THE ISLAND: A Journey to Sakhalin
By
Anton Chekhov undertook his journey to the penal colony of Sakhalin at the height of his fame. His purpose in going there was purely ""scientific and literary."" he said in his letter requesting permission to visit the colony, but he drew from it ""a strange work, brilliant and wayward, scrupulously honest, and unpretentious, lit by a flame of quiet indignation and furious sorrow.