Freedom from Violence and Lies: Anton Chekhov’s Life and Writings

Anton Chekhov lived “a hard-scrabble, middle-class life that dipped into the lower depths but eventually found a toehold in the nouveau riche cultural elite,” according to this concise biography from Finke (Approaches to Teaching the Works of Anton Chekhov), professor of Slavic languages and literatures at the University of Illinois. Finke shows how Chekhov’s worldview was informed by his tough childhood—frequent beatings were the reason that he “believed in progress,” for example. He also goes back and forth between Chekhov the humanitarian and medical doctor, and Chekhov the writer, emphasizing the extent to which Chekhov used his money to help build schools, medical clinics, and stock public libraries, as well as to treat poor patients. Chekhov’s development as a short story writer and dramatist is neatly traced, and Finke offers apt analyses of major works, outlining, for instance, the similarities between “The Lady with the Little Dog” and the “Little Trilogy.” In the end, readers see Chekhov as an admirable figure struggling to finish The Cherry Orchard while dying, and as a man who gave unstintingly of himself to his family, his friends, the poor, and budding writers. The result is a solid starting point for those less familiar with Chekhov. (Nov.)