On the 100th anniversary of the death of Anton Chekhov, Rosamund Bartlett has an interesting article in today's Guardian. The article includes this description of Chekhov by Richard Ford:

"As readers of imaginative literature, we are always seeking clues, warnings," he wrote in the introduction to a recent anthology. "Where in life to search more assiduously; what not to overlook; what's the origin of this sort of human calamity, that sort of joy and pleasure: how can we live nearer to the latter, further off from the former? And to such seekers as we are, Chekhov is a guide, perhaps the guide.""