My life

"My Life" by Anton Chekhov is one of the most pronounced and socially sharp stories of the writer, written in the form of confession. This is a deep and honest story about finding your true call, the rebellion against the urbanism and how hard it is to remain faithful to yourself when the whole world requires you to meet the expectations of others. In the center of the story is a young noble Misail Poloznev, who lives in a dirty provincial city, where hypocrisy, assertion, and the cult of chino readings rule. Father Misail, a respected city architect, demands from his son a successful official career. However, the young man experiences a deep hatred to misery and the false "higher society". Trying out and leaving nine positions, Misail does unheardly by noble measures - he consciously goes to the paintings, deciding to earn a life with simple physical work. The city declares him crazy, the father curses, and the invaders turn off. In opposition to the general condemnation, the life of Misail comes bright and progressive Masha Dolzhikova. Lovers marry and go to the village to build a perfect life on the ground of nature and to help the peasants. But the utopian dreams of intelligence quickly break down about the severe reality, ignorance and human cruelty. The Czechs without excessive pathos and moral doctrines created a stunning drama about the collision of idealism with real life. The story affects its psychological accuracy: it shows that the path of self-determination is always full of losses and disappointments, but only by passing it, man finds true inner freedom and peace. Who to read: Lovers of strong psychological prose, stories about finding themselves and their place in the world, as well as everyone who appreciates the mature, deep and imperfect Czech realism.