A Sportsman's Sketches Works of Ivan Turgenev, Volume I

A Sportsman's Sketches

by Ivan Turgenev, Constance Garnett (Translator)

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Classics, Russia, Russian Literature, Literary Fiction, Literature

169 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1876

About the author

Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (Cyrillic: Иван Сергеевич Тургенев) was a novelist, poet, and dramatist, and now ranks as one of the towering figures of Russian literature. His major works include the short-story collection A Sportsman’s Sketches (1852) and the novels Rudin (1856), Home of the Gentry (1859), On the Eve (1860), and Fathers and Sons (1862).

These works offer realistic, affectionate portrayals of the Russian peasantry and penetrating studies of the Russian intelligentsia who were attempting to move the country into a new age. His masterpiece, Fathers and Sons, is considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century.

Turgenev was a contemporary with Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy. While these wrote about church and religion, Turgenev was more concerned with the movement toward social reform in Russia.

Reviews

[Hal Brodsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

For anyone (like me) hesitant about tackling the major Russian works, this is a nice way to get your feet a little wet. These short "sketches" ("anecdotes" would be a better word) depict life in rural czarist Russia and are written by a fellow who was alive at that time.
The reading is easy, light, and there are no heavy philosophical themes.

To give you an idea of what this book is like, my favorite "sketch" is called "Byezhin Prarie", wherein the author becomes lost while hunting and camps near some young boys and recounts the ghost stories they tell and believe.

There are a few excellent quotes, my favorite being "Those who can only just keep themselves afloat are the ones to drag others under." I do not know if Turgenev made this up or if it was a common saying at the time.

[Nandan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a remarkable piece of mid-19th century Russian Literature written before the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky took over. In these short sketches, based mostly on his own hunting experiences, Turgenev realistically sketches the big picture of then Russian society based on the dehumanizing practice of serfdom and of strict hierarchy as well as deftly details idiosyncrasies of people along with some beautiful yet measured prose describing natural beauty.

[Rohit Rai]

Though not the first rate Russian literature like Gogol or Chekhov, it's pretty good in it's own right.

Hor and Kalinitch, Osyanikov, Kassyan of Fair Springs

[Lisa]

I've only read 'The Singers' so far, because it's reference in A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.

The second story that George Saunders explores in A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (see my review) is 'The Singers' by Ivan Turgenev (1818-1893).  It comes from an 1852 collection of short stories called A Sportsman's Sketches also translated as A Sportsman's Notebook, The Hunting Sketches and Sketches from a Hunter's Album.  According to Wikipedia, this collection was a milestone of Russian realism, and it made Turgenev's name.

When I read Fathers and Sons, I was very taken by the characterisation of the young idealist Bazarov and in the comments below my review you can see where I admired the way Turgenev uses dialogue to differentiate his characters.  There is not much dialogue, however, in this most engaging short story about a singing competition in a remote rural pub.  Instead, it is Turgenev's powers of description which impel the reader on.

Plunging into the story reproduced in Saunders' book without an introduction or any context, it's not immediately obvious who the unnamed narrator is and why he is roaming about in the vicinity of Kolotovka, a small and cheerless village. But within a couple of pages we have learned that he's an observant outsider, (which is apparently an element of the Russian realist tradition where the narrator is usually an uncommitted observer of the people he meets.)  However, he passes by regularly enough to be acquainted with some of the drinkers at the Cosy Corner pub, and to make some judgements about them.  He's a gentleman well-educated enough to have 'readers' and even if we didn't have Wikipedia, we could guess that he's either a journalist or that he's writing a newsy letter for educated people at home, who're going to read it en famille as people did in those days.  He explains his reasons for being in such a dismal place by saying that he's a sportsman who goes everywhere.  Since he's pursuing this sport alone out in the middle of nowhere this is enough to identify him as a hunter, (though some of us would dispute that shooting animals is any kind of sport.)

Outside, the narrator witnesses an excited exchange between two patrons of the pub.  Booby exhorts Blinker to hurry up because everyone is waiting: there is Yashka the Turk, the Wild Gentleman, and the contractor from Zhizdra.  (The contractor is not named, not even with an intriguing nickname although Russians are past-masters at giving nicknames.) The excitement is because Yashka and the contractor have made a bet: they've wagered a quart of beer to see who wins.

