Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Kasyan from the Beautiful Lands - Ivan Turgenev

Two short stories 'District Doctor' and 'Kasyan from the Beautiful Lands' told in a distinct style.

In 'District Doctor' we meet a penitent doctor who cannot get over the guilt of the death of a woman patient he falls in love with but despite his best efforts could not save from death. Nor even could he give her the pleasure of dying in the knowledge of his love for her. In her last moments he attributes her confession of their love to her mother as her hallucinations from the fever.
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In 'Kasyan from the Beautiful Lands' we meet the mysterious Kasyan, a dwarfish man who lives in a manner unlike most, and who it is rumoured has an ability to heal. Kasyan has an immense love for life and all of its forms which makes him a unique person. He is gentle and feels for all life and the story somehow brings out the connection he has with life in all its forms.

Both stories have a rustic flavour and somehow the characters appear more alive than in any other story. Turgenev was an eighteenth century writer and playwright. The stories are from his 'Sportsman's Sketches' or  'Sketches from a Hunter's Album'.

2 comments:

Rajendra said...

Unusual.

Harimohan said...

Very. But there's a quality in the storytelling that leaves a stain.