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Father and son.

Truth.

Logic.

Sometimes when I finish a story, I just sit there and wonder how he is able to put it all together.

This story works so well on so many levels.

First, it tenderly portrays the love of a father for his son and the love of a son for his father. When the boy is sitting and stroking the father's beard -- the father experiences pure love. There is no greater joy. If I had read this story and truly understood it -- I would have become a parent much earlier than I did and would have opted for many more children.

When Seryozha tells his dad to keep the yellow dog -- it is so touching and accurate -- Chekhov at his best!
( Show don't tell.)

We are also invited inside the mind of a child -- adults should enter this world with caution. Adult logic and reason have little input here. A man can be bigger than a house. So get over it. And hence the art of Miro -- Picasso . . . etc.

The problem in the story is serious. It deals with truth. Most people -- children and grown-ups can't handle the truth. Logic doesn't go too far. We need to garnish it with stuff to make it palpable. Chekhov laments this in the story but he also knows that's the way it is and will always be. The nature of man?

All you have to do is look at the current presidential election and you'll notice all kinds of ads persuading you one way or another -- but logic plays a small part -- people vote and do things based on a myriad of factors -- and the truth and nothing but the truth seems to play a small part in their decision. Sad?

What is interesting to me is how in 1887 in Russia and I'm assuming in many other places -- people were well aware of the harm and danger of smoking -- sometimes we tend to think we realized that smoking is bad with the advent of modern science -- but people have known smoking kills for a long time.

In Yevgeny Petrovitch Bykovsky, Chekhov has created a thoroughly modern man. His reflections are completely relevant -- his musings about how the more one thinks about things -- the more indecisive one becomes (Obama, anyone?) really gets to the heart of our modern age. (Study the effects on the environment  -- forget about it -- drill, baby, drill! Global warming, give me a break and turn on the air conditioner. Subtlety, nuance -- what is this a college class? Bold action -- right or wrong! Hence, Romney will act on his first day against anything Obama was for. A true man of action!)

The story is written in 1887 -- the Nazis have not yet appeared. Or Stalin. The intellectual will lose out to brutality. To this day we are still in the midst of what works best -- reason or brute strength. (Arab Spring?)

In order to make Home work so effectively -- Chekhov had to capture the ambience of the home -- the pacing upstairs -- the piano playing -- the study -- it all meshes and puts you into the place.  The one key ingredient which makes the story even more powerful is the missing mother. You sense Bykovsky is still grieving the death of his wife and he also realizes how much Seryozha will never have. He could give him anything but he can't give him a mother's love.

Seryoza, might or might not give up smoking -- but he will grow up to be a good man because he has a great role model in his father.