Ivan Turgenev
Two of Turgenev's shorter works, both in Constance Garnett's translations. King Lear of the Steppes moves Shakespeare's tragedy onto a Russian estate. The Diary of a Superfluous Man gave Russian literature the phrase it still uses for a certain kind of wasted life.
Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer and playwright, the first Russian author to win wide fame across Europe. Born in Oryol into a wealthy landowning family, he spent much of his life in France and Germany and counted Flaubert and the Goncourts among his friends. His major works include Fathers and Sons and A Sportsman's Sketches. Skomlin also publishes Turgenev's The Diary of a Superfluous Man.
Titles at Skomlin
A decidedly Russian adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy King Lear set in the countryside. It concerns the disrespectful treatment the protagonist Kharlov receives from his ungrateful daughters and the revenge he wreaks upon them.
Turgenev's iconic tale of love and mortality set in 19th century Tsarist Russia is a skillfully written sad story of heartache and unrequited love. It is also is one of literature's finest portraits of alienation loss and hopelessness.