Певцы

by Ivan Turgenev, Иван Тургенев

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, Russia, Literature, Russian Literature, Audiobook

25 pages, Kindle Edition

About the author

Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (Cyrillic: Иван Сергеевич Тургенев) was a novelist, poet, and dramatist, and now ranks as one of the towering figures of Russian literature. His major works include the short-story collection A Sportsman’s Sketches (1852) and the novels Rudin (1856), Home of the Gentry (1859), On the Eve (1860), and Fathers and Sons (1862).

These works offer realistic, affectionate portrayals of the Russian peasantry and penetrating studies of the Russian intelligentsia who were attempting to move the country into a new age. His masterpiece, Fathers and Sons, is considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century.

Turgenev was a contemporary with Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy. While these wrote about church and religion, Turgenev was more concerned with the movement toward social reform in Russia.

Reviews

[Mark Porton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found Ivan Turgenev’s – The Singers a little bit of a drag. This is another of the short stories I am reading (with our Lisa) from George Saunders’ – A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (A Masterclass – my words).

This is a story of a stranger wandering through rural Russia in the late 1800’s and he comes across a shabby little pub. Full of an interesting group of locals – a singing contest erupts between two of the characters – The Contractor and Yashka the Turk.

Turgenev lost me (even before I discovered, from Saunders, a common issue readers have with this story) because of his uber-detailed descriptions of pretty much everything. I found my mind wandering, then re-reading certain passages. The reason for my re-reading certain parts was because of Saunders’ emphasis on ‘economy’ in a short story. A point he made while analysing the first short story in this book - In the Cart – by Chekhov. That is, a short story writer mustn’t, or shouldn’t include extraneous material. Everything needs to have a purpose.

So, I thought the forensic descriptions were important, using Saunder’s law of economy. But it was too much. I mean, how important is it to remember the forehead of the pub owner, or the eyebrows of a certain local?

Well, it seems (according to Saunders – and who am I to argue?), these descriptions did serve a purpose, a particularly important one. I did get what he meant – but the story still annoyed me, and I didn’t enjoy this one.

Saunders’ description of the ending – still passes me by.

However, Turgenev’s writing did serve a purpose, for this reader, as it described the landscape and the environment in such detail that it felt real. Grim, as one would expect.

So mixed feelings for me. Saunders’ teaching made sense to me. I still didn’t enjoy this, but because of the analysis I could appreciate what Turgenev was up to.

……………….and that’s a good thing surely.

3 Stars

The story can be found here: https://public-domain-poetry.com/stor...

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story #2 discussed in George Saunders' A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life.

“I must confess I have seldom heard such a voice … A warmhearted, truthful Russian soul rang and breathed in it and fairly clutched you by the heart, clutched straight at your Russian heartstrings. The song expanded and went flowing on.”

An unusual little story about a hunter who, visiting a small town of peasants, witnesses a singing contest judged in a local pub.

What makes a Russian story Russian? For me it’s a certain quality, some element of soul, some painful and long-forgotten yearning that gives me as a reader an uncomfortable feeling in my chest that I can’t explain in words.

So really, this story is about that something, that quality, that Russian thing I can’t explain but know when I read it. It surprised me, and will stay with me a long time.

[Ali Ahmadi · Rating 3 out of 5]

یکی از داستان‌های کوتاه دوران جوانی تورگنیف که ترجمه‌ی فارسی‌اش هم در مجموعه‌ی شکارچی در سایه‌روشن زندگی¹ چاپ شده و از معدود آثار تورگنیف که اقتباس سینمایی هم دارند. آوازخوان‌ها² برنده‌ی اسکار بهترین فیلم کوتاه شد.

