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A Life in Letters (Penguin Classics)
Anton Chekhov
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
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The Complete Short Novels
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Stories of Anton Chekhov
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Anton Chekhov: A Life
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Reading Chekhov: A Critical Journey
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Chekhov's Plays: An Opening into Eternity
ASIN: 0140449221
Release Date: 2004-09-28 |
Book Description
From his teenage years in provincial Russia to his premature death in 1904, Anton Chekhov wrote thousands of letters to a wide range of correspondents. This fascinating new selection tells Chekhov's story as a man and a writer through affectionate bulletins to his family, insightful discussions of literature with publishers and theater directors, and tender love letters to his actress wife. Vividly evoking landscapes, people, and his daily life, the letters offer revealing glimpses into Chekhov's preoccupations—the onset of tuberculosis, his dual careers as doctor and writer, and his ambivalence about his growing reputation as Russia's foremost playwright and author. This volume takes us inside the mind of one of the world's greatest writers, and the character that emerges from these pages is resilient, generous, charming, and life enhancing.
Customer Reviews:
A real charmeur!.......2005-04-19
Janet Malcolm's "Reading Chekhov: A Critical Journey" (2001) - a brilliant little book undeservedly maligned by some reviewers - sent me straight back to the book store for a biography of Anton Chekhov. I can report from this trip that the largest bookstore in South East Asia does not carry one single biography of Chekhov!
Instead, I found "Anton Chekhov: A Life in Letters" (2004). And I did not regret it one bit. The book is the fullest collection of Chekhov's letters in English translation to date and contains 370 selected letters reproduced in full. It comes with a chronology of Chekhov's life, a very readable, splendid short introduction, suggestions for further reading, a helpful list of correspondents and four very useful maps. An index at the end of the volume assists in, among other things, finding references to stories and plays in Chekhov's letters.
According to the editors, this book is also the first uncensored edition of Chekhov's correspondence in any language. Chekhov, a physician by training, called the facts of life by their name and took life's mishaps with a sense of humor. Later editors, more prudish and therefore considerably more boring, simply cut out what they called "rude language." Only after Glasnost, in the 1990s, the official portrait of Chekhov as a "decorous and refined gentleman with a stick, who never permitted himself to use racy language and who was rather pious and sickly, with little interest in women" (xv) was beginning to be revised.
The editors point out that Chekhov "may have hidden himself in his literary works, leaving it up to his readers to puzzle out his point of view, and he may have had an aversion to talking about himself in public, but in his letters he could be surprisingly outspoken at times," (xxxv) and so it happens that his correspondence reads almost like the autobiography he always declined to write.
Chekhov's letters illustrate why he is perhaps Russia's best-loved writer: "The qualities which first endeared him to Russian readers back in the 1880s are the same ones which explain his appeal today. He wrote no vast novels in which he attempted to solve the problems of existence [that would be Dostoevsky] or fathom the forces of world history [Tolstoy in "War and Peace"]. He had no particular axe to grind about how people should live their lives, but, like the good doctor that he was, he had a superb ability to diagnose what it was that prevented people from finding happiness and fulfillment and a unique talent for pinpointing it in a clear-sighted way that was a the same time immensely gentle and compassionate. He also had an infectious sense of humour and an unerring sense of life's ironies, which prevented his writing from ever becoming too portentous or sentimental." (xxxvii)
The photo used for the cover shows a pensive Chekhov with a slightly mischievous smile playing around the corner of his mouth. Almost as if just then one of his famous quips had crossed his mind: "Medicine is my lawful wedded wife, and literature is my mistress. When I've had enough of the one, I can go and spend the night with the other."
Book Description
Eleven stories include F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Bernice Bobs Her Hair,” Guy de Maupassant’s “The Necklace,” Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat,” Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Toy Dog,” and O. Henry’s “The Furnished Room,” in addition to works by Gustave Flaubert, Leo Tolstoy, Rudyard Kipling, James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, and Willa Cather.
Customer Reviews:
excellentbook.......2006-01-30
verygood assortment of stories by best authors. in large print which was unusual/ hard to get a good book in large print under30.00
Book Description
Chekhov's lyrical plays and uproarious farces continue to entertain theatergoers nearly a century after he wrote them. From his early work The Seagull --a depiction of estranged love and thwarted passion that became a great success Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theater--to his last, The Cherry Orchard --the poignant portrayal of a land-owning family unable to adapt to a changing society--all his plays masterfully combine both levity and pathos. But his comedic genius comes to fruition most fully in his short entertainments, such as the hilarious courtship between a hypochondriac and a shrew depicted in The Proposal. Putting a "slice of life" on stage, Chekhov's dramatic art evokes the painful loneliness of the human condition, yet unfailingly highlights the pretensions and absurdities that make us laugh--at ourselves.
