I am a literary giant in Russia

Chapter 28: Turgenev, the Braggart

Mikhail had a fairly certain guess about where Belinsky would invite him to a party. It was most likely the home of the poet Ivan Ivanovich Panaev, who had been mentioned before and was the male guest who had a threesome with Nekrasov.

It is worth mentioning that Belinsky did have many wealthy friends, but he rarely asked them for help. One reason was because of Belinsky’s personal character, and the other was that some of his friends were actually unreliable and they all attached great importance to money.

Among them, Panaev and his wife Adofuga were the more reliable ones, and they provided a lot of help to Belinsky's life in recent years and some other major events.

As mentioned before, Belinsky was a poor man and was inflexible in many areas, but he would certainly not starve himself to death unless it was absolutely necessary.

Therefore, during these years in St. Petersburg, Belinsky set up a club of hungry writers. In addition to daily reading, playing cards and bragging, the most important activity of their club was this: to organize a group to go to the home of the great poet Panaev for a free meal.

After all, the name of this club can reveal what kind of people the club members are. They are basically guys who can't afford to eat.
Nekrasov was probably just recruited this year.

And now it seems that Mikhail is about to find his own organization!
With a slightly excited mood, Mikhail walked according to the address given in the letter, and finally saw two familiar figures and a strange tall man at an intersection.

Needless to say, the two men were naturally Nekrasov and Belinsky, who looked very poor in their pockets. As for the other tall man, he was much more decent in terms of dress, with flaxen hair, bright eyes, and an aristocratic, carefree and innocent look on his face. It was obvious that he had not suffered much hardship in life.

"Long time no see, Nicholas and dear Vissarion." Mikhail walked forward and greeted them with a smile: "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

"No, it's us who weren't able to pick you up." Seeing Mikhail's arrival, Belinsky's pale face suddenly flushed with excitement. "I'm relieved to see you like this. It seems that just as Nikolai said, those vicious articles in the magazine haven't had any effect on you."

"Why should we be angry?" Mikhail shrugged. "Faced with a group of blind people, the only thing we can do is to sympathize with them and forgive their nonsense."

No, why am I so aggressive?
"You're right, Mikhail!" Before Mikhail could recover from his words, Belinsky smiled and replied, "I often tell myself that. By the way, I haven't introduced this gentleman to you yet."

Before Belinsky could say anything more, the young man next to him couldn't wait to reach out his hand to Mikhail: "I have been wanting to see you for a long time, Mikhail, can I call you that? I never thought there could be such a work, with such a concise and calm writing style.

By the way, I am Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev."

"Hello, nice to meet you." Looking at this young man who looked familiar and seemed like he had seen him in a book, Mikhail was slightly excited and then shook hands with him.

There is no doubt that Turgenev is a great writer.

But for too many writers, their greatness can only be measured from the perspective of their entire lives.

At this time, the young Turgenev was not much different from many idle aristocratic children. He liked to tell little lies, was very concerned about his reputation, loved to brag, liked to brag about his love affairs, liked to make friends with the powerful, and was somewhat rude and gossipy.

It was precisely because of this character that I had a very good impression of him and even praised him in the letter as:

"What a wonderful man he is! I almost fell in love with him. A poet, a man of genius, a nobleman, a handsome man, a wealthy man, intelligent, well-educated, and twenty-five years old - I simply don't know what God has done to him wrong? Finally, he has an extremely straightforward and beautiful character, which is the result of a good education."

Of course, Dostoevsky's character was not good either. When he first entered the literary world, he could be described as a pretentious Dostoevsky.

We will discuss these later. Although Turgenev during this period was a bit of a boaster, he had a good conscience and one very good advantage:
"I'm glad to meet you, too, Mikhail." Turgenev seemed excited to meet this man who had recently caused quite a stir in St. Petersburg. He immediately said, "Let's get together privately sometime. I'll treat you to dinner!"

"it is good!"

Mikhail nodded heavily.

Although Mikhail was excited about this statement, there was actually a small problem.

That is, although Turgenev was a rich second-generation during this period, he still relied on his mother for living expenses. In addition, he loved to brag and treat people, so he often found himself in a situation where he could not afford to eat.

Therefore, Turgenev is now also a member of the club of hungry writers.

No, it seems that I have to find the right time and let my brother Tu treat us when he just gets his living allowance.
While Mikhail was thinking about this, the three of them had already started walking towards somewhere.

During this journey, Turgenev obviously developed a great interest in Mikhail. He asked Mikhail many questions and expressed his opinions on certain issues.

Mikhail's answer to this was quite cautious. After all, if he wasn't careful, Turgenev might really use it as a topic of conversation.

Besides this, there is Belinsky's question:
"Mikhail, have you been writing lately? I hope you will persist. With your talent, you will become a great writer sooner or later."

At this point, Belinsky couldn't help but glance at Turgenev beside him and said, "Don't be like him, spending all day immersed in childish things like a child, even though you clearly have quite good talent."

Seeing that Turgenev was a little embarrassed, Mikhail thought for a moment and then said, "The new work has been completed, and I'm planning to submit it to another magazine to try."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, the three people present immediately looked at Mikhail.

"Good, very good!" Belinsky, who was quite excited about this, said, "Would you mind reading it again in front of a group of respectable gentlemen? I am about to introduce you to them. They are all well-educated in art and may be able to give you some advice."

I feel very grateful to the editor and the author of "Shadows of Great Britain" for their recommendation of this chapter.

Honestly, even the newbies are a bit terrified.
The pressure is really great, but I still have to work hard to bear it (rubbing my hands like a fly)
Thank you all for your support.

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(End of this chapter)