Anton Chekhov’s name appears in many reviews of your work. How do you relate to him as an artist? How are the works of Chekhov, or of any of the classic Russian writers, regarded in contemporary Russia?
For me, Chekhov, like Pushkin (who is an absolute genius and therefore untranslatable), are dear, kindred spirits who don’t know that I exist. Russians treat these classics with unchanging passion and jealousy. Some years back, I wrote a piece about Pushkin’s death. I was engulfed by popular hatred. Within days, my piece was read by 14,000 readers.
Lyudmila Petrushevskaya
Aqui.
Aqui.