Thanks to Dave Lull for passing along an interview with Stephen Dixon in 3:AM Magazine. The interviewer is dim and Dixon is irascible but he has this to say about Chekhov:
"Chekhov could be the greatest writer who ever lived. And I don’t say that because my wife is a Chekhov scholar (his stories) and teaches him. I’m always reading Chekhov…so, always rereading him because I think I’ve read all the published stories in English. I’m amazed sometimes the things he pulls off. Language and character and dialog and story and the endings, those superb endings, and the great scenery—brushstrokes, quick but intensely visual…a master."
2 comments:
I have tickets to see Ken Branagh as Ivanov next month, looking forward to it.
A few months ago, I saw Peter Hall's production of Uncle Vanya at my (new) local theatre. If it is touring near you at any time, I can highly recommend it. Excellent production.
I read a volume of his collected stories earlier this year on the the advice of Francine Prose (I think) - she said that reading them just made her feel happy, and that's exactly the effect they had on me. I felt happy at how they showed so much so effortlessly. However, I felt a certain amount of wistfulness too because I felt the experience would have been so much richer if I'd had an expert, someone like your wife, perhaps, on hand to explain what exactly he was doing and how he managed it!
Post a Comment