Lapsuus, Poika-ikä, Nuoruus 2: Poika-ikä, Nuoruus

A vivid portrait of growing up in the Russian provinces unfolds across a series of short tales that capture the restless curiosity of a boy on the brink of adulthood. The narrator moves between ordinary moments—family gatherings, school lessons, quiet evenings—and the larger currents of social change, offering a fresh, intimate look at the everyday textures of life in the late‑19th century.

The opening story begins with a bustling carriage ride through a countryside strewn with birch trees, where the young traveler watches his world shift from familiar rooms and locked pianos to open fields and hopeful horizons. The narrative sways between the clatter of wheels and the quiet stirrings of memory, letting the reader feel the mixture of wistfulness and exhilaration that comes with leaving home behind. As the journey proceeds, fresh places and bright spring air promise new possibilities, while the boy’s inner voice quietly measures each new sensation against the weight of the past.