Project Gutenberg 2005-09-01 Public domain in the USA. 196 Turgenev, Ivan Sergeevich 1818 1883 Тургенев, Иван Сергеевич Tourgueneff, Ivan Turgénieff, Iván Toergenev, Ivan Turgenjeff, Iwan Turgenev, I. S. Garnett, Constance 1861 1946 Black, Constance Clara A Desperate Character and Other Stories Reading ease score: 82.3 (6th grade). Easy to read. A desperate character -- A strange story -- Punin and Baburin -- Old portraits -- The brigadier -- Pyetushkov. Text files produced by Distributed Proofreaders HTML file produced by David Widger "A Desperate Character and Other Stories" by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev is a collection of short stories written in the late 19th century. The stories reflect Turgenev's keen observations on Russian society and deep psychological character studies, particularly focusing on themes of desperation, dissatisfaction, and the quest for meaning. The opening tale introduces Misha Poltyev, a seemingly aimless young man who spirals from a sheltered upbringing into a life of reckless abandon, showcasing his transformation from a well-mannered boy to a desperate adult seeking solace in self-destructive behavior. At the start of the story, the narrator recounts a discussion about the nature of desperation among contemporary individuals, leading to the tale of Misha Poltyev told by an older relative, referred to as P. Misha begins as a delicate boy raised under strict parental guidance, but following the death of his parents, he rapidly descends into a life marked by debauchery and capricious whims. As an adult, this character embodies the chaos and disillusionment of youth, as he spends extravagantly and engages in reckless behaviors, including heavy drinking and even mocking his own nobility. Misha's frequent wild adventures and self-destructive impulses create a poignant portrait of a desperate character burdened by the weight of societal expectations and personal failures. (This is an automatically generated summary.) en Russia -- Social life and customs -- Fiction Turgenev, Ivan Sergeevich, 1818-1883 -- Translations into English PG Text Browsing: Culture/Civilization/Society Browsing: Literature Browsing: Russian Interest Browsing: Fiction 522417 522418 2024-10-04T09:02:46.542930 2023-10-04T08:23:07.242041 text/html text/html 554458 2021-02-25T22:56:04 text/html; charset=utf-8 180239 2021-02-25T22:56:07 text/html; charset=utf-8 application/zip 263727 2024-10-04T09:02:56.367868 application/epub+zip 272506 2024-10-04T09:02:50.058893 application/epub+zip 260949 2024-10-04T09:02:48.680883 application/epub+zip 508298 2024-10-04T09:03:01.272836 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 466723 2024-10-04T09:02:55.419877 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 440255 2022-09-04T12:14:54.153102 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 432436 432352 2024-10-04T09:02:45.169908 2023-10-04T08:23:06.041084 text/plain; charset=us-ascii text/plain 442898 2016-10-26T07:51:36 text/plain; charset=utf-8 169485 2016-10-26T07:54:48 text/plain; charset=utf-8 application/zip 432183 2013-04-23T09:59:18 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 168015 2013-04-23T09:59:34 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 432174 2013-04-23T09:59:02 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 167953 2013-04-23T09:59:34 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 25254 2024-10-04T09:03:01.412812 application/rdf+xml 14958 2024-10-04T09:02:49.238874 image/jpeg 3549 2024-10-04T09:02:48.958879 image/jpeg 255986 2024-10-04T09:02:46.584916 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia en.wikipedia