Customer Reviews:
Great plays.......2003-10-30
Let's face it, Anton Chekhov's works will always be a masterpiece, no matter which pieces of work one decides to read and evaluate. These essential plays (The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard) were very well selected for their inclusion in the "Essentials".
I only give four stars not because I didn't enjoy the plays, but because I believe there could have been others replaced by the ones they decided to include. Once again, that is perhaps only personal preference. All of the plays included are dramatic and comical in their own witty ways. Thorough enjoyment is almost guaranteed in this Modern Classic Library edition of Chekhov. Out of respect for the author and the translator, I will refrain from mentioning other stories that could have been added in lieu of the ones chosen. Maybe I'm being selfish in only giving four stars based on a personal opinion of the plays included, but, after all, that is why this is a review, right? Enjoy the book anyway. A great addition to your Checkov collection.
Customer Reviews:
Chekhov's Doctors.......2004-04-20
The greatest works of fiction afford a glimpse into human nature, into its dark secrets, pettiness, and callowness, as well as into moments of true magnanimity. Conflict and misunderstanding between individuals is another core ingredient in the best of fiction. The best writers have an innate grasp of what makes up the human creature, and have a fluency in psychological analysis that comes only from keen natural intuition. Yet even the most subtle grasp of human nature alone is insufficient material for the creation of great fiction; for the successful author must also be able to draw from a rich backdrop of life experience.
Medicine, like few other professions, provides such a backdrop and as such it is likely not coincidental that there exists a glorious intersection between the fields of writing and medicine. A physician, in the course of his daily work regularly comes across the themes that most people encounter only infrequently-fear, illness, suffering, and death, as well as hope, courage, and perseverance. These titanic forces flush out the essence of human nature, and the physician who is so inclined is provided with boundless material for the exploration of humanity through fiction.
Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), the great Russian author and playwright, was a physician by trade. Chekhov draws abundantly on his experience in medicine in his fiction and drama, and this is brought out in a recently published compilation of Chekhov's medically-related short stories.
In this volume of stories, Chekhov imposes a frank-almost brutal-examination of human nature, and a critical look at the practice of medicine and at those who practice it. The themes in his stories are apparently timeless; any practicing physician will recognize the cynicism, politics, burnout, and overwork that is described by Chekhov. In one story of a beleaguered, overworked rural doctor in the employ of the state, Chekhov even provides a glimpse into what must have been a nineteenth century Russian version of the frustrations of working in a managed care environment. In the story, the physician is forced to care for a large, impoverished population in a clinic over which he exercises no executive authority. Not only is he powerless under the system to fire his incompetent, corrupt, and drunken support staff, but in his prescriptions is at the mercy of a central power that determines the source of pharmaceuticals.
Another story traces the devolution of an earnest, ideological young physician into a money grubbing, lazy, and cynical doctor who treats his patients like objects. This same doctor, who possesses abundant theoretical knowledge of pathology and the practice of medicine, is utterly unable to apply his wisdom to heal patients because of his stifling arrogance and lack of empathy for his patients.
Some of Chekhov's physicians struggle to strike a balance between adequate time for their own lives and families and availability to their patients. This conflict is starkly illustrated by a story in which a physician is forced to choose between attending the deathbed of his only child and responding to an emergency call.
Chekhov also examines the proper role of professional objectivity and distance in medicine. At what point does the curtain that every physician draws between himself and his patient in order to facilitate detached, objective thinking become a mighty bulkhead constructed primarily for self defense? Several stories explore this question, and Chekhov seems to conclude that the answer lies in a happy medium.
All is not dark, however, in the world of Chekhov's doctors. Even amidst the burnout, substance abuse, and money-worship of some of his characters, there are the redeeming qualities of absolute dedication, devotion to the pursuit of medical knowledge, and perseverance even under very unfavorable circumstances. The doctors in his stories are complex, and some of these redeeming qualities even coexist with the uglier traits in some of Chekhov's characters.
