Virgin Soil by Ivan Turgenev
Published in 1877, Virgin Soil describes the activities of a group of the Russian revolutionaries who were active in the late 1860's and 1870's. They represent the movement now known as Populism. They were persuaded that the Russian peasantry was ready to rise and establish a socialist state and in this idealistic belief they formed clandestine groups, dressed in rustic clothes and spread propaganda among the people. The people, however, were uncomprehending, or suspicious, or hostile, and many of the Populists were arrested and imprisoned.
The central character in Virgin Soil is Nezhdanov, the illegitimate son of an aristocrat. He is part of a revolutionary group, but becomes employed as a tutor in an upper class household, where he meets Marianna, the niece of his employer, Sipyagin. She shares his political views, they fall in love, and secretly leave Sipyagin's house to join the movement. Nezhdanov, however, is a complex character; he is interested in aesthetics and literature, he writes poetry--interests deplored by the true believers--and he doesn't feel the single-minded devotion to "The Cause" that he thinks he should feel. His propagandizing among the people is completely ineffective and inept, he recognizes the absurdity of his activity, and feels himself ashamed and a failure. In the end, he is a tragic figure.
There is much more, of course, in Virgin Soil. Turgenev is keenly sensitive to the Russian landscape, and offers vivid descriptions of the countryside. I enjoyed his satirical descriptions of the pompous, complacent self-satisfaction of Sipyagin and his wife, Valentina Mihalovna, and the smug, affected superiority of their friend Kallomyetsev. His sympathies are with the revolutionaries, though he clearly sees the futility of their enterprise; his descriptions of them reminded me of the student radicals of the 1960's. I definitely recommend Virgin Soil.
The central character in Virgin Soil is Nezhdanov, the illegitimate son of an aristocrat. He is part of a revolutionary group, but becomes employed as a tutor in an upper class household, where he meets Marianna, the niece of his employer, Sipyagin. She shares his political views, they fall in love, and secretly leave Sipyagin's house to join the movement. Nezhdanov, however, is a complex character; he is interested in aesthetics and literature, he writes poetry--interests deplored by the true believers--and he doesn't feel the single-minded devotion to "The Cause" that he thinks he should feel. His propagandizing among the people is completely ineffective and inept, he recognizes the absurdity of his activity, and feels himself ashamed and a failure. In the end, he is a tragic figure.
There is much more, of course, in Virgin Soil. Turgenev is keenly sensitive to the Russian landscape, and offers vivid descriptions of the countryside. I enjoyed his satirical descriptions of the pompous, complacent self-satisfaction of Sipyagin and his wife, Valentina Mihalovna, and the smug, affected superiority of their friend Kallomyetsev. His sympathies are with the revolutionaries, though he clearly sees the futility of their enterprise; his descriptions of them reminded me of the student radicals of the 1960's. I definitely recommend Virgin Soil.