Literary Awards and Criticism from Real Critics:
Pushkin Prize, Division of Russian Language and Letters of the Academy of Sciences, 1888, for collection of stories, V sumerkakh (In the Twilight); elected Honorary Academician of the Pushkin Section of Belle Lettres of the Academy of Sciences, 1899; awarded Order of St. Stanislav for work in the cause of national education, 1899; Griboedov Prize, Society of Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers, for Tri syostry: Drama v chetyryokh deystviyakh (The Three Sisters: A Drama in Four Acts).
Reading Anton Chekhov's stories, one feels oneself in a melancholy day of late autumn, when the air is transparent and the outline of naked trees, narrow houses, greyish people, is sharp. Everything is strange, lonely, motionless, helpless. The horizon, blue and empty, melts into the pale sky, and its breath is terribly cold upon the earth, which is covered with frozen mud. The author's mind, like autumn sun, shows up in hard outline the monotonous roads, the crooked streets, the little squalid houses in which tiny, miserable people are stifled by boredom and laziness and fill the houses with an unintelligible, drowsy bustle. ... There passes before one a long file of men and women, slaves of their love, of their stupidity and idleness, of their greed for the good things of life; there walk the slaves of the dark fear of life; they straggle anxiously along, filling life with incoherent words about the future, feeling that in the present there is no place for them. ... In front of that dreary, gray crowd of helpless people there passed a great, wise, and observant man: he looked at all these dreary inhabitants of his country, and, with a sad smile, with a tone of gentle but deep reproach, with anguish in his face and in his heart, in a beautiful and sincere voice, he said to them: "You live badly, my friends. It is shameful to live like that." — Maxim Gorky, Reminiscences of Anton Chekhov (BW Huebsch, 1921)
His genius lies above all in his creative gifts as a writer of short stories. ... In fact, his plays derive directly from his stories, in which, it seems to me, the texture is far richer. — VS Pritchett
Tolstoy is reported to have said that Chekov was a photographer, a very talented photographer, it is true, but still only a photographer. But Chekov has one quality which is difficult to find among photographers, and that is humour. His stories are frequently deliciously droll. They are also often full of pathos, and they invariably possess the peculiarly Russian quality of simplicity and unaffectedness. He never underlines his effects, he never nudges the reader's elbow. — Maurice Baring, Landmarks in Russian Literature (Methuen, 1916)
("Anton Chekhov Biography - Brandeis." 2002. 3 Jun. 2013 <http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/chekhovbio.html>)
Critics of Anton Chekhov:
Critics find Anton Chekhov's works wonderful. They feel that his descriptions of the serious, more sad things are so real that you can feel the sadness too. They find his descriptions beautiful and his quick snippets of a story to be a very interesting way to go about the story. They like that it makes you really use your imagination when reading. Although his works are typically short, they're something that you can really get into, considering their size.
("Anton Chekhov Biography - Brandeis." 2002. 3 Jun. 2013 <http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/chekhovbio.html>)
My Criticism:
I enjoyed reading some of Chekhov's works. They are realistic and relateable. I like how he can take a dark topic or subject, one that makes you sad, and then he makes it gripping. He also has an interesting way of giving you just a snippet of the story, never really the whole thing. It's as if you're looking through a quick snapshot of someone's life, not necessarily watching the whole movie, but just getting a quick snapshot. It's really wonderful to read. I agree with the critics. I believe he deserves all of his awards.
Pushkin Prize, Division of Russian Language and Letters of the Academy of Sciences, 1888, for collection of stories, V sumerkakh (In the Twilight); elected Honorary Academician of the Pushkin Section of Belle Lettres of the Academy of Sciences, 1899; awarded Order of St. Stanislav for work in the cause of national education, 1899; Griboedov Prize, Society of Dramatic Writers and Opera Composers, for Tri syostry: Drama v chetyryokh deystviyakh (The Three Sisters: A Drama in Four Acts).
Reading Anton Chekhov's stories, one feels oneself in a melancholy day of late autumn, when the air is transparent and the outline of naked trees, narrow houses, greyish people, is sharp. Everything is strange, lonely, motionless, helpless. The horizon, blue and empty, melts into the pale sky, and its breath is terribly cold upon the earth, which is covered with frozen mud. The author's mind, like autumn sun, shows up in hard outline the monotonous roads, the crooked streets, the little squalid houses in which tiny, miserable people are stifled by boredom and laziness and fill the houses with an unintelligible, drowsy bustle. ... There passes before one a long file of men and women, slaves of their love, of their stupidity and idleness, of their greed for the good things of life; there walk the slaves of the dark fear of life; they straggle anxiously along, filling life with incoherent words about the future, feeling that in the present there is no place for them. ... In front of that dreary, gray crowd of helpless people there passed a great, wise, and observant man: he looked at all these dreary inhabitants of his country, and, with a sad smile, with a tone of gentle but deep reproach, with anguish in his face and in his heart, in a beautiful and sincere voice, he said to them: "You live badly, my friends. It is shameful to live like that." — Maxim Gorky, Reminiscences of Anton Chekhov (BW Huebsch, 1921)
His genius lies above all in his creative gifts as a writer of short stories. ... In fact, his plays derive directly from his stories, in which, it seems to me, the texture is far richer. — VS Pritchett
Tolstoy is reported to have said that Chekov was a photographer, a very talented photographer, it is true, but still only a photographer. But Chekov has one quality which is difficult to find among photographers, and that is humour. His stories are frequently deliciously droll. They are also often full of pathos, and they invariably possess the peculiarly Russian quality of simplicity and unaffectedness. He never underlines his effects, he never nudges the reader's elbow. — Maurice Baring, Landmarks in Russian Literature (Methuen, 1916)
("Anton Chekhov Biography - Brandeis." 2002. 3 Jun. 2013 <http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/chekhovbio.html>)
Critics of Anton Chekhov:
Critics find Anton Chekhov's works wonderful. They feel that his descriptions of the serious, more sad things are so real that you can feel the sadness too. They find his descriptions beautiful and his quick snippets of a story to be a very interesting way to go about the story. They like that it makes you really use your imagination when reading. Although his works are typically short, they're something that you can really get into, considering their size.
("Anton Chekhov Biography - Brandeis." 2002. 3 Jun. 2013 <http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/chekhovbio.html>)
My Criticism:
I enjoyed reading some of Chekhov's works. They are realistic and relateable. I like how he can take a dark topic or subject, one that makes you sad, and then he makes it gripping. He also has an interesting way of giving you just a snippet of the story, never really the whole thing. It's as if you're looking through a quick snapshot of someone's life, not necessarily watching the whole movie, but just getting a quick snapshot. It's really wonderful to read. I agree with the critics. I believe he deserves all of his awards.