Reading: Fathers and Children

Despite the weirdness of directly addressing the reader (eg. “…but perhaps one or two of my readers would like to know what each of our characters is doing now”), this novel feels incredibly modern for something that was written more than 150 years ago.

A few passsages that I really loved.

On how short and seemingly trivial life is:

"Do you know what I'm thinking?" he said eventually, clasping his hands behind his head.

“No, what is it?”

“I’m thinking that my parents have a lovely life. Here’s my father at sixty, fussing about, going on about ‘palliative remedies, doctoring people, being generous to the peasants-having a great old time, in fact. And my mother’s enjoying herself too, her days are filled so full of all sorts of activities, and all that sighing and complaining, she’s no time to catch up with herself. And here I am…”

“And you?”

“And I’m thinking-here I am, lying by a hayrick… the little space I occupy is so tiny, compared to the rest of space where I am not, and which has nothing to do with me, and the little particle of time that I’ll manage to live through is a mere nothing compared to the eternity where I haven’t lived and won’t live… And yet this atom, this mathematical point, has blood circulating in it, and a brain that’s working, and it has its desires too.. Isn’t it loathsome? Isn’t it trivial?”

A short description of a few subtle gestures yet you know exactly what’s going through the characters’ minds:

Arkady made no reply and turned away, and Katya discovered a few more crumbs at the bottom of the basket and began throwing them to the sparrows; but the sweep of her arm was too vigorous and they flew away without taking anything.

On meeting someone who challenges you:

Odintsova turned to look at him. “Are you really leaving? Why shouldn’t you stay on, now? Do stay… it’s fun talking to you … like walking along the edge of a precipice. At first, it’s scary, but then, somewhere or other, one finds courage. Please stay.”