This 2293 word classic can be found here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/045.html

Travis Review:

Stories like this is why I read Chekhov. Misery is a sincere, gut-wrenching examination of humanity, our desperate need to communicate, and kindness. When I saw this title was coming up, I remembered the story was significant, although I couldn’t recall the details. Reading the first few lines, the setting seemed familiar, and I felt a familiar chill. When the officer enters the cab and berates Iona Potapov, I knew he was suffering from a tragedy. When Iona says that his son is dead, goosebumps rose on my arm and stayed throughout the rest of the reading.The elements in Misery are the same in good noir and probably why I prefer it over most literature. People who are at the bottom of society in the worst situations, and still strive forward. The pain Iona feels is so real and heartbreaking as he deals with elements of a snowy night and unsympathetic passengers (in the case of the 3 men paying a 20 kopeck fair, just plain nasty.) Yet, in the end when Iona leaves a room full a stinking men (and still nobody to talk to!) and goes to the stable, he finds a pair of sympathetic ears. After all the abuse and hardship that Iona has suffered in the reading, that tiny bit of kindness given by a horse is like a sliver of light through a cracked door, nearly blinding in the bleak darkness around it. Absolutely perfect.

Review: 10

Steve Review:

In just over 2000 words Chekhov captures the plight of human suffering in an “insignificant shell” of a cabman named Iona Potapov.  Like Travis, I had forgotten the narrative but not the emotion.  Each paragraph reignited a previously lost sentiment to the point of feeling guilty at having forgotten Iona’s story as if I too were complicit in his misery.  I kept reading hoping for a ounce of empathy or a shred of humanity but knowing that Iona would have to find solace in the abuse.  “He hears abuse addressed to him, he sees people, and the feeling of loneliness begins little by little to be less heavy on his heart.”  The depth of his loneliness knows no bounds as he tries in vain to talk about the recent death of his son to anyone who will listen.  “To talk about him with someone is possible, but to think of him and picture him is insufferable anguish.”  Unfortunately, his status in society doesn’t warrant an audience despite how much he tries to connect.  The absurdity of this should make any reader pause and consider their own daily interactions. Ultimately, in the absence of humanity, it is his horse that Iona turns to for comfort.   The ending is still tragic but in light of what came before, it is somehow more tolerable and almost infinitely preferable.

Rating:  10

 

5 thoughts on “#045 Misery

  1. Our class was discussing early fears that Iona may have made up the death of his son in order to get a tip. We were horrified by this and felt terrible to have thought so badly of the driver. When you read this story next to GRIEF/SORROW, Chekhov’s ability to create character with so few words is astounding.

    1. I love this story. I imagine many of the passengers thought the same way about Iona as your students. Even the other cab drivers who knew the truth didn’t want to talk about it. The uncomfortableness of grief is often too much of a burden for other people to discuss.

  2. pleasse help my report tomorrow:
    my qestion is

    in appreciating literature consider the following:

    1.nderstand the purpose of the writer in writing that certain literary piece;

    2.understand the role being played by the charaters;

    3.contrast that literature to the other works you have read in the past;

    4.aask yourself,what haappened in the story that will possibly happen in reality?

    please answer because tomorrow my report from my school pleaasse help me?…..

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