Smoke

7 hrs. 4 min.

Classics

Language Russian

Author Ivan Turgenev

Narrator Valery Tolkov

Description

In the novel “Smoke” (1867), the events take place at a spa resort in Baden-Baden. The thirty-year-old landowner Grigory Litvinov awaits the arrival of his bride and, with weary irony, watches the endless debates of Russian intellectuals about the paths and the future of Russia.

His measured life is abruptly changed by an unexpected meeting with Irina Ratmirova—his first love from youth. The rekindled feeling turns into a test: Litvinov must make a painful choice between faithfulness to his fiancée and the irresistible pull of a woman who calls on him to leave his old life behind for their relationship.

Through the story of love, Turgenev brings to the forefront a broader meaning—the fragility and uncertainty of time, when personal fates and the prospects of the country seem as elusive as smoke. The novel blends subtle psychological insight with biting social satire, conveying the contradictory spirit of Russian life in the mid-19th century.