prepare me to take up my task without hurry.' And once again he began to listen to the silence, awaiting nothing - and yet at the same time endlessly expectant: the silence engulfed him on every side; the sun ran its course across the tranquil blue of the sky, and the clouds floated silently upon it; it seemed as if they knew why and where they were going. At that very time, in other places on the earth, life was seething, hurrying, roaring on its way; here the same life flowed by inaudibly, like water through marshy grass; and until evening Lavretsky could not tear himself away from contemplation of this receding, out-flowing life; anguish for the past was melting in his soul like spring snow and - strangest of all! - never before had he felt so deep and strong a feeling for his country.
and suddenly dead silonce ensued, nothing tapped, nothing stirred; one by One swallows swooped along the ground without a murmur, and the very silence of their fight made the heart sad."'Here am I as though I were at the bottom of a river, Laveetsky thought again. 'And here always, at all times, life is quiet and unhurried,' he reflected.
Whoever enters its charmed circle
must submit to it: here there is nothing to worry about, nothing to disturb one; here success comes only to him who carves out his own unhurried path as the ploughman carves out the furrows with his plough. And what strength there is everywhere, what vigour in this static peace! Just there, beneath the window, a rugged burdock shoves its way through the thick grass; above it lovage stretches its juicy stalk, angels tears unfurls its rosy curls higher still; and there, further off, in the fields, the rye gleams brightly burnished, and the oats have formed their little trumpet ears, and every leaf on every tree, and every blade of grass on its stalk, has broadened out to its fullest breadth. My best years have passed in loving a woman,
, Lavretsky continued to reflect. 'Now let this boredom bring me to my senses, let it calm me and prepare me to take up my task without hurry.' And once again he began to listen to the silence, awaiting nothing - and yet at the same time endlessly expectant: the silence engulfed him on every side; the sun ran its course across the tranquil blue of the sky, and the clouds floated silently upon it; it seemed as if they knew why and where they were going. At that very time, in other places on the earth, life was seething, hurrying, roaring on its way; here the same life flowed by inaudibly, like water through marshy grass; and until evening Lavretsky could not tear himself away from contemplation of this receding, out-flowing life; anguish for the past was melting in his soul like spring snow and - strangest of all! - never before had he felt so deep and strong a feeling for his country.