Why was Anton Chekhov's life incredibly boring?
Yes, this is the feeling that is created when reading the brand new biography ‘Chekhov in Life’ by Russian writer Igor Sukhikh (Kolibri publications, 2024). Here's a vivid excerpt from the book about what the great writer did not do in his entire life.
“In less than forty-four years, Chekhov:
- did not hide the secret of his origins;
- did not expect an inheritance and did not fight for it;
- did not suffer from unrequited love (at least, not his entire life);
- did not pursue women (at least, he kept quiet about it) and, on the other hand, did not turn his companions into mystical Beautiful Ladies;
- did not lose at cards;
- did not fight in duels;
- did not serve in the army nor fight in a war;
- did not stand on the scaffold, nor was he in hard labor or in exile (even a mild, domestic one);
- did not fight against the authorities or censorship;
- did not tell the truth to tsars with a smile (or without one);
- did not publish works abroad or underground;
- did not publish any magazines;
- did not have fatal conflicts with fellow writers;
- did not ostentatiously burn his main books (and simply did not ostentatiously destroy manuscripts);
- did not run away from home at night;
- did not commit suicide.”
