Friday, June 1, 2018

Spring Torrents, by Ivan Turgenev

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
--Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken

That's what this book is about--those times in a person's life when he stands at a fork in the road.  He must choose only one, and that decision changes his life irrevocably.  A young Russian nobleman has just arrived in Frankfurt on his way home after a grand tour in Italy.  He expects to stay in Frankfurt only a few hours until his next stagecoach arrives.  While walking around the city, he sees a small Italian confectionery shop on a little side street and decides to drop in for a glass of lemonade.  This sets off a series of events that culminate in a choice between a life of happiness or one of misery.

I couldn't stop reading until the end!

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