"To divide men into the successful and the unsuccessful is to look at human nature from a narrow, preconceived point of view. Are you a success? Am I? Was Napoleon? Is your servant Vassily? What is the criterion? One must be a god to tell successes from failures without making a mistake."--Anton Chekhov
Glad you liked it! I loved your article. I am huge fan of Chekhov's plays. I've read some of the short stories but I know them a lot less well. It's wonderful that you set out to a deep five into them, and you explain their appeal so beautifully. Looking forward to reading more of your work!
You mention (I'm somewhat paraphrasing) that his stories seem simple yet have the effect of sticking with you for a long time. That's what I found, especially with his short stories. Many didn't seem to impress me much after the initial read, but they always came back to me at unexpected times.
Loved it. Reading this made me want to go back and read Chekhov the way he apparently wanted to be read, alone, unhurried, without needing the story to mean something beyond what it shows you. There’s a kind of moral seriousness in refusing to give people a verdict. He just lets them be exactly as small and human as they are, and somehow that’s more honest than judgment would have been.
Glad you liked it, and I agree with your insight. That refusal to pass a verdict initially turned me off (in stories like "The Chorus Girl"), because I was so used to closure and neat resolutions. But sticking with Chekhov opened the door to appreciating more types of storytelling.
Virginia Woolf said something about this: "These stories are inconclusive, we say, and proceed to frame a criticism based upon the assumption that stories ought to conclude in a way that we recognise. In so doing we raise the question of our own fitness as readers. Where the tune is familiar and the end emphatic—lovers united, villains discomfited, intrigues exposed—as it is in most Victorian fiction, we can scarcely go wrong, but where the tune is unfamiliar and the end a note of interrogation or merely the information that they went on talking, as it is in Tchekov, we need a very daring and alert sense of literature to make us hear the tune, and in particular those last notes which complete the harmony."
I grew up with Chekhov and I still love his stories but can’t read too many of them in a row as I get quite depressed despite their humanity (or maybe because of it).
"his body was carted back in a refrigerated railway carriage marked for oysters"
Sounds like something that could have been in his notebook! Thank you for this post. Chekhov was not high on my reading list, but after this I will definitely push him higher :)
Yes, and it gets more Chekhovian. On the day his body arrived in Moscow, thousands had gathered for his funeral. But on the same day, a General Keller's funeral was also underway and many people mistakenly followed the other procession. This would definitely have made it into his notebook.
The moment of his death was also like a page out of his short stories. Raymond Carver (one more of my favorite authors) converted it into a story named "Errand," and I'm yet to read that one.
Chekhov ‘considers nothing unimportant.’ Perhaps that’s it. This quiet attention to detail becomes something like revelation. It wasn’t common before him but almost everyone writing after him - especially short stories - takes this approach.
Yes, he makes things important by paying attention to them and that meditative quality affects the reader as well. I started to notice and appreciate the small details of my life more after I began reading his stories.
Fantastic. I have had the same affliction and even made a list of all his stories - have ticked off very many of them. Some true gems in there that I think about often.
A trifling occurrence, difficult people, a chameleon, the school mistress, and the darling are a few more I recall liking (the last two being featured in the George Saunders book, as you say)
Great piece. In one of his books -- *The Nearest Thing to Life*, I think -- James Wood says something to the effect of: Chekhov's characters and stories are so near to life and unpredictable that Woods felt they surprised even Chekhov.
100% agree. Sometimes I've flinched or laughed out loud at a Chekhov character's reaction because of how unexpected it was, and not in a cheap "twist" sense, but in the recognition of how other people behave in ways that would never enter your mind. The stories "Sleepy," "The helpmate," and "The dependents" come to mind. Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check it out.
Thanks! I agree that his simple prose is very different from the verbal flourishes that I'm used to with many others. For a time, I wasn't able to appreciate Chekhov's writing, coming from that background, but his speciality is in how the whole thing comes together and holds up on multiple rereads. I'll check out your post, thanks for sharing.
"To divide men into the successful and the unsuccessful is to look at human nature from a narrow, preconceived point of view. Are you a success? Am I? Was Napoleon? Is your servant Vassily? What is the criterion? One must be a god to tell successes from failures without making a mistake."--Anton Chekhov
Beautiful. That really comes through in his stories. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you liked it! I loved your article. I am huge fan of Chekhov's plays. I've read some of the short stories but I know them a lot less well. It's wonderful that you set out to a deep five into them, and you explain their appeal so beautifully. Looking forward to reading more of your work!
