Posted on 01/29/2010 12:42:39 PM PST by Borges
Literature lovers around the world on Friday held celebrations and paid tribute to Anton Chekhov on the 150th birthday of Russia's most universally acclaimed playwright.
Chekhov fans said the author famed for combining a raw emotional writing style with detailed studies of the human condition at the turn of the last century maintains his relevance more than 100 years after his death.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev jetted to Chekhov's hometown of Taganrog in southern Russia, where he described the physician-turned-writer's short stories and plays as "immortal."
Clutching a bouquet of cream roses, the Kremlin chief said we can still learn from the dozens of Chekhov works, which enjoy an enduring universal appeal and have inspired other renowned writers, including James Joyce and Virginia Woolf.
Though his myriad of short stories are enormously popular in his homeland, it is his theatrical contributions to world drama that have earned Chekhov international fame.
British playwright Top Stoppard and America's David Mamet have both re-worked works by the humble, often bespectacled Chekhov and women revered him for giving them a strong voice by creating complex female characters.
German director Peter Stein, in Moscow for the anniversary, said Chekhov was as important to theater as Greek tragedy and William Shakespeare.
"These are the three basic columns of European theater. Shakespeare reinvented the Greeks for modern times and Chekhov for the 20th century," he told Reuters.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Doesn’t look a day over 130!
Sorry couldn't help it.
Beat me to it.
He was born on Jan. 29, 1860, by the Gregorian calendar, but during his lifetime Russia was still using the Julian calendar, so he would have thought his birthday was on January 17. He was only 44 when he died of tuberculosis.
I got a paperback of his short stories. Some of em are laugh out loud funny. Reminded me of Mark Twain’s short stories. Don’t know about his plays.
He intended his plays as comedies but they’re played for the tragedy. See ‘Vanya on 42nd Street’ for a unique take on ‘Uncle Vanya’.
Still looking for "nuclear wessels"...
You should read the prank that ImprovEvery did using Anton Checkov! It is hilarious!!!!
http://improveverywhere.com/2004/02/29/anton-chekov/
Don’t forget to watch the video.
-Jack
Thanks, ill check it out! It irritates me to see the kind of things my daughter reads in high school literature class. The schools deprive our kids of such treasures.
And vat is ze name of ze aktor zat plays Chekhov in ze new Star Trek?
Anton Yelchin.
Coincidence?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.