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Home of the Gentry

Ivan Turgenev

Start date: May 15, 2022

Finish date: June 21, 2022

Discussion: Home of the Gentry

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Home of the Gentry

* Home of the Gentry -- Discussion Thread
By Ken · 118 posts · 31 views

last updated Jun 18, 2022 06:21AM

Home of the Gentry Pre-Discussion (June Selection)
By Kathleen · 101 posts · 42 views

last updated May 31, 2022 04:57PM

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What Members Thought

Jul 09, 2015 Ken rated it really liked it

Shelves: finished-in-2022, world-literature, classics-reread

Star rating holds from first reading in the late 70s. (Did I just say "late 70s"?) I feel like the protagonist, Lavretsky. Decidedly old.

That said, this one escapes the old "don't you dare revisit a book you liked LONG ago... you may regret it." I didn't. Old me agreed with young me. The plot may be conventional and the characters reasonable (vs. gaining attention, negative or positive matters not, via wretched excess), but that's OK.

Turgenev is a mood guy. Nice atmospheric touches. And he clear ...more

60 likes · Like · see review

May 31, 2022 Kathleen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: setting-russia, classic

“Woe to the heart that has not loved in youth!”

I love Turgenev’s gentle prose. His writing feels more accessible than the other Russian greats, more personal. He details the countryside--flora and fauna; weaves in religion, complete with vestments and ceremonies; illustrates household customs and traditions; and even blends specific works of literature and music into his story.

What I enjoy about Russian literature is the struggles, the recognition of beauty, the yearning for truth. This story h ...more

29 likes · Like · see review

May 27, 2022 Alan rated it liked it

Shelves: origin-russian

My third Turgenev, and I would probably place it right about there in terms of ranking. Fathers and Sons was superb, and First Love was decent. This one I can’t seem to gauge well. On the one hand, it promises so much. The countryside setting is one that we have encountered in countless Russian novels, so we would be forgiven for projecting hopes and aspirations onto its estates and gardens. The characters are perhaps the predecessors to key figures in the Russian literary landscape. And the pro ...more

25 likes · Like · see review

May 25, 2022 Matthew Ted rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: lit-writ-russian, 19th-century, translated, read-2022

53rd book of 2022.

3.5. Thought this would rate higher but it sort of died out in the second half, a shame. Levretsky is a great character, reminded me a lot of Tolstoy's Levin in some ways. Some of the descriptions of loneliness and sadness were very affecting for me, the former I feel quite often though usually it is my own fault. Had the actual plot of the novel been better it would have granted a 4 or even a 5 star. I'll add some of the best passages to this review tomorrow. Turgenev writes w ...more

24 likes · Like · see review

May 31, 2022 Sue rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: russia, read-2022, fiction

A very Russian novel which I liked for its lightly satirical descriptions of several characters and situations as well as for its descriptions of the land and people themselves. The story of love in Russian novels is fraught with all types of angst and problems. This House is no different. I believe I will try another Turgenev, perhaps Fathers and Sons.
Read with The Obscure Book Group here at GR. And, somewhat fittingly, my copy was published in 1932, borrowed from a local school library, the on ...more

24 likes · Like · see review

Jun 03, 2022 Cherisa B rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2022

Character portraits in this story are the core of what makes it an interesting read, especially the women and how the people around them react to and interact with them. Liza, a pretty 19 yo, deeply Christian and sincerely pious; Glafira, unmarried, stern, hardworking, and unappreciated by her family (as daughter, sister and aunt over two generations) though her devotion makes their life of privilege possible; Varvara, a beautiful sensualist who owns her pleasures and defies convention; Marya, a ...more

23 likes · Like · see review

Jun 03, 2022 Plateresca rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, rustic

'Woe to the heart that has not loved in youth!'

I agree with this idea, but also this quote is an example of a curious mix of psychology and romanticism that is this story. It's a melancholy reflection on people's chances at happiness and/or fulfilling their purpose. I enjoyed the lazy atmosphere, the quiet humour and the characterization, the way the author makes a lot of very different characters come alive through small details.

That said, I've found the two main characters not very sympatheti ...more

11 likes · Like · see review

May 30, 2022 Cindy Tebo rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. “Home of the Gentry,” is the first novel I’ve read by Russian author, Ivan Turgenev. I labored through the beginning of the novel as I struggled to keep the names straight. The main characters are sometimes referred to by their formal names, their nicknames, their first and middle names or their first and last names. Thankfully, there is a list of characters; however, it does not include all the variations the reader will encounter.

Turgenev doesn’t waste any time foreshadowing what this story is “Home of the Gentry,” is the first novel I’ve read by Russian author, Ivan Turgenev. I labored through the beginning of the novel as I struggled to keep the names straight. The main characters are sometimes referred to by their formal names, their nicknames, their first and middle names or their first and last names. Thankfully, there is a list of characters; however, it does not include all the variations the reader will encounter.

Turgenev doesn’t waste any time foreshadowing what this story is going to be about. The opening sentence is, “A bright spring day was fading into evening.” The entire novel is awash with brief moments of hope (spring) that quickly fade into something darker (evening). The spring is related to youth and the best hope for Russia’s future while evening is the current generation who have somehow failed to change Russia in the direction it needs to go in. Presumably, this would mean Europe.

Some characters, like Turgenev’s protagonist, Fedor Ivanitch Lavretsky, prefer to “fade into evening.” He accomplishes this by returning to the countryside to work the land. On a grand scale this symbolizes Russia’s resistance to change, on a smaller scale, it symbolizes one man’s form of escapism from an unhappy marriage.

