Is he overrated or am I just a pleb?
I'm reading his plays for a 20th century Russian literature class and I've never been more underwhelmed in my life.
He seems like a writer whose influence is undeniable, but whose style is more interestingly executed by later artists (namely, 1960s new-wave cinema).
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I read a collection of his short stories and I loved it. Such a loving and deep understanding of humans. His stories are often small, understated and don't have a lot of action. But come off very powerful.
He might be my favorite russian outside of Tolstoy.
Maybe try his short stories? Maybe he isn't for you?
I'll try his short stories. Maybe he really isn't for me.
Thanks for the reply
I feel the same way about Three Sisters, got absolutely nothing out of it. At the same time there seemed to be something lurking that I just couldn’t grasp, the way the characters felt and why they acted the way they did. Maybe watching it would help.
The few short stories I’ve read have all been very good though, so try those.
His short stories are ok, although nothing too remakable. I liked a couple of them, tho, one about a soldier who gets kissed by a stranger and another one about a doctor who dies and leaves his wife and daugher in extreme poverty.
About your question. He's not overrated, but literature has its contexts and they're vital to understand the significance of writers. ´many works are just meh if you take them out of their context.
In any case, what does "overrated" mean anyway?
Do people actually prefer his plays? I thought he was more well-known for his short stories.
the latter, sorry
The opposite.
t. Ivan Ivanov
He is absolutely not overrated.
I would say the Russian Realists go...
1. Tolstoy
2. Chekhov/Gogol
3. Goncharov/Dostoevsky
5. Turgenev
6. Others