Smoke (novel)

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Rauch ( Russian Дым ) is a novel by the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev from 1867. The novel describes the scene of Russian spa guests in Baden-Baden and touches on the political reforms in Russia after the abolition of serfdom by Tsar Alexander II. Turgenev lived himself in Baden-Baden since 1863.

action

In 1862 the Russian landowner Litvinov came back to Baden-Baden from a multi-year trip to Europe. Here he wants to meet his fiancée Tanja. Tanja's arrival is delayed because her accompanying aunt is ill. Litvinov unexpectedly meets his childhood sweetheart Irina. She had broken her engagement to him ten years earlier to save her family from ruin. She is now married to the wealthy General Ratmirow. Litvinov's love for Irina reawakens. At the Russian tree, the meeting place for Russians in Baden-Baden, he made the acquaintance of Potugin, a former servant of Irina, who was staying in the spa with his consumptive stepdaughter Nadja. He is introduced to the circle of the political visionary Gubaev by a friend. Litvinov and Irina begin an affair that does not go unnoticed by the other spa guests or by Irina's husband. With the arrival of Tanya and her aunt, Litvinov is forced to make a decision. He and Irina agree to flee together, regardless of the others involved. Potugin warns Litvinov, advises him to stay with his fiancée, and reveals to him that he himself was in love with Irina and that she had destroyed his life. Tanja realizes that Litvinov loves Irina, breaks off the engagement and returns to Russia with her aunt. But Irina suddenly refuses, wants to avoid a scandal and not endanger her social position. She suggests that Litvinov find a job in Saint Petersburg and become her lover. Potugin warned him about this very situation. Litvinov recognizes Irina's cold feeling and selfishness. He returns to his estate. A few years later, at his father's funeral, he meets Tanja's aunt again. She invites him to her estate, where Tanja teaches the children of the former serfs. Litvinov accepts the invitation. Tanja forgives him, they are getting married. They invite Potugin, who lives alone in Saint Petersburg after Nadja's death, to their estate. Irina has preserved her wealth and her social position, but she remains alone.

reception

The novel, published in April 1867, was panned, which greatly offended Turgenev. In a letter to the poet Appolon Nikolajewitsch Maikow , Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky wrote : "I found him in an irritable mood: it was the failure of 'Rauch', and I must admit that at that time all the details of this fiasco were alien to me." The views represented in the novel, especially Turgenev's pro-Western stance, led to the break between Turgenev and Dostoyevsky.

In 1992 the novel was made into a film under the direction of Ayan Shakhmaliyewa.

German-language editions

  • Smoke. Roman , p. 5–225 in: Iwan Turgenew: Gesammelte Werke. Vol. 4. Rauch. A King Lear from the steppe country. Edited and translated from the Russian by Johannes von Guenther. 331 pages Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin 1952.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dostoevsky: Collected Letters 1833 - 1881 . Ed .: Friedrich Hitzer. Piper, Munich 1966, p. Letter # 317 from 16./28. August 1867 .
  2. Anton Seljak: Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Ivan Turgenev: Essay on a love-hate relationship . In: Ellen Lackner (Hrsg.): Yearbook of the German Dostojewskij Society . tape 12 . Clasen, Flensburg 2005, ISBN 3-9809877-1-X , p. 85-111 .