From new forum member (and Chekhov fan)
Hello, am new to forum. Grad student in lit., will be writing my thesis on Chekhov, so can talk forever about him...
Recently saw a good prod. of Ivanov in Washington DC. Like most Chekhov, funny & sad as same time (per comment of previous poster). At same theatre, will be seeing Brian Friel's recent "update" play about Sonya (from U. Vanya) and Andrey (from 3 Sisters) titled "Afterplay." Anyway, would love to discuss my favorite author...
Chekhov and Raymond Carver
Although "The Lady with the Pet Dog" is one of my favorite Chekhov stories, I didn't consider it comical; on the contrary, I felt conflicting emotions after reading it -- while I felt happy that two people at last found a relationship that brought significance to their lives, I also felt their sadness and their dilemma re: the "How? How" they lament in the closing words of the story.
What's remarkable is how Chekhov takes care to simply record the events of the story -- to let the reader consider the conflicts and draw the conclusions.
Raymond Carver was a big fan of Chekhov, and his last piece of published fiction was a story called "Errand," where after presenting some fact, he turns to fiction -- a fiction about Chekhov's death. It's a beautifully-told story, in the Chekhovian (is that a word?) tradition, and a fitting tribute to the author Ray Carver perhaps considered his "ghost mentor."