So in this remote rural outpost, with nothing to commend it, an extraordinary cultural moment takes place—a singing competition between the local hero and a challenger from a nearby village.  These two men bring the pub to awed silence as they listen with rapt attention. Though the audience consists only of the chubby publican and his sharp-eyed wife; a mysterious but threadbare Tartar, swarthy with a leaden hue; a dissolute former house-serf with no job and no money but has the knack of sponging on others; an enterprising former serf respected for his cunning; and a ragged peasant—they are expert judges of singing.

[The contractor] evidently felt that he was dealing with experts and that was why he simply put his best leg forward, as the saying goes.  And, indeed, in our part of the country people are good judges of singing, and it is not for nothing that the large village of Sergeyevskoye, on the Oryol Highway, is renowned throughout all Russia for its especially agreeable and harmonious singing.

The contractor sang for a long time without arousing any particular enthusiasm in his hearers; he missed the support of a choir; at last, after one particularly successful transition, which made even the Wild Gentleman smile, Booby could not restrain himself and uttered a cry of delight. (p.75)

To read the rest of my review please visit anzlitlovers.com

[Realini Ionescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sportsman’s Sketches – Khor and Kalinich by Ivan Turgenev – this ‘notebook’ is ranked 873rd on The Greatest Books of All Time site, furthermore, Ivan Turgenev is one of my favorite authors, my best review is on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...

9 out of 10

Leo Tolstoy is better known, about being ‘better’ we might have a senseless discussion, but Ivan Turgenev was the more humane person, and that is something we get from Intellectuals https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... by Paul Johnson, a book to read

Indeed, the two writers knew each other, used to be friends, and then they had a quarrel, after which Tolstoy would not talk, communicate with Turgenev – unless, my memory fails, which it does, I am sixty-one today…I think – and even when the latter was close to death, the pompous, insufferable at this point Tolstoy –

- Would not comfort the dying man

There is more in Intellectuals, also on other luminaries, Henrik Ibsen, Ernest Hemingway, Jean Jacques-Rousseau, and I remember (perhaps) that if Leo Tolstoy had quite a few children out of wedlock, which he not only refused to recognize officially, but kept in some sort of servitude, Turgenev was much nicer on this count too
Reading a Russian author, even a spectacular one like Turgenev, might be a ‘bridge too far’, now that Russia has invaded Ukraine, and what with Orange Jesus in office, it looks as if Putin’s victory might be just a question of time

- Is it moral to enjoy Russian culture?

Trying to be funny, perhaps it is a good thing if we find reasons to laugh at them, say by looking at these two chaps, Khor and Kalinich, and find them ridiculous, say that they ‘represent’ the Russian man, and look at how they are still there, no progress, backward, imperial thinking, looking to take what they do not own…
Magister Ludi Kingsley Amis https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... writes about the traveler who went there in the Middle Ages, only to find that all classes, sexes and ages would get drunk and that there ‘only quest was to get intoxicated’ something like that

The problem with accusing Russia of heinous imperialism – which is a pertinent, sensible accusation, they have been horrible in Ukraine – is that we have now the leader of the free world, an Orange Drag Queen, opposed to any Diversity Equity and Inclusion, but one who uses tons of makeup, saying repeatedly that

- He wants to take Greenland, The Panama Canal and the other day, Gaza

There is humor in this story – ‘he called his dog Astronomer’ – ‘had established in his household a French system of cookery, the secret of which consisted, according to his cook's interpretation, in a complete transformation of the natural taste of each dish; in this artiste's hands meat assumed the flavor of fish, fish of mushrooms, macaroni of gunpowder; to make up for this, not a single carrot went into the soup without taking the shape of a rhombus or a trapeze’ and the characters are mostly likeable, Russian as they are…
One of the fellows is independent, wants to keep his freedom, while the other appears to be more submissive, dedicated to his landlord, the one he helps to hunt, Khor is mocking Kalinich, though the two are good friends:

- Your master should give you boots

Other aspects of village life are described, such as the man who comes to buy rags, he is shrewd, cunning, leaves his horse and cart outside the town, so that he appears to be poor, a vagrant, and then the price he pays is smaller, he has this way and manages to convince the women to give him even hemp, good things

- We could think of the Salesman https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20...

Some things are more than regrettable, albeit we have to consider the context, the fact that two hundred or more years ago, the standards, norms were different, Khor ‘despises women’, on the other hand, you have a dramatic change in the free world, where the ultimate abuser has been elected to the highest office

- And by women too

We are going back to days when selfishness, the ‘battle for survival’, and the powerful winning over the weak is the word of the day, musk has sent his envoys, including one who calls himself ‘Big Balls’, to destroy USAID and more

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/20... – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/r...

