A Sportsman’s Sketches

A Sportsman’s Sketches is a collection of short stories written by Ivan Turgenev, a Russian author, in the mid-19th century. The book is a series of vignettes that depict life in rural Russia, with a particular focus on the relationship between the landowners and the peasants who work on their estates. The stories are narrated by a hunter who spends his summers in the countryside, observing the people and animals around him. Through his eyes, we see the daily struggles of the peasants, the cruelty of some landowners, and the beauty of the natural world. The book is divided into two parts, with the first part focusing on the hunter’s encounters with various peasants and the second part delving into more philosophical themes, such as the nature of love and the meaning of life. A Sportsman’s Sketches is considered a masterpiece of Russian literature, and it has been praised for its vivid descriptions of rural life, its sympathetic portrayal of the peasants, and its subtle critique of the social and political system in place at the time.On such days all the colours are softened, bright but not glaring; everything is suffused with a kind of touching tenderness. On such days the heat is sometimes very great; often it is even ’steaming’ on the slopes of the fields, but a wind dispels this growing sultriness, and whirling eddies of dust--sure sign of settled, fine weather--move along the roads and across the fields in high white columns. In the pure dry air there is a scent of wormwood, rye in blossom, and buckwheat; even an hour before nightfall there is no moisture in the air. It is for such weather that the farmer longs, for harvesting his wheat.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world’s literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.