Page:Russian Literature - A Study Outline.djvu/49

 RUSSIAN LITERATURE 45 XV ANTON PAVLOVICH CHEKHOV (TCHEKHOFF), 1860-1904 The writer who gives the most faithful picture of the gen- eral atmosphere of the period which preceded the Russo-Jap- anese war is Anton Tchekoff. Maurice Baring. To win the attention of the educated Russian, it is abso- lutely necessary that the author should have the gift of making things seem real. Chekhoff possesses this gift in a marvelous degree. ... A few simple words sketch off the character so that it lives and moves before the reader; and, above all, almost every sentence exposes to view some interesting nook of the human soul. But all these results are achieved in a most casual way. The author enjoys his gossip too intensely to be aware of his own cleverness. Abraham Cahan. 1. Chekhov the man and dramatist. a His life. b His dramas. c "The cherry garden." d "The sea gull" 2. Chekhov the story-teller. a His study of life and what he portrays. b His art. c His short stories. d His novels. Recommended Reading The cherry orchard. In Tchekhov. Plays; second series. It tells in four pictures the whole story of the aristocratic landed proprietor class in Russia. . . . The most charac- teristic of his plays. Maurice Baring. The darling and other stories. In exile. In Fortnightly Review. 80 : 529-35. Sept. '03. Lippincott's Magazine. 90:370-8. Sept. '12. It exhibits all his mature characteristics. Lippincott's Magazine.