Rudin Paperback – July 6, 2010

Turgenev has a way with words, and, if nothing else, his extremely pleasant writing style makes this (and any other of his works) worth reading. Additionally, the characters of this novel are truly memorable.The most memorable character of all, however, is (unsurprisingly) Rudin. Throughout the novel, Turgenev paints Rudin as an intriguing, complex character who is prone to making sacrifices. These sacrifices, however, are often counter-productive and counter-intuitive. In a way, it often seems that Rudin is making decisions for no other purpose than self-destruction, and he leaves a wake of frustration and confusion in his path.The short length of this novel prevents it from getting into the depth and complexity of some of the better works of 19th century Russia (including Turgenev's own Fathers and Sons). It is, nevertheless, a great character study that is highly worth reading.

I am very disappointed in the quality of this paperback. The book appeared to be in good shape, but as soon as I opened the cover the book split apart in no less than four pieces. The glue used in binding the volume was bone dry and no longer held the cover or the pages. I ordered a new (not used) copy from Amazon.

The Amazon page for their Kindle version of Turgenev's "Rudin" explicitly states that it was translated by Richard Freeborn. It is not. When you buy it, it turns out to be the public domain Constance Garnett translation.This is pretty much bait-and-switch on Penguin's part. I expected better from them.

I first read this novella in college. I haven't forgotten its message, but its art was as fresh as if I'd never before read it. Turgenev is excellent here, challenging readers to challenge their own sense of self, love, and destiny. Dmitri Rudin is the consummate superfluous man, whose seemingly aimless journeys in life mirror that of us all to some degree. I read this version over about 5 hours on a day off, interrupted only by a lunch consisting of borscht and black bread.

I love Turgenev his insight into human psychology is excelent and his novels are not overblown at all. However if you read one or two together say Rudin and A Month in the Country then you see another side to this fine old author, that is he doesn't have a good sense of where he is going with the book and his caracters flounder around. What happens is that a whole bunch of people get together in a country mansion wander about the garden being deep and meaningful, fall in love and then wander about the garden being deep and meaninbgful some more. Eventually the hero has to go away and usually dies, that gets rid of them and everyone else lives happily/unhappily ever after.I am still a Turgenev fan but he does not develope his story consistantly as does say Thorogood in A Foxtrot Through India, anyway read Turgenev he is good.

So the book in and of itself is nothing short of great, but the text has a few punctuational and grammatical errors, and sometimes really just derails the entire flow the segment had going for it. In the best lines and quotes from the book the translations are good which really is what is most important but still it is a wonder how they didn't proof read or totally missed basic, blatant errors.

Excellent

The title character of this novel is cast as a well-intentioned individual who ultimately ends up as an anti-hero. Turgenev writes well but is too quick to defuse tensions or fails to develop them at all. It is a fairly fast read but in the end does not satisfy.