9 h 1 minAudiobook12 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a son brings home a friend who rejects everything his father holds dear?
Arkady Kirsanov returns from university to his father's country estate with Evgeny Bazarov, a proud medical student who trusts only science. His gentle father, Nikolai, wants to understand him. His uncle Pavel bristles at Bazarov's contempt for old principles and manners. Around the tea table, a homecoming becomes a clash over how to live.
In Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Sons, Russia stands between cautious reform and demands to tear the old order down. Arkady admires Bazarov, yet longs for family and a settled life. Bazarov calls himself a nihilist, but his convictions face the claims of love, beauty and feeling. Turgenev watches both generations with calm attention, finding faults without taking easy sides.
What you’ll discover
- Ideas across the table Follow Pavel and Bazarov as everyday conversation turns into a struggle over cherished beliefs.
- A son between worlds Watch Arkady weigh his friend's fierce certainty against his own longing for home.
- The limits of reason Explore what happens when Bazarov's trust in science meets feelings he cannot simply dismiss.
- Love without easy words See how Nikolai and Arkady care deeply, yet struggle to speak plainly to each other.
- A clear, searching eye Enjoy Turgenev's quiet irony as he reveals the faults of young and old alike.
Who will love it
For readers who love novels of ideas, family tension and Russian history, and anyone curious about why young and old so often talk past each other.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Arkady comes home with a strange friend
- The old house meets new ideas
- Pavel and Bazarov fight over nihilism
- The town visit and the widow Odintsova
- At Nikolskoye, reason meets feeling
- Bazarov's own parents
- What the book says about generations
- Love, nature and the limits of reason
- How Turgenev tells it
Who’s who
- Evgeny BazarovA proud young medical student and nihilist who trusts only science and wants to clear away the old order, but has not planned what comes after.
- Arkady KirsanovA warm, young graduate who admires Bazarov and repeats his views, while longing for home, family and a settled life.
- Nikolai Petrovich KirsanovArkady's gentle father, a widowed landowner who tries to reform his estate and understand his son, but doubts his own abilities.
- Pavel Petrovich KirsanovNikolai's elegant older brother, a former society man who guards his principles and manners, and hates Bazarov's contempt for them.
- Anna Sergeevna OdintsovaA rich, intelligent young widow who values calm and order, and who is both drawn to and wary of Bazarov.
- FenichkaA young woman living in Nikolai's house with her baby son, quiet and modest, and unsure of her place in the family.
- Vasily Ivanovich BazarovBazarov's father, a retired army doctor who loves his son deeply and wants to seem modern, in a poor country house.
- KatyaAnna's younger sister, lively and gentle, who plays the piano and sees through Arkady's borrowed opinions.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 9 h 1 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 12 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, for the whole household.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear Padres e hijos in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Padres e hijos
by Iván Serguéievich Turguénev · 1862
Bazarov brings his faith in science to a country estate, where family, tradition and feeling test his theories.
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- The whole household
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
Arkady comes home with a strange friend
The novel opens at a coaching inn in May 1859. Nikolai Petrovich Kirsanov, a gentle landowner, waits for his son Arkady, who has just finished university in St Petersburg. He is nervous and excited, because he has not seen the boy in some time. When the carriage arrives, Arkady is not alone.
With him is Evgeny Bazarov, a tall, thin young man in a long coat with tassels, with a bare, sandy face and a calm, confident look. Arkady introduces him with obvious pride. Bazarov is studying medicine and plans to be a doctor. He shakes hands without any show of warmth and clearly cares little for polite ceremony.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, for the whole household. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - The whole householdUp to 5 readers
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Padres e hijos
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
Can my family read too?
Yes. The whole household reads and listens: up to 5 readers, each with their own shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is Fathers and Sons about?
It follows the young graduate Arkady and his friend Bazarov, a nihilist, as they visit country estates in 1859 Russia. Their ideas clash with those of the older generation, and feeling begins to test Bazarov's cold theories.
What is a nihilist in Fathers and Sons?
In the novel, a nihilist is someone who accepts no principle on faith or authority and judges everything by science and usefulness. Bazarov uses the word for himself, and the book helped spread it.
When was Fathers and Sons written and is it a true story?
Turgenev published it in 1862, after the tsar's reforms were announced and as Russia debated serfdom. It is fiction, but it draws on real arguments between older liberals and younger radicals of the time.
The author
Ivan Turgenev
1818–1883 · Russian novelist
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was a Russian novelist, short-story writer and playwright. He was born in Oryol in 1818 and died near Paris in 1883. He lived in Russia, Germany and France. His books include A Nobleman’s Nest (1859), Fathers and Sons (1862) and Virgin Soil (1877).
More by Iván Serguéievich Turguénev
All 8 books
More like this
Free
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Popular in classics
See all
Free
Free
Free
