Smoke

Set in Baden-Baden, Smoke is Ivan Turgenev's most cosmopolitan novel. First published in 1867, it is an exquisite study of politics and society and an enduringly poignant love story. Smoke, with its European setting, barbed wit, and visionary call for Russia to look west, became the center of a famous philosophical breach between Turgenev and Dostoevsky.

A balanced and objective commentator, sensitive, intelligent, Turgenev is dedicated to the highest claims of art. His work lives for its universal qualities of understanding and devotion to aesthetic standards.