¹ A Sportsman Sketches
² The Singers (2025) / Dir. Sam A. Davis

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second story that George Saunders explores in A Swim in a Pond in the Rain (see my review) is ‘The Singers’ by Ivan Turgenev (1818-1893). It comes from an 1852 collection of short stories called A Sportsman’s Sketches also translated as A Sportsman’s Notebook, The Hunting Sketches and Sketches from a Hunter’s Album. According to Wikipedia, this collection was a milestone of Russian realism, and it made Turgenev’s name.

When I read Fathers and Sons, I was very taken by the characterisation of the young idealist Bazarov and in the comments below my review you can see where I admired the way Turgenev uses dialogue to differentiate his characters. There is not much dialogue, however, in this most engaging short story about a singing competition in a remote rural pub. Instead, it is Turgenev’s powers of description which impel the reader on.

Plunging into the story reproduced in Saunders’ book without an introduction or any context, it’s not immediately obvious who the unnamed narrator is and why he is roaming about in the vicinity of Kolotovka, a small and cheerless village. But within a couple of pages we have learned that he’s an observant outsider, (which is apparently an element of the Russian realist tradition where the narrator is usually an uncommitted observer of the people he meets.) However, he passes by regularly enough to be acquainted with some of the drinkers at the Cosy Corner pub, and to make some judgements about them. He’s a gentleman well-educated enough to have ‘readers’ and even if we didn’t have Wikipedia, we could guess that he’s either a journalist or that he’s writing a newsy letter for educated people at home, who’re going to read it en famille as people did in those days. He explains his reasons for being in such a dismal place by saying that he’s a sportsman who goes everywhere. Since he’s pursuing this sport alone out in the middle of nowhere this is enough to identify him as a hunter, (though some of us would dispute that shooting animals is any kind of sport.)

Outside, the narrator witnesses an excited exchange between two patrons of the pub. Booby exhorts Blinker to hurry up because everyone is waiting: there is Yashka the Turk, the Wild Gentleman, and the contractor from Zhizdra. (The contractor is not named, not even with an intriguing nickname although Russians are past-masters at giving nicknames.) The excitement is because Yashka and the contractor have made a bet: they’ve wagered a quart of beer to see who wins.

So in this remote rural outpost, with nothing to commend it, an extraordinary cultural moment takes place—a singing competition between the local hero and a challenger from a nearby village.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/06/15/t...

[Corbin Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

“During the contest, we watched the tavern morph into a church. A holy thing happened there: these rough people (peasants, poor men, worked nearly to death in this sweltering, oppressive setting) were uplifted and transformed through art. They recognized beauty when they saw it. Now, the church descends back into tavern.”
-George Saunders (A Swim in a Pond in the Rain)

What a beautiful short story

[Soefae · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few peasant Russian men are united through art. Fine, sure, lovely. But that isn’t enough to make up the dragging writing.

[Max Cannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little too realist to the point of feeling like a documentary, and yet, it is not a true story. That is why the boredom and exhaustive description is unjustifiable. Intention is everything I suppose.

[Hester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Realist short story in which we learn something about the soul of Russia , fleeting moments of transformation even in the most unlikely settings . Thank you to George Saunders for introducing me to this and for deconstructing it to allow me to see it's anatomy .

[armghan ahmad · Rating 5 out of 5]

an operatic, heartfelt masterpiece. Turgenev's writing is not unlike the Chicago wind - it burrows through every opening, no matter the size, and leaves a chill

[Westerly Drizzle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful tale. A vicarious trip. Delightfully atmospheric.
The peasants sing of life; songs of sorrow, joy, memory, and endurance. Music and singing are the variety of life, as natural and inevitable as the changing of day to night, warmth to cold.

Turgenev offers a beautiful description of a Russian steppe village: a tight-knit community, rugged and unadorned. Despite its barren and bleak appearance, the villagers make do - gratefully - with what the earth offers them gratis. Though individually flawed and often viewing one another with contempt, the peasant remains loving and accommodating, taking care of their own.

