Chekhov

Describes the Russian master's life in a full portrait that describes his nightmarish childhood, his early twenties as a doctor and a writer and his struggle with tuberculosis, and his last years when he fell in love for the first time

While Troyat's leisurely biography ultimately succumbs to the gloominess of its protagonist, Chekhov's evolution as a writer unfolds here naturally. But his life is a litany of eternal dissatisfaction, failed romances, periodic withdrawals from the world. Visiting Rome, the Eternal City, made the Russian novelist realize how much he missed borscht. When Stanislavski sent him a telegram praising The Cherry Orchard, Chekhov was depressed by the director's "overestimating it." Afraid of falling in love throughout his life, he married a young actress late but was unable to live with her because of her career and his bad health. Drawing heavily on letters and memoirs, Troyat (Tolstoy makes us realize anew Chekhov's "disengagement" as a writer, his refusal to bend to literary fashions as he plumbed life's absurdities and passing pleasures with scientific detachment. Illustrations.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Troyat, author of such critically acclaimed biographies as Pushkin (1970) and Tolstoy (1967), here turns his attention to yet another great writer of his birthplace. In his highly evocative short stories and dramas, Anton Chekhov captured perfectly the frustration, ennui, and sense of entrapment that characterized a provincial Russia poised on the brink of the 20th century but experiencing little sense of progress. Troyat's fascinating biography delineates the development of Chekhov's artistry, which flourished despite a difficult family life, a demanding medical career, some tumultuous romances, and a lengthy illness. The masterly English translation of this important biography is an essential acquisition. Natalie C. Tyler, English Dept., Ohio State Univ., Columbus
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.