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

[TYLER VANHUYSE · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars*

Turgenev’s ‘A Sportsman’s Sketches’ are free to be whatever they’d like to be; unlike his subject matter. Each vignette centers around a different person or place associated with the peasantry in Turgenev’s home district of Orel, and the unnamed narrator, of whom all we know is that he has a passion for hunting, provides us a relatively unbiased perspective on the affairs. Though, I say relatively unbiased because he focuses on, and often takes pity upon, the peasantry, which seems to situate him on the side of serfdom’s abolition.

And in these sketches, our unnamed narrator makes a pretty compelling case. We see the peasantry positioned squarely under he thumb of obstinate and disinterested landowners. There’s definitely a change in tone toward the peasantry noted in this novel; the old guard of landowners, while equally cruel, seemed to have concerned themselves with their estates, instead of leaving responsibilities almost solely in the hand of managers. But in the narrator’s experience during these sketches, the peasantry suffers in squalor without much leadership from the landed class, the class that has slowly transitioned from the tradition of serfdom to the evolving life of the aristocracy; away from the country and into the city, away from the spoils of serfdom and toward the anticipation of power and purpose in city life. That’s a deep generalization, but there’s a marked representation of squalor among the serfs that seems at least correlated with this idea.

I appreciated Turgenev’s characterizations the most. At times, his characters felt lively and energetic, which drove the stories along. Some of my favorite characters were Nikolai Yermeitch in ‘The Counting House’ and Pavel in the ‘Byezhin Prarie”. These characters are not only well described and provided to drive the story along with excitement, but they also come to represent things beyond themselves; it’s not hard to discern what themes they are associated with, as the sketches are exceptionally easy to follow. But the simple takeaways that come from them offer just enough outlook on the institution of serfdom, the situation of the peasantry, or the plight of each person stuck within the confines of time and space to be worthwhile and meaningful.

[John W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The edition I have is a two volume 1914 reprint of a Constance Garnett translation originally published in 1906 in London.

I read Byezhin Prairie, Hor and Kalinitch, Yermolai and the Miller's Wife and Raspberry Spring in Turgenev's collection Sportsman's Sketches. The first was enthusiastically mentioned in an article entitled Out of the Past, a Journey into the Heart of Russia by Karl Ove Knausgaard in the New York Times Magazine of February 18 who compares Turgenev to Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. He says "the book numbers among the greatest works of world literature" and he particularly admires Byezhin Prairie. Knausgaard also says "there is nothing here of Dostoyevsky's psychological and emotional savagery and depth, nor of Tolstoy's epic complexity or his ability to encapsulate an entire society with a few strokes". As my rating suggests, I do not agree and I am probably will not read many of the other stories.

[zunggg · Rating 1 out of 5]

These are classic stories: lapidary vignettes of Russian country life, penetrating and humane. And Garnet's translation has worn rather well in my opinion.

But the quality of an audiobook is directly dependent on the narrator, and unfortunately Max Bollinger's delivery is a major let-down. I like the idea of a Russian-accented reading, but Bollinger's toneless, one-paced drone seems to miss not only the nuances, but the main rhythms of the text, and is completely at odds with the conviviality of Turgenev's prose. It sounds like it's being read from autocue - like an early reader focusing on each word individually and missing the context of the sentence - or, it has to be said, like a text-to-speech program. For me, this made it impossible to enjoy.

Not recommended.

[James Badger · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’ve ever wanted to dive deeply into the world of 19th century rural Russian men, this book is your chance. If you wonder what Russian women of the same era were doing, you’ll have to look elsewhere because women in Turgenev’s writing are either ornamental or utilitarian; always to be seen but not heard.

[DK · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the project Gutenberg version. Overall I liked it, I just have a thing for short story collections, and the generally casual way that it's all written just makes it fun to read. A solid re-introduction to russian lit for me

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm no expert but I don't think this was his best work.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun

[Gene Ruyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Hunting Sketches, Bk.1: My Neighbour Radilov and Other Stories… by Ivan Turgenev

What Turgenev’s Early Writing Led Him To (A review of The Hunting Sketches)

A work from a distant country in a foreign language written over a century-and-a-half ago had better be able to speak for itself. Fortunately, as an audio book now, this one can.