[Sapphire Detective · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hope this analysis will be shorter than last night's (updating at the end: it may be longer), if only so I can return to sleeping at a normal time again (thankfully I got an earlier start). But, seeing as I'm not trying to connect the themes of a triptych of stories this time, hopefully it will (it didn't).

Once again I am reading this because it features in George Saunders' A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, though this is not the sole reason. In fact, it can almost be said that this story is the reason for me reading the anthology in the first place! It (the anthology that is) had been on my radar for some time already, so it wasn't like I was unfamiliar with the vague notion of this story's existence, but it (the story) came into full awareness about a month ago, when the rare (but not unheard of) tie happened at the Oscars. The category was Live Action Short Film, and the winners: Two People Exchanging Saliva, and The Singers. Come to find out, when I later go to watch it after realizing it was available to watch on Netflix, it was based on this story, and that this story was collected in a book of literary analysis I'd wanted to try for a while. And, on top of all of that, it was the story's inclusion in said book that inspired the creation of the short film in the first place! Serendipitous, said I! So, in a roundabout way, don't blame Conan for last night's essay.

However, I will say, on the topic of the previous night's essay, that thoughts along those lines may have colored my interpretation of this text, as my reading didn't exactly line up with Saunders'. That's not to say that I'm discounting his analysis--the man is a well-respected (including by me) author, and he's been teaching this stuff for years; he knows what he's talking about--but I was a little surprised to find that the themes I read into it weren't mentioned. Of course, all art is subjective, we bring the things we want to see into any given piece, so anyone's individual mileage may vary, but allow me (if you can after the last review) a little leeway to explain my interpretation.

Pairing along with my ruminations on the idea of loneliness expounded last night, "The Singers," to me, speaks of community, and of outsiders. We're brought into the story with the description of a rural town beset by unforgiving conditions--a ravine splitting the town in two, the oppressive summer heat, buildings in shambles--but at the heart of this village, a tavern, warm (or, as pertaining to the weather, cool) and inviting; it's even called the Cozy Corner. The publican is respected by all around, and its doors and cool beer are open to almost all around.

Thus, we're introduced, in great detail, to our band of characters at the heart of the story. All of them are outsiders in their own way--Booby is the village idiot, a presence tolerated but not always welcomed, more that he is imposed upon them; Blinker is a quiet individual who lets others fill the gaps in conversation; The Wild Man is an imposing figure that everyone tends to not pry into too much, lest they may upset this "Hercules"; Yashka, though being a local boy, is the descendant of a "captured Turkish woman;" the Contractor is from another town; our narrator, also from another town, and implied to be of a higher economic class than the rest of the characters--and all are brought together to this pub on this one day for an impromptu singing competition between Yaskha and the Contractor. In this, they have found a, if brief and impermeable, community.

But not everyone is welcome in this community, and those that are may not be in it forever. Of the people in the Cozy Corner, three are outsiders among outsiders: an unnamed peasant, who only gets a few brief mentions (including nearly getting thrown out when the crowd becomes first aware of his presence, only to be stopped by the Wild Man's acceptance of him); our narrator, who as said is from out of town himself, is only accepted because of his acquaintance to the publican, and by the story's end dips out again when he feels he's nearing overstaying his welcome; and the Contractor, another from out of town, who quickly departs following the contest himself.

I listed the Contractor last because, of our outsiders among outsiders, he is the most remote, as shown during his performance. The singing, while technically skilled, fails to engage with the audience, and following the brief moment where he catches their attentions, he doubles down on the flashiness of his prowess, mistaking that for being the merit of the singing. The Contractor wears the metaphoric clothes of community--and does so with a panache at that--but ultimately fails to reach out and connect with the others around him.

Compare this to Yashka's performance, which is far from the mastery the Contractor displayed, but is, itself, something much deeper. Where the contractor failed to engage for all but a brief moment, Yashka is able to touch the souls of all in the Cozy Corner (and, I must admit, even the soul of this reader, though I could never hear his song). For the period of this song, this group of outsiders are able to put aside the barriers that may have pushed each other away prior and, in a moment of beauty (much like that of Marya's in Chekhov's "In the Cart" upon seeing the image of her mother on the train), connect with one another in a way that soars above limitations.

