Anton Chekhov: “Ward No. 6” (1892) — Short Story Discussion

"Chekhov is one of the few indispensable writers... His stories, which deluge us with feeling, make feeling more intelligent; more magnanimous. He is an artist of our moral maturity." (Susan Sontag)

Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) was a master of the short story and a founder of the modern drama. His works explored the complexities of the human condition with deep psychological insight, empathy, and subtle humor. He described the Russian life of his time with a deceptively simple technique devoid of obtrusive literary devices, and his works are regarded as outstanding representatives of early modernism and 19th-century Russian realism, influencing important writers of an array of genres including Ernest Hemingway, Vladimir Nabokov, Tennessee Williams, James Joyce, and Henry Miller.

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This is a series of occasional meetups to discuss short stories by various authors. We started in the fall of 2023 and currently meet every other Sunday evening.

This time we will discuss Chekhov's “Ward No. 6” (1892), about a neglected mental asylum in a small provincial town in Russia. The story explores themes of social injustice and suffering, the dangers of intellectual detachment, and the nature of normality and sanity vs. abnormality and insanity.

Trivia: The story is mentioned in Andrei Tarkovsky's 1975 film Mirror.

Please read the story in advance (⚠ around 90 pages ⚠) and bring your thoughts, queries, critiques, and favourite passages to share with us at the meeting. A pdf copy is available here.

Stories by Chekhov we've previously discussed in this group:

• The House with the Mezzanine: An Artist’s Story (1896)
• The Bishop (1902)
• The Lady with the Little Dog (1899)
• Gusev (1890)
• The Man in a Case (1898)
• Gooseberries (1898)
• About Love (1898)
• The Black Monk (1894)
• The Huntsman (1885)
• The Student (1894)

BONUS ARTICLE: 10 pictures of young Chekhov, ranked by hotness 🔥