Five Short Novels Author:Ivan Turgenev The Diary of a Superfluous Man — Rudin — First Love — Spring Torrents — A King Lear of the Steppe — Translated and with an introduction by Franklin Reeve. — "In the novels of Turgenev we have a flawless portrait of the Russian spirit and way of life in the nineteenth century. We learn to understand the rich landowner, the young intellectual, the peasa... more »nt, the serf on the threshold of liberation, their women. But Turgenev was never a crusader or preacher; he was an artist, a precise and loving craftsman, who wanted, above all, to create beauty. Through his sensitive art we have not only some of the greatest novels ever written, but a finger on the pulse of a civilization in upheaval."« less