When a book first comes out, as this one did, it attracts or repels readers largely on the basis of three main things: its author, its topic, and its type or genre. While a swing and a miss on any of these is definitely a strike against you, a hit on just one of them may save the day and keep the game alive. When Turgenev published The Hunting Sketches in 1852, he was not well known. (Strike One!) What’s more, though his material came with a place attached to it (the estate he had just inherited from his domineering mother) and a gaggle of colorful people, it bore no unifying theme or topic (Strike Two!). And when it came to the third remaining basis, what Turgenev did even doubled his difficulty ratio, because what he chose to work within wasn’t the familiar and more popular story form, but rather that of the sketch (When was the last time you read, and really enjoyed, a sketch – on anything?). And this is precisely where Turgenev’s fortunes pivoted and turned around. Not only did he get his hit, but he knocked the ball into the stands, and – to stick with the sports metaphor – he even made it into the hall of fame.

The response was instantaneous. It was not beginners luck, but flowed from that which he had chosen to base his sketches on: character. Not as a mere literary device or technique employed to make written pieces more effective (though many regard it in just this way, and their work shows it), and not many writers succeed, despite their many labored attempts, in learning to wield it in the engaging and life-like way Turgenev did. That is what shows in The Hunting Sketches, where again and again he seizes his people with both hands, determined not to let them go until they “give,” handing over the revealing riches that character harbors deep within. He wrote of character exclusively, relentlessly, and unswervingly in every single sketch. What Turgenev found in character gave his work and the people in them -- the peasants and nobles of the provincial Russia of his day -- real things to talk about, think of, feel, say, and do. And that is evident in his distinctly vivid characters.

Surely this promising depth and dimensionality came as a surprise even to Turgenev. For what had he ever published up to that time but a long poem and a short story? But in 1847 at 29, he begins to write in the fine fashion found in The Hunting Sketches. It changed both the way he saw things and the way he would write from then on. It even had a hand in changing the world around him (several credit his writing with hastening the official end of serfdom as well).

That Turgenev could actually see the reality of character is evidence of his artistic creativity, but that he also chose to follow where it led is a sure sign of his own. It carried him far.

If the quality of narration matched that of the writing, I would have given this audio book a four star rating. As it presently stands, I rate it at three-and-a-half. And if its two flaws (identified under separate cover) are readily addressed and corrected, I would restore it to the four star rating the material otherwise deserves.

* * *

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first experience of Turgenev. I've been wanting to read 'A Sportsman's Notebook', so I was pleased to get this audiobook copy in the LT Early Reviewers' programme. 'The Hunting Sketches' are taken from 'A Sportsman's Notebook' - this is Book 1 of an intended audiobook series.



I have mixed feelings as I could sense that Turgenev's writing is particularly good - 'My Neighbour Radilov' and the chapter 'A French Affair' from 'Proprietor Ovsyanikov' I liked the best. But, and it's a very big but, as others have already said, the experience was totally affected (as it is in any audiobook) by the voice of the narrator/reader. Max Bollinger's delivery is off-putting to say the least! His accent is not the issue at all - rather the monotone and lifeless delivery. It was so distracting that I found myself noticing the bad mispronounciations more than the actual content - "...A dog was knowing a bone..." is one that springs to mind - and this was way too distracting. So much so that even after repeat listening I found it very difficult to concentrate on the flow of 'Proprietor Ovsyanikov' altogether.



All in all, most disappointing. I won't though be put off from reading 'A Sportsman's Notebook' in due course as it was the delivery here that was the problem - not the writing. 3 stars owing to Turgenev's creation.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

As commented on several times already, the major problem with their work for me is the vocal track. I found it to be flat, and lack energy. I've not come across Turgenev before and I have to say that after this audio reading I would be hesitant to do so again. There's not excitment or joy in it, no variation or tone or interest in the voice, it sounds like someone reading a very boring text they'd rther not be reading and when the reader is board how can I help but feel the same? The accent is also quite strange and I spent a long time trying to work out if it was an English person affecting a Russia accent or a Russian person trying to affect an English accent. The fact that I was contemplating this as he was reading should give you some idea of how much his voice engaged me with the text.

That said, once you get used to the tone "The hunting sketches" do seem interesting and worth investigating on teir own, I just certainly wouldn't recoment this audio reading for a beginner like myself.

I'd say the other thing I found disapointing was that the entire book ran at about an hour, which had I payed for this I would find disapointing, though I do suppose that depends on the price. Still, at this is labeled as volume 1, one can't help but think they'd have done better to combine them all and have one volume of a decent length.

[Renee Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Turgenev's writing style. It reminded me of Hemingway with its clarity and artful simplicity. It dragged in parts but I enjoyed it enough that I will seek out more of Turgenev's writings.

[Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit sleepy for me. But for Hemingway, it was one of the best.