Chekhov's Doctors is a well-edited volume that arranges stories in an inviting and readable sequence, (saving lengthier, heavier stories for later in the volume). Dr. Coulehan, the editor, also places Chekhov's stories in historical context, providing the reader with, for example, an ample yet not overwhelming background of Chekhov's relationship with Tolstoy (whose titan influence was difficult for any contemporary Russian author to escape). Of particular interest is a series of commentary in the back of the volume that provides a brief analysis of each story from the author's perspective as a medical doctor.
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- Review of The Duel and Other Stories
- a great (short) novel
- The Duel, a review
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The Duel and Other Stories (Penguin Classics)
Anton Chekhov
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
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ASIN: 0140444157 |
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The Duel, Excellent People, Mire, Neighbours, At Home, Expensive Lessons, The Princess, The Chemist's Wife.
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The Duel, Excellent People, Mire, Neighbours, At Home, Expensive Lessons, The Princess, The Chemist's Wife.
Customer Reviews:
Review of The Duel and Other Stories.......2003-07-12
Having read several of chekhov's plays, I decided to read some of his stories. In reading the stories you will see, I think, that it is obvious he was also a playwrite. This is because of Chekhov's amazing ability to compress someone's entire life, all their feelings and emotions into, in some cases, 20 pages. There were 6 stories in all, but I will just review the 3 I like best, though I'm not saying the other stories are bad, just not as good.
The Duel is the main and longest story, but I don't really think it was the best. It is the story about a man in the Caucasus and his troubles with his wife and a biologist which culminates in a duel. All the characters are excellently written, and the story was very well done, but the end leaves much to be desired, and seems like he tried too quickly to wrap up the story. It could have been almost a masterpiece, but the faulty ending really ruined it.
My Wife was a very good story about a man who, after having married a woman who does not love him, struggles with the situation they have put themselves in, living in different parts of the same house and hardly ever speaking. I really liked this one and it reminded me very much of some of his plays.
The Black Monk was my favourite story, it is about a young scholar, idolized by his adopted father and bride to be, who suffers from maglomania, and sees hallucinations. Finally, when he is cured, he is no longer the same person, acting cruel and spiteful towards the people he once loved.It was incredibly done and you really feel for all the characters. I think it best shows off Chekhov's ability as a writer.
This book is definitely a good introduction to chekhov's short works and shows you that he was more than a playwrite
a great (short) novel.......2001-12-04
Those seeking a dramatic duel should go for A Hero of Our Time. This, like the best Russian literature, is about how to live, a drama of outlooks on life and love. The superficial couple at the story's centre are less offensive than most of the "respectable" figures. The zoologist in particular, is truly shocking in his callous view of "inferiors". Only the character of the doctor is absolutely likeable. In its evocation of the stultifying atmosphere of a time and place, this is both lyrical and profound. ...
The Duel, a review.......2001-11-15
"The Duel" by Anton Chekhov, is a classic exploration of the human mind. One reason I would recommend this book is it's moral. This book is an incredible story told through the eyes and minds of many completely different people all striving for the same thing; to forget the days they lost and make the best of the days they still have. This is a good wake up call to all those who waste time, telling then to appreciate the little things and not waste life on petty squabbles. But most importantly, it's intriguing story. Anton Chekhov pits a general, an adulterous doctor, a zoologist, a deacon, and a mistress against each other in a small town in the Caucasus. He tells the story through their eyes, and the reader find out all of these people, whether they are in love, friends, rivals, or just acquaintances, all just wish for wings to fly away and escape the tediousness of everyday life. All this centers around the hatred between the zoologist and the doctor which eventually explodes into a duel. When faced with possibility, the doctor comes to reason with his faults and his future and in the face of death, he resolves his life and what he must do to make his life right.
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The Schoolmistress and Other Stories (Tales of Chekhov, Vol 9)
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Manufacturer: Ecco Press
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The Wife and Other Stories (Tales of Anton Chekhov, Vol 5)
ASIN: 0880010568 |
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This one includes "The Bet."
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This one includes "The Bet."
Book Description
During the last ten years of his life, Anton Chekhov penned his great plays, spent time treating the sick, and wrote a small number of stories that are considered his masterpieces. The eleven stories collected here-"The Lady with the Little Dog," "The House with the Mezzanine," "My Life," "Peasants," "A Visit to Friends," "Ionych," "About Love," "In the Ravine," "The Bishop," "The Bride," and "Disturbing the Balance"-hail from this fertile period. They reveal a writer who, in response to the techniques of Symbolism and Impressionism, moved beyond nineteenth-century realism to become an innovator of the modern short story, influencing such key twentieth-century literary figures as Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner.
