Lotin

Author: (Russian) Turgenev Liu Lunzhen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-02-01
Features: When a young writer asked Turgenev how he should write, he replied, "Pay attention to observing everything around you. Not only should you strive to grasp life from all its phenomena, but you should also strive to understand it, to understand the laws on which life moves but are not always revealed. You must reach the typical through unexpected accidents—no matter what, you must always remain loyal to truth." The remarkable unity of extraordinary realism and beautiful lyrism gives Turgenev's works a special appeal. Rogin (1856) is one of Turgenev's partial novels. The protagonist Rogin is a typical representative of Russian aristocratic intellectuals in the 1840s. He is intelligent, passionate, full of ideas, eloquent, yearns for truth, and longs for the future. However, due to the social conditions of the time and his own detachment from the people and lack of perseverance, Rogin faces constant setbacks and failures in both his social endeavors and love life. In frustration and despair, he can only admit his "uselessness" and "superfluity," calling himself "born like a floating weed with no roots." Later, he died silently in the June 1848 Paris street battles, still holding a red flag in his hand. Turgenev's novel is distinguished by its strong lyrical style. He writes about the tragic fate of the male and female protagonists with a gentle and tender touch, and this sentimental tone reflects his aristocratic liberalism and pessimistic philosophy.