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Liza "A nest of nobles" By: Ivan S. Turgenev (1818-1883) |
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( Leisure Hour Series .) FATHERS AND SONS.
SMOKE.
LIZA.
ON THE EVE.
DIMITRI ROUDINE.
SPRING FLOODS; LEAR.
VIRGIN SOIL.
ANNALS OF A SPORTSMAN.
LEISURE HOUR SERIES
LIZA OR "A NEST OF NOBLES" A NOVEL BY IVAN S. TURGÉNIEFF TRANSLATED FROM THE RUSSIAN BY W.R.S. RALSTON
1873
DEDICATED TO THE AUTHOR BY HIS FRIEND THE TRANSLATOR.
PREFACE.
The author of the Dvoryanskoe Gnyezdo , or "Nest of Nobles," of which
a translation is now offered to the English reader under the title of
"Liza," is a writer of whom Russia may well be proud.[A] And that, not
only because he is a consummate artist, entitled as he is to take
high rank among those of European fame, so accurate is he in his
portrayal of character, and so quick to seize and to fix even its most
fleeting expression; so vividly does he depict by a few rapid touches
the appearance of the figures whom he introduces upon his canvas, the
nature of the scenes among which they move, he has other and even
higher claims than these to the respect and admiration of Russian
readers. For he is a thoroughly conscientious worker; one who, amid
all his dealings with fiction, has never swerved from his regard for
what is real and true; one to whom his own country and his own people
are very dear, but who has neither timidly bowed to the prejudices of
his countrymen, nor obstinately shut his eyes to their faults. [Footnote A: Notwithstanding the unencouraging opinion expressed by
Mr. Ralston in this preface, of the probable fate of "Fathers and
Children," and "Smoke," with the English public, both have been
translated in America and have met with very fair success. Of course,
even more may be hoped for the author's other works.] His first prose work, the "Notes of a Sportsman" ( Zapiski
Okhotnika ), a collection of sketches of country life, made a deep and
lasting impression upon the minds of the educated classes in Russia,
so vigorous were its attacks upon the vices of that system of slavery
which was then prevalent. Those attacks had all the more weight,
inasmuch as the book was by no means exclusively devoted to them. It
dealt with many other subjects connected with provincial life; and
the humor and the pathos and the picturesqueness with which they were
treated would of themselves have been sufficient to commend it to the
very favorable attention of his countrymen. But the sad pictures he
drew in it, occasionally and almost as it were accidentally, of the
wretched position occupied by the great masses of the people, then
groaning under the weight of that yoke which has since been removed,
stirred the heart of Russian society with a thrill of generous horror
and sympathy; and the effect thus produced was all the more permanent
inasmuch as it was attained by thoroughly legitimate means. Far
from exaggerating the ills of which he wrote, or describing them in
sensational and declamatory language, he treated them in a style
that sometimes seemed almost cold in its reticence and freedom from
passion. The various sketches of which the volume was composed
appeared at intervals in a Russian magazine, called the Contemporary
(Sovremennik) , about three and twenty years ago, and were read in it
with avidity; but when the first edition of the collected work was
exhausted, the censors refused to grant permission to the author to
print a second, and so for many years the complete book was not to be
obtained in Russia without great difficulty. Now that the good fight
of emancipation has been fought, and the victory thanks to the
present Emperor has been won, M. Turgénieff has every reason for
looking back with pride upon that phase of the struggle; and his
countrymen may well have a feeling of regard, as well as of respect,
for him the upper classes as for one who has helped them to recognize
their duty; the lower, as for a very generous supporter in their time
of trouble. M. Turgénieff has written a great number of very charming short
stories, most of them having reference to Russia and Russian life; for
though he has lived in Germany for many years, his thoughts, whenever
he takes up his pen, almost always seem to go back to his native land... Continue reading book >>
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