Customer Reviews:
A superb translation.......2005-04-01
These stories translated in this volume by Ronald Wilks are really superb. When one compares the translation of "The Lady with the Dog" with the earlier translation by Constance Garnett, the differences are apparent. Please compare them. The Wilks translation is high quality beautiful English expression, it captures the mood and the ideas of Chekhov perfectly.
Book Description
The first 30 years of the 20th-century produced a theatrical explosion whose reverberations are still felt today. Stanislavsky, Meyerhold, Vakhtanghov, Michael Chekhov in Russia; Reinhardt, Piscator and Brecht in Germany; and Copeau, Barrault and Artaud in France collectively demolished the 19th-century aesthetic and, in their wake, created the modernity which is the hallmark of today's theatre. Most of these men have already been turned into modern icons; there is no shortage of bios on the pioneers of the Moscow Arts Theatre, and the achievements of the others are chronicled and archived for posterity. Only one of these artists remains murky and ill-defined. He is Michael Chekhov (1891-1955), nephew of the famous playwright Anton Chekhov, the man that Stanislavsky described as "the most brilliant actor in all of Russia." A charismatic actor, an inspiring director and a teacher that developed a dynamic antidote to Russian Naturalism, Chekhov remains the invisible man of the modern theatre. Was he, as Lee Strasberg alleged, a dangerous mystic who would subvert the vigor of Stanislavsky's teachings and undermine the integrity of The Group Theatre? Or was he, as his disciples - Yul Brynner, Gregory Peck, Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Quinn, Jack Palance, Leslie Caron, Jennifer Jones, Patricia Neal, Anthony Hopkins, Jack Nicholson and Marilyn Monroe - believed, a man who had discovered a unique approach to acting which transcended the precepts enshrined in Stanislavsky's "System." Charles Marowitz was granted special access to the Chekhov archives in Devon, England, and he interviewed actors and directors who worked closely with Chekhov both in Europe and America. The book chronicles Chekhov's influential period in Hollywood when he was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as the avuncular psychiatrist in Alfred Hitchcock's 1945 film Spellbound. It also describes his close association with Marilyn Monroe at the most delicate stage of her career.
Customer Reviews:
Died The Day James Dean Did.......2005-03-24
On the heels of Antony Beevor's perfervid THE MYSTERY OF OLGA CHEKHOVA: WAS HITLER'S FAVORITE ACTRESS A RUSSIAN SPY? comes this interesting portrait of Chekhova's former husband, Michael Chekhov of the Moscow Art Theater.
Charles Marowitz has written a splendid biography, which gives the layman an idea of the schisms behind the development of the Stanislavsky "Method" of acting and directing. In particular, we gasp at the perilous journey Chjekhov, the nephew of the playwright Anton, took when it became clear he had turned into an enemy of the Soviet state. It makes you wish there was a full-dress biography of Beatrice Straight and her parents, the chatelaines of Dartington Hall in England. The talent they assembled there, including Chekhov, Kurt Jooss, and Benjamin Britten, turned the estate into a splendid arts factory, training Hurd Hatfield and Yul Brynner and many more.
When Chekhov went to Hollywood, he appeared in nine films of varying quality, including SPELLBOUND and the SPECTER OF THE ROSE, both written by Ben Hecht who had an affection for the old rascal who came dripping "Russian sugar." The young actress Mala Powers, seen as Roxanne in the Jose Ferrer film of CYRANO, makes a prominent appearance here, as the keeper of the flame. She is the executrix of the Chekhov estate.
Chekhov somehow evaded the scrutiny of the House Un American Activities Committee but maybe it would have caught up to him had he not died--oddly enough on the very same day as James Dean did, so his death slipped out of the public's consciousness and many think he is still alive.
A marvelously written tome. I saw only one mistake, Marowitz--himself a famous director and theorist--apparently thinks that Orson Welles appeared in John Farrow's THE BIG CLOCK; it only seems that he did, for it was actually Charles Laughton.
Book Description
A perfect match of author and subject. In an effort to know one of her favorite writers better. Janet Malcolm -- who has brought light to the dark and complicated corners of psychoanalysis and has exposed the treacheries inherent within journalism--traveled to Russia and the places where Chekhov lived and worked. Out of her encounters with modern-day Russians she builds bridges backward in time to Chekhov and to the characters and ideas in his unexampled short stories and plays. The chapters are like pools of thought that coalesce into a profound, unified vision of one of Western literary culture's most important figures. For example, Chekhov's self-effacement prompts a consideration of his characters' odd un-pin-down-ability and then a discussion of limitations in writing biography.
