tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post4659872057611083587..comments2024-03-27T16:48:21.039-05:00Comments on Wuthering <br>Expectations: "So this is real life" - Chekhov's delicately grim "Ward No. 6"Amateur Reader (Tom)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-88767336011392618602016-07-17T18:28:16.164-05:002016-07-17T18:28:16.164-05:00Man, I don't see it. Chekhov's best stori...Man, I don't see it. Chekhov's best stories take place in a shadowy counterpart to the real world, meaning the one I live in. Gogol's best take place in Old Gogolia, a mythical country.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-67363010846887324632016-07-17T15:15:31.869-05:002016-07-17T15:15:31.869-05:00Yes, "how to use", not "threw off&q...Yes, "how to use", not "threw off".<br /><br />Gogol's perspective and sensitivity were both different from Chekhov's. But they were both depicting the same place.The Argumentative Old Githttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09583407462940146876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-46142353036600037852016-07-14T14:47:55.276-05:002016-07-14T14:47:55.276-05:00"How to use," not "threw off" ..."How to use," not "threw off" - I think everyone would agree to that. See next post, which I guess now you have.<br /><br />"Ward No. 6" is not much like the <i>Dead Souls</i> I read, which is a lively place, far from dead, alive, alive, so alive that new people are generated at every turn. See my old posts etc. Just look at how much that one fellow admires his boots.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-14450021743164339732016-07-12T04:06:37.073-05:002016-07-12T04:06:37.073-05:00As is obvious from his correspondence, Chekhov was...As is obvious from his correspondence, Chekhov was, right till the very end, in awe of Tolstoy, but I don't know that it's so much that he eventually threw off Tolstoy's influence: rather, it seems to me, he found how to use Tolstoy's influence in a constructive manner.<br /><br />But if we are to look for links with other authors, "Ward 6" seems to me most closely related to Gogol. A dark and dreary, spiritually dead provincial town in which "the poor doctor lives in a world of monsters" - this is the world of "Dead Souls". It appears often in Russian novels, and, particularly, in Chekhov's works, I think - "My Life", "A Woman's Kingdom", etc. This is the world from which those three sisters want to escape to Moscow. It is Hell itself.<br /><br />Very interesting that Scott sees this as a sort of supernatural tale. I had not thought of it in this way before.The Argumentative Old Githttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09583407462940146876noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-10258606203609518052016-07-02T16:35:20.037-05:002016-07-02T16:35:20.037-05:00Agatha Christie! That's pretty funny.Agatha Christie! That's pretty funny.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-48060990947288179182016-07-01T16:04:14.820-05:002016-07-01T16:04:14.820-05:00A big consumptive plush toy.A big consumptive plush toy.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-22947269896714763172016-07-01T15:57:43.730-05:002016-07-01T15:57:43.730-05:00Yeah, sorry about that. Just a poor joke that didn...Yeah, sorry about that. Just a poor joke that didn't land. Yours on the other hand is very funny. So, all in all, not a total loss.Cleanthesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15363416290397892659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-85594939358745437622016-07-01T15:49:39.565-05:002016-07-01T15:49:39.565-05:00Chekhov wrote plenty about crime, but not what you...Chekhov wrote plenty about crime, but not what you'd mean by crime fiction aside from his only novel, <i>The Shooting Party</i>, an early effort that most people only read nowadays as a curiosity. Agatha Christie thought well of it, though, and stole Chekhov's big plot twist for one of her most famous books. It's not bad, but it's not great. When I read it, I wouldn't have guessed it was by Chekhov if I hadn't already known. Sort of middling anonymous 19th-century Russian writing.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-46868751018121536312016-07-01T15:01:57.745-05:002016-07-01T15:01:57.745-05:00Postscript:
I should have found this before asking...Postscript:<br />I should have found this before asking my question -- <br />http://www.nysun.com/arts/the-crime-scene-anton-chekhovs-crime-fiction/84671/<br />-- however, perhaps more of an answer is still out there, so the question remains for the Chekhov experts out there.RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-10633110458531664202016-07-01T14:54:14.556-05:002016-07-01T14:54:14.556-05:00Thanks for the Kafka-loved-the-loveable Chekhov fe...Thanks for the Kafka-loved-the-loveable Chekhov feedback. Now, just to be difficult, I wonder something else: in the Chekhov oeuvre, do crime stories exist? I ask because of my guilty-pleasure interest in literary quality crime fiction.RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-90127522587941642182016-07-01T14:08:44.882-05:002016-07-01T14:08:44.882-05:00Chekhov is very lovable.Chekhov is very lovable.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-6929698177566576122016-07-01T13:59:57.341-05:002016-07-01T13:59:57.341-05:00Kafka loved Chekhov, according to his letters to M...Kafka loved Chekhov, according to his letters to Milena Jesenská.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-91560690568592285072016-07-01T13:54:11.491-05:002016-07-01T13:54:11.491-05:00Symbolism is the worst.
