Reminiscences of Tolstoy, Chekhov and Andreyev by Maxim Gorky and Bryan Karetnyk (translator)

Reminiscences of Tolstoy, Chekhov and Andreyev by Maxim Gorky and Bryan Karetnyk (translator)
Buy Reminiscences of Tolstoy, Chekhov and Andreyev by Maxim Gorky and Bryan Karetnyk (translator) at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com (Paid links)
Category: Biography
Reviewer: Heather Magee
Summary: This was made entertaining not just because of Gorky's privileged access to these often mythologised writers, but also due their generative interactions together, recorded with staggering detail.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 208	Date: September 2025
Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions
ISBN: 978-1804271971
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Biographies are often seen as the form of life-writing which offers less colour; it can be seen as more objective and less personal. I think that Gorky completely rejects this perspective, and offers a vibrant, subjective yet informed portrait of three of his literary contemporaries. In the first section of this book, Tolstoy complains to his friend Gorky that: you write not of real life as it is, but of what you yourself imagine it to be. Whom would it help to know how I see this tower, that sea, or that Tartar - why should it interest anyone? Of what use is it?. Well, Maxim Gorky shows exactly what can be gained from a subjective account, giving us access to how he saw Tolstoy, Chekhov and Andreyev in such privileged detail that one almost feels unworthy of it.

Conflict - especially intellectual conflict - is a huge theme within this book and, I suspect, the lives of these great thinkers. It is seen as generative and useful, even if many of the topics of fiery discussion seem trivial or inconsequential today. The world would be a more interesting place if we still debated passionately about the concept of an idea or even the concept of disagreement. Gorky reflects on this: how pleasant it is at times to surprise a man with your own distinction, to let your disagreement be known.

The book is divided into three sections, for each of its subjects. Tolstoy is the first, then Chekhov and finally Andreyev. Gorky did not have simple relationships with any of these men; in fact, they can be characterised by a turbulence which mirrors that of the time they lived through together, namely the political scrutiny and frequent uprisings in the early 1900s in Russia and the First World War.

Tolstoy was perhaps the most strangely depicted in this triad of personalities. It is evident from Gorky's writing that he was a big character, grandiose and self-praising: Of all writers he spoke as though they were his children, and he, their father, knew all their faults. He had a strange obsession with peasants and the lives they led, and was extremely nationalistic. Gorky found these traits repellent, but despite their frequent disagreements, Gorky recalls weeping at his funeral. It is a fascinating biographical account which chips away at the massive, memorialised, immovable slab that is Tolstoy's name and literary career, shedding light onto a lesser known, more personal history.

If Tolstoy was preoccupied with peasants, Chekhov was interested in teachers and also the tragedy of life's trivia. He loved to bask in the banality of life and observe its patterns and flows. Gorky shows great reverence for him in his account. I felt that Chekhov's section didn't receive the same care or attention as the other two, which was a shame as I would have loved to learn more about one of my favourite short story writers and playwrights. If you are looking for a comprehensive biographical account of Chekhov's life, this is not the book for you.

Of all three men, Gorky was clearly the fondest of Andreyev, whom he calls eerily perceptive of all things and generally very talented. Where Tolstoy was like a father figure to Gorky, Andreyev's disposition was babyish and childish. He would boast about his abilities to observe and grasp things very quickly. Their friendship was touching to read about, especially in the setting of St Petersburg which was written beautifully, with Gorky describing autumnal atmospheres conducive to depth of thought, dark nights and long nights talking in a pub. Pubs, according to Andreyev, are places where writers go to receive their sacraments. Andreyev was the author I was least familiar with going into this book, but I feel I have learned the most about him through reading it, so for that reason it was a real gift.

However close Gorky brings his readers to understanding these men and picturing the unique time which surrounded them, it is locked away in the past and this book is but a small key. To sum up this sentiment, I will end with of my favourite quotes from Gorky's writing:

Sometimes - very rarely, alas - reality is truer and more beautiful than even the most talented tale of it.

I would like to thank the publisher, Fitzcarraldo Editions, for an ARC of this book. For a biography which focuses solely on Tolstoy, I would recommend Tolstoy: A Russian Life by Rosamund Bartlett.

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