Virgin Soil

Virgin Soil is a classic Russian novel written by Ivan Turgenev and first published in 1877.

The novel, set in Russia in the second half of the 19th century, shows us the rise of the populist movement in Russia, formed by well-educated young people. Coming from aristocratic backgrounds, they decide to join the common people in their quest for a more egalitarian and just society.

The best example is the main character, Nezhdanov, who is constantly torn between his love for Marianne and his political ideas. With a nihilistic outlook, his life is torn between his aristocratic past and his idealistic future.

"At one o'clock on a spring day of 1868, in Petersburg, a man of twenty-seven, carelessly and shabbily dressed, was mounting the back stairs of a five-storied house in Officers' Street. Tramping heavily with his over-shoes trodden down at heel, and slowly rolling his bulky, ungainly person as he moved, this man at last reached the very top of the stairs".

This edition of Virgin Soil is based on Constance Garnett's translation.