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The Singers
Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 1850
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About the author
Ivan Turgenev
1,862 books2,752 followersIvan 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
July 11, 2024
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.
“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.
June 18, 2021
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...
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...
March 12, 2025
“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
-George Saunders (A Swim in a Pond in the Rain)
What a beautiful short story
April 17, 2025
A few peasant Russian men are united through art. Fine, sure, lovely. But that isn’t enough to make up the dragging writing.
June 10, 2022
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.
March 27, 2024
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 .
February 11, 2022
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
June 10, 2025
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.
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.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 23, 2021
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
(c) Trounin
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October 28, 2021Theres a little kashka in all of us, beautiful masterpeice
June 11, 2023
“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.
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.
September 1, 2023
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.
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.
July 11, 2025
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?
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?
January 17, 2025
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.
September 24, 2025
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.
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.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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February 15, 2025read 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
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
July 16, 2025
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.
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.
September 13, 2023
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...
January 16, 2022
This story is discussed in George Saunders’ excellent book, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.
March 27, 2022
Such a beautiful story!
May 30, 2022
Definitely appreciate this more after George Saunders exploration of it.
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July 26, 2022Obsessed with the descriptive quality.
May 7, 2023
Interesting short story about a singing contest in a rural tavern.
June 12, 2023
The swell and fall of this narrative arc is gorgeous. I understand (?) the purpose of the supporting character descriptions vs action ratio, but it is still a bit odd to me.
February 11, 2024
A Swim in the Pond in the Rain
February 24, 2024
Hat mich nicht gecatched
April 11, 2024
This story is examined as part of George Saunders' A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, which is fantastic.
May 2, 2024
Read as part of George Saunders's A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.
I'm familiar with Turgenev through his two novels Fathers and Sons and First Love, his two most popular works according to Goodreads. I'll definitely need to check out more of his short stories. Saunders addresses the origin of the work being about Turgenev shining a light on rural Russia, a place most of his readers haven't been to. Unlike his students who complain about the lack of action in the story, I really love all the background detail he provides for the spectators watching the singing competition.
I'm familiar with Turgenev through his two novels Fathers and Sons and First Love, his two most popular works according to Goodreads. I'll definitely need to check out more of his short stories. Saunders addresses the origin of the work being about Turgenev shining a light on rural Russia, a place most of his readers haven't been to. Unlike his students who complain about the lack of action in the story, I really love all the background detail he provides for the spectators watching the singing competition.
September 21, 2024
Wonderful descriptions, but I would not have understood the story (and its ending) without the help of George Saunders.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews