Short story 101: Chekov

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.”

A few moments ago, I was reading a wall of text by a fellow blogger. To me, his post seemed irrelevant and short-sighted, but, like a small and beautiful isle in a sea of entropy, the quote above stood out above his mess. It is, as you may have guessed, a quote straight from the mouth of Russian playwright and master of the short story, Anton Chekov. Chances are you’ve never heard of him, as he isn’t that famous in non-literary circles, but you’re in luck, because at the end of this post, you will. Ain’t I the best?  

"You must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible.”

You can read his Wikipedia entry for all the nit-picking details of his life, wife and drive; but that’s not what I’m here for. Let’s talk about his works. And yes, I created this paragraph solely to put in one more quote. And here’s some more filler.

“Love, friendship and respect do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something.”

Over the past year, I read a couple stories of his. I especially enjoyed The Lady with the Dog and Oysters, but most are good. Of course, his will not appeal to English speaking world as much as, say, Oscar Wilde’s writings will, but if you’re appealed by the strange, early 20^th century Russian way of life, the eccentric, almost Dostoevsky-an narrative style, and don’t mind the obviously flawed translations (reading the direct source material is of course always better – that’s why I’m a languages student), you should seriously chek him out. You won’t regret it.

 “If you are afraid of loneliness, do not marry.”