Russia, Arts and Literature
With Chekhov and Tolstoy, Russia sets the standard of narrative. All writers of fiction place themselves on the continuum with Chekhov and Tolstoy, starting with one and ending with the other. Chekhov's flawless little stories, the master of the shorter form, invites us into some corner of a household at some discreet hour in which the entire human condition is suddenly within reach, and heart-breakingly so. Is there a work greater in scope than War and Peace which moves so d