text: If you're intimidated by Tolstoy or Dostoevsky's long masterpieces, consider starting instead with Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons."  This book is of course a masterpiece of Russian literature.  It's characters and themes are timeless and absolutely relatable to our modern culture.  This is a story of family relationships, romance, and philosophy.  Highly recommended.  
  
  p.s. When you're done here, try "War and Peace" or at least "Crime and Punishment.
  