My Life

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov / 高大友北京真故传媒有限公司 · ChinaSep 2026

4.4

Word count: 57K words
Chapters: 21

Summary

A young aristocrat gives up respectable work and chooses manual labor to support himself, sparking fierce conflict with his family. After a brief marriage and the disillusionment of his ideals, he lives on alone in solitude, sustained by faith.

Editor's review

The work begins with a young aristocrat voluntarily abandoning respectable employment for manual labor, unfolding the simple ideal of "self-reliance" under the double pressure of family ethics and social opinion. The narrative focus lies not in elaborate scenes of labor but in the protagonist's inner resolve and wavering: the warmth and cracks of a brief marriage, the despondency after his ideals are thwarted—all rendered with restraint and clarity. Readers see how a person lives with his choices in solitude and sense the author's cool examination of "a meaningful life." The prose is plain and the book short—suited to reading in one or two evenings, then returning to chew over the psychological logic behind each decision. For readers who read on commutes or before sleep, the pacing is gentle and the emotion restrained, imposing no heavy burden, yet leaving an aftertaste about labor, dignity, and faith.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers drawn to the conflict between personal ideals and reality
Readers who enjoy introspective narration and prefer short works
Those interested in questions of the value of labor and family relations
General readers hoping to understand nineteenth-century society through fiction

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strong plots and fast-paced stories
Those expecting detailed labor scenes or social reform proposals
Readers sensitive to or easily affected by depictions of marriage and disillusionment

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the protagonist's key decisions, then revisit the family-conflict passages.
Note the narrator's subtle shifts in attitude toward the protagonist and savor the restrained irony.
After finishing, write a paragraph on your own understanding of "self-reliance" and compare it with the characters.
If time is fragmented, read in four stages: leaving home—marriage—disillusionment—solitary life.

About the publisher

北京真故传媒有限公司 China · Founded in 2020

Beijing Zhengu Media Co., Ltd. was established in 2020. Public information about the company is limited; based on the books in the database, its publishing focuses on foreign literature and social novels. It has a series called the Quality Library, which includes Chinese translations of classics such as Pride and Prejudice, The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, Great Expectations, and The Grapes of Wrath. Its author resources cover foreign writers including Jane Austen, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Charles Dickens, John Steinbeck, and George Orwell, while its translators include Wang Keyi, Geng Jizhi, and Hu Zhongchi. Overall, the company mainly introduces and retranslates foreign literary classics, with attention to socially themed fiction, emphasizing translation quality and series-based presentation of classic texts.

版权信息
第一章
第二章
第三章
第四章
第五章
第六章
第七章
第八章
第九章
第十章
第十一章
第十二章
第十三章
第十四章
第十五章
第十六章
第十七章
第十八章
第十九章
第二十章

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers who have never read any Chekhov?

Yes. The book is short with a clear narrative thread, centering on the protagonist's life after giving up respectable work for manual labor, and requires no prior reading experience. First-time readers can focus on the motives behind each choice, then appreciate the restrained and ironic narrative tone; the barrier to entry is low.

Why does the protagonist's choice cause fierce conflict with his family?

In the milieu depicted, respectable careers are closely tied to family reputation. The protagonist's turn to manual labor is seen by his family as abandoning status and prospects rather than pursuing a personal ideal. The core of the conflict lies not in labor itself but in the mismatch between personal choice and family expectations, through which readers can observe the tension in these relationships.

How much of the book is devoted to marriage?

Marriage is an important stage in the protagonist's life but not the book's center of gravity. It mainly serves to present the gap between ideal and reality, and occupies limited space. Readers need not approach it as a marriage novel but should focus on how this experience affects the protagonist's commitment to the path of self-reliance.

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About the author

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov Author · Russian · 1860–1904

Chekhov (1860–1904) was a Russian novelist and playwright, born in Taganrog and died of tuberculosis in Badenweiler, Germany, in 1904. He graduated from the medical faculty of Moscow University in 1884 and practiced medicine while writing, becoming known for his short stories and plays. His notable stories include The Chameleon, The Man in a Case and Ward No. 6, and his plays include The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard. His fiction is restrained and concise, often starting from everyday trifles to reveal his characters' circumstances and inner lives, while his plays play down plot conflict and rely on dialogue and subtext. He is ranked with Maupassant and O. Henry as one of the world's three great short-story writers, and his works, classed as foreign literature, classics and world masterpieces, are widely read in Chinese.

高大友 Author

Gao Dayou is an author about whom little public information is available. His seven works in the library are commonly classified under foreign literature and social fiction. Judging from his representative titles, he has been involved in translating or editing foreign literary classics, including The Stranger, Letter from an Unknown Woman, Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman, Strait Is the Gate, My Life, The Monkey's Paw, and a selection of three Chekhov short stories titled To Whom Shall I Tell My Sorrow. These works generally focus on solitude, emotional conflict, and turning points of fate in individual lives, with themes leaning toward social and psychological portrayal, reflecting a sustained engagement with the transmission of foreign literature.