Chekov's 'Ward No.6'

[Suvorov]

I am reading through a collection of Chekov's short stories from the 1890s and I have to say they are excellent. Chekov was certainly a gifted dramatist but I feel his stories are of at least equal quality.

'Ward No.6' is certainly the most Dostoyevskian of the tales and it is the one which remains stuck in my mind. The idea of abstract philosophy being rendered meaningless by experience of the particular is portrayed through the poignant prism of mental illness makes for a thoroughly moving and thought provoking story.

Does anyone else like this one or have their own favourite from Chekov's works?

[MikeK]

I absolutely love this story.  It's one of my favorite of Chekhov's.  I actually recommended it to someone else on this site a while ago who asked for a 'Dostoevskian-type' story; so I think you're exactly right about it being the Chekhov story most like FD.

Have you read "In The Ravine" yet?  That may be my favorite.  What happens near the end is absolutely heart-rending...and I think of the ending of that story as very Dostoevskian as well.

[MikeK]

I forgot to mention in my last post, another one of my favorites is "A Dreary Story" (And it's also been translated as "A Boring Story").  Did you like that one?  The first time that I read a collection of Chekhov stories, those were the two that stuck in my mind; "Ward No. 6", and "A Dreary Story".

[Suvorov]

I absolutely love this story.  It's one of my favorite of Chekhov's.  I actually recommended it to someone else on this site a while ago who asked for a 'Dostoevskian-type' story; so I think you're exactly right about it being the Chekhov story most like FD.

Have you read "In The Ravine" yet?  That may be my favorite.  What happens near the end is absolutely heart-rending...and I think of the ending of that story as very Dostoevskian as well.

I am still reading through so I have not read all of them yet. The other that has stuck in my mind is "The Black Monk" and the way it connects genius to madness.

[lerik]

I can't choose my favorite one,there are so many.The story that I read last though,really struck me.I cant remember the name(either "student" or "Vladimir") buit was a very tragic one about a teenager comitting suicide.Its not his famous work though.

[tzar]

'Ward No.6' is certainly the most Dostoyevskian of the tales and it is the one which remains stuck in my mind.

no way it's "dostoyevskian".
'Ward No.6' has much more in common with Tolstoy.

[Childe Harold]

Strange "In the Ravine" is my least favorite story. "My Life", "Three Years" and "The Duel" are the ones up there for me.

[Suvorov]

'Ward No.6' is certainly the most Dostoyevskian of the tales and it is the one which remains stuck in my mind.

no way it's "dostoyevskian".
'Ward No.6' has much more in common with Tolstoy.

It is a refutation of Tolstoy, that is about all it has in common with him.

[Childe Harold]

How? I'm curious. I know there is a great opposition between the two writers.

[lotrlz]

I've also posted this in the Dostoevsky and Chekhov thread...

Thoughts, ideas on the claim that Ivan Dmitrich is a tribute charater modeled after the Underground Man? I've noticed similarities myself, but I'm curious to hear if anyone else agrees with this, and to hear some new ideas.

[tzar]

'Ward No.6' is certainly the most Dostoyevskian of the tales and it is the one which remains stuck in my mind.

no way it's "dostoyevskian".
'Ward No.6' has much more in common with Tolstoy.

It is a refutation of Tolstoy, that is about all it has in common with him.

refutation?
by no means!
Tolstoy and Chekhov are very similar writers and, unlike Dostoevsky, very frustrated ones.

[Suvorov]

'Ward No.6' is certainly the most Dostoyevskian of the tales and it is the one which remains stuck in my mind.

no way it's "dostoyevskian".
'Ward No.6' has much more in common with Tolstoy.

It is a refutation of Tolstoy, that is about all it has in common with him.

refutation?
by no means!
Tolstoy and Chekhov are very similar writers and, unlike Dostoevsky, very frustrated ones.

On the contrary, we know from Chekhov's letters that 'Ward No.6' is aimed at refuting Tolstoy's ideas on passive non-resistance. Ragin practices a similar passive non-resistance when he ignores the suffering in the hospital: Chekhov hoped to demonstrate that such a passive state is still morally reprehensible. It should be noted, though, that Chekhov made some mistakes regarding Tolstoy's philosophy and his view of it is a gross over-simplification.  

[tzar]

'ward no.6' could well have been written by tolstoy himself

[RomanRussia]

 A nice quote from Ward No 6

 "No, I want to know how it is that you consider yourself competent to judge of 'comprehension,' contempt for suffering, and so on. Have you ever suffered? Have you any idea of suffering? Allow me to ask you, were you ever thrashed in your childhood?"
"No, my parents had an aversion for corporal punishment."
"My father used to flog me cruelly; my father was a harsh, sickly Government clerk with a long nose and a yellow neck. But let us talk of you. No one has laid a finger on you all your life, no one has scared you nor beaten you; you are as strong as a bull. You grew up under your father's wing and studied at his expense, and then you dropped at once into a sinecure. For more than twenty years you have lived rent free with heating, lighting, and service all provided, and had the right to work how you pleased and as much as you pleased, even to do nothing. You were naturally a flabby, lazy man, and so you have tried to arrange your life so that nothing should disturb you or make you move. You have handed over your work to the assistant and the rest of the rabble while you sit in peace and warmth, save money, read, amuse yourself with reflections, with all sorts of lofty nonsense, and" (Ivan Dmitritch looked at the doctor's red nose) "with boozing; in fact, you have seen nothing of life, you know absolutely nothing of it, and are only theoretically acquainted with reality; you despise suffering and are surprised at nothing for a very simple reason: vanity of vanities, the external and the internal, contempt for life, for suffering and for death, comprehension, true happiness -- that's the philosophy that suits the Russian sluggard best. You see a peasant beating his wife, for instance. Why interfere? Let him beat her, they will both die sooner or later, anyway; and, besides, he who beats injures by his blows, not the person he is beating, but himself. To get drunk is stupid and unseemly, but if you drink you die, and if you don't drink you die. A peasant woman comes with toothache . . . well, what of it? Pain is the idea of pain, and besides 'there is no living in this world without illness; we shall all die, and so, go away, woman, don't hinder me from thinking and drinking vodka.' A young man asks advice, what he is to do, how he is to live; anyone else would think before answering, but you have got the answer ready: strive for 'comprehension' or for true happiness. And what is that fantastic 'true happiness'? There's no answer, of course. We are kept here behind barred windows, tortured, left to rot; but that is very good and reasonable, because there is no difference at all between this ward and a warm, snug study. A convenient philosophy. You can do nothing, and your conscience is clear, and you feel you are wise. . . . No, sir, it is not philosophy, it's not thinking, it's not breadth of vision, but laziness, fakirism, drowsy stupefaction.

 while I have been in continual suffering from the day of my birth till to-day. For that reason, I tell you frankly, I consider myself superior to you and more competent in every respect. It's not for you to teach me."

 You can't but just love Russian literature