Enough

In Enough, Turgenev delves into the nature of dissatisfaction and desire, exploring how individuals often grapple with the dissonance between their expectations of life and the reality they inhabit. The story touches upon the broader philosophical question of when one can truly say “enough” in life—whether in terms of ambition, love, or personal fulfillment. This story encapsulates a sense of quiet resignation, characteristic of Turgenev’s later works, where he explores the limits of human desire and the futility of certain struggles.

Moreover, Enough can be viewed as an introspective critique of the Russian intelligentsia’s growing disillusionment with societal reforms. Although it was published just after the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, the story reflects a growing sense of frustration among Russia’s intellectual class, who, like Turgenev’s characters, increasingly found themselves dissatisfied with the outcomes of the reformist efforts. Through the subtle emotional currents that run through Enough, Turgenev demonstrates his keen understanding of the complexities of human motivation and the quiet, often painful, process of reconciling ideals with reality.

This critical reader's edition presents a modern translation of the original manuscript, crafted to help the reader engage directly with Turgenev's works through clean, contemporary language and simplified sentence structures that clarify his complex ideas. Supplementary material enriches the text with autobiographical, historical, and linguistic context, including an afterword on Turgenev’s history, impact, and intellectual legacy highlighting the personal relationships that shaped his philosophy (focusing on Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Gogol), an index of the philosophical concepts he employs (emphasizing Realism and Nihilism) a comprehensive chronological list of his published writings, a brief biography, and a detailed timeline of his life.