Among the vast heritage of the "golden age" of Russian literature, the novel by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, "First Love" stands somewhat apart. This work is distinguished by a perfect unpretentious plot basis. No outstanding events can be found in this book. One can guess that the author of the work “First Love” depicted here the events of his own life. This story is fully autobiographical.
What do we know about the author
It is impossible to imagine an educated Russian person who would not know the name of the author of the work "First Love". This is a famous classic of Russian literature of the nineteenth century. The works of Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev are a mandatory element of the school curriculum. The author’s surname is well known even to those who are poorly acquainted with his books. But his biography is far from being so simple and unsophisticated as his famous novel of first love. There were enough contradictions in his life. The most striking of which is the simple fact that the writer, with great artistic penetration depicting the realities of Russian life, spent most of his time away from it.
In Europe
The author of the work “First Love” preferred not to live in Russia. He was a regular in Parisian literary salons and spoke the French language to the same extent as the one in which he wrote his novels and novels. Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev was often seen at the fashionable resorts of the Cote d'Azur and at the Monte Carlo casino . That's just the constant rotation in the bohemian Parisian circles and aristocratic salons of both capitals of the Russian Empire did not prevent him from creating Russian literature. And the financial situation allowed Turgenev to lead such an independent lifestyle.
Russian nobleman
The name of the author of the work “First Love” differs from the name of the protagonist of this story. But only at the same time all the reality depicted in this book reproduces with a high degree of accuracy the everyday situation of a noble estate where the author spent his childhood and youth. And this habitat had an indelible impact on all subsequent literary work of Turgenev. Many of his books easily show the characteristic features of the Turgenev family estate - Spassky-Lutovinovo. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it is from these places that many themes and images originate, which before Turgenev simply did not exist in Russian literature. The author of the work “First Love”, perhaps, only in this autobiographical story did not go far beyond the estate world. But later on, on the pages of his books, he brought out a whole gallery of such images, the existence of which in Russian reality was not customary to even recall. If serfs were present in Russian literature before Turgenev, it was only in the position of the characters of the second and third plan. And the first chronicler of the Russian serf peasantry was a hereditary nobleman who owned serfs.
Hunter's notes
The beginning of Turgenev’s work falls on the years of his studies at the verbal faculty of Moscow University. V.G. responded well to his first poetic experiments. Belinsky. But wide literary fame came to Turgenev in 1847 after the publication of the first stories in the journal Sovremennik, which subsequently made up the famous book. Editor I.I. Panaev provided the publication with a subtitle "From the notes of a hunter." Partly to draw attention to the stories of the beginning author, and partly to somehow explain to the reading public the unfamiliarity with the themes and images that she will encounter in these stories. The publication was a resounding success for both critics and ordinary readers. And the author of the work “First Love” for the first time felt what literary fame is. It was brought to her by no means a small autobiographical story about the feelings of young Volodya to a neighbor who settled not far from their estate.
At the cutting edge of public debate
The name of Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev would have long been forgotten if he had limited himself only to the description of "noble nests." If this were so, then he would be just a second-order Russian writer who lived and wrote in the mid-nineteenth century. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Turgenev could only be remembered in a television quiz for high school students with the question: “Name the author of the work“ First Love ”. But the paradox is that Ivan Turgenev, being a landowner-serf, did everything in his power to radically change the existing order in Russia. The hereditary nobleman Turgenev openly spoke out against serfdom in his journalistic articles and literary works . And the voice of the famous writer was resonantly reflected in Russian public life. This was one of the reasons forcing him to live abroad. Fortunately, the income from the estates allowed him not to deny anything to himself, traveling around Europe. This is the irony of fate. A man who fought for the liberation of serfs lived well due to their labors.
Liberal ideas in Russia
It is not always easy to figure out what was happening in the country a century and a half ago, in the Turgenev era. Some high school student who downloads an essay from the Internet on an illiterate search query "which author of" First Love "prefers not to dive into details. In that era, democratic ideas, one of which Turgenev was a supporter, won. In 1861, the serfdom the right was abolished. Among all European countries, in Russia this medieval heritage lasted the longest. Many believe that the reform of Alexander II was belated. But be that as it may, the consequences of such a difficult source To this day, the feudal legacy of serfdom was fully felt in Russia to this day.Even far from all serfs were delighted with freedom from slavery even in 1861. Many felt that they had a much more comfortable life with the gentleman. “Where does the modern electoral electorate come from in Russia?” It is from there.