But, as all things do, the moment passes. Everyone recomposes themselves, and our outsiders among outsiders take their leave. And the community becomes insular once more. Turgenev leaves us on one last note of attempted connection, a recounting of two brothers calling out to one another. One is searching for the other, and only when the other responds do we find why: their father wants to spank the other brother. The other brother's voice is not heard again. Community broken, a grasp at connection failed because one wants to reject the other (in this case, not the other brother rejecting the first, but the first offering the other as a lamb to the slaughter, so to speak, of corporal punishment).

As indicated by my mentioning how I, too, was moved by the passage about Yashka's song, I really loved this story. Some may be turned off by Turgenev's verbose descriptions (it certainly seems like many of Saunders' students were), but perhaps that's just the kind of reader I am, to not be turned off by long, winding passages about seemingly inconsequential things. To me, it fleshes out the characters, helps us understand why they may do what they may do, even before we have an idea of what that may be. And that may be passe in our era of storytelling, where the adage of "show don't tell" is practically shoved down our throats from the outset, but sometimes, a bit of telling can do the heavy lifting, so when we're shown details later, we can better understand them.

My rating: 4.75/5 (rounded up)
Would I own/re-read?: Absolutely.
TW: Brief mention of Child Abuse, Drunkenness
Does the animal die?: No animals are harmed by the singing competition.

[Trounin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Рассказ пришёлся по душе и славянофилам, получившим для примера наглядное доказательство, насколько сильны народные традиции. Если такое чудо происходит повсеместно, оное следует развивать. Ведь действие развивается не в императорском театре, а в простом помещении заурядного кабака, и то представление никогда не станет предметом интереса высшего света, так как дворяне не станут нисходить до мужицких забав. А вот Тургеневу повезло притомиться от жары, подойти к кабачку и стать очевидцем описанного.

(c) Trounin

[Moaraj Hasan]

Theres a little kashka in all of us, beautiful masterpeice

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Singers” by Ivan Turgenev is the second story that George Saunders explores in his book on reading and writing fiction, A Swim in the Pond, and I decided to respond briefly to it without benefit of his analysis. The story was published in Turgenev’s short story collection, A Sportsman’s Sketches (1852). Turgenev was a master of realism, much loved as a chronicler of everyday life in Russia. This story focuses on rich characterization and description of peasant life.

The location is bleak and grimy and hot summer Kolotovka, particularly the Corner Pub owned by Nikolai Ivanovich, where an apparently spontaneous singing contest occurs between Yashka the Turk and the contractor from Zhizdra. Other characters enliven the scene, such as Blinker and Booby, the Wild Gentleman. No singing--and very little dialogue, little “voice”--happens in the first half of the story, which is taken up with description of the bleak town and its lively peasant characters as a kind of set-up for the competition.

The contractor is an impressive technician, but Yashka sings with deep passion and soul, of grief:

“A warmhearted, truthful Russian soul rang and breathed in it and fairly clutched you by the heart, clutched straight at your Russian heartstrings. The song expanded and went flowing on. Yashka was evidently overcome by ecstasy: he was no longer diffident; he gave himself up entirely to his feeling of happiness; his voice no longer trembled—it quivered, but with the barely perceptible inner quivering of passion which pierces like an arrow into the hearer’s soul. . .”

The Russian peasantry, the Russian soul, contains multitudes, but the heart and soul of it all is in this comparison, where passion and depth win over technical expertise. And this point is mirrored in Turgenev's own stylistic choices, his focus on atmosphere and affectionate portraiture over structure.

