The cynical Doctor Lúshin slanders the princess behind her back but is happy to suffer any humiliation at her hands. Each one of these colorful characters loves differently. From lusty hussars to melodramatic poets, it seems every influential male in the village pines for the princess. Vladimir isn’t the only bachelor enamored with Zinaída. As I warned, the setup feels outdated, yet “First Love” captures me all the same. The plot largely revolves around the experiences of this young protagonist as he transits between his own dusty dining room and - you guessed it - the dusty dining room of the beautiful 21-year-old Zinaída. Published in 1860, this Russian novella tells the story of Vladimir Petrovich, an aging aristocrat who recounts the tale of his first true passion. It could be said that “First Love” raises all these red flags. The reason I appreciate stories like Ivan Turegenev’s “First Love” so much is because they prove just how wrong I am. You can’t restrain epics like “Les Miserables” or “Crime and Punishment.” It’s 20th-century authors, with their fragmentary and surrealist plots, who can capture us in just 20 pages. Don’t get me wrong, I like Victor Hugo and Fyodor Dostoevsky as much as anyone else, but their narratives benefit from the space they’re given to develop. I don’t usually read old short stories, especially those that deal with uptight families in dusty dining rooms - 19th-century literature, basically.
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