The "Current Read" section of the site has made a switch because Anton Chekhov's "Ward No.6 and Other Short Stories" from the Barnes and Noble classics collection is complete! Here is my review of the book, a few excerpts from my favorite stories, and the overarching message that Chekhov shares with his readers.
One should never assume that the title story will be the best one in a collection of short stories. I found that to be the case with George Saunders's The Tenth of December, my favorite book of this genre. However, in "Ward No.6 and Other Short Stories," this ended up being the case. The title story is essentially double the length of the second longest story, which might account for its fame since it has more time to develop its ideas and create memorable, lasting characters. Shorter reads can sometimes be more impactful and poignant, though, so this isn't an assumption that should be made before reading the collection and this is also just my personal opinion.
"Ward No. 6" is the story of a doctor, Ragin, who is instructed to visit a set of mentally insane patients who live in a prison named after the title. None of the patients display any potential for recuperation and reintegration into society, except for one man named Gromov. He is resistant and hyperactive when the doctor first makes his appearance, but over time, both of them are actually able to converse with one another and philosophical topics that surpass anything that the doctor has been able to do with those that we call "normal" in our society. Ragin's assistant insists that he should not be spending so much time in the asylum with this man, but the doctor does not listen to this advice. Over time, he realizes that the structured norms that our society puts into place seek to exile those who do not exhibit "normal" qualities, though they might be even more intelligent and possess a deep ability for reflection.
The following thoughts arise in their conversation and transform Ragin's approach to life, as well as inspire the reader:
"What is the good of the brain centres and convolutions, what is the good of sight, speech, self-consciousness, genius, if it is all destined to depart into the soil, and in the end to grow cold together with the earth's crust, and then for millions of years to fly with the earth round the sun with no meaning and no object? To do that there was no need at all to draw man with his lofty, almost godlike intellect out of non-existence, and then, as though in mockery, to turn him into clay. The transmutation of substances! But what cowardice to comfort oneself with that cheap substitute for immortality! The unconscious processes that take place in nature are lower even than the stupidity of man, since in stupidity there is, anyway, consciousness and will, while in those processes there is absolutely nothing. Only the coward who has more fear of death than dignity can comfort himself with the fact that his body will in time live again in the grass, in the stones, in the toad. To find one's immortality in the transmutation of substances is as strange as to prophesy a brilliant future for the case after a precious violin has been broken and become useless."
Some other stories in the collection that I would recommend that you check out which got really close to "Ward No.6" include "The Kiss," "The Lady and the Dog," and "Gooseberries" if I had to pick three.
"The Kiss" is a story about yearning a past moment too deeply and letting that desire consume your life. When our mind fervently wraps around a past instant and never lets go of it, even if it is positive in nature, it creates a sort of prolonged suffering that causes more damage than simply letting go and moving on. It forces us to form unrealistic expectations of the future and deceive ourselves.
"Ryabovitch looked indifferently before and behind, at the backs of heads and at faces; at any other time he would have been half asleep, but now he was entirely absorbed in his new agreeable thoughts. At first when the brigade was setting off on the march he tried to persuade himself that the incident of the kiss could only be interesting as a mysterious little adventure, that it was in reality trivial, and to think of it seriously, to say the least of it, was stupid; but now he bade farewell to logic and gave himself up to dreams."
"The Lady and the Dog" I loved because it ended on an uplifting and hopeful note which is quite rare in Chekhov's writing. The two figures mentioned in the title make an appearance right from the get go and the narrator has to make a choice. Will he approach this lady who looks so intriguing, so out of place in the city of Yelta? And once he does, how is their relationship able to evolve considering that both of them have a formal romantic partner on the side that they don't like? This story gets at the heart of love and releasing oneself from the confines that are placed upon us through structured relationships.
And finally, "Gooseberries" has a similar message as the kiss, where the brother of the main character has a fixation on an image of country life that he pursues his entire life, eventually basking in the glory when he realizes his goal but creating mixed sentiments for the narrator.
Chekhov's collection is perfect in that each story is different but simultaneously tied together by a theme of release, liberation, escaping past fixations, and challenging our viewpoints about reality.
3/10/21