Before I went to college, I read Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment". This was my first introduction to Russian authors and I was hooked. From here I read Maxim Gorky's three novels, "My Childhood", "My Apprenticeship", and "My Universities" and several other novels by Tolstoy and others. I've always been drawn to the passion inherent in the works of Russian novelists.

I recently picked up "First Love" by Turgenev and once again was drawn in to the drama concerning matters of the heart. The key players are a young boy, his dad, and a young princess and her many suitors. In a short time the boy's feelings turn from love and desire to confusion when the princess's lover is revealed. Like many classic novels where love is the central emotion, "First Love" shows a boy's journey into manhood accompanied by the heartaches that hitch a ride.

I rate 'First Love' 5 out of 5 stars.

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