SOURCE: Fisher, Vladimir. “Story and Novel in Turgenev's Work.” In Critical Essays on Ivan Turgenev, edited by David A. Lowe, pp. 43-63. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1988.

In the following essay, originally published in 1920, Fisher discusses features found in Turgenev's short stories and novels that reveal the author's experiences and observations.

The Autobiographical Element

Turgenev's novels have overshadowed his stories. And in general, the latter were somehow unlucky. The critics, in the person of Belinsky, met the first story¹ rather coldly. The success of Notes of a Hunter at the end of the 1840s and the beginning of the 1850s prevented the public and the critics from appreciating the great merits of the stories. The reflected light of the fame of Notes of a Hunter fell on two of the stories—“Mumu” and “The Inn.” But after that began the era of the novels, which happened to coincide...