The title of this long story by Anton Chekhov seems to be translated more often as "The Story of an Unknown Man," but I'm sticking with Constance Garnett, who has it this way, "An Anonymous Story." Her work is also why I keep pushing the Delphi kindle product, as I haven't seen any better translations, but perhaps because her versions of Chekhov are in the public domain now they are less available. This is a really great story—pure Chekhov in certain ways, an almost Dostoevskian departure in others, with an unusual premise that brings an element of exotic intrigue. The narrator is a spy of some kind, who takes work as a footman with a cynical and worldly minor government bureaucrat. The narrator's mission, never really made clear, has something to do with this functionary's father, a much more powerful political figure. The narrator describes his footman duties and the household in detail. The bureaucrat, Orlov, is a dedicated bachelor, and has three close friends who gather on Thursdays to snigger at the world and play cards. All four are great characters, odd and callous eccentrics, drawn well. Then, one day, one of Orlov's mistresses appears, announcing she has left her husband and is moving in. She appears to be genuinely smitten with Orlov. For Orlov and his friends she is an impossible problem. The friends' only counsel to Orlov is to end it and the sooner the better. Orlov cannot confront her, however, and instead starts to tell her he is going on business trips when he is really staying in town with one of his friends. Orlov cannot even stand to be around her at all before long. Meanwhile, our footman narrator's mysterious mission comes to an end and he prepares to bug out. But first he must unburden himself of all his contempt for Orlov in a letter. The letter is a very Dostoevskian passage, and almost infects the story from that point on, as the narrator also feels he must unburden himself and come clean with the mistress about her situation, Orlov's deceptions, and his (the narrator's) part in all of it. Then the mistress, finally convinced of the truth, declares she wants to be part of the narrator's revolutionary movement. The narrator is all for that but really what he wants—in a perfect Chekhov twist—is for the mistress to fall in love with him. But she doesn't. She is fond of him, and nurses him when he is sick with pleurisy, but she's there for the revolution. Complications, tragic and perhaps inevitable, ensue. For all its zigs and zags this story has a wrenching yet gratifying finish. Really good one.
No comments:
Post a Comment