Letters of Anton Chekhov (Tchekhov) - Penn State University

Anton ChekhovTO V. G. KOROLENKO.MOSCOW, January 9, 1888.Following your friendly advice I began writing a story* for theSyeverny Vyestnik. To begin with I have attempted to describe thesteppe, the people who live there, and what I have experienced inthe steppe. It is a good subject, and I enjoy writing about it, butunfortunately from lack of practice in writing long things, and fromfear of making it too rambling, I fall into the opposite extreme: eachpage turns out a compact whole like a short story, the pictures accumulate,are crowded, and, getting in each other’s way, spoil the impressionas a whole. As a result one gets, not a picture in which allthe details are merged into one whole like stars in the heavens, buta mere diagram, a dry record of impressions. A writer—you, forinstance—will understand me, but the reader will be bored andcurse.… Your “Sokolinets” is, I think, the most remarkable novel thathas appeared of late. It is written like a good musical composition,in accordance with all the rules which an artist instinctively divines.Altogether in the whole of your book you are such a great artist,such a force, that even your worst failings, which would have beenthe ruin of any other writer, pass unnoticed. For instance, in thewhole of your book there is an obstinate exclusion of women, and Ihave only just noticed it.*“The Steppe”71