Story 1: The Kiss by Anton Chekov
Capsule Summary: A traveling army's officers are called to tea with a former soldier, only it becomes apparent early on that they are not much desired at the former soldier's mansion. The officers mingle with the ladies, dancing, eating, drinking. The focus of the story suddenly zooms in on one young officer, a bland, boring, inexperienced person. By chance, it seems, he happens into a room in the mansion and receives a kiss from a shocked girl who obviously expected someone else, only realizing too late that this officer was not the man she had been waiting for. For the rest of the story, the soldier obsesses over the kiss. It brings him to life, and makes the world seem more real for him. In the end, the army travels back past the former soldier's home, but the officers are not invited to tea a second time. The young man spends some time staring at water near the mansion where he was kissed, then goes back to camp and goes to sleep.
Sarah says that Chekov is famous for stories in which nothing happens but the world begins and ends. This story demonstrated that nicely. The sole "action" of the story is an accident, and yet it makes the world of Ryabovich anew. Something so simple as a kiss, something I take for granted every day, is so important to the inexperienced man that it alters the way he sees the world. It's a story about love, or at least realizing that love is part of the world. The twist of the knife, in the end, is that Ryabovich never finds the identity of his mystery girl. At least for the moment, it is as if his world ends with this realization.
What did I learn from this one: A small story can be grand. Big things don't have to happen for big mood. Mood rules the small story.
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)