I would so do this. Stupid not being born in Europe. The isolation could be OK. As long as I could bring a few books along. Reminds me of a short story I loved as a kid. The Bet by Anton Chekov. Here is a link to the text. Very short and worth your time. I've got a book of Chekov plays in my bag right now. I can't really get behind any of them. I've seen Uncle Vanya and The Cherry Orchard and I enjoyed them, but reading them gives no joy. Anyway, read The Bet. Now imagine yourself a troubled angst-y teen. See?! Don't you want some rich idiot to give you millions of dollars to read all the time?
Wow. I had weird hopes and desires when I was a kid. No wonder sloth is my big sin. It's not even the money really that I wanted (it would have been nice). It was the idea of being allowed to read and study with nothing else to bother me. Even now the idea is appealing. Not for 15 years, but for 17 months? Sure, why not?
1 comment:
Chekhov. Yeah. Here's the thing: He was too smart for his own good. I'm trying to think of a writer comparable in our modern age, and it's just not happening, but perhaps a more accessible comparison would be between he and GBS. Shaw wrote it all, and had opinions on everything to the point most of us can't be bothered with or lack the mental capacity for. So with Chekhov. And, believe it or not from his plays, he was HYSTERICALLY funny. Read his one-acts. Wonderful stuff.
As for his full-lengths, I mostly hate them in the same vein I hate some of the required reading from high school. (Being a theatre major obviously influenced this.) But I believe it has mostly to do with translation, not just of Russian but of intention. Even the premiere of "The Cherry Orchard" was despised by Chekhov himself, because, in essence, he said the director didn't get it. It's supposed to be funny. I recommend "The Seagul," personally. It's at least a bit about art and personbal fulfillment, so you have a better chance of recognizing the humor than you do with a treatise on the decline of Czarist aristocarcy.
Post a Comment