Fathers and sons : the author on the novel, the contemporary reaction, essays in criticism

Fathers and Sons takes the conflict between generations as its subject. The novel's central characters, Yevgeny Bazarov and his disciple and fellow student, Arkady Kirsanov, are self-proclaimed Nihilists: repudiators of all the received truths of art, religion, and politics-all claims to truth, in fact, except those verifiable by scientific experiment. Turgenev thrusts his snarling young radicals into the venerable world of fathers when Bazarov accompanies Arkady to the Kirsanov country estate. The visit inevitably turns sour, and Arkady's Uncle Pavel and Bazarov find themselves at one another's metaphysical throats. Their disagreements escalate into a dangerous confrontation.When Fathers and Sons was published in 1862, it enveloped its author in a storm of controversy. Those on the political right saw it as a dangerous glorification of nihilism, whereas those on the political left believed it to be a vicious caricature of the progressives of the younger generation. Today, the novel continues to engage us with its vital characters and subtle handling of universal themes. In three parts, first, the text of the novel which portrays a new type of hero, a "nihilist," who would represent the values of the younger generation, revealing the full breadth of 19th century Russia, second, a selection of Turgenev's letters, and third, sixteen critical essays on the novel Depicts generational conflict in a portrayal of a young man's attempts to convert his father to his own radical political ideas. Ivan Turgenev ; Translated And Edited By Michael R. Katz. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 343).