His mature work is undoubtedly cerebral, profound and often challenging. The corollary of meeting the inchoate master in an early guise, is that we gain a greater understanding of and appreciation for the genius he would become.Ĭritically acclaimed throughout his lifetime, winning the Pushkin Prize in 1888, he was given honorary membership of the Russian Academy of Sciences for both his fiction and his drama. Sampling his earliest offerings is intrinsically satisfying by dint of the sheer brilliance of his wit, gentle satire and technical virtuosity. Chekhov’s idiosyncratic excellence permeates his early works and comes to full creative fruition in his later canon. My point is that Chekhov made both exquisite white and red wine, his early career an experimental period allowing him to find his style, refine his art and dextrously apply his learnings to his later productions. Literature like fine wine can be appreciated by all, with the added advantage that it does not come with an eye watering price tag! Again, like wine, some vintages, varietals and artisanal styles are indeed heavier than others, however ‘heaviness’ is not a universal sine qua non of fine wine, nor can a ‘lighter’ style be dismissed by dint of an absence of tannins, age or indeed perceived value. I am put in mind of the deferential, faintly tremulous attitude taken to an esteemed vintner’s vaults by anyone but the most experienced oenophile or cognoscenti of bacchanalian delights. Sadly, our Russian maestro’s delights are often considered the preserve of press-ganged students, the erudite denizens of unassailable academic ivory towers and those with a predilection for worthy intellection of only the most demanding stripe. His work an unflinching, but dextrously modulated exploration of dank humanistic truths only leavened by perspicacious satire and affirmative notes of fatalistic compassion.įor many, Chekhov is synonymous with ‘heavy literature’, work to be gravely venerated rather than playfully engaged with. His gloomy, gritty realism seen as an intellectually intimidating, semi-permeable reflective prism between the observed and the observer. Chekhov’s (1860-1904) works mirror Russian life authentically, warts and all.

Conversely, we might recall The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters or Lady with the Dog. Chekhov by Osip BrazPerhaps when we consider Chekhov, our first thoughts may not gaily run to whimsy, frolicsome mirth or indeed lighthearted, playful satire.

Best chekhov short stories