A Masterful Symphony of two Russian Writers: “About Chekhov” by Ivan Bunin
Review by Jacob Malewitz
Some years after the death of Anton Chekhov, his sister Maria set in motion this “Unfinished Symphony,” one of the best works on any Russian figure of the 20th century. She wrote to Pyotr Bykov: “You asked for someone who could write a biography of my deceased brother,” she said naming Bunin next. “No one writes better than he; he knew and understood my deceased brother well; he can go about the endeavor objectively.” Bunin decided to write the book, but didn’t start until 50 years later, beginning “About Chekhov” in 1947. A book with multiple themes, which portrays the human condition, and one that seems to be a rough draft short in length but with an audacity all its own.
In his foreword, translator Thomas Gaiton Marullo proposes why this unfinished work is important. First, there was confusion in the western world on Chekhov’s art which needed to be solved. Second, Bunin said Chekhov was an “everyman awash in the joys and sorrows, triumphs and tragedies of existence.” Lastly, Bunin saw many Chekhov writers and admirers seeing him as one who preferred plays to prose. What we get isn’t just that; it is a rough work that reevaluates what it means to live in the modern world, and states why Chekhov’s name is still as paramount to Russian literature as Tolstoy.
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Bunin worked until his death on the piece, having his wife read him letters. One wonders how a finished symphony would have affected the world of Russian literature. Bunin could not say it better of Chekhov being truly mortal. “His troubles with both men and women, his doubts about his plays and prose, and his fears of personal and artistic oblivion often cracked the fragile shell of his being …”
There is also the fact, as noted in the beginning by Chekhov’s sister, that the two writers were friends. Morrello’s foreword provides a detailed look into this, the diverging roles Chekhov and Bunin played in the Russian world, and diverging paths they took onto the literary scene. One thought he would be a hero (Chekhov), and the other thought he was a hero (Bunin). This introduction provides a lengthy glimpse into both writers lives, which is important because the unfinished work is quite short.
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Examples and details really make this book unique. We have a timid Russian prose writer who became a fairly wealthy noble from his writing (Chekhov) and Bunin who won the Pulitzer prize for literature. It makes this a classic, one that should be remembered for what it says about the worlds of not just two men but of the changing literary scene in Russia prior to the Bolshevik revolution.
A heavy read at times, the intro provides all the facts and differences of these two writers looking to cast their own shadows. All the important points, like Chekhov setting out to draw a line between himself and Tolstoy, provide the development of two Russian legends, each out for truth. It becomes a tale of two writers, where one is so different than the other that it becomes odd to see Bunin trying to relate his times with Chekhov to us.
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Bunin’s writing is auspicious from the beginning, offering small facts, like that Chekhov never cried, and turned into an opened designed to capture us immediately. It appears Bunin wants readers to understand Chekhov the man more than Chekhov the writing, at least in the beginning. He doesn’t set out a beginning connected to a middle and an ending. We have scattered scenes which Bunin jumps into, explaining to us the basics of what each word, story, and phrase means.
Bunin also offers many points on what made Chekhov the best of the Russian writers. For instance, without his troubled early life, Bunin states Chekhov wouldn’t have written some of his greatest works.
The scenes Bunin provides read like short stories. For instance, he adds in letters from Chekhov’s dear friend, Lydia Avilova, who has an innate talent for drama and perspective in her letters. She humanizes Chekhov in a way only Bunin could hope to emulate. Other scenes read as though they are still in the rough draft box, where Bunin is just trying to get his ideas on paper and moving on. Even then, Bunin has clarity.
It turns into a timeless tribute to a timid writer who captured so much of his land, and those who peopled it, that to this day is name is one synonymous with Russian fiction, just as much as Tolstoy. What matters in Bunin’s writing is the mindset of remaking Chekhov in a readable, fluent light, where his true character isn’t questioned and his writing is. Also, remarking on his career early on is not Bunin’s aim. His intent is to see the literary figure, not the boy or doctor (his first vocation), but also going back and providing necessary details.
Where the stories of Russian and its people’s pain may seem clichéd, like the storyteller who likes his drinks, one can see something deeply personal. Perhaps both writers would have been better off in a different society, because they seemed to fit in less and less the older they grew.
A revealing portrait of an epic man, one wonders how far “About Chekhov” will go in enlightening readers not just to Bunin and Chekhov, but to a deeper exploration of Russian literature.
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