Anton Chekhov was a Russian physician, short story writer, and
playwright. His brief playwriting career produced four classics of the
repertoire, while his best short stories are held in high esteem by
writers and critics. Chekhov practised as a doctor throughout his
literary career: "Medicine is my lawful wife," he once said, "and
literature is my mistress". Chekhov renounced the theatre after the
disastrous reception of The Seagull in 1896; but the play was revived
to acclaim by Konstantin Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre, which
subsequently also produced Uncle Vanya and premiered Chekhov’s last
two plays, The Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. These four works
present a special challenge to an acting ensemble, and they also
challenge audiences, because in place of conventional action Chekhov
offers a "theatre of mood" and a "submerged life in the text". Not
everyone appreciated that challenge: Leo Tolstoy reportedly told
Chekhov, "You know, I cannot abide Shakespeare, but your plays are
even worse". Tolstoy did, however, admire Chekhov's short stories.
Chekhov had at first written stories only for the money, but as his
artistic ambition grew, he made formal innovations which have
influenced the evolution of the modern short story. His originality
consists in an early use of the stream-of-consciousness technique,
later exploited by Virginia Woolf and other modernists, combined with
a disavowal of the moral finality of traditional story structure.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Chekhov
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1241:
Mongols led by Batu Khan and Subutai crushed the Hungarian army of
King Béla IV in the Battle of Mohi.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Khan)
1945:
World War II: The Buchenwald concentration camp was liberated.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchenwald_concentration_camp)
1965:
Fifty-one tornadoes struck six states in the Midwestern United States
during the Palm Sunday tornado outbreak.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Sunday_tornado_outbreak_of_1965)
1979:
Uganda-Tanzania War: The Uganda National Liberation Army and Tanzanian
forces captured Kampala, forcing Ugandan President for Life Idi Amin
to flee.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idi_Amin)
2002:
President Hugo Chávez was forced to resign during a military coup
attempt in Venezuela.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_coup_attempt_of_2002)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
Extremists think "communication" means agreeing with them. -- Leo
Rosten
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leo_Rosten)