First Love And Other Stories

The finest editions available of the world's greatest classics from Homer to Achebe, Tolstoy to Ishiguro, Proust to Pullman, printed on a fine acid-free, cream-wove paper that will not discolour with age, with sewn, full cloth bindings and silk ribbon markers, and at remarkably low prices. All books include substantial introductions by major scholars and contemporary writers, and comparative chronologies of literary and historical context.

This volume contains two of the world's great love stories - FIRST LOVE, and SPRING TORRENTS, which show Turgenev at his very best. Simple, direct and tender, they record the pains and glories of youthful infatuation in a style which evokes exactly and in detail what it is like to be young and in love. In addition, there is a third, much shorter story, A FIRE AT SEA, translated by Isaiah Berlin, and an introduction to the whole volume by V. S. Pritchett.

A Sportsman's Notebook

Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev was a novelist, poet, and dramatist, and now ranks as one of the towering figures of Russian literature. His major works include the short-story collection A Sportsman&rsquo;s Sketches (1852) and the novels Rudin (1856), Home of the Gentry (1859), On the Eve (1860), and Fathers and Sons (1862). 
 
These works offer realistic, affectionate portrayals of the Russian peasantry and penetrating studies of the Russian intelligentsia who were attempting to move the country into a new age. His masterpiece, Fathers and Sons, is considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century.

This is the classic book that put Turgenev on the literary map--both in his own time and for all of history. The strength of this, his first book, was such that, even if Turgenev had never written another book, he would still be recognized as the father of the modern short story. Indeed, A Sportsman's Notebook was Hemmingway's favorite book, and it is not hard to see traces of Turgenevs influence in the work of Hemmingway and other later-day masters of the short story. 
 
Notebook contains twenty-five stories in which Turgenev shares shares memories from the hunting expeditions that lead him throughout the Russian countryside. His writing is strong because there is real life in his people and real beauty in his landscapes.

Fathers And Children

"So ... you were convinced of all this and decided not to do anything serious yourselves." 
"And decided not to do anything serious," Bazarov repeated grimly. ... 
"But to confine yourselves to abuse?" 
"To confine ourselves to abuse." 
"And that is called nihilism?" 
"And that is called nihilism," Bazarov repeated again, this time with marked insolence. 
 
The book examines the conflict of attitudes in mid-19th-century Russia, as distant pre-echoes of the Revolution continue to rumble through the remote rural landscape. The story follows the Kirsanov family, representatives of the old regime, and the violent character of the anti-hero Bazarov. 
 
Introduced by Michael R Katz who was born in New York City and educated at Horace Mann School, Williams College, and Oxford University. He is the author of two books and over fifteen translations of Russian novels into English, including works by Dostoevsky, Turgenev, and Tolstoy.

Ivan Turgenev

Bill Nighy

Hugh Dickson

Patrick Troughton

Tim Pigott-Smith

Ian Holm

Timothy West

Norman Shelley

Amanda Root

David Horovitch

Rosalind Ayres

Maureen O'Brien

Full Cast

First Love, Father and Sons, A Month in the Country & more

Nine classic works by the Russian literary giant, adapted for BBC Radio 
 
Ivan Turgenev stands alongside Tolstoy and Dostoevsky as one of the three great Russian novelists of the 19th century. He was also a consummate short story writer, poet and playwright, and the first Russian author to become popular in the West. This specially curated collection showcases his key works, from the most celebrated to the undeservedly underrated. 
 
Described as ‘one of the most perfect things ever written’, the lyrical novella First Love tells the story of 16-year-old Vladimir, whose longing for the capricious Zinaida informs his whole life. Dramatised for Radio 4, it stars Simon Cadell, Rosalind Ayres and Bill Nighy. Succeeding it is Turgenev’s masterpiece, Fathers and Sons, an exploration of the eternal conflict between the reactionary older generation and the revolutionary younger one. John Castle stars as youthful nihilist Bazarov, with Maurice Denham as his father Nikolai. First published in 1855 as Two Women, Turgenev’s best-known play A Month in the Country centres around a landowner’s wife who finds herself attracted to her son’s tutor. Translated by Isaiah Berlin, our Radio 3 version stars Maureen O’Brien and Gerard Murphy. 
 
Written a few years before A Month in the Country, the little-known play The Poor Gentleman is an emotional comedy about an elderly man’s devotion to a daughter he can never recognise publicly. It stars Frank Finlay, Morag Hood and Colin Baker. Next up is Smoke, Turgenev’s only novel not to be set in Russia. Baden Baden is the setting for a tale that blends poignant love story and searing political satire, starring Garard Green, Rachel Gurney and Patricia Leventon. Meanwhile, in the short story ‘The Dog’, a mild Hussar (Timothy West) is the subject of a bizarre haunting… 
 
Turgenev’s debut novel, Rudin, features that archetypal character in Russian literature, the ‘superfluous man’. Ian Holm stars as the eponymous hero, an idealistic intellectual who is incapable of taking action: and suffers for it. Set just before the Crimean War, the romantic novella On the Eve has passion and patriotism as its themes. Amanda Root stars as the upper-class Elena, who embarks on a doomed affair with Bulgarian revolutionary Insarov (Philip Franks). We conclude as we began, with a tale of first love – Spring Torrents, one of Turgenev’s greatest and most autobiographical novellas. Adapted for Radio 4’s ‘Book at Bedtime’, it is read by David Horovitch. 
 
First published 1848 (The Poor Gentleman), 1855/1872 (A Month in the Country), 1857 (Rudin), 1860 (First Love, On the Eve), 1862 (Fathers and Sons), 1866 (‘The Dog’), 1867 (Smoke), 1872 (Spring Torrents) 
 
Production credits 
Written by Ivan Turgenev 
With thanks to Keith Wickham 
 
Contents List 
First Love 
Fathers and Sons 
A Month in the Country 
The Poor Gentleman 
Smoke 
The Dog 
Rudin 
On the Eve 
Spring Torrents 
 
© 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2024 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Ivan Turgenev

Books by Ivan Turgenev

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