Tolstoy and Chekhov

A study of the great literary relationship between two great Russian authors: Tolstoy and Chekhov, first published in 1971.

Logan Speirs (Author)

9780521155557, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 21 July 2011

248 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.4 cm, 0.32 kg

A study of the great literary relationship between two great Russian authors, first published in 1971. When Chekhov began to write, Tolstoy was acknowledged the master. Each admired the other's work, and part of Mr Speirs' argument is that Tolstoy's example helped Chekhov to see what he wanted to do and how to do it. The author feels that both have an unequalled insight into the life of modern man, the one speaking for a generation when the old order was just breaking up, and the other for one in which the new order was being established. The book begins with a large section on Tolstoy, who devised literary forms adequate to his insights; as Chekhov put it, this enabled him 'to state the problem correctly'. The study of Chekhov which follows builds on these perceptions about theme and method, showing the links and contrasts between the two authors.

1. Tolstoy and Chekhov
Part I. Tolstoy: 2. Family Happiness: a prelude
3. Introduction to a study of War and Peace
4. The pattern of War and Peace
5. Tolstoy's thinking in War and Peace
6. The structuring of Anna Karenina
7. Tolstoy's morality in Anna Karenina and in A Confession
8. Resurrection and Hadji Murad
Part II. Chekhov: The Stories: 9. The Party: a prelude
10. Chekhov and the later Tolstoy. Studies in death
11. Chekhov's 'ideas'
12. Chekhov as a social realist - Peasants and In the Ravine
13. Chekhov as novelist - Three Years
Part III. Chekhov: The Plays: 14. Chekhov's apprenticeship as a playwright (Uncle Vanya and The Seagull)
15. Three Sisters - 'laughter shining through tears'
16. 'I shall call the play a comedy' - The Cherry Orchard
Part IV. A Note on Tolstoy and D. H. Lawrence: 17. Lawrence's debt to Tolstoy in The Rainbow.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]