The Diary of a Superfluous Man
Author: Ivan Turgenev
Read “The Diary of a Superfluous Man” by Ivan Turgenev in Russian, English, Finnish and French in Bibliott on your phone and tablet.
Languages: RU, English, FI, French
Genre: Romance, Satire, Short story
Free to read
A dying minor nobleman, Chulkaturin, records his unhappy love for Liza and anatomizes his own life with merciless irony.
Characters
- Tchulkaturin — dying narrator and diarist: A self-mocking nobleman who calls himself a superfluous man.
- Liza / Elizaveta Kirillovna — Chulkaturin's beloved: The Ozhogins' daughter; after the prince leaves she comes to hate Chulkaturin and marries Bizmyonkov.
- the prince — Chulkaturin's rival: The brilliant officer loved by Liza.
- Bizmyonkov — a petty official, Liza's friend: A pale, quiet man: the prince's second, then Liza's only support, and finally her husband.
- Kirilla Matveitch Ozhogin — a district official, Liza's father: A hospitable host with four hundred souls; he hoped for the prince as a son-in-law and got nothing.
- Olimpiada Nikitishna Ozhogin — Liza's mother: A kind but dull-witted woman; the only one who notices Chulkaturin's solemn taciturnity.
- Terentyevna — the narrator's old nurse: A decrepit old woman who answers every complaint with "have some tea and lie down"; Trezor is left to her.
- Koloberdyaev — an uhlan captain, Chulkaturin's second: A carefree rake: he drinks rum tea, sleeps in his clothes, and talks only of the horse he has bought.