One need not know Chekhov's writing to enjoy and be enlightened by
Reading Chekhov (though anyone who does will find it doubly edifying). It is a work in which as we watch one outstanding mind try to understand another, we learn more about ourselves--our own ways of reading, thinking, and behaving: generally, what it means to be human.
Customer Reviews:
A Seminar.......2007-04-29
Sometimes I think that if Janet Malcolm decided to write a meditation about the way lint accumulates under beds, it would be an interesting book. Everything she puts her hand to becomes larger and more significant, increases in periphery, and connects to matters one would never have thought of oneself.
And so with her book on Chekhov, a writer whose transfigurations of the ordinary, whose appreciation of the extraordinary, and whose reticence in his art and his life constitute a beauty and decency that transforms. In _Reading Chekhov_ crucial data from half a dozen biographies are distilled and linked to selected precis of critical articles and by contrast to Malcolm's own observations of Russia, which she visited, one gathers, largely in homage to Chekhov himself. The pace of her treatment is just right; each subject--Chekhov's death, Olga's role in his life, the trip to Sakhalin, the relationship to Suvorin--is given brisk yet full-feeling treatment and placed in the arc of the book, which moves slowly toward the center of Chekhov's personality, which apparently Chekhov took care would be ultimately unknowable.
The story that begins and ends Malcolm's visit is the famous "Lady with a Lapdog"--a work alternately analyzed by "Aaron Green" in Malcolm's earlier _Psychoanalysis: the Impossible Profession._ The profundity, elegance, revelatory possibilities, and double-sidedness of the approach in that previous book and of that short story serve the presentation of Chekhov well. He emerges as the most delicate of perceivers, a man hesitant to say one jot more than he believes, as a twentieth century writer (as opposed to his hero Tolstoy), as a passionate moralist who understands how dubious it is to be a passionate moralist, as a devotee of loveliness and talent who respects honest, even dull and repetitious work.
The sense of the word "Chekhovian"--that mute combination of goodness and passivity--resonates throughout, with the singular difference that Malcolm conveys on every page: that Chekhov was a literary genius. After reading her fresh, reinforcing, and deeper-seeking illuminations, I pulled down my eight collections, wanting to reread everything all at once, "The Kiss," "The Steppe," "A Dreary Story," "A Duel," "Ionivitch," "In the Ravine," "Three Years," "Ward No. 6," "Little Apples," "Ariadne," the plays. (I don't have "Kashtanka," but that's what libraries are for.)
Another book by Janet Malcolm is coming out in September 2007--_Two Lives._ Just as _Psychoanalysis_ was like analysis itself, _Reading Chekhov_ is a seminar taught by a teacher in love with her subject. And look at how many stories and plays (the list above is not complete) and how much of Chekhov's life Malcolm presents in under 210 pages!
Short and sweet, but full of good things.......2005-11-10
Few readers have time to wrestle with the long biographies and academic treatises that proliferate on beloved writers. Lack of time trumps the best intentions. Janet Malcolm has saved Chekhov enthusiasts the trouble by doing the reading herself, adding her own insights, and throwing in a bit of travel writing as well.
Literary criticism predominates in this 200-page book, with biography taking second place and travelogue third. Malcolm weaves the biographical details around comments about the stories and plays; so, for example, we learn that Chekhov was steeped in Russian Orthodoxy--more so, apparently, than even Tolstoy. What makes that especially interesting is the contrast between Chekhov's self-proclaimed nonbelief and the way he handles religious themes in the stories; there is some evidence, presented in this book, that these matters were not as settled in Chekhov's mind as one might think just based on his statements. (I, for one, have always been impressed with the sympathy Chekhov shows to the characters who appear in The Bishop, a story not discussed by Malcolm.)
Malcolm also takes on in brief compass Chekhov's trip to Sakhalin (arduous to get there; led to a rather dull, non-Chekhovian book); his death at 44 from tuberculosis in a hotel in Germany (which had various eyewitnesses and led to a variety of embellished accounts); and his relationships with women (he liked them pretty and well-dressed), with his publisher, with Tolstoy, and with his parents and siblings.
She spices it up with thought-provoking insights; one example: "In his stories and plays, Chekhov is afraid for all men. He was only in his twenties and thirties when he wrote most of them, but like other geniuses--especially those who die prematurely--he wrote as if he were old. Toward the end of Ward No. 6, he veers off--as he does in other dark and terrible works, such as Peasants and In the Ravine--to rejoice for all men in the beauty of the world."
