A DREARY STORY

A Dreary Story

A famous professor of medicine is dying. Or so he thinks. We are told of his demise in a first person narrative.

He contemplates.  About his life -- what he has achieved -- how his mental facilities are diminishing. And everything else.

Let's just say he's not in the best of moods.

A solemn meditation on the meaning of life -- especially when one is facing the abyss -- I am reminded of Picasso's last drawing of himself peering into the eternal nothingness.

Yes, this is not the most enjoyable story I've read in my Chekhov journey. Honestly, as I was reading it I couldn't wait for it to end. But once over you realize that the professor was brutally honest about his life -- his achievements -- about everything -- and the truth is not tasteful -- we would rather be entertained -- with gossip -- love -- or some other life force -- but this story keeps looking squarely at the emptiness of existence and doesn't flinch.

Having just read The Grasshopper -- a much more entertaining Chekhov story -- I see the connection between this story and The Grasshopper in how it deals with the notion of fame -- in The Grasshopper Olga Ivanovna's happiness is destroyed by her pursuit of fame -- and here the professor has achieved fame and he comes to realize that what society says about you means little when compared to how you feel about yourself -- and of course we see it every day when many famous people on the outside are very miserable inside of themselves.

The professor does take some comfort that he lived his life the right way and dedicated himself to something noble -- but like Mr. Holland's Opus sans Hollywood ending -- you dedicate yourself to students and science and family -- but in the end you get old -- you lose your strength and the pleasures of life evaporate -- and you are on your own as you continue to wither and eventually die.

Gee, that's a pleasant thought!

Maybe surrounded by so much dreariness I couldn't help myself and I must confess that I fell in love with Katya.

Katya. She wanted to be an actress and has come to the realization that she has no talent. But she is desperately trying to find some meaning -- some joy to give her a reason to keep going. She is not shallow -- doesn't care what impression she makes on society -- she's beyond all the show and is looking for real truth.

Professor Nikolay Stepanovitch knows the truth and it ain't pretty.