fA
THE RSAN 0 SON S
269
I have a very curious collection of letters and other documents
in connection with
Fathers and Sons.
It
is rather interesting to com–
pare them. While some of my correspondents accuse me of insulting
the younger generation, of being behind the times and a reactionary,
and inform me that they "are burning my photographs with a con–
temptuous laugh," others, on the contrary, reproach me with pander–
ing to the same younger generation. "You are crawling at the feet
of Bazarov!" one correspondent exclaims. "You are just pretending
to condemn him; in effect, you are fawning upon him and waiting
as a favour for one casual smile from him!" One critic, I remember,
addressing me directly in strong and eloquent words, depicted Mr.
Katkov and me as two conspirators who in the peaceful atmosphere
of my secluded study, are hatching our despicable plot, our libellous
attack, against the young Russian forces.... It made an effective
picture! Actually, that is how this
plot
came about. When Mr. Kat–
kov received my manuscript of
Fathers and Sons,
of whose contents
he had not even a rough idea, he was utterly bewildered. The
Bazarov type seemed to him "almost an apotheosis of
The Contem–
porary Review,"
and I should not have been surprised if he had re–
fused to publish my novel in his journal.
UEt
voila comme on
eerit
l'histoire!"
one could have exclaimed, but-is it permissible to give
such a high-sounding name to such small matters?
On the other hand, I quite understand the reasons for the anger
aroused by my book among the members of a certain party. They
are not entirely groundless and I accept-without false humility–
part
of the reproaches levelled against me. The word "nihilist" I had
used
in
my novel was taken advantage of by a great many people
who were only waiting for an excuse, a pretext, to put a stop to the
movement which had taken possession of Russian society. But I
never used that word as a pejorative term or with any offensive aim,
but as an exact and appropriate expression of a fact, an historic fact,
that had made its appearance among us; it was transformed into a
means of denunciation, unhesitating condemnation and almost a
brand of infamy. Certain unfortunate events that occurred at that
time increased the suspicions that were just beginning to arise and
seemed to confirm the widespread misgivings and justified the worries
and efforts of the "saviors of our motherland," for in Russia such
"saviors of the motherland" had made their appearance just then.
