Last week we had Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, this week the Book of the Week is:
Fathers and Sons - Ivan Turgenev
Fathers and Sons is Turgenev's best known work, perhaps the first modern Russian psychological novel, and one of the greatest works of Russian literature, perhaps on par with such works as Anna Karenina and Crime and Punishment (novels for which, some argue, Fathers and Sons paved the way - Dostoevsky and Tolstoy themselves, however, were rather critical of Turgenev). Unlike most Russian literature, though, Fathers and Sons is a rather easy read, and relatively short to boot.
The story of Fathers and Sons focuses on two young men who consider themselves to be nihilists (the "sons" - it should be noted that the Russian title actually translates as "Fathers and Children"), and how their beliefs clash with those of the older liberals. It explores the theme of great ideals being confronted with the real world, and the hero, a young man named Bazarov, is sometimes said to be the first Bolshevik in literature.
The book provides a fairly balanced view of the characters and their beliefs, and has therefore been criticized by conservatives for being too negative about the "fathers" and too positive about the "sons", while it has been criticized by left wing radicals for the exact opposite - criticizing the young and being too kind about the old. These conflicting criticisms may well be an even better sign of the quality of the story than the huge praise it has received throughout the last century and a half.
My advice: buy it and read it as soon as you can