The narrator is a kind of journalist and a “sportsman,” moved very much by the scene, which is increasingly drunken, so he sleeps in a barn for some time, awakening to view the pub in the completion of the revelry, in which all the dismal scene of poverty had been transformed into the joy of Russian song. However, in a coda, a boy yells for his missing brother, who promises his father wants him home to thrash him. Back to reality. A midsummer night’s dream comes back to earth. The ending elevates the somewhat mundane story to a kind of realistic realization of the peasant life in this village. It feels like magic, balancing the music with the mundane morning after.

PS: After this review I read Saunders's pretty extensive commentary on this story. He likes it more than his students. One thing he says is that the boys in the epilogue are actually kind of singing to each other: "Rohhhhh-bert!" "Wha-at?" in the dark, paralleling the two singers in the bar, though the end of this song exchange is less joy than an admission that some songs lead to violence, sadness, sometimes. Saunders also calls attention to all the binaries, the opposites, that happen in the story. Neither of those things had I noticed, cool.

[Laysee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ivan Turgenev (1818 – 1883) was a Russian novelist and short story writer. I first read his novella, ‘First Love,’ and enjoyed it.

Published in a 1852 short story collection titled A Sportsman’s Sketches, this story is about a singing contest in a Russian village pub. An unnamed narrator, likely a journalist, stopped by Cozy Corner, a pub located in a ravine. He was thirsty and stopped for beer. Turgenev provided a rather discursive description of the pub setting and the characters in the pub.

The singing contest: Yashka, the Turk vs. the contractor from Zhizdra; emotion vs. technique; reception of tears vs. applause. The reader is called upon to judge the singing and weigh the degree of confidence to attach to each character’s response to the contestants.

The contest ends. The winner is declared. The story closes with the narrator taking a nap by the ravine and waking up to the shouting voices of two boys, the older ordering the younger to go home for a beating. An odd ending, it seems to me.

The Singers is a story reviewed by George Saunders in his book, A Swim in the Pond. Like Saunder’s students, I did not take to this story. This is when we need a teacher to elucidate what we have missed. Among other observations, Saunders discussed the binaries and opposites (e.g., rooks/crows vs. sparrows) in the story, features I had not noticed. This is insightful. That said, in my view, it is a bit of a stretch to say that the pair of boys calling out to each other parallels the singing of the two contestants.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

In The Singers, Ivan Turgenev has written a tale of contrasts. From the town of Kolotovka, a dry, searing, wasteland of a place, the road not even a road but a ravine, he takes us toward a light that beacons and feels warm and inviting, the pub of Nickolai Ivanych, aptly called the Cozy Corner.

When our narrator reaches the pub, he finds a singing contest between a local favorite, Yashka the Turk, and another man, referred to as “the contractor, is about to begin. The contest, of course, is the focal point of the story. There is a marked difference between the singing styles of the two men, and they elicit completely different reactions from the listeners. There is a noticeable change of tone to the story when the singing has ended, and the lessons from the contest do not end when the winner is declared.

I read this in conjunction with George Saunders’ brilliant literary commentary. There is a lot to be gleaned from the story and it is worth reading not once, but twice, which I immediately did, armed with a much greater understanding of both its form and purpose.

[Lady Shalott]

What a wonderful read! I think we need more beach reads like this. It's bucolic and languid (and such melodic descriptions of music). The tavern setting is so transportive without having to do a role-playing game. It's richly character-based, and the ending even leaves you with food for thought.

The only other Turgenev I've read is Fathers & Children (Fathers & Sons), and I loved his insight on interiority and how that plays against close relationships and social structures over a lifetime. (What I love about Eliot and Brontes.) This story was a nice reminder of his skills and makes me want to continue reading his shorts. I love Chekhov's shorts, but they are much spicier. (Check out Cornell West's talk on being a "Chekhovian Christian.") This piece of Turgenev's, on the other hand, reads more like taking an adaptogen; you can read him slowly, routinely, and each day feel like you are getting more and more out of him as his insights compound on one another.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of George Saunders’ “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain”.

