Anton Chekhov
A Life
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
The description 'definitive' is too easily used, but Donald Rayfield's biography of Chekhov merits it unhesitatingly. To quote no less an authority than Michael Frayn:
'With question the definitive biography of Chekhov, and likely to remain so for a very long time to come. Donald Rayfield starts with the huge advantage of much new material that was prudishly suppressed under the Soviet regime, or tactfully ignored by scholars. But his mastery of all the evidence, both old and new - a massive archive - is magisterial, his background knowledge of the period is huge; his Russian is sensitive to every colloquial nuance of the day, and his tone is sure. He captures a likeness of the notoriously elusive Chekhov which at last begins to seem recognisably human - and even more extraordinary.'
Chekhov's life was short, he was only forty-four when he died, and dogged with ill-health but his plays and short stories assure him of his place in the literary pantheon. Here is a biography that does him full justice, in short, unapologetically to repeat that word 'definitive'.
'I don't remember any monograph by a Western scholar on a Russian author having such success. . . Nikita Mikhalkov said that before this book came out we didn't know Chekhov. . . The author doesn't invent, add or embellish anything . . . Rayfield is motivated by the Westerner's urge not ot hold information back, however grim it may be.' Anatoli Smelianski, Director of Moscow Arts Theatre School
'It is hard to imagine another book about Chekhov after this one by Donald Rayfield.' Arthur Miller, Sunday Times
'Donald Rayfield's exemplary biography draws on a daunting array of material inacessible or ignored by his predecessors.' Nikolai Tolstoy, The Literary Review
'Donald Rayfield, Chekhov's best and definitive biographer.' William Boyd, Guardian
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gorky said of Chekhov that no one understood as clearly as he did "the tragedy of life's trivialities." Rayfield certainly does. His biography of Chekhov is rife with tiny details that together create a pointillist portrait of Chekhov, his large family and the legion of friends, hangers-on and "Antonovkas," or female admirers. About halfway through the book, there have been enough of these painstakingly applied points to create a nuanced portrait of an intensely Russian man. Chekhov was the grandson of a freed serf, the son of a brutish and sanctimonious father. His elder brothers were irresponsible drunkards while his numerous friends vacillated between braggadocio and desperate neediness. Perhaps because he could maintain a certain emotional aloofness, Chekhov managed to support his menagerie while writing some of the world's great short stories and plays. Rayfield's careful research into primary sources reveals numerous letters that have been ignored or tactfully bowdlerized. The result is a portrayal of a man rather randier, more put-upon and more human than previously betrayed. This does no disservice, but sometimes the sheer bulk of detail does. Do we really need to know that Chekhov's father made his own mustard or that in the winter of 1892, Chekhov bandaged his publishers' governess's leg after she fell off a wardrobe or even the schedule of family members' endless peregrinations? While this will no doubt be a crucial addition for Chekhov scholarship, a few broader strokes and more background into the rapidly changing politics and society of Russia would have made it more useful for the narodni as well. 24 pages of b&w illustrations not seen by PW
