![]() Love is the central theme, and the torturous effect it has on the characters becomes difficult to watch. Turgenev’s prose is deceptively simple, yet forcefully conveys what the characters are feeling. While the story bills itself as a look at Vladimir’s first love, there is decidedly more going on beneath the surface. The story follows 16 year old Vladimir Petrovich (looking back on the events when he is 40) as he falls in and out of love with his neighbor Zinaida Alexandrovna, the daughter of Princess Zasyekin. ![]() Turgenev claimed several times that this novella was autobiographical (although he was younger than the protagonist when the events occurred). ![]() I hope to read at least two more of Turgenev’s works in the next few weeks, so I’ll go into detail on overarching themes over the course of their discussions. This was (as far as I recall) my first reading of anything by Turgenev and I’m looking forward to reading more. I still highly recommend reading the work…I was familiar with the plotline and still enjoyed it tremendously. I’m going to post some extensive quotes as well as reveal some of the plot twists, so be forewarned. The library copy of “First Love” I read was translated by David Magarshack-all quotes are from his version. My post on links to Turgenev resources can be found here ![]() Book Illustration for 'The Day Before' by Ivan Turgenev, 1947Īn audio version can be found at LibriVoxĪ nice summary, excerpts and more is available courtesy of David C. ![]()
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