Brilliant in how it conveys so much meaning and creates such a rich tapestry of reality and personality through a singing competition in a village inn.

Usually I am bored when reading long descriptions. I have aphantasia to some extent and usually never see any of the many things that writers describe.

Here I enjoyed the descriptions - even though most of the text was descriptive.

They focused on fragments of meaning rather than describing people in full.

I don’t care about the colors and textures of clothes. Of furniture. Or anything else writers describe. I rarely notice these things in reality and almost never take such information in when reading.

But Turgeniev had a different approach to describing. He focused on a nose, a gaze, a smile or something else that stands in for a whole person.

He communicates meaning rather than materiality. It’s something I’ll try to learn from.

[Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this within 'A Swim in a Pond in the Rain' by George Saunders. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life.

I appreciate the stories more after each analysis and want to reread them.

I kept thinking to myself: how does one write about a sing-off in a pub, something so inherently musical?

[Jimgosailing · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful story taken from Turgenev’s A Sportsman’s Sketches - a singing contest, but the village people are essentially the judges, based on Turgenev’s descriptions. George Saunders does an amazing job of peeling back the layers of this story in his A Swim in the Pond in the Rain. The highlight is his explanation of the two brothers calling for each other (or not) at the end and how this parallels the singing contest. You should read that. Then read the rest of the stories Saunders provides analysis of.

[lyla55 · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Singers by Ivan Turgenev, is about a wealthy man traveling to a poor village to watch a singing contest. The contractor, who is arrogant and has an ego, versus Yaksha the Turk, who is a nervous man, and was hesitant to sing.

I wasn’t really sure what to get from this book. Russian classics are incredibly hard to decipher, however, I believe it is about a hierarchy. The narrator (who is not described at all) describes the other characters who are peasants, in so much detail because he sees them as actual people.

Other than that?

I got nothing from it.

[Bailey Kuklinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

“A warmhearted, truthful Russian soul rang and breathed in it and fairly clutched you by the heart, clutched straight at your Russian heartstrings. The song expanded and went flowing on. Yashka was evidently overcome by ecstasy: he was no longer diffident; he gave himself up entirely to his feeling of happiness; his voice no longer trembled—it quivered, but with the barely perceptible inner quivering of passion which pierces like an arrow into the hearer’s soul…”

[Daphne]

read if interested in: provincial Russian pub life

read in a swim in the pond in the rain by George Saunders. the story itself didn’t speak to me too much on first read, but I love Saunders’ interpretation. Turgenev can be annoying to read with all of the digressions but Saunders argues that this is what makes it uniquely his / what makes it work so well

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of seven short stories I've read to prepare for reading A swim in the pond in the rain by George Saunders.

A story that is largely made up of rich character studies. I love the peek into the main character in the end; he knows how to leave on a high note. The funny coda of the brothers... That's a fun puzzle that I look forward to solving.

[Qamar Mohamed · Rating 4 out of 5]

أن أسمى أهداف الفن هو التأثير في الجمهور وهو ما فعله إيفان تورجنيف ببراعة من خلال قصة المغنيان. وعن طريق ياشكا وصوته الحزين الذي أثر بهم لدرجة جعلت كل الشخصيات عكس ما وصفه تورجينف عنهم في بداية القصة. لنجد الخفيف يصمت بشكل غير متوقع والشخص الوحشي القوي الجامد ينزل دمعة. ولكن كعادته الفن يتأثر بالقبح وما هي إلا لحظات حتي عاد السكون لمجون.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not great because of the skill demonstrated in it, but for the picture that it paints so beautifully, the very message of the story and therefore a masterpiece. But you gotta do a lot of critical gymnastics to get there...

[Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is discussed in George Saunders’ excellent book, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.

[Paul Bard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a beautiful story!

[Ericka Clou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely appreciate this more after George Saunders exploration of it.

[Tessa]

Obsessed with the descriptive quality.