Everyone has a place in their imagination that they can escape to, something that can make them feel safe or happy.  For some it’s a scent, for others a memory frozen in their minds eye captured until Alzheimer’s or death takes it away.  For me it’s been a place, a place that inspires and envelops my senses in surrealism.  This place is secluded, only for me, and I don’t even let the people I love inside.  It’s quiet aside from the sounds of nature.  There’s a river that flows through the woods, and then it feeds down into a waterfall that fills out a lake.  Most people prefer pools to lakes, because they’re more sanitary.  To me, a lake is ideal, because while you’re alone, you’re also not, and the murky water holds mysteries waiting to be discovered.  This Lake in my mind I only go to for solace from my life in the real world.  It’s been developed from the settings of stories that filled my childhood, and I relive all those magical moments every time the fish in the water nibbles at my toes.  Sometimes when I read a good book, I’ll sit on the edge of the water with my legs in, flashlight in my mouth, prepared to stay up as late as possible to finish my adventures.  Mother hates this place in my mind, as sometimes it keeps us from conversations that need to happen.  She calls me a dreamer, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing like she does.  Instead I think it’s the building block for something greater.  People can be intelligent, but if they have no imagination or creativity, there is no progress.  I fell in love with art at a young age, knowing it would be useless as a career.  Art encompasses so many things though, that while in and by itself it cannot be a career used to successfully support one’s self, it can be used to express one’s self in any future career or endeavor.

         In this chapter he visits the lodge next door, and the family of the “princess” who inhabits it.  I’m still not sure as to why they refer to her as the princess, because from the descriptions of her, and her living situation she doesn’t seem to be a princess at all.  In fact in previous chapters he mentions how poor and shabby the princess’ lodge is.  Also, the word Vonifaty is used a lot in the translated version, and I’m still not quite sure what it means, even though I’ve looked it up on google.  If anybody knows what it is, please write me soon.

         Anyway, young Vladmir meets the “princess” and her daughter during his visit.  As it turns out the “princess” is the girl of his interests from the garden.  Her mother leaves them alone to talk, and Zinaïda Alexandrovna, the daughter.  They spend time together, and talk about education and interests

(Source: ebooks.adelaide.edu.au)

  In chapter 3 Vladmir discovers letters from the neighbor girl, or “princess” to his mother.  He knows his mother hasn’t written back, because of her poor language skills in both French and Russian, and because his father wasn’t there to assist with the writing at that time.  This chapter in a way describes the girl of his interests by her notes and handwriting.   He describes her writings as “illiterate, and slovenly.”, which for the daughter of a princess is strange. His mother was excited to have his help, and sent him over as a messenger boy in place of writing the letter.  This was an  interesting chapter for me, even though it was rather short.  Something interesting about the writing in this chapter is that it is rich with older vocabulary.  Most of the rich vocabulary is used to describe situations and people.

(Source: ebooks.adelaide.edu.au)

       In the second chapter of First Love Vladimir takes a walk past the borders of the garden.  The surprising part is that he was carrying a gun with him.  As he walked past the borders, he saw a girl with a small group of males gathered around her. Her delicate features were what drew his attention.   A lot of the wording from this chapter was romantic and borderline sexual.  It helped intensify the transfer of feelings from the character onto the reader.    The other characters were brought to life with descriptions that held words like mobile, eager, and phrases like “eyes that devoured”.  This provided the other male characters with a more masculine appearance in the reader’s mind’s eye.  At the end of the chapter, the feelings of rejection by everyone including the girl are portrayed through softer words and phrases, and in the attitude between Vladimir and his father and his neighbor in their interactions as he travels home.  It’s interesting to me how all the male characters except for Vladimir have masculine descriptions and actions, but most of the parts of the story involving Vladimir, have effeminate  words to frame what is happening within the story.  So that’s all I have for chapter two.  Chapter three is coming up later today. Thanks!

p.s. Sorry it seems like tumblr didn’t post the text last friday, so here it is. Luckily I save it in another file :)

        After finishing the first chapter of this short story, there is still no sign of romance, as the writer frames the setting, and the backdrop.  Turgenev sets the backdrop with a young boy who grew up as an only child to a wealthy family brought together by circumstance.  It is interesting that while framing his character Turgenev uses a lot of effeminate words to describe the boy’s interests such as horseback riding, and reading poetry out in the fields past the grip of his parent’s control. On May 9th his parents took him to the summer house, which was his favorite place, because of the gardens behind it.  This literature defies most stereotypes, as it portrays the characters as softer, gentler, by using words generally used to describe effeminate things.  Even though the main character is a boy,(which I had to Google this information to find out) the way the author writes things is almost in a romantic style that makes Vladmir seem like he could be either boy or girl.  The only way you can tell for sure is the way he describes women.  As if they’re pieces of art in a gallery, and he is the scholar analyzing them. Ending observation for the day is that even though this is a romance story, the only romantic thing about it was the way the author described and built the characters into my mind.

Hello,

          I’ve decided that because most people base stereotype of the sharper harder to deal with aspects of Russian/Soviet culture that I would state my adventure through literature with the softer side.   First Love, by Ivan Turgenev, otherwise known as Первая любовь is a frame story recounting a tale of first love.  I will be reading it chapter by chapter, and posting daily updates, and some of my own writings inspired by it if that happens.  I will be reading the translated version as Russian is not my native language.  Thank you for your time!

Sincerely,

Evelyn V.

(Source: ebooks.adelaide.edu.au)