22 STUDY OUTLINE ON VI IVAN SERGYEEVICH TURGENEV, 1818-1883 Someone has said that a tale by TurgeniefT is the most beautiful thing that art has given since antiquity, and this is the truth. George Moore. It is safe to say that his novels tell more about human nature in less space than any other novels in the world. . . . Henry James said of him that he was particularly a favorite with people of cultivated taste, and that nothing cultivated the taste better than reading him. . . . To read him is not only to be mentally stimulated, it is to be purified and en- nobled. . . . The works of the man who is perhaps the greatest novelist in history are in harmony with what we recognize as the deepest and most eternal truth, both in life and in our own hearts. William Lyon Phelps. 1. Turgenev the man. a His early life and education. b His life abroad and later life. c His relations with the Viardots. d The relations of Tolstoy and Turgenev. e His interest in politics and social order and his love for Russia. / His temperament. 2. Turgenev the artist. a His mastery of the Russian language. b His love for and his depiction of nature. c The political and social bearing of his work. d The drawing of his characters from life. e His women. / His love scenes. g His poems. h His place in Russian literature.
