Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev

Just finished it and thought it was a brilliant piece of storytelling about the conflict between the nihilistic 1860's Russian youth (the sons) and the idealistic liberal 1840's generation (the fathers). The craftsmanship is beautiful and Turgenev creates great poise in the relationships between the 'fathers' and 'sons' (in fact all relationships within the book, however briefly touched upon). The characterisation is achieved with minimal effort and you feel you know a character after just 2 or 3 sentences, something other authors struggle to do in the space of an entire novel.

Seems like most people who have read it rave about the Bazarov character, but i enjoyed the 'fathers'/older characters much more for all their idiosyncracies and the suffering they would put themselves through just to keep the peace with their sons, which was both touching and hilarious. I found it to be one of the most accessible and genuinely funny books i've read in a long time. I will definitely be re-reading it at some point in my life, which I can't say for many books I read. To those who haven't read it - you won't be disappointed if you do.