Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #177765 in Books
• Published on: 1990-12-10
• Original language: Russian
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian

Customer Reviews

A Dissenting Viewpoint
Sorry, but I must offer a dissenting viewpoint among all the praise. Firstly, I thought Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons" was outstanding and a great piece of literature. This collection of stories, while very well written and beautifully descriptive, was just not that interesting to me. After reading the first few stories, they seemed to somewhat blend together. I understand the author was illustrating the serf's life and contrasting it to that of the gentry, but I pretty much got that after the first few stories. This is not to be critical of Turgenev--he's a genius--but it just was not my cup of tea.

An Analysis of "Sketches from a Hunter's Album"
The Russian Empire of Czar Nicholas I was, in the eyes not only of most Western Europeans of the time but also of sizable sectors of the Russian intellectual class, most often seen as being a hopelessly backward and inefficient state still clinging to baseless Medieval ideals and systems; by far, the continued lingering on of serfdom, with all its inherent hardship and inhumanity, proved to be the most revolting aspect of the imperial machine at the time. Indeed, the vast majority of Russians at this time belonged to the body of serfs obligated to render service to the influential landowning nobility, and subsequently enjoyed neither freedom of movement, a standard of living above subsistence, nor any political rights. Although a broad statement attributing general destitution or suffering to all Russian serfs of the period would be grossly in error, as certain industrious serfs were able to live comfortably, the total exclusion of the masses from government and the autocratic nature of the Czar's power aroused much indignation amongst Western kingdoms such as England, where parliamentary measures had already greatly reduced the authority of the monarch; similarly, Russian intellectuals, writers, and reformers took sympathy for the oppressed serfs, and hoped to ameliorate their condition in order to boost the low productivity of Russian agriculture; Ivan Turgenev, author of "Sketches from a Hunter's Album," was one such concerned novelist. Nicholas the I, an excessively conservative Czar who could tolerate no writings that stood to alter Russian's perceptions of serfdom, and thus endanger the rigid social strata upon which Nicholas structured his dominion, ruthlessly censored such works and drove numerous authors, Turgenev included, into exile abroad. While "Sketches from a Hunter's Album" contains no overt cries for revolution or social change, Turgenev was clearly a noble concerned by, and disgusted with, the repressive institution of serfdom; by humanizing the serfs through his various short tales, dealing with every aspect of serf life from marriage to superstition, Turgenev vied to alter his fellow Russian's prejudiced conceptions of the serfs, and thus achieve some betterment of their lot. Similarly explosive in the eyes of the conservative Czar where Turgenev's commentaries upon the arbitrary nature of the landowning aristocracy, as well as his more liberal attitude toward social mobility.
In exploring and elucidating upon the vast chasm of difference, both material and mental, that stood between many Russian serfs, Turgenev appropriately compares two radically differing serfs, Khor and Kalynich. Kalynich, an intensely obedient and loyal servant to his and Khor's noble superior, Polyutkin, lives an exceedingly plain and subsistence-level life; caught up in his idealism, he is all too satisfied to dedicate himself to Polyutkin and keep content with his meager lot. Talkative and genial, Kalynich enjoys a special gift in handling nature; moreover, he proudly and happily completes those tasks demanded of him by the landowners. In sharp contrast, Khor, a much wiser and experienced serf, who lives with true understanding of the world and its ways, possess significantly greater material wealth and standing; indeed, he exists virtually independent of the serf community or Polyutkin, save the exorbitant rent required of him by his lord. More reticent than Kalynich, Khor clearly understands the parasitic and detrimental role of Polyutkin, as well as society's generally exploitative attitude toward those of his standing; this is amply evidenced by his tale of the yearly exploitative sale of farm equipment. By laying bare these two diametrically differing figures, Turgenev casts aside the popular conception that the serfs where essentially all the same, living in destitute conditions and unawares of their pathetic situation; moreover, Turgenev establishes these two men as individuals, greatly endearing them and their sufferings upon the reader, who is able to sympathize more effectively with a particular man than an entire social class. Not only are the serfs with whom Turgenev comes into contact with made real and human, they are imbued with numerous nobles and endearing qualities; many speak few yet say much, possess congenial spirits, exhibit prodigious daring, and often live life with keen common sense and appreciation of their lot in contrast with that of their lords. Particularly telling of this noble peasant spirit is Pavlusha, a young peasant boy whom Turgenev observes while finding shelter in a field; clearly a leader to his young companions, Pavlusha displays immense daring in rushing into the night to check the status of the horses, despite the foreboding atmosphere created by the boys' recanting of their innocent, earthy spirit- and ghost-inhabited, peasant myths. When he later learns of Pavlusha's death, Turgenev is genuinely sorry to hear the news, confirming his enormous capacity to respect the serfs as human beings. Yet, Turgenev is himself shocked and confused by the peasants' often ambiguous feelings toward their emancipation. When asked, Khor confirms that he would prefer freedom to his limited bondage; yet, he stubbornly refuses to buy the freedom that is within his grasp. This paradoxical attitude could be explained by the serfs' horror at the idea of buying emancipation only to end up on the bottom rung of the landowning class, spat upon by those above them and unable to effectively compete. More likely, however, Khor's persistence in retaining his serfdom speaks to the weight of generations of tradition; most Russian serfs could look back upon innumerable generations of serfdom, and had begun to feel adequately secure and comfortable in their vassalage. Thus, Turgenev avoids i8nnacurate, heavy-handed, rhetoric of the "suffering of the masses" in favor of just and humane portraits of individual peasants, their values, beliefs, traditions, and families that serve not only to enlighten the reader as to the condition of the Russian masses at the time, but to hopefully arouse in contemporaries a sympathy for the serfs conducive to a reform of their status; this more-level headed, grass-roots, approach to social change certainly appears more effective than any blazing rhetoric from above could have been at the time.
Far from content with humanizing the Russian serfs, Ivan Turgenev could not simply resist the inclination to paint a contrastingly negative, though equally true, portrait of the Russian nobles that domineered over the lives of the masses. From the first, Polutykin, master to Khor and Kalynich, displays the arbitrary, greedy, and uncaring nature that is to dominate the attitude of the wealthy aristocracy throughout the novel; for no reason save his ability to do so, Polutykin annually increases Khor's rent, keeping him in submission. Equally telling not only of the nobles' fear and prejudices, but also of the advantage that education conveyed in this period of Russian history, is Mr. Zverkov's utter rage at the news that his servants-girl, Arina, planned not only to marry but had also learned to read and write, allowing her to advance herself somewhat; Zverkov, exhibiting the biases of the nobles, is unable to see the peasants as anything except treacherous and ungrateful wolves. More disturbingly is the behavior Marya Ilinichna, the owner of Matryona, with who Pyotr Karatev had fallen in love. Altgough Marya has no practical use for Matryona on her estates, she nonetheless insists upon playing God with the poor woman's life, refusing to condone her marriage and even going so far as to exile her rather than release her from service. Turgenev, with his sharp and biting analysis, grandly exposes the horrific nature of the landowning class as a whole, adding further weight to his unstated case for social change. So arbitrary and hurtful and institution as the aristocracy cannot defend itself from such brazen attack upon its exploitative behavior. Naturally, such denunciation of certain practices of the wealthy elite would have greatly disturbed Nicholas I, who relied upon the social system of serfdom and vassalage.
Turgenev produces further anathema, at least in the eyes of the Czar, in elucidating upon certain instances of social mobility and the mixing of the social classes. Pyotr Karatev, a minor landowner, is shown to fall madly in love with a mere servant-woman, Matryona; such a love would have been unthinkable to polite Russian society at the time, although Turgenev based the tale upon his own love for a woman of a lower social standing. Indeed, Matryona herself, who begins a life with Pyotr, becomes almost indistinguishable from others of higher social standing simply by her clothes. Such messages of general human equality would have been shocking to conservative Russians, who firmly saw the peasants as being lesser human beings. When Pyotr loses his estates and lands, being reduced to the state of working at an inn, he nonetheless finds happiness; such a loss of social standing accompanied by continued enjoyment of life would have proven alien to the Russian elite, who cherished their positions and saw them as the only means of fulfillment in life. Thus it is that Turgenev, through his short tales focusing on his hunting expeditions, tore away long-held prejudices toward the Russian peasantry, revealing them to be normal and often admirable human beings; similarly, he exposes the gross excess of many aristocrats, as well as their cruel treatment of their fellow men. With these portraits, Turgenev illustrates for his contemporaries the realities of Russian life, firmly believing that a sympathetic impulse to reform the plight of the serfs would naturally follow. In doing so, he incurred the wrath of the conservative Czar, but, more importantly, nurtured the seeds of reform that would one day help to ameliorate the lot of the Russian peasant.

