Chekhov Short Story Thread

[Quark]

I was going to post something on the part VIII of the story, but I found a section of part IX that sums it up quite succinctly.

They reached Sevastopol in the evening and stopped at an hotel to rest and go on the next day to Yalta. They were both exhausted by the journey. Varvara Nikolaevna had some tea, went to bed and was soon asleep. But Kovrin did not go to bed. An hour before starting for the station, he had received a letter from Tanya, and had not brought himself to open it, and now it was lying in his coat pocket, and the thought of it excited him disagreeably. At the bottom of his heart he genuinely considered now that his marriage to Tanya had been a mistake. He was glad that their separation was final, and the thought of that woman who in the end had turned into a living relic, still walking about though everything seemed dead in her except her big, staring, intelligent eyes -- the thought of her roused in him nothing but pity and disgust with himself. The handwriting on the envelope reminded him how cruel and unjust he had been two years before, how he had worked off his anger at his spiritual emptiness, his boredom, his loneliness, and his dissatisfaction with life by revenging himself on people in no way to blame. He remembered, also, how he had torn up his dissertation and all the articles he had written during his illness, and how he had thrown them out of window, and the bits of paper had fluttered in the wind and caught on the trees and flowers. In every line of them he saw strange, utterly groundless pretension, shallow defiance, arrogance, megalomania; and they made him feel as though he were reading a description of his vices. But when the last manuscript had been torn up and sent flying out of window, he felt, for some reason, suddenly bitter and angry; he went to his wife and said a great many unpleasant things to her. My God, how he had tormented her! One day, wanting to cause her pain, he told her that her father had played a very unattractive part in their romance, that he had asked him to marry her. Yegor Semyonitch accidentally overheard this, ran into the room, and, in his despair, could not utter a word, could only stamp and make a strange, bellowing sound as though he had lost the power of speech, and Tanya, looking at her father, had uttered a heart-rending shriek and had fallen into a swoon. It was hideous.

This paragraph shows why Kovrin is acting meanly toward Tania and Yegor. He's dissatisfied with his own life. There is a sentence that particularly speaks to this:

how he had worked off his anger at his spiritual emptiness, his boredom, his loneliness, and his dissatisfaction with life by revenging himself on people in no way to blame

Kovrin's reacts the way he does because he now realizes how unhappy his life really is. The monk just temporarily obscured the truth from him.

[Janine]

Quark, your last post certainly does reveal so much about Kovrin. Thanks for posting that tonight. I will try and comment more on it tomorrow; too tired out now. I had not noticed this section before, when I first read the story; here he seems to be accepting the blame, that is his very own concerning a great many things he has done in the past. It is a very interesting passage and something to think about.

[Quark]

I had not noticed this section before, when I first read the story; here he seems to be accepting the blame, that is his very own concerning a great many things he has done in the past. It is a very interesting passage and something to think about.

Yeah, I thought it showed the negative side of the black monk well. Below that paragraph, actually, there's another few sentences that also speak to this.

The manuscript with the sketch even led him to meditation on the vanity of the world. He thought how much life exacts for the worthless or very commonplace blessings it can give a man. For instance, to gain, before forty, a university chair, to be an ordinary professor, to expound ordinary and second-hand thoughts in dull, heavy, insipid language -- in fact, to gain the position of a mediocre learned man, he, Kovrin, had had to study for fifteen years, to work day and night, to endure a terrible mental illness, to experience an unhappy marriage, and to do a great number of stupid and unjust things which it would have been pleasant not to remember. Kovrin recognised clearly, now, that he was a mediocrity, and readily resigned himself to it, as he considered that every man ought to be satisfied with what he is.

Of course, we need to balance our understanding of the monk with what we learn about him earlier. There are positives associated with the monk such as Kovrin's happiness and interestingness.

[Quark]

Regarding the writing, the transition from life with Tanya to life with Varvara was also abrupt and awkward. Except for those transitions, I love the writing, though.

Yeah, I would have liked to have had this is little more stretched out. Some of the transitions were too quick. Also, I could have stood to have more characters. I understand that Chekhov wanted to keep the story focused on the main theme and that other characters might have made taken away from that, but the story could have used a little variety. Forty pages with these people was a little much. What could Chekhov do, though? He was employed to write short stories, and not novels. Even though there was enough in this story to make a novel, he had to write it as a short story.

But the monk is a manifestation of something inside Kovrin. So, on some level, Kovrin is very interesting. He just can’t express it without the presence of the monk, and now apparently, not at all.