As for her travels, Malcolm visits St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Yalta, each city in the company of a different tour guide. Her observations, far from being unfairly critical, are subtle, sardonic, and on the mark--certainly anyone who has traveled to Russia will recognize her guides.
As I wrote this, I changed the rating from four to five stars--I can't really think what would improve it. An index perhaps, since despite its brevity one would like to be able to search the contents more easily. And I would disagree with the book's jacket, which claims that those unfamiliar with Chekhov could enjoy this volume. At the very least, one should have read a volume of the major stories and be familiar with the plays. Among other works, she discusses The Lady with the Lapdog, The Steppe, The Kiss, The Schoolmistress, The Three Sisters, Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orhard, and more.
Confound it, however, you're never off the hook--the book whets your appetite for more, naturally! Those longer biographies and critical treatments beckon...and all the stories, perhaps in a different translation this time...been a while since I looked at the plays...well, good intentions count for something, right?
Reading Malcolm reading Chekhov.......2005-04-06
For any lover of Chekhov this wonderful breeze of a book is a must.
It was all the more poignant for me having, a few years ago, visited the places in the Crimea mentioned here, including Chekhov`s villa. Janet Malcolm interweaves her own journeys in Russia and Ukraine with pertinent scenes from the master`s stories and (occasionally) plays, in a way which sends one diving back to the sources once again. In the subtlest, most modest of ways, this author heightens one`s respect for Chekhov and his art, and made this reader fall in love once again with Chekhov the writer and Chekhov the man.
Pleasant and Edifying.......2005-01-29
This is an intelligent study of one reader's relationship to Chekhov. She's especially insightful when reading Chekhov and comparing experience in his stories to the experience of our lives. For me, it's a keeper. This is a work of literary journalism, not investigative journalism, so I don't quite understand the comments of some of the more hostile reviewers.
One to avoid..........2004-07-04
I am a huge fan of Chekhov, a taste that was cultivated during a two year stint working in Russia, and will read pretty much anything I can find about him. I'm also a fan of literary journalism & travel writing in general, so you can imagine my enthusiasm as I picked this gemm off the shelf and settled into the nearest comfie chair. Malcolm attempts to weave back and forth between journalism, travel narrative, and literary criticism, but this book is a lightweight in each of those genres, and at times is even embarrassing. I know Malcolm is a fairly well-respected writer, which just adds to my surprise at how weak this book really is. The first issue I have with this book is that her "experience" in Russia seems to have been limited to guided tours. What kind of a journalist would conduct all her research on a guided tour? Can you imagine Joan Didion or Paul Theroux doing such a thing? The problem with this is that all her insights, such as they are, are relegated to what she saw while being lead around by her tour guides, including one named Sonia with whom Malcolm seems to have a very strange and at times even disturbing relationship. "Sonia saw her job as a guide as an exercise in control, and over the two days I spent with her I grew to detest her ... my struggle with Sonia was almost always over small-stakes points of touristic arrangement; and her power to get to me was, of course, by my journalist's wicked awareness of the incalcuable journalistsc value of poor character." It's always nice to see a wealthy tourist squable with the locals who were probably once skilled professionals now forced to work menial jobs to support their families. All of her observations seem to be very surface-level things that any tourist with limited experience would pick up on. She has no unique perspective on Chekhov or Russia primarily because she is not able to get past the minor inconveniences she faces along the way. Note one scene where she is "unhappily" climbing a hill that Chekhov used in "The lady with the Dog." She's unhappy, you see, because her luggage was lost the previous day... interesting that someone who was out for adventure would get so bent out of shape over a few missing shirts (they do have clothing stores in Russia). She does, of course, try to use these "mishaps" to help her with her readings of chekhov and analysis of life in modern Russia, but it falls flat simply because she doesn't appear to be a sympathetic or even likable character in her own story. She comes off as being smug and aloof most of the time. The idea for the book, I think, is an interesting one, but it helps to get off the beaten path once in a while, to get out there and do some exploring. Meet some some people who aren't being paid to walk you around and you might get a deeper sense of what their life is like. Spend some quality time in the places Chekhov wrote about and they might take on greater significance. I picked up this book expecting an homage from one writer to another -- a labor of love, so to speak -- but the result feels more like a throw-away side project with little value to anyone with a genuine interest in Russia or Checkov... I suspect that, deep down, even Malcolm knows this is true.
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