Dec 25, 2009

Errand | Summary

Part One
Carver begins "Errand" by relating an incident that occurred in 1897, when Chekhov dined with his wealthy friend Alexei Suvorin in Moscow. At the dinner, Chekhov begins hemorrhaging and is taken to a clinic where the famous Russian writer Leo Tolstoy visits him. Carver includes this detail to underscore the difference between Tolstoy's approach to writing and Chekhov's and to highlight Chekhov's celebrity and importance as an artist. Carver integrates writing by characters about other characters in his story, which can sometimes be confusing because of the formal...