Russian novelist yearning to cut revolutionary opening (8)
I believe the answer is:
turgenev
'russian novelist' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'yearning to cut revolutionary opening' is the wordplay.
'yearning' becomes 'urge' (I've seen this before).
'to cut' is an insertion indicator.
'revolutionary' is a reversal indicator.
'opening' becomes 'vent' (vent is a kind of opening**).
'vent' back-to-front is 'tnev'.
'urge' inserted within 'tnev' is 'TURGENEV'.
(Other definitions for turgenev that I've seen before include "Russian author (Fathers and Sons, Virgin Soil)" , "Ivan -, Russian novelist (Fathers and Sons)" , "River at Stratford" , "Dramatist" , "Ivan -------- (1818-1883), writer about Russian life as in Fathers and Sons" .)