MIRE

Mire
Mire is a good title for this story. I felt I was mired in the mud of negative stereotypes of Jews.  Did Chekhov really write such a loathsome piece? I researched what might have prompted him to write this story and what I found out was that Chekhov was engaged to an independent minded Jewish woman and the relationship ended -- very likely not to Chekhov's liking and hence this attack on Jewish culture and in particular, Jewish women. 

It is really a great dissapointment to see that a great artist like Chekhov reduced his art to create this story. It is not much of a story. To me, it sounds like another warning issued by Chekhov -- except this one is not an inspiring one -- not one we should take to heart -- but rather Chekhov revealing his fears, his anger, and his hatred. To be fair, I also read that Chekhov defended Dreyfus and spoke out against Anti-Semitism and actually reconciled himself with his former fiancé. 

Maybe Chekhov was able to progress in his thinking but this story doesn't come with footnotes and reading it at face value -- it can't be cleansed of what it is.

EXCELLENT PEOPLE

Excellent People
A cautionary tale for all writers who take themselves too seriously, who refuse to acknowledge any criticism  of their work, and seek to be adored at all cost.

THE DUEL

The Duel
"So it is in life . . . In the search for truth man makes two steps forward and one step back." Chekhov explains at  the end of The Duel what the theme of the story is. After more than one hundred and seventy pages of twists and turns -- I was sort of wondering what was going on and I thank Chekhov for clarifying his intentions.

I must confess that although the story is rich with crisp dialogue and interesting characters and some excellent descriptive writing -- I felt it was too long and something just wasn't working for me. Maybe the characters -- especially the lead character Laevsky -- a man who has escaped to the Caucasus with a married woman and who throughout the story is utterly miserable and tortured was a bit too much and I didn't really understand him -- was he Hamlet-like (as Chekhov alludes) unable to make a decision? or just weak?  confused? all of the above? -- and the married woman Nadyezhda Fyodorovna was also very remote --Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is alluded to -- but since the focus of the story is more Laevsky than Nadyezhda Fyodorovna -- we never get very deep with her -- which is too bad because I wanted to know more about her.  Frankly, the story seemed overly stuffed with a lot of discussion about politics -- Nietzche Superman philosophy --life in the Caucasus as opposed to life in Petersburg -- and plenty of outright melodrama. Coming towards the end of  the story -- the duel itself also seemed relatively anti-climatic. 

All in all, I felt as the reader somewhat disconnected in this story and I wonder -- is it me? Should I read it again? Perhaps one day -- but with so many other stories to read I will march forward.

THREE YEARS

Three Years
This is more a novel than a short story. It is a reflection on love and marriage. An ugly rich man in his 30's, marries a good looking young woman. He thinks she is only marrying him for the money and to get away from her father. He is probably right. But with time she learns to love him but by then he is too busy with the day-to-day affairs of life to appreciate it.

AN ARTIST'S STORY

An Artist's Story

Wow! This is the kind of story that after you finish it -- you realize what a master storyteller Chekhov really is. He constructs a story so elegantly -- the characters displayed like fine silver on a table setting. 

The story concerns a young artist -- he paints landscapes -- who is out in the country (he spends a lot of his time contemplating truth and the meaning of life) where he encounters a family consisting of a mother and two beautiful young women. 

One of the sisters, Lida, wants to help the peasants by building schools, hospitals, and libraries. She looks down on the artist because he only cares about creating art and not helping humanity. The other sister is Genya.  Genya loves to read and she takes a liking to the artist. Genya and the artist fall in love and would have lived a good life if not for Lida and her politics.  There is a lot of discussion about what is the best way to help the poor peasants. 

The artist finally confronts Lida and explains that in his mind the best way to help the peasants is to lighten their work load so they have time to pursue the really important things in life -- which in the artist's mind are spiritual things -- and if the peasants had more time to think and enjoy some idle time they would be healthier and happier. But Lida dismisses these arguments. 

After reading the story, I am torn between the artist and Lida. Since the story is told from the artist's point of view, one tends to have sympathy for him -- when he talks about searching for the meaning of life and his sensitivity to light and nature --you feel like you know this person -- you regret that he missed out on sharing his love with the beautiful Genya -- and you are angry at Lida for interfering -- but I also think about Lida. 

Her low regard for the artist is not completely unwarranted. He seems a bit too self-satisfied and truly I don't think he really cares about the peasants. He only argues with Lida out of vanity. He wants to show her he is smart enough to think about what is best for the peasants. Mostly, he wants her to take him seriously. Lida does care. She could have easily led a life of comfort and ease but instead dedicates herself to helping those less fortunate. However, she seems a bit too extreme -- willing to sacrifice her sister's happiness for a perceived greater good. 

I suppose both Lida and the artist are idealists and they expose the good, the bad, and the ugly of that position.