SMOKE

First published in 1867, this Russian novel chronicles the foibles and pretenses of expatriots living (and partying) in Baden-Baden. Turgenev ridicules with a most exquisite sensibility the politics of the royals and upper crust. The plot revolves around a star-crossed love affair. The novel is somewhat dated in that women are universally mindless and frivolous, and the hero is ethical and cognizant. Stewart Lankton reads at such a fast clip that the names blur. His narration is without much dramatization though his Russian is excellent and his French appropriately ghastly. B.H.B. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 01]