I felt the novel spent way too much time on Lavretksy’s troubled upbringing and lineage. When the author asks for the “reader’s permission to break off the thread of our story for a time,” it turns out to be quite a detour. It’s akin to a town gossip telling his audience way more than they want to know. By the time I got to the end of the ramble, I had to reacquaint myself with the original part of the tale.

Turgenev strongest female character is not his heroine, Elisaveta Mihalovna (Lisa), but Lavretsky’s wife, Varvara Pavlovna. She is a great actor and brings life into every scene she is in; whereas Lisa is this trembling girl with a “pure heart” who is perpetually at a loss for words. Or silent. Or praying.

Lavretsky has stopped loving his wife long ago for her numerous infidelities. They live separate lives. Lavretsky is in love with Lisa and Lisa is in love with him. Alas, his wife is a troubling obstacle.

Lavretsky’s fortune seems to change, however, when he reads about his wife having passed away in a newspaper. He is filled with hope like the "bright spring day" that the novel opens with.

Nevermind that Fedor has a daughter who might be motherless and alone. In fact, he doesn’t seem to care about his daughter at all which I found disturbing.

Lavretsky’s rapture regarding Varvara Pavlovna’s demise is cut short when the article turns out to be fake news. His wife returns to Russia to beg for his forgiveness and to ask for more money. Well, he can’t marry Lisa now. The novel fades into evening.

While Lisa and Fedor’s lives take different paths, they find peace on their own terms even if it can’t be with each other. The novel concludes with scenes of the next generation and the hope that things will be different.

NOTE: Many versions of Turgenev's novel list the female protoganist's first name as Liza instead of Lisa. My translation had the latter. ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Jun 08, 2022 Nick rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics-russian, authors-turgenev

A slow and ponderous story of the search for happiness. Some lovely pastoral descriptions of the nineteenth century Russian countryside. 3.5 stars.

5 likes · Like · see review

Nov 05, 2022 Cindy Newton rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned-books, classic-lit-russian

I read this with a group and my review are the comments I made during the read, as they expressed my thoughts and feelings as I was reading. So beware--

*** MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!! ***

I really enjoyed this book. I felt so sorry for poor Lavretsky; both of his great loves end in loss. Personally, I found Liza’s piety uninteresting, but after the duplicitousness and immorality of Varvara, I can understand why it might be attractive to Lavretsky–she’s the antithesis of his shallow, pleasure-loving wi I read this with a group and my review are the comments I made during the read, as they expressed my thoughts and feelings as I was reading. So beware--

*** MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!! ***

I really enjoyed this book. I felt so sorry for poor Lavretsky; both of his great loves end in loss. Personally, I found Liza’s piety uninteresting, but after the duplicitousness and immorality of Varvara, I can understand why it might be attractive to Lavretsky–she’s the antithesis of his shallow, pleasure-loving wife. I’m a little less clear on her attraction to him, other than again, he is the antithesis of the shallow, vain fop that her mother wants her to marry.

I alternately felt respect and exasperation for Lavretsky’s refusal to name Varvara’s crimes. I respected his adherence to his principles but REALLY wanted her outed, especially after she waltzes in and starts charming the pants off the more foolish characters. The reaction to Varvara’s appearance clearly delineates the more complex characters from the foolish. I loved the way Turgenev has her slide in (a la the Serpent in the Garden of Eden) to destroy Lavretsky’s happiness. She is silken malevolence; her every word and action is calculated and insincere.

The scene with Marya’s “intervention” with Lavretsky, advocating for his reconciliation with Varvara, is so funny! It makes me wonder if Jerry Springer has read this book; I can definitely see overtones of those talk shows in the book. And Marya’s determination to stick to her script, despite what is actually happening, is hilarious. She is committed to her role as relationship mediator and unwilling to have her dramatic moment stolen from her. I loved it when Lavretsky basically tells her to stick a sock in it!

The ending is sad but authentic. As others have noted, Liza’s decision to take the veil is both courageous and heartbreaking, as it definitively ends any hope Lavretsky has of ever being with her. Lavretsky, as always, accepts the hand that Fate has dealt him and continues on his stoic path, although we see that his heart remains true to Liza. His journey to the convent to catch a glimpse of her, and her muted response to his presence, is poignant and leaves me wondering: is such devotion to an unobtainable person a tribute to the endurance of love, or an indictment of it? ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

May 21, 2022 Erich C rated it really liked it

3.5 stars rounded up. Turgenev creates a rich cast of characters, and much of the novel reads like a play, with characters withdrawing to corners and appearing as needed. Like many 19th-century Russian novels, one of the major themes is the corrupting influence of "Europe" and return to Russia/the land as a sort of redemption. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Aug 01, 2022 Dawn Tessman rated it it was amazing

The story of Lavretsky who returns to his childhood village a broken man after separating from his unfaithful wife. Home of the Gentry is special for its beautifully-woven story of love in all its forms (servile, familial, platonic, adolescent, lustful, unrequited, agape…even patriotic), yet it is so much more. Through Lavretsky’s relationships with those around him, Turgenev masterfully illustrates the essence of human nature while simultaneously painting a picture of how the Russian culture an ...more

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Jun 18, 2022 BarbaraW rated it really liked it

From Obscure Reading Group. Short little study of Russian society mid 1800s. Author took safe route to end it. Pretty simple plot line but authors style was pleasant reading.

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