Diary of a Superfluous Man

by Ivan Turgenev, David Patterson (Translator)

Overview

A vivid picture of nineteenth-century Russian society, but above all the poignant story of a man whose mortality becomes the only aspect of life that he shares with his fellow man.

When Turgenev published Diary of a Superfluous Man in 1850, he created one of the first literary portraits of the alienated man. Turgenev once said that there was a great deal of himself in the unsuccessful lovers who appear in his fiction. This failure, along with painful self-consciousness, is a central fact for the ailing Chulkaturin in this melancholy tale. As he reflects on his life, he tells the story of Liza, whom he loved, and a prince, whom she loved instead, and the curious turns all their lives took.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393319200
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	07/17/1999
Edition description:	(Reissue)
Pages:	80
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

David Patterson is professor of English at Oklahoma State University and translator of Tolstoy's The Forged Coupon, also available in Norton paperback.