“but at that point my attention was arrested by the appearance of a speckled woodpecker who busily climbed up the slender stem of a birch-tree and peeped out uneasily from behind it, first to the right, then to the left, like a musician behind the bass-viol. Even the nature symbolism is rescued from triteness by lovely poetic similes – e.g. “First Love” is given its originality and poignancy by Turgenev’s mastery of the piercing turning-point (akin to Joyce’s “epiphanies”) that transforms the character’s whole being, making a tragic outcome inevitable. The first disappointments, or Relations with Zinaida Father asks the boy about his visit to the house of the princely family and he himself goes to visit them. The “boy-meets-girl-then-loses-her” story is universal but not, I think, banal – despite a surprise ending which notoriously turns out to be very little of a surprise. Love in Turgenevs novella First Love is treated like some brief summer whirlwind or storm that sweeps through his people and transforms them. Turgenev (the summary continues to follow his narrative) further events describes in a slightly different light. The title of the novella is almost an adequate summary in itself. The “boy-meets-girl-then-loses-her” story is universal but not, I think, banal – despite a surprise ending which notoriously turns out. The master of the house rang and ordered the remains of the supper to be cleared away. There was left in the room only the master of the house and Sergei Nikolaevitch and Vladimir Petrovitch. The title of the novella is almost an adequate summary in itself. Turgenev Next Chapter Introduction The party had long ago broken up.
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