This was wonderful. I’ve never read Chekhov, and now I feel called to. I’ll be following your guide!
Yay! I'm happy that it spoke to you and I'm excited for you :) Let me know how it goes and share the ones you liked.
A lovely and careful guide. Thank you!
You're welcome! Thanks for reading :)
You mention (I'm somewhat paraphrasing) that his stories seem simple yet have the effect of sticking with you for a long time. That's what I found, especially with his short stories. Many didn't seem to impress me much after the initial read, but they always came back to me at unexpected times.
Loved it. Reading this made me want to go back and read Chekhov the way he apparently wanted to be read, alone, unhurried, without needing the story to mean something beyond what it shows you. There’s a kind of moral seriousness in refusing to give people a verdict. He just lets them be exactly as small and human as they are, and somehow that’s more honest than judgment would have been.
Glad you liked it, and I agree with your insight. That refusal to pass a verdict initially turned me off (in stories like "The Chorus Girl"), because I was so used to closure and neat resolutions. But sticking with Chekhov opened the door to appreciating more types of storytelling.
Virginia Woolf said something about this: "These stories are inconclusive, we say, and proceed to frame a criticism based upon the assumption that stories ought to conclude in a way that we recognise. In so doing we raise the question of our own fitness as readers. Where the tune is familiar and the end emphatic—lovers united, villains discomfited, intrigues exposed—as it is in most Victorian fiction, we can scarcely go wrong, but where the tune is unfamiliar and the end a note of interrogation or merely the information that they went on talking, as it is in Tchekov, we need a very daring and alert sense of literature to make us hear the tune, and in particular those last notes which complete the harmony."
I grew up with Chekhov and I still love his stories but can’t read too many of them in a row as I get quite depressed despite their humanity (or maybe because of it).
"his body was carted back in a refrigerated railway carriage marked for oysters"
Sounds like something that could have been in his notebook! Thank you for this post. Chekhov was not high on my reading list, but after this I will definitely push him higher :)
Yes, and it gets more Chekhovian. On the day his body arrived in Moscow, thousands had gathered for his funeral. But on the same day, a General Keller's funeral was also underway and many people mistakenly followed the other procession. This would definitely have made it into his notebook.
The moment of his death was also like a page out of his short stories. Raymond Carver (one more of my favorite authors) converted it into a story named "Errand," and I'm yet to read that one.
Chekhov ‘considers nothing unimportant.’ Perhaps that’s it. This quiet attention to detail becomes something like revelation. It wasn’t common before him but almost everyone writing after him - especially short stories - takes this approach.
Yes, he makes things important by paying attention to them and that meditative quality affects the reader as well. I started to notice and appreciate the small details of my life more after I began reading his stories.
Fantastic. I have had the same affliction and even made a list of all his stories - have ticked off very many of them. Some true gems in there that I think about often.
Amazing! If you have any recommendations, do share them.
A few of my favourites are probably agafya, the chorus girl, gooseberries (and the 2 accompanying stories), misery, enemies, lady with the dog.
I love almost all of these. Enemies was incredible.
A trifling occurrence, difficult people, a chameleon, the school mistress, and the darling are a few more I recall liking (the last two being featured in the George Saunders book, as you say)
Ah, some new finds here. Thanks for sharing!
Great piece. In one of his books -- *The Nearest Thing to Life*, I think -- James Wood says something to the effect of: Chekhov's characters and stories are so near to life and unpredictable that Woods felt they surprised even Chekhov.
100% agree. Sometimes I've flinched or laughed out loud at a Chekhov character's reaction because of how unexpected it was, and not in a cheap "twist" sense, but in the recognition of how other people behave in ways that would never enter your mind. The stories "Sleepy," "The helpmate," and "The dependents" come to mind. Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check it out.
I enjoyed your post! The clarity/simplicity you mention is quite the opposite of the modern trend for “lyrical” and “impressionistic” word salad which seems to say a lot and often resolves into very little, up-close. I talk about Chekhov a bit here: https://ilonayazhbinchavasse.substack.com/p/how-translators-read-artificial-intelligence?r=89g7cz&utm_medium=ios
Thanks! I agree that his simple prose is very different from the verbal flourishes that I'm used to with many others. For a time, I wasn't able to appreciate Chekhov's writing, coming from that background, but his speciality is in how the whole thing comes together and holds up on multiple rereads. I'll check out your post, thanks for sharing.