How to Heal Russia

"How to Heal Russia" is a collection of journalistic works by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, combining his social essays from the 1880s and fragments from his legendary work "Sakhalin Island" (1893-1894). Chekhov the doctor offers a merciless diagnosis of Russian society: poverty and hypocrisy, scams and empty talk, the indifference of the educated classes to the suffering of the people. Moscow feuilletons paint a caricatured portrait of capital life with its magicians, tavern keepers, and "chat shops" where words replace deeds. The collection culminates in the Sakhalin essays—the result of the writer's unprecedented journey to the edge of the empire, where he spent three months transcribing convicts and documenting the horrors of the penitentiary system. This is not just literature—it is an act of civic courage, an attempt to awaken the conscience of society. Chekhov doesn't offer ready-made solutions, but his honest view of Russian reality is the first step toward healing. The book concludes with the signature phrase: "We are exhausted by servility and hypocrisy"—a diagnosis that remains relevant a century later.