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Good book. nossy Send a noteboard - 17/10/2010 06:37:16 PM
Bazarov annoyed me in the beginning/middle. I liked the way Turgenev wrote him, into the position of seeming not to notice the hypocrisy of his beliefs until the Odintsova sequence played itself out.

Some of it made me curious. Ie: when Bazarov comments that a botanist wouldn't study every birch tree, so why should one study every human to find the inevitably absent differences -- is Turgenev truly behind the idea that a scientist can learn all he knows about birch from one tree? Because that's not at all accurate, and I found myself trusting that the author knew that a scientist would indeed study multiple examples of the same tree to learn. It gave me an interesting perspective on Bazarov, at any rate. That type of thing happened to me several times, and another example is the "enigmatic eye" story, and Bazarov's assertion that that was simply romanticism and rot (referencing the anatomy of the eyeball). I have to admit that I enjoyed his uncomfortable evolution during the times with Odintsova. Particularly the section where he thinks about her "proud lips," "intelligent eyes," and wanting her to "look upon him with tenderness." Nice.

Odintsova also bothered me. I tend to want to give her the benefit of the doubt (seems she was preconditioned in her opinion of men, which makes sense, given her age/experience), but I dislike women who trap men. I think my benefit of the doubt is due to not being able to decide whether she knew what she actually felt. Maybe her own revelation was something like Bazarov's - she didn't see it coming, because she'd previously cared about nothing and "was going nowhere." She does later mention that talking/being with him is like walking the edge of a precipice, so maybe that comment is meant to be more about her having no idea how to deal with her own feelings than about Bazarov's personality.

I liked the resolution, though I'm not glad B killed himself. I was not surprised, but it seemed a little too... easy. I was annoyed that because his stance came up against a wall, he decided to leave. Or, well, if it is correct that his end was his choice. Seemed so, to me. At any rate, jumping into the autopsy was a rash decision.

Edit: eh, that sounds too much like I never gained any respect for Bazarov, which is not the case. I felt physical anger when O denied him. I enjoyed reading his change/growing towards the end, post duel and all. We get to see him experience and struggle with emotion, and it all means more after we've seen the scene with O.
This message last edited by nossy on 17/10/2010 at 07:09:05 PM
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Russian Book Club: Fathers and Sons by Turgenev. - 17/10/2010 01:39:16 AM 1009 Views
Bazarov - 17/10/2010 02:12:03 PM 837 Views
never mind *NM* - 17/10/2010 02:15:16 PM 345 Views
The novel is very interested in inter-generational issues. - 17/10/2010 05:28:29 PM 734 Views
Re: The novel is very interested in inter-generational issues. - 17/10/2010 11:59:37 PM 816 Views
oh, and - 17/10/2010 06:42:38 PM 724 Views
Re: oh, and - 18/10/2010 12:09:10 AM 704 Views
I like the way you said that - 19/10/2010 05:31:05 AM 744 Views
Re: I like the way you said that - 19/10/2010 09:24:00 AM 698 Views
I had pretty much the same reaction as you. - 22/10/2010 07:05:37 PM 781 Views
Arkady - 17/10/2010 02:15:54 PM 691 Views
Well, that makes sense - 17/10/2010 05:12:09 PM 690 Views
Re: Well, that makes sense - 18/10/2010 12:04:05 AM 698 Views
According to a footnote in my (Dutch) copy... - 18/10/2010 10:55:22 PM 718 Views
Ясень and ясный - 18/10/2010 11:41:24 PM 711 Views
See, I liked Arkady - 17/10/2010 06:08:57 PM 630 Views
Re: See, I liked Arkady - 18/10/2010 12:13:49 AM 672 Views
hm. - 18/10/2010 01:06:44 AM 775 Views
Re: hm. - 18/10/2010 11:46:23 AM 911 Views
Re: hm. - 19/10/2010 05:38:02 AM 731 Views
Re: See, I liked Arkady - 18/10/2010 10:51:59 PM 670 Views
Re: Arkady - 22/10/2010 07:09:14 PM 716 Views
Oh...Rebekah, I was going to mention that I saw your post only much later because I was very drunk. - 17/10/2010 05:13:41 PM 716 Views
Heh, no worries. - 18/10/2010 11:07:00 AM 645 Views
Good book. - 17/10/2010 06:37:16 PM 740 Views
Agreed. - 18/10/2010 11:55:11 AM 816 Views
Re: Agreed. - 19/10/2010 06:02:18 AM 736 Views
Re: Agreed. - 19/10/2010 09:26:25 AM 644 Views
I didn't think Odintsova trapped him. - 18/10/2010 11:03:37 PM 706 Views
Re: I didn't think Odintsova trapped him. - 18/10/2010 11:31:40 PM 776 Views
Re: I didn't think Odintsova trapped him. - 19/10/2010 05:13:26 AM 708 Views
I think you might be overanalyzing the birch tree statement. - 18/10/2010 11:45:12 PM 674 Views
I disagree - 19/10/2010 05:27:07 AM 724 Views
I loved it. Great book. - 18/10/2010 10:49:27 PM 664 Views
Re: I loved it. Great book. - 18/10/2010 11:33:42 PM 646 Views
I think it's very relevant. It's also unusually un-Russian. - 18/10/2010 11:54:03 PM 639 Views
Yeah... the Russian nobility at the time seems to have been kind of un-Russian, really. - 20/10/2010 04:03:34 PM 705 Views
It felt very Russian to me as well - 20/10/2010 04:12:50 PM 641 Views
I really wish I'd bought a properly annotated version. - 22/10/2010 07:07:16 PM 746 Views
The answer to that is to just read a great book on Nineteenth Century Russian history. - 22/10/2010 10:55:06 PM 716 Views
Can you recommend one? - 22/10/2010 10:55:56 PM 994 Views
"One" is where it starts to get harder. - 23/10/2010 01:45:03 AM 732 Views
Nikolai and Pavel - I love them. - 22/10/2010 07:14:11 PM 818 Views
Perhaps it's Pavel's "The Chap"-ish nature that makes the novel seem less Russian to me. - 22/10/2010 10:53:56 PM 783 Views
Ah, that's a good point. - 22/10/2010 10:54:56 PM 654 Views
The women - 22/10/2010 07:18:45 PM 748 Views

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