Sketches from a Hunter's Album is a beautifully etched word picture of a vanished Tsarist Russia
Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883) is one of Russia's greatest authors. Turgenev was a pro-Western author who portrays a vanished Russia of serfdom and
rural landowners. Tsar Alexander II liberated the serfs in 1861. It is reputed that the tsar took this action based on his reading of these sketches.
The book is divided into twenty-five sketches portraying peasant life. Along the way we meet such characters as:
Chertopkhanov who loves his beautiful, spirited horse Malek Adel. When the horse is stolen the old landowner journeys across the steppes seeking to find the majestic creature. This tale will break your heart. Turgenev is good at describing animals and the joy of awaiting a day of hunting.
We meet the Hamlet of the Shchigrovsky who falls in love with a beautiful gypsy serf. Turgenev believed the statoc social structure in Russia needed to be changed for the better. He did not live to see the Russian Revolution living most of his life as an exile in France.
Death is a story of how several Russians met their deaths. Stoicism is a characteristic we see in this harrowing and sad tale.
Singers takes us to a village drinking den where we witness a raucous singing contest among serfs.
Someone who does not hunt may believe that this classic will be boring. How wrong! The book is written with lyrical descriptions of nature in all seasons of the rural year. We almost wish we could join the unnamed narrator as he journeys from his estate meeting the men and women of Russia. Turgenev is a poetic author who wells deserves a revival of popularity.