King Lear of the Steppes by Ivan Turgenev has been on my To Be Read list for a long time. Last month I read King Lear so I decided no time better than now for it to be at last read. The novella way exceeded my expectations. I have previously read and posted on his by far most famous work, Fathers and Sons as well as The Diary of a Superflous Man, and a few, too few, of his short stories. He is considered the first writer to depict the lives of ordinary Russians, serfs and peasants in a realistic fashion as full human figures.
People say this is among the most personal of Turgenev's works. It is narrated by a wealthy young country gentleman living on his mother's estate and under her control. She is very much the queen of her estate, her serfs are her property. One of the central figures in the story, he is the King Lear figure, is a well of peasant with an estate of his own. The mother is his benefactor and he is totally subservient to her, seeking her advice on major decisions. I am not quite clear what is legal bond to is but she is his master in fact.
He is getting old so he decides to deed all of his property over to his two daughters, under the assumption he will live out his days on the estate and be given living money. Everyone,including the mother, try to dissuade him from this, saying he will lose everything and be turned out.
The conclusion is very powerful, almost overwhelming. I knew something bad was going to happen but I was left deeply saddened by the despair and darkness of the close.
There is much wonderful material on daily life, we see a bit about how serfs feel about their masters and I guess one who read the work for clues concerning the psyche of Turgenev would find grist in relationship of the mother and the narrator.
This is a very deep beautiful work of art, worthy to carry the name "King Lear" in title.
I think my next Turgenev will be another novella, First Love.
Mel u
No comments:
Post a Comment
your comments help keep us going and do a lot to make the blog more interesting.thanks