Aug 15, 2022
8 min read
Shiny Happy (White) People
Chekov, Grease, and the cult of ignorance.
In Anton Chekov’s short story “Gooseberries,” Ivan Ivanovitch tells the tale of his brother Nikolay, a “poor timid clerk” who achieves his dream of becoming “a real landowner, a gentleman.” Nikolay is someone who finds great delight in devouring a plate of “sour and unripe” gooseberries, not because they taste good but because he has grown them on…
