The quarrel between Dostoevsky and Turgenev

[ecks]

For anyone that is interested in the relationship between Fyodor Dostoevsky and Ivan Turgenev, I found a very interesting site that illustrates exactly how it happens. Here it is: Click Here
For anyone that has read the Possessed, Turgenev is made fun of there in the character Karamazinov.

[axon]

I believe we've discussed this before as well as the conection between Turganev and the "writer" in the Possesed - good find though.

[ecks]

Thanks, axon I wasn't aware of that. This is the discussion, right? The main reason I think Turgenev and Dostoevsky quarreled was because Turgenev idealized a confident, realistic character that is the opposite of what Dostoevsky idealized in Notes From the Underground. There's also the fact that throughout most of his life, Turgenev lived in Europe, basically forgetting his homeland, and developing a writing style similar to European authors.

[ziusudra]

Your words are logical I agree with you.But did dostoyevsky and turgenyev  never  love each other after  dostoyevsky's prison penalty ?

[kudzai]

in RL Jackson's Dialogues with Dostoevsky there is a chapter that deals with the relationship between Dostoevsky & Turgenev eloquently entitled The Ethics of Vision - it is centred around a Turgenev article about his witnessing a public execution which Dostoevsky read and reacted violently to the pomposity of his views. It is clear that the two writers held fundamentally differing world views that dictated their opinions of each other. These differences are reflected in their respective novels - Turgenev's form and structure of his novels is well-ordered and tight yet his content has dated and to the modern reader appears banal and pompous, whereas Dostoevsky's form borders on shambolic and chaotic yet his content shines like old gold and will be benificial to readers for an eternity. Of course Dostoevsky had the foresight to see this when he described Turgenev has (and Iam paraphrasing) a fine writer with absolutely nothing to say.