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footnotes or index, a rudimentary bibliography , chaos in the spelling
and translitera tion of Russian names heighten the impression that the
book was conceived as a package of popular biography with a chance
at the best- sell er list. I don't mean that Pritchett has written to that
formula-th ere is no invented dia logue, for exampl e. The Islamic
lapse is very likely his own whimsical Britishism, but he may well have
felt li censed
to
utter it by the thinking that lay behind the book's
production. This marketing decision, too, may account for the abun–
dance of warmed-over informa tion , and [or the curbing o[ the kind of
speculation that generates insight. The common reader, [or whom the
book is clearly intended, will not be chea ted o[ the main events o[
Turgenev's life as man and writer; the specialist in Russian literature,
on the other hand , wil l lea rn nex t to nothing. But the real loser is the
student of other litera tures; of the French novel, say, who wants to
become better acquainted with Turgenev. He will discover littl e about
the special texture of th e work , and less about its contribution to the
des ign of th at unique prose instrument , the Russian novel.
It
is sad indeed to see that V.S. Pritchett-so acute, so venturesome,
so articulate-has agreed to write for the coffee table.
RUFUS MATHEWSON
Rufus Mathewson
1918-1978
