"Jeez Jerri, thank you so much. And I have a question, if I may? It's this: Chekhov, dear Anton, was writing not speaking 'The Lady with the Dog'. Would his diction have closely resembled his written prose or could it, perhaps, have rendered the same story somewhat differently?"
"Jeez Jerri, thank you so much. And I have a question, if I may? It's this: Chekhov, dear Anton, was writing not speaking 'The Lady with the Dog'. Would his diction have closely resembled his written prose or could it, perhaps, have rendered the same story somewhat differently?"
Rob, if there's a recording of Chekhov speaking somewhere I'm not aware of it (though the technology certainly existedтАФI've seen video of an elderly Tolstoy on his estate). Probably the closest one can come would be to read his private letters, which I'm sure are collected somewhere! In the meantime, you might enjoy this lovely little essay on Chekhov the man, written by Boris Fishman for LitHub: https://lithub.com/everything-you-think-you-know-about-chekhov-is-wrong/
What an essay; what a timely signposting; what a confidence building piece.
Starting with the last, I've found myself realising and relishing the earthiness that I've discovered in reading Chekov's 'The Lady with the Dog' this time around. I've written comment, frankly, with raw Anglo-Saxon word choices foreground and find that, no shock jock, I'm on the money: Anton was what is commonly described as 'a ladies man', who may even, who knows been in the mind of Leornard Cohen as a he strung the words together that made the lyrics of some of his greatest songs and perhaps even shaped his album 'Death of a Ladies Man'. Gurov, and indeed the Yalta Summer Crowd, strike me as necrotic characters.
Timely? Because it is a beautiful gateway into advancing comprehension of the icon that is 'Chekhov'. The man is much more than the terrifying, all-time classic of Russian and World Literature that is 'Chekov'. Couldn'a ha' come to me - and other Story Clubbers happening to pass a reading eye this way - at a better time (having started to make acquaintance with George while swimming around that pond in the rain trying to keep my copy of 'In the Cart' dry and now doing work with him on 'The Lady and the Dog')
Essay? The most exemplary example of the form I've read in some time, and I've only read it once, on the fly from reading your signpost, so have much to mine from revisiting it.
And just to say, that underlying my reason for asking about comparisons between Russian as written and Russian as spoken are memories of being in Moscow @ 1991/1992 and being fascinated by the skills of Russian colleagues in translating words I and others spoke in what they sometimes referred to as 'compressed mode'.
So pleased to have made, passing, acquaintance with you Jerri via this thread.
"Jeez Jerri, thank you so much. And I have a question, if I may? It's this: Chekhov, dear Anton, was writing not speaking 'The Lady with the Dog'. Would his diction have closely resembled his written prose or could it, perhaps, have rendered the same story somewhat differently?"
Rob, if there's a recording of Chekhov speaking somewhere I'm not aware of it (though the technology certainly existedтАФI've seen video of an elderly Tolstoy on his estate). Probably the closest one can come would be to read his private letters, which I'm sure are collected somewhere! In the meantime, you might enjoy this lovely little essay on Chekhov the man, written by Boris Fishman for LitHub: https://lithub.com/everything-you-think-you-know-about-chekhov-is-wrong/
Thak you so very much for signposting me to https://lithub.com/everything-you-think-you-know-about-chekhov-is-wrong/ .
What an essay; what a timely signposting; what a confidence building piece.
Starting with the last, I've found myself realising and relishing the earthiness that I've discovered in reading Chekov's 'The Lady with the Dog' this time around. I've written comment, frankly, with raw Anglo-Saxon word choices foreground and find that, no shock jock, I'm on the money: Anton was what is commonly described as 'a ladies man', who may even, who knows been in the mind of Leornard Cohen as a he strung the words together that made the lyrics of some of his greatest songs and perhaps even shaped his album 'Death of a Ladies Man'. Gurov, and indeed the Yalta Summer Crowd, strike me as necrotic characters.
Timely? Because it is a beautiful gateway into advancing comprehension of the icon that is 'Chekhov'. The man is much more than the terrifying, all-time classic of Russian and World Literature that is 'Chekov'. Couldn'a ha' come to me - and other Story Clubbers happening to pass a reading eye this way - at a better time (having started to make acquaintance with George while swimming around that pond in the rain trying to keep my copy of 'In the Cart' dry and now doing work with him on 'The Lady and the Dog')
Essay? The most exemplary example of the form I've read in some time, and I've only read it once, on the fly from reading your signpost, so have much to mine from revisiting it.
And just to say, that underlying my reason for asking about comparisons between Russian as written and Russian as spoken are memories of being in Moscow @ 1991/1992 and being fascinated by the skills of Russian colleagues in translating words I and others spoke in what they sometimes referred to as 'compressed mode'.
So pleased to have made, passing, acquaintance with you Jerri via this thread.