Fathers and Sons : Roads Classics

from KristianATJ

"Of course, you cannot understand me: we belong to two different generations" It is expected that each new generation will challenge the ideas and the ideals of the generation they succeed - it is, in theory, how society evolves. Ivan Turgenev used Fathers and Sons as a means of exploring generat...

from Kristelh

19th century Russian literature set in 1859. (Follows the Paris Revolution, Crimean War, Nicholas I) A book about fathers and their sons. The sons have been to university and been educated. They have embraced nihilism. The Nihilist movement was a Russian movement in the 1860s which rejected all a...

from jackkane

Considering its notoriety, Turgenev's novel is surprisingly tame. In the end, the symbol of progressivism - Bazarov - dies, while the old aristocracy continues about its business, covering itself under a guise of liberalism. Bazarov, for all his rhetoric, is an arrogant hypocrite. He chatters abo...

from dandelionroots

Even though the conflict between generations is centered around the historical event of the emancipation of the russian serfs, it is relevant to every generational conflict. The extremists at either end will never understand each other, yet there is a delightful middle ground to be struck and exi...

from electrascaife

A son, fresh from school, comes home to visit his parents and brings along a revolutionary-minded friend. The friend's views instigate keen arguments, and the son's preference for his friend's views over his father's brings about a sad revelation for the latter, namely that the generational gap i...