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First Love

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First Love

By: Ivan Turgenev
Narrated by: David Troughton
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About this listen

 At the end of a dinner party, the remaining guests drink wine and tell stories of their first love. For one of them, it will be a dark journey into his past, reawakening unbearable memories of his obsession with the beautiful Zinaida.©2008 BBC Audiobooks Ltd (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt Thought-Provoking

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This book is not very long, but a real classic. Beautifully read by David Troughton. It is a very poignant telling of first love not always ending the way that you want it to! You really feel for the young boy.

Beautiful reading of a classic story

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Very rich romance, full of social interactions and intriguing characters as it's usual with Turgenev. Too notch performance, made it very enjoyable!

emotional and insightful read

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The perfect book to get out of a reading slump! Very much enjoyed it! Brilliant

Brilliant

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This was just the right length for a car journey today and so I was able to listen to it in one sitting. The reading is fantastic and really compelling. I have never read Turgenev before so it was a great introduction. As with all short stories I find myself wanting more but ended this one contenting myself with the knowledge that the writer achieved everything he intended. A gem.

A beautifully read classic

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A vivid and captivating short story. I found it enjoyable and feels quite real and enchanting somehow. Very well read.

Captivating story

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A thought provoking listen. It’s an exposure of honest naivety invoking confusion in an already status and title conscious era. Yet, it also offers a better understanding of the real world and the disappointments of those who were once your ‘hero’ ( well as much as you can aged 16) x

Innocent & beautiful

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Really enjoyed it, brilliantly read. a story that is riveting and which I found to be genuinely touching. thoroughly recommended.

brilliant

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One might say this is the Russian version of “The Sorrows of Young Werther”, however, Turgenev’s poetical and expressive style makes it much more impactful and interesting. I keep listening to some of the chapters again and again.

One of the most beautiful Russian novels

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An exquisite story made even more exciting by the brilliant narration of David Troughton. I simply forgot all else !

First Love

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It is only a short story but it was a struggle to keep going. There is charm and authenticity in the depiction of the narrator's adolescent discovery of love, but the other characters are lightly penned. Zinaida - the object of his adoration - is 2 dimensional. The shallowness of her social life teasing a group of suitors may well be a reflection of mores but it is of minor interest. There is little of Turgenev's skillful juggling of various living and fascinating cast characters who all all important and fully human.

Lightweight and superficial

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