I haven't read Tolsoi yet. I love Chekhov's stories because he was a master in the art of revealing the inner workings of human emotion. You can follow the character's thoughts behind the veils of human relationships, you can see how characters collide or get along, you can feel how the mind of one character shatters under the weight of events or follow their real thoughts as they utter uncompromising lies. His short stories are much more character than plot stories, if I can say so.

I won't be the first to draw a parallel between Chekhov's works and those of Raymond Carver, a more recent writer. Both of them provide this insight into the minds of characters and allow you to condemn or save them for what they "really are", and not merely judge them for what they say or do. That's the basis of the deeply emotional mood of their stories, even when the writing itself is very dry, a frequently mentioned trademark of both writers.

One thing that's often present in Chekhov stories and tends to be absent in Carver's work, however, is morality. Chekhov isn't shy about giving morals to his tales, something that many would consider a drawback in a modern author. But the main point is the same: even with this specific utterance of the moral, even when Chekhov explicitly condemns a character for his or her actions, we can disagree, because we have followed the thinking and feeling of that human being. Freedom is guaranteed for the reader, a very valuable asset in a writer's approach to his universe.

Asker's Rating:

Permalink | Report