New-York tribune., 1921-02-20


lated by Constance Garnett. Published
by the Macmillan Company.
NHE stories of Anton Chekhov
show what true artist can
create out of the simplest ma
terials. Chekhov seldom goes out
side the range of everyday existence
for the material Of his plots. Abnor-
NAL and sensational situations are
quite foreign to his genius. He seldom
employs the. trick Of surprise ending
There is nothing exotic, romantic or
picturesque about his characters. They
are just ordinary men and women, such
as one might meet in New York or
Gopher Prairie.
Simple in Style and Matter
No writer is more aloof from every
form Of propaganda. Chekhov never
attempts to attract interest by intro
ducing special pleading for some po-
litical, religious or social idea. And
his style is as simple and unpreten-
tious as his matter. He never
cries out, stamps his feet, shouts or
gesticulates. He only writes, with un-
obtrusive clarity and beauty, of certain
facts Of human existence which he has
observed.
| And yet, even through the neccssa-
rily imperfect medium of a transla-
ton, one always perceives the hand of
a master. Against the calm, almost
hoc dc hol
stand out with remarkable distinctness.
Time and again, without sentimentality
and without bitterness, he reveals the
essential pathos of human. existence.
He makes a universal tragedy out of
the fate of poor Tartar peasant, ban
frozen wilds of Siberia.
Much Of Chekhoy's appeal lies in his
resolute avoidance of anything that
even remotely suggests theatrical pos
ing. His endings may be happy or un-
happy; but they arc never manufac-
tured for the sake of effect. He never
sacrifices his literary independence to
some preconceived theory of optimism
or pessimism. He is never a prophet
or propagandist; he always remains R
faithful, clear sighted observer. And
his stories furnish ample evidence that
straightforward, dispassionate observa-
tion Of everyday occurrences, when it
is done with intelligence and sympathy,
yields astonishingly imaginative re-
suits.
Chekhov was professional physician,
and his writing shows at once the
trained eye of the scientist and the
warm heart of the artist. He is never
able to look upon misery with hard
or cynical Indifference; there is ten
der, quivering sympathy in all his de-
scriptions of suffering. But his sym
pathy never degenerates into cloying
mushiness. His emotions are strong
and generous; but he never allows his
vision to be clouded by his emotions
One of the shortest and best of the
stories in the present volume is called
"Misery." II describes an old
peasant, who has lost his only son, and
who Is forced to earn a scanty living
as cabman in an, unfamiliar city,
where he is cheated and abused, and,
above all, lonely. There is nothing
unusual in the fate OF the old cabman.
But, illuminated by Chekhov's warm
humanity and unsparing realism, the
figure Is transformed; the suffering is
made infinitely more intimate, more
personal, more poignant. The story
stands out as fit companion piece to
Turgeniev's "Mumu''; 1t is one Of the
most touching sketches in the worlds
| literature,
The bare outlines Of life are softened
and enriched under Chekhov's Inter
probation. He possesses an uncommon
and remarkable talent for drawing out
the secret dream. the frustrated desire,
the fhgsrted ideal that lends interest