Reminiscences of Tolstoy, Chekov and Andreyev by Maxim Gorky

Three Russian greats are seen up close and personal in this classic memoir, newly translated.

Maxim Gorky published his short, sketch-like memoir of Tolstoy in 1919, and the following year Virginia and Leonard Woolf’s Hogarth Press published an English translation. In 1934 the memoir was expanded to include two other greats of Russian literature, Anton Chekhov and Leonid Andreyev. Fitzcarraldo Editions has now published a new translation by Bryan Karetnyk, with a useful introduction by J. M. Coetzee.

Gorky writes in a luminous, magical prose that is a delight to read. All three memoirs - especially the Tolstoy one - are composed of short chapters, more like sketches or snapshots, designed to capture the essence of these great authors in casual moments. For example, one entry simply quotes Tolstoy saying, “Look after thyself first and foremost - for then there shall be more left for others.”

Maxim was friends with all three of his subjects, but they were complicated relationships. Tolstoy is prickly, brilliant, charismatic and sometimes full of arrant nonsense. After his death, Gorky reflects that he doesn’t know whether he loved or hated him. Chekhov is the least complicated of the trio, a warm and easygoing character, someone who is kind at heart. It’s with Leonid Andreyev that Gorky has the closest friendship. This is ironic, as the two were quite opposite characters. Gorky is consistently critical of Andreyev, his aesthetic choices and politics, while also proclaiming his deep affection.

Reminisces of Tolstoy, Chekhov and Andreyev is enjoyable on many levels. It examines complicated relationships, provides fascinating biographical sketches on some of world literature’s biggest figures, and finally, is written in a pleasurably immersive prose style, one that continually astonishes with its shrewd observations and inventive analogies. 

Fans of Russian literature will find this mandatory reading, but for those not particularly invested, Reminisces may spur a further interest in these greats of literature.

Reminiscences of Tolstoy, Chekov and Andreyev by Maxim Gorky. Translated by Bryan Karetnyk. Published by Fitzcarraldo. $32.99

MAR26