Book description
When Arkady Petrovich comes home from college, his father finds his
eager, naive son changed almost beyond recognition, for the
impressionable Arkady has fallen under the powerful influence of the
friend accompanying him. A self-proclaimed nihilist, the ardent young
Bazarov shocks Arkady's father by criticizing the landowning way of
life and by his outspoken determination to sweep away the traditional
values of contemporary Russian society.
Turgenev's depiction of the conflict between generations and their
ideals stunned readers when Fathers and Sons was first published in
1862. But many could sympathize with Arkady's fascination with the
nihilistic hero whose story vividly captures the hopes and regrets of
a changing Russia.
Turgenev was born in 1818. His series of six novels reflect the
period of Russian life between the 1830s and 1870s. He also wrote
plays, short stories, literary essays and memoirs. He died in Paris in
1883.
Rosemary Edmonds translated many Russian works during her lifetime,
including Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky & Pushkin for Penguin.
