The novel "Fathers and Sons" (1862) occupies a special place in Russian culture and is one of the core works of Russian classical literature. In this novel, Turgenev expressed his socio-political views of that time most fully.
The 1850s in Russia were marked by the abolition of serfdom and the beginning of a democratic movement, which triggered a brutal and complex process of breaking down the old social relationships. A destructive conflict arises between different layers of society—liberals and democrats— between "fathers" and "sons," and its force radically changes the familiar course of life. There is a reassessment of values, new people appear—who put into question the moral ideals of the nobility, culture, art, religion—all of which formed the basis of the idealistic worldview of the Russian aristocracy.
The novel’s main character, nihilist Yevgeny Bazarov, is one of them. He denies everything and believes in nothing, but his convictions collapse when he encounters real life—and lose all meaning in the face of death.
"Fathers and Sons" is a novel about true and false values, about creation and destruction, about human strength and weakness, about friendship, love, and loneliness…
The novella "Asya" was written in 1858. The hero lives abroad. He meets love—Asya. “Back then I was about twenty-five,” N.N. the hero says. “I had just been freed and gone abroad—not because I wanted to finish my education, but simply because I wanted to see the world as God made it…”