Download or read book Diary of a Superfluous Man and Other Novellas written by Ivan Turgenev and published by Alma Books. This book was released on 2019-03-07 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Driven to his deathbed by an incurable disease, the thirty-year-old impoverished gentleman Chulkaturin decides to write a diary looking back on his short life. After describing his youthful disillusionment and his family's fall from grace and loss of status, the narrative focuses on his love for Liza, the daughter of a senior civil servant, his rivalry with the dashing Prince N. and his ensuing humiliation. These pages helped establish the archetype of the "e;superfluous man"e;, a recurring figure in nineteenth-century Russian literature.First published in 1850, 'The Diary of a Superfluous Man' was initially censored by the authorities, as some of its passages were deemed too critical of Russian society. This volume also includes two other masterly novellas, also touching on the theme of disappointed love: 'Asya' and 'First Love'.