First Love (1860)

An interesting look at first love and the complexities of life. I enjoyed how Turgenev brought these characters to life and how profoundly flawed they can be. You could read my full review on my blog: http://www.rulethewaves.net/blog/?p=3726 ( )

"What has come of it all - of all that I had hoped for? And now when the shades of evening are beginning to close in upon my life, what have I left that is fresher, dearer to me, than the memoirs of that brief storm that came and went so swiftly one morning in the spring?" ( )

St. Barts 2013 #9 - Another ok novella by Turgenev......very accurately capturing the pangs of teenage first love....with an interesting twist.....one I think we all figured out early on, but the book was about the teen discovering the truth of the situation. I enjoyed and have no regrets. ( )

This is a slight novella and though evocative of the time (19th century Russia), is not fulfilling.
Although framed by the narrator, Vladimir Petrovich, recalling his first love, the story is almost exclusively about his 16 year old self and his infatuation that summer with Zinaida, the 21 year out who holds "court" to her numerous suitors in the summer house next door. Although you do not read stories like this for their suspense, I really felt that Vladimir's blindness to the love that Zinaida has for another beggared belief (mine anyway).
I read the beautifully bound and illustrated Folio Society edition, and this may have detracted from the story by being such a beautiful physical object! ( )

this went on a bit. ( )