Fathers and Sons

About Fathers and Sons

Turgenev’s timeless tale of generational collision, in a sparkling new translation

When Arkady Petrovich returns home from college, his father finds his eager, naïve son changed almost beyond recognition, for the impressionable Arkady has fallen under the powerful influence of the friend he has brought home with him. A self-proclaimed nihilist, the ardent young Bazarov shocks Arkady’s father with his criticisms of the landowning way of life and his determination to overthrow the traditional values of contemporary society. Vividly capturing the hopes and fears, regrets and delusions of a changing Russia around the middle of the nineteenth century, Fathers and Sons is Ivan Turgenev’s masterpiece.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.