Anton Tšehov (1860–1904) antoi uuden suunnan koko maailmankirjallisuuden novellitaiteelle. Jo hänen aikalaisensa ymmärsivät, tukivat ja kannustivat häntä. Vuosien mittaan hänen teostensa suosio on vain kasvanut, ja ne ovat tänään yhtä klassisia kuin tuoreita ja eläviäkin.
Kirjan novellit ovat Tšehovin keskeisimpiä ja rakastetuimpia. Elämäni (1896), Nainen ja sylikoira (1899) sekä Rotkossa (1899) on suomennettu vuonna 1961.
Dramas, such as The Seagull (1896, revised 1898), and including "A Dreary Story" (1889) of Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, also Chekov, concern the inability of humans to communicate.
Born (Антон Павлович Чехов) in the small southern seaport of Taganrog, the son of a grocer. His grandfather, a serf, bought his own freedom and that of his three sons in 1841. He also taught to read. A cloth merchant fathered Yevgenia Morozova, his mother.
"When I think back on my childhood," Chekhov recalled, "it all seems quite gloomy to me." Tyranny of his father, religious fanaticism, and long nights in the store, open from five in the morning till midnight, shadowed his early years. He attended a school for Greek boys in Taganrog from 1867 to 1868 and then Taganrog grammar school. Bankruptcy of his father compelled the family to move to Moscow. At the age of 16 years in 1876, independent Chekhov for some time alone in his native town supported through private tutoring.
In 1879, Chekhov left grammar school and entered the university medical school at Moscow. In the school, he began to publish hundreds of short comics to support his mother, sisters and brothers. Nicholas Leikin published him at this period and owned Oskolki (splinters), the journal of Saint Petersburg. His subjected silly social situations, marital problems, and farcical encounters among husbands, wives, mistresses, and lust; even after his marriage, Chekhov, the shy author, knew not much of whims of young women.
Nenunzhaya pobeda, first novel of Chekhov, set in 1882 in Hungary, parodied the novels of the popular Mór Jókai. People also mocked ideological optimism of Jókai as a politician.
Chekhov graduated in 1884 and practiced medicine. He worked from 1885 in Peterburskaia gazeta.
In 1886, Chekhov met H.S. Suvorin, who invited him, a regular contributor, to work for Novoe vremya, the daily paper of Saint Petersburg. He gained a wide fame before 1886. He authored The Shooting Party, his second full-length novel, later translated into English. Agatha Christie used its characters and atmosphere in later her mystery novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. First book of Chekhov in 1886 succeeded, and he gradually committed full time. The refusal of the author to join the ranks of social critics arose the wrath of liberal and radical intelligentsia, who criticized him for dealing with serious social and moral questions but avoiding giving answers. Such leaders as Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Leskov, however, defended him. "I'm not a liberal, or a conservative, or a gradualist, or a monk, or an indifferentist. I should like to be a free artist and that's all..." Chekhov said in 1888.
The failure of The Wood Demon, play in 1889, and problems with novel made Chekhov to withdraw from literature for a period. In 1890, he traveled across Siberia to Sakhalin, remote prison island. He conducted a detailed census of ten thousand convicts and settlers, condemned to live on that harsh island. Chekhov expected to use the results of his research for his doctoral dissertation. Hard conditions on the island probably also weakened his own physical condition. From this journey came his famous travel book.
Chekhov practiced medicine until 1892. During these years, Chechov developed his concept of the dispassionate, non-judgmental author. He outlined his program in a letter to his brother Aleksandr: "1. Absence of lengthy verbiage of political-social-economic nature; 2. total objectivity; 3. truthful descriptions of persons and objects; 4. extreme brevity; 5. audacity and originality; flee the stereotype; 6. compassion." Because he objected that the paper conducted against [a:Alfred Dreyfu
Before this, I have never actually read a whole short story by Chekhov in the past. This is a collection of three short stories. While I must say that for the most part I didn't see anything remarkable about the stories, I really enjoyed The Lady with the Dog. My Life is a bit more of a novella than short story and is very traditional Russian story of a man who is trying to find a happiness in the world in which everyone treats him wrongly. In the Ravine was one of his last short stories that he ever wrote but unfortunately it is my least favourite from the three stories. All in all, I am really glad that I finally picked up something by Chekhov and I would be interested of reading more of his work. This one feels only a bit of something greater and bigger.
Chekhovin kirjassa oli kolme novellia. Elämäni, Nainen ja sylikoira sekä Rotkossa. Parhain niistä oli tuo keskimmäinen. Ensimmäinen novelli oli todella tasapaksu, siinä ei oikein tapahtunut mitään. Mutta oli kiva kokeilla välillä vähän erilaista. Jos vielä tulee vastaan tämän kirjailijan novellikokoelmia, aijon lukea.
Venäjäntunnilla luettiin niminovellin alkua alkuperäiskielellä, ja kiinnosti lukea, miten tarina siitä eteni. Novelli oli lyhyt ja kenties siksi sen rytmitys tuntui epäuskottavan nopealta, mutta avoimeksi jääneestä lopusta pidin. Kirjassa on myös kaksi muuta novellia. Elämäni oli jokseenkin raskassoutuinen ja tylsähkö, mutta Rotkossa oli positiivinen yllätys, vaikka tarina olikin todella synkkä.
TEAKin dramaturgian ennakkotehtäviä varten luin novellit Nainen ja sylikoira ja Elämäni.
Tähän teokseen on vaikea suhtautua puhtaana lukunautintona, sillä pläräsin sen läpi moneen kertaan ja suuremmalla pieteetillä kuin koskaan aiemmin. Kyseessä on kumminkin eräänlainen pääsykoekirja. "Elämäni" oli surke novelli, melkeinpä pienoisromaani kaikessa tapahtumattomuudessaan, mutta "Nainen ja sylikoira" oli maineensa arvoinen klassikko. Nyt pääsykoetehtävien kimppuun!