Perhaps the best way to look at the monk is as a choice for Kovrin. The monk isn't so much of an expression of Kovrin's mind as it is a possible life-style. As such, the ghost doesn't represent any inherent traits in Kovrin. Also, I don't think his bromide-induced healthy state is much of reflection on Kovrin, either. Once again, this seems like a choice for Kovrin. I don't know as if we can say Kovrin is either inherently interesting or inherently mediocre. He appears to be one when he chooses a certain outlook, and he changes into another Kovrin when picks a different outlook.

[Janine]

So what is happening in this thread? We are not finished with this story, are we? Are we just waiting for Quark to post more text? Maybe, it is just me. I am feeling a little lost here; this story has been a long one, or maybe the discussion has been so. It has been a good discussion, just long.

[Quark]

So what is happening in this thread?

It's been slow lately, but, no, the thread isn't closed or anything like that. I'm still around, posting, and ready to reply to any questions or comments.

We are not finished with this story, are we? Are we just waiting for Quark to post more text?

Well we're close to finishing, if we haven't already. I've posted all but the last paragraph of the story, so I feel like we've covered most everything. I might post some more general comments on the story before we move on, but other than that I don't have much to add. Of course, I realize that a few people have been in and out during the discussion, and that they might still have something to say. That's why I've paused here for a day.

Maybe, it is just me. I am feeling a little lost here; this story has been a long one, or maybe the discussion has been so. It has been a good discussion, just long.

It's a long story, and I promised to go slow since it seemed like we were all busy. That's turned out not to be the case, however, so maybe we could have gone faster. I'm glad you enjoyed the discussion, though. I already have a good idea of what I'm going to do for the next story.

[Quark]

It appears like we're done with this story, so I'll ask--as I normally do--what we should do for the next story. Any preferences? I thought we might look at some of the shorter, more comical stories since we just had such a long and depressing one. "The Black Monk" was an excellent story, but I don't think the thread could take another one like that for a while. It seemed to suck the life out of us. For contrasts sake, I've dug up some stories with a more light-hearted tone. There's a funny one about re-gifting that I thought would work well. What does everyone think?

[Quark]

I'd like to do "The Steppe" sometime, if you haven't done that one already

That might exceed the page limit for a short story. I did enjoy reading it, though. Some people find it dull, but I thought it was quite good. Maybe we can open another thread to do "The Steppe" in.

but that's kind of long and not lighthearted. We probably need a change of pace.

We don't necessarily need a change. That was just my suggestion.

Whatever you choose is fine with me. After all, it's Chekhov!

Thanks for being so easy to accommodate. When should we start the next story? I know we're all trying to the Shakespeare discussion simultaneously, so perhaps we should wait a couple of days at least.

[Dark Muse]

Acutally I think I might sit the next dicussion out, becasue I will be gone part of next month anyway. As well I wanted to take the time to read Sleepy for myself, and reading two Chekov stories simotianisously might be a bit confussing.

[Quark]

Anytime's okay with me, Quark.

I could start tomorrow, but let's wait and see what Janine thinks.

I'm a lot more interested in Chekhov than in Shakespeare.

Oh, aren't we all?

Acutally I think I might sit the next dicussion out, becasue I will be gone part of next month anyway. As well I wanted to take the time to read Sleepy for myself, and reading two Chekov stories simotianisously might be a bit confussing.

I remembered that from the L thread. Where are you taking off to that's so computer-less?

[Dark Muse]

Well it is my perosnal choice not to use a computer while I am gone. But I am going up to Lake Tahoe

[Quark]

Well it is my perosnal choice not to use a computer while I am gone. But I am going up to Lake Tahoe

Yeah, I agree. Tahoe is probably better without a computer. Have a good time, and enjoy reading "Sleepy."

Anti, what do you want to do while DM's at Tahoe and Janine's having computer problems. We could do a story, but it would probably be just us. If Janine is going to be without a CPU for a while, perhaps now would be a good time to do "Sleepy." We'd of course have to see what DM thinks since I think she would want to do that one with us. I'm not sure when she's leaving, though. When are you leaving DM? Do you want to sneak another story in before you leave?

[Dark Muse]

I think it would be fun to get to discuss Sleepy sense I plan on reading it anyway.

I will be leaving in mid-July. I think from the 13th to the 19th, something close to that, if not that is not the exzact date.

[Quark]

I will be leaving in mid-July. I think from the 13th to the 19th, something close to that, if not that is not the exzact date.

Oh, then we have plenty of time. Let me send a PM over to Janine and ask about her computer situation. If she's going to be LitNet absent for a while, I'd love to do "Sleepy."

[Dark Muse]

Hehe ok