My pet theory is that the...Symbolism is the worst.<br /><br />My pet theory is that the image sticks because it is tied to an earlier, unmentioned letter, containing the news of the death of the doctor's father. Again, all of this is completely unmentioned and made up by me.<br /><br />You know, I have no idea about what Russians Kafka might have - or could have read. This story does have an unusually Kafka-like turn at the end.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-57094113220431333782016-07-01T13:10:03.928-05:002016-07-01T13:10:03.928-05:00And then, as I read your fine posting, I think of ...And then, as I read your fine posting, I think of Kafka. I wonder about Chekhov-Kafka connections. RTDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17113953356514605424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-24569099734519570532016-07-01T12:31:26.186-05:002016-07-01T12:31:26.186-05:00The peasant woman isn't old, and the letter is...The peasant woman isn't old, and the letter isn't death. Otherwise, 100% accurate.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-92143118044799963092016-06-30T23:43:45.732-05:002016-06-30T23:43:45.732-05:00Death as a registered letter delivered by an old p...Death as a registered letter delivered by an old peasant woman. How trite...Cleanthesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15363416290397892659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-49252378345322832152016-06-30T19:26:46.114-05:002016-06-30T19:26:46.114-05:00A highly Chekhovian observation.
The doctor could...A highly Chekhovian observation.<br /><br />The doctor could have used some positive reinforcement. He could have been more of a <i>Sesame Street</i> monster in the right company.<br /><br />I did not go into - I am back on your original comment how great Chekhov's use of the moon is in this story.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-73461210830150781842016-06-30T18:47:23.451-05:002016-06-30T18:47:23.451-05:00The doctor alone knows he's a monster, though ...The doctor alone knows he's a monster, though he excuses his own behavior. By extension, I guess we could assume all the other monsters excuse themselves, too. With the limited third-person narration, we don't know how many monsters are aware of their monsterhood. I guess it <i>is</i> a supernatural tale.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-77136033816624528332016-06-30T18:26:21.024-05:002016-06-30T18:26:21.024-05:00The post master is a great Chekhovian monster. Th...The post master is a great Chekhovian monster. The poor doctor lives in a world of monsters.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-66128735397515940092016-06-30T18:01:07.913-05:002016-06-30T18:01:07.913-05:00Or it's a dig at civil servants generally, smu...Or it's a dig at civil servants generally, smugly ignoring the peasants but getting what they deserve in the end. This applies to both the doctor and the post master. Maybe.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-38601466134986712232016-06-30T17:58:38.978-05:002016-06-30T17:58:38.978-05:00An image of freedom, then an image of humanity and...An image of freedom, then an image of humanity and repression (the image of the post master after the image of the peasant woman, then death)...I guess. I think it's a reference back to Andrei's path into madness, his mind fracturing into disconnected fragments as he dies, that sort of thing. More poetry than symbolism, at least that's how I tend to read it.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-42385942511709583822016-06-30T17:12:17.341-05:002016-06-30T17:12:17.341-05:00Oh, with the postman - how did I not see that. So...Oh, with the postman - how did I not see that. So it's really the significance of the detail that is the mystery. Is it a bit of randomness, or is there more to it.Amateur Reader (Tom)https://www.blogger.com/profile/13675275555757408496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3383938214852108244.post-82379368224361147932016-06-30T16:41:19.663-05:002016-06-30T16:41:19.663-05:00Chekhov wrote "Ward No. 6" during that p...Chekhov wrote "Ward No. 6" during that phase of his career when he was trying to emulate Tolstoy's "moral" stories, hence the not at all subtle poetic justice plot. But as you say, all the rest of it is wonderful. Every time I read this one, I'm struck by how it feels like it should be a supernatural story, with nature and the rest of the world personified to create an almost fairy tale mood. It also somehow feels like the entire story happens by moonlight. I suppose that having a cast of madmen helps to push ideas of reality around, blur the borders as it were.<br /><br />The registered letter appears earlier, in the post office when the doctor goes to apologize to the post master:<br /><br />"Let bygones be bygones. Lyubavkin," he suddenly shouted so loud that all the postmen and other persons present started, "hand a chair; and you wait," he shouted to a peasant woman who was stretching out a registered letter to him through the grating. "Don't you see that I am busy?..."scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.com