Rudin
by Ivan Turgenev
The story of a character unique to Turgenev - an 'extra' person, full of weak will, ambivalent frustration - and yet exhausted by ideals. Rudin was rendered impotent because of the incompatibility of honoring older generations and at the same time embracing a new brave era of pre-revolutionary Russia. The theme of melancholy powerless men, coupled with vital idealistic women, is common in the work of Turgenev, and it will be difficult to find a clearer study of this genre than Rudin.
