One of the author's first writings. The book is a collection of short stories, written in the perspective of a hunter who travels through rural Russia in the first half of the 19th century, describing the life of peasants: a simple people, humble, but often wise, humble, hardworking. The book describes their life before emancipation, when they were literally the property of their masters, little less than slaves. Turguenev limits himself to account things as he sees them: no judgment is made, he lets the reader judge for himself. A good reading.