Christmas Reading: "Fathers and Sons" by Turgenev

[Dori]

But again this is really just semantics and hair-splitting...

Don't be so anti-semantic.

[Janine]

Arkady was never really a nihilist and wouldn't have acted like Bazarov. Even though he might have had some nihilist beliefs they were only a surface and wouldn't affect his real character which is calm, polite and gentle. Absolutely not like Bazarov.

Etienne, I agree with this and I thik it totally obsurd to reverse their characteristics or personalities; they are who they are. What is the point of 'what ifs'. We should just go ahead and discuss the other aspects of the story.

Nihilism is the ideal he tries to live with, and only this makes him a nihilist. There is no perfect nihilist, like there is no perfect Christian, for example. You are not a nihilist only if you are the "perfect" nihilist. But again this is really just semantics and hair-splitting...

I agree with this concept and your comments, but most of all - that all this talk, of whether this character or that character is a 'true nihilist' is definitely 'hair-splitting....not to mention downright boring, at this point. What happened to the book discussion?