A review by frogwithlittlehammer
The Four Major Plays: The Seagull / Uncle Vanya / Three Sisters / Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov

reflective

4.25

None of those guns were Chekhovian… Which is alright because I think I’m more for his short stories than his plays, probably because I can’t imagine live performers doing his work justice. After all, J.D. Salinger did point out, “Have you ever seen a really beautiful production of, say, The Cherry Orchard? Don't say you have. Nobody has. You may have seen 'inspired' productions, 'competent' productions, but never anything beautiful. Never one where Chekhov's talent is matched, nuance for nuance, idiosyncrasy for idiosyncrasy, by every soul on-stage.” In my mind his stories are perfect, nowhere to go, nowhere to be reproduced. This translation is strange, probably extremely great, but reads rather awkward in a humorous way. But his musings on happiness are too good to let that get in the way.