Category: Book Reviews

Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A classic of Russian literature, “Fathers and Sons” describes the conflict between generations in a way that may be quite recognizable in our modern era. Bazurov is a talented force of nature who studies medicine and proclaims loudly that he believes in nothing at all, “I look up to heaven only when I want to sneeze.” Arkady is his admiring friend, who probably doesn’t believe nearly as strongly as Bazurov does. Turgenev uses Bazurov as a foil against his believing and eager parents’ generation, some of whom look upon the idea of rejecting all truth and reality rather skeptically, “The fact is that previously they were simply dunces and now they’ve suddenly become nihilists.”

“Fathers and Sons” is written beautifully and economically and provides great depths of knowledge about families, love, heartache, religion, and even the institution and elimination of serfdom in 19th-century Russia. The beauty of Turgenev’s mind is his compassionate treatment of all the generations present and his unwillingness to take a side. This should be exemplary to all writers, but in fact, it infuriated the sophisticated reviewers of his day, much in the same way it would irritate the elite of our day. Because of this even-handedness, however, Turgenev has created a thoughtful and timeless novel that reveals the power of an author who truly loves his characters and their stories, no matter how absurd they may seem.



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Ward No. 6 by Anton Chekhov

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


In Ward No. 6, one of Anton Chekhov’s novelas, readers are introduced to the colorful residents of Ward 6, a gloomy facility for the mentally ill attached to a run-down Russian hospital. The patients are diverse and interesting, but the story centers around the doctor in charge of the hospital, Andrei Yefimitch, who comes to the hospital with vision and energy, but is then ground down by the despair of not having resources or abilities to have any real impact. Chekhov’s description of the horrific downfall of this middle-class doctor due to his intellectual conceit and tendencies to idle routine is fascinating. The reader just can’t take their eyes away.







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The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Irene is the bright and joyous Daughter of the King and lives in a place crawling with the worst sorts of goblins. Amazingly mature for her young years, she is of interest to the goblins for some reason. Two people intervene to protect her life, Curdie, the young son of a miner and her ghostly and powerful great grandmother who lives in the castle, but only Irene knows she’s there.

MacDonald’s works on the Faeries were intended for the entertainment of children, but there is great wisdom buried therein. MacDonald’s depth of learning and indeed, understanding, about the world is on full display, such as when Irene learns from her mysterious grandmother, “We are all very anxious to be understood, and it is very hard not to be. But there is one thing much more necessary.′
‘What is that, grandmother?’
‘To understand other people.‘”

The genius of MacDonald is that even when being entertaining, his books constantly whisper to us about the need to humbly respect and seek to understand the others who travel with us.



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The Black Monk by Anton Chekhov

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


One of Chekhov’s novelas, The Black Monk explores the contrast between “the mania of greatness”, or what we today might call grandiosity or even narcissism, and the joy that comes from selfless devotion to one’s work and family. Kovrin receives a visit from the Black Monk, a vision from the distant past, who tells Kovrin that he is one of the great and is highly favored by God. This becomes an obsession and the Black Monk’s visits become more frequent. Kovrin’s new wife and father-in-law suffer as Kovrin’s madness is discovered and treated and Kovrin sinks into a sort of bitter depression. “How happy were Buddha, Mohammed, and Shakespeare, that their relations and doctors did not try to cure them of their ecstasies and inspirations!” Kovid relays to his well-meaning and shattered family.
The Black Monk is a very thoughtful exploration of the individual and society and has much value in our current age where self-centered individualism is often celebrated.



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