A Month in the Country [Hardcover]

Ivan Turgenev (Author), Isaiah Berlin (Translator), Ivan Turgenev (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1982

Comedy / 8 m., 5 f., 1 c. / Int./ext. A bored wife living in the Russian countryside falls in love with her little boy's handsome new tutor, just like all of the women in the household. The wife's chief rival turns out to be her 17 year old ward; they make a wonderful portrait of two different women in love. "What a charming play.... The workmanship is carefully wrought. The lines of characterization are fine.... It seems like a breath of fresh air." N.Y. Times. FEE: $75 per performance.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Comedy in three acts by Ivan Turgenev, published in 1855 and first produced professionally in 1872 as Mesyats v derevne. The play concerns complications that ensue when Natalya, a married woman, and Vera, her young ward, both fall in love with Belyayev, the naive young tutor of Natalya's son. Considered Turgenev's dramatic masterpiece, the work presaged the psychological realism of Anton Chekhov's plays. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English, Russian (translation)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 127 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (February 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670487058
• ISBN-13: 978-0670487059
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,345,872 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Turgenev's greatest play, October 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Month in the Country (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

A reviewer before me said Turgenev came in the footsteps of the other great Russians. He might have been after Gogol, whom was the first master of fiction to turn to realism, but he was basically a frontrunner of both Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky (and Chekhov). At Gogol's death in 1852 Turgenev wrote an eulogy on Gogol and published the short-story cycle "A Sportsman's Sketches", and was banished to his estate. After this he went abroad and spent most of his time in Paris, where he more than anybody made Russian literature known to the outside world. His greatest novels were "A Nest of Gentlefolk", "On the Eve" and of course "Fathers and Sons". "A Month in the Country" is a pleasant and amusing play of the day, and his very best. One that later also highly inspired Chekhov. Further reading recommended: "The Essential Turgenev".

4.0 out of 5 stars Turgenev's skill shines through, May 9, 2005

By 

Fred Martin (Victoria, British Columbia, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Month in the Country: A Comedy in Five Acts (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

This is not a dramatic masterpiece, but anyone who appreciates Turgenev will benefit from it. I was motivated to read this play in preparation for its performance by the United Players of Vancouver next month.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Russian+19th century=good, May 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Month in the Country (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

In the footsteps of other such amazing Russian authors comes Turgenev, and his wonderfully written play 'A Month in the Country.' If you love Russian literature of this time period, and you like Love triangles, and plays, then this story can not go wrong.