•Why it earns a slot
Eugene Onegin earns its place as the foundational work of Russian literature: its 'Onegin stanza' became a national form, its characters defined archetypes of Russian fiction for generations, and its ironic, self-aware narrator set the template for the modern novel in verse.
Eugene Onegin follows a bored, fashionable St. Petersburg dandy who retreats to the country, coldly rejects the sincere love of the provincial girl Tatiana, and kills his friend Lenski in a pointless duel. Years later, Onegin encounters Tatiana transformed into a poised society princess and falls desperately in love with her, only to be firmly refused because she is now another man's faithful wife.
This distillation is written from the freely available original, which is always the better read when you have the time: gutenberg.org.