Having discussed the various aspects of fiction and what constitutes the art of writing, I have to dwell upon some books which have occupied a particular space in my thought and often foreground their importance when a discussion of fiction ensues. Largely due to fortuitous circumstances and also because cheap editions of them were available in Progress Publishers and Raduga Publishers, I was able to read the seminal Russian novels in English during my graduation. These novels were brought out in good print and sold through Visalandhra Book house in my home town. Every country has certain works which distinguish the literature of that country and often the influence of such works transcends region and becomes a body of work the world admires and owns. The novels and stories of the Great Russian masters: Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, Alexander Pushkin, Maxim Gorky, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Anton Chekov, Leo Tolstoy, Mikhail Lermontov, Mikhail Sholokhov, Solzhenitsyn, Pasternak and others are a distinct literary set which stand as testimony to the superlative, creative genius of these writers. Together they also represent a unique contribution to the world of fiction in terms of narrative mode, theme, ideology, philosophy and expression which permits us to group them under one title ‘Russian fiction.’ although each of these writers is distinct and unique in their own way. Their influence has been monumental and they have influenced scores of writers who have drawn inspiration from their works. While England was producing racy adventure stories, picaresque tales, romantic novels, social satires, the Russian masters were engaged in more serious things which tested not only the strength of their story but also the courage and mettle of the readers. Each of the Russian novelists is unique. Yet all of them in their fiction have shown a heightened understanding of life and existence, have probed the character of human nature and philosophized about it with so much intensity and angst unlike never before. Purity and sincerity are two words that come to mind when I discuss the Russian masters. These qualities along with their intensity, gives their works the strength and force which characterizes their narrative fiction. The first works that I read were Maxim Gorky’s “Mother” and Ivan Turgenev’s “Fathers and Sons.” Both these books were available only in a Telugu translation. Later when I read these works in English, I understood that the translations were extraordinary and part of my fascination for Russian fiction could have been due to the lyrical prose that captured the spirit of the Russian original in Telugu. Of the two works “Fathers and Sons” made a very strong impression and the rebellious figure of Bazarov made me ponder the reality of such an intellectual with such lofty thoughts, although harboring contempt for the ‘small’ fellows who prayed, laughed, cried and loved over things. Turgenev’s outstanding portrait of Russia at the crossroads is an intense engagement with the questions of life, politics and philosophy at the turn of the 19th century. Turgenev achieves the serene detachment of Tolstoy but also foresees the tumultuous and iconoclastic characterization of Russian fiction as in Dostoyevsky in this novel. The Russian psyche, its bold engagement with ideas, the rebellious youth and also the traditionally minded that seem to love peace and family life the more, are portrayed in the novel. Fathers and sons is a sad novel about the wasting of a life; of an existence gone awry, all great ideas strewn to dust in the case of Bazarov and the decisive compromise in love and marriage in the case of Kirchanoff. Turgenev presents a figure that is both a hero and the opposite of it in this novel. In Bazarov, Turgenev augurs the advent of a complex character who could be a bundle of contradictions as it is with Raskolnikov, Ivan Karamazov etc. We find a touch of Nietzsche in Bazarov. He is ruthless and unsympathetic, has no time for weaklings. He does not believe in love or affection and puts on a tone of mockery and cynicism in his conversation. He is a nihilist who believes mostly in destruction, destroying the institutions and ideas which support them. He does not respect his feelings towards Odintsova and therefore hates his own weakness. Bazarov is the doer. He believes in work and immerses himself in his experiments. Bazarov denies even religion. His inability to respect or love his parents who are quite simple at heart, not out of any absence of love, but more out of negation of such feelings and his erudition, is indicative of his rootlessness.
Fathers and Sons may be a slow read as all the grand novels of ideas tend to be, but a true lover of literature and Russian fiction would be doing a disservice to oneself if this great book is left unread. ( To be continued)