- On the Eve
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On the Eve File:On The Eve 1.jpgAuthor(s) Ivan Turgenev Original title Накануне Translator Constance Garnett Country Russia Language Russian Genre(s) Political, Romance novel Publication date 1860 Media type Print (Hardback and Paperback) ISBN NA Preceded by Home of the Gentry Followed by Fathers and Sons On the Eve (Russian: Накану́не) is the third novel by famous Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, best known for his short stories and the novel Fathers and Sons. Turgenev embellishes this love story with observations on middle class life and interposes some art and philosophy.
Plot introduction
The story revolves around Elena, a girl with a very affected mother and a father who is a retired guards lieutenant and keeps a mistress. On the eve of the Crimean War, Elena is pursued by a free-spirited sculptor (Shubin) and an uptight student (Berzeniev). But when Berzeniev's dashing Bulgarian friend Insarov meets Elena, they soon fall in love. Secretly marrying the Bulgarian revolutionary, Elena invites the ire of her parents, who had hoped to marry her to a more respectable suitor. Insarov falls ill, but partly recovers. On the outbreak of the war, Insarov's call home only complicates matters further. Insanov returns with Elena to Bulgaria, but dies on the way in Venice. Elena is never heard of again.
Main characters
- Pavel Shubin - sculptor
- Andrei Bersyenev - student philosopher
- Dmitri Insarov - Bulgarian student
- Elena Nikolayevna - young girl
See also
Works by Ivan Turgenev Novels Rudin (1857) · Home of the Gentry (1859) · On the Eve (1860) · Fathers and Sons (1862) · Smoke (1867) · Torrents of Spring (1872) · Virgin Soil (1877)
Short fiction The Diary of a Superfluous Man (1850) · A Sportsman's Sketches (1852) · Yakov Pasynkov (1855) · Faust (1855) · Asya (1858) · First Love (1860) · King Lear of the Steppes (1870) · The Song of Triumphant Love (1881) · The Mysterious Tales (1883)
Plays A Rash Thing to Do (1843) · It Tears Where It is Thin (1847) · Breakfast at the Chief's (1849/56) · A Conversation on the Highway (1850/51) · Lack of Money (1846/52) · A Provincial Lady (1851) · Fortune's Fool (1857/62) · A Month in the Country (1855/72) · An Evening in Sorrento (1882)
Categories:- 1860 novels
- Novels by Ivan Turgenev
- Political novels
- Romance novels
- Works originally published in The Russian Messenger
- 19th century novel stubs
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