Finished: Fathers and Sons (Turgenev). It's always a good book that keeps me thinking and feeling afterwards! I didn't like the "protagonist" of the book, Bazarov. He was cocky, disrespectful, and a nihilist, who believed in nothing...no rules, no authority, no sentimentality. I don't think we were supposed to like him. However...then, he fell in love. He couldn't stand it that he did. The feelings of love, and possibly desiring a future with Anna, went against all he believed in. Then...he even admitted it to her, and :::gasp:::: she slapped him down. She led him right to the slaughter, coaxing, demurring, beguiling the words out of him. When he admitted he loved her, she backed up and said, whoa there...I hope you didn't get the wrong impression that I had the same feelings for you. After that, I felt more than dislike for Bazarov. I felt compassion. Making the characters more than one dimensional in this book made it all the more enjoyable. I loved the young love story that evolved between Arkady and Katya. And, I loved the relationships between the fathers and sons. I've read four Russian authors now...Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov and now Turgenev. I think Turgenev probably fits in third behind Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Though...he certainly was able to tell his tale and evoke my emotions with alot less tangent-taking. He definitely got right to the point on things. His just wasn't quite so epic a writing piece as the others. Chekhov...I still need to read more of him to rank him justly. A couple of favorite lines:

After Bazarov complains to Anna about her need for the same punctual routine every day for her country manor life, she says:

"There's no living in the country without order, one would be devoured by ennui."

I loved that. :-)

When Bazarov got bored at his parents after only three days, after previously being gone for three years...his poor parents lamented when they found out he would leave again the next day. His mother said to his father:

"There's no help for it, Vasya! A son is a separate piece cut off. He's like the falcon that flies home and flies away at his pleasure; while you and I are like funguses in the hollow of a tree, we sit side by side, and don't move from our place. Only I am left you unchanged forever, as you for me."

I guess my hubby and I are "funguses". At least we have each other. :-) And, of course, our children are not unappreciative scoundrels like Bazarov! Overall, good book!