Status Updates From The Portable Chekhov

"And dismal thoughts prevented him from enjoying himself, and he kept thinking that all about him was not life but scraps of life, fragments, that everything here was accidental, that one could draw no conclusion from it..."

"Fundamentally, life was so arranged and human relations were complicated so utterly beyond all understanding that when you thought about it you were terrified and your heart sank."

“Oh, how lonely it is in the open country at night, in the midst of that singing when you yourself cannot sing; in the midst of the incessant cries of joy when you yourself cannot be joyful, when the moon, which cares not whether it is spring or winter, whether men are alive or dead, looks down, lonely, too.” pg. 502

impressed with how beautifully chekhov handles short stories. however compacted each story is, its simplicity has its own complexion in moral and ethical themes. chekhov’s prose is concise, but delivers such a heavy weight of realism despite the light material. i can see myself reading my favorite stories from him before bedtime when i finish this. bittersweet aching life: peasantry, law, love and religion … etc