Stories of Anton Chekhov
by Anton Chekhov
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Book Summary Information
Author: Anton ChekhovTranslator: Larissa Volokhonsky
Translator: Richard Pevear
Introduction: Richard Pevear
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-10-31
ISBN: 0553381008
Number of pages: 496
Publisher: Modern Library
Book Reviews of Stories of Anton Chekhov
Book Review: Wonderful but depressing stories
Summary: 4 Stars
Anton Chekhov is largely known for his plays (The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya), but he is also widely regarded as a master of the short story. However to fully appreciate these stories the reader should be somewhat familiar with the state of fiction in Russia during the last half of the 19th century as well as social and political conditions in the country at that time. Some knowledge of Chekhov's personal history and his philosophy of life is also helpful. Lacking these insights one is likely to find these stories to be excessively negative and depressing.
One difficulty in reading this book of his best short stories is that the first few (50 pages or so) are unrelentingly depressing; death and unrequited love being the main themes and they are told in Chekhov's spare style. A Boring Story is a longer and more interesting piece. It includes some aspects of Chekhov's philosophy, and while it ends on another depressing note, there is still an element of hope present. Ward No. 6 is perhaps the best of these stories, as well as the longest. It tells of a hospital in Siberia with a ward for mental patients. The story centers around a doctor (Andrei Yefichmych), a decent and compassionate man who gradually descends to the depths of the place. Along the way he has an interesting exchange with a mental patient, Ivan Dmitrich. The doctor suggests that one can be happy anywhere, even trapped in a prison, and cites the example of the Greek philosopher Diogenes who so distained material things that he lived in a barrel. The patient disagrees strongly, shouting, "I love life, I love it passionately!" He adds, tellingly, that maybe Diogenes would not have been so happy if he had had to live in a barrel in the wintry cold of Siberia!
The other stories in the book treat of a variety of people and situations from all walks of Russian life. While despair and a sense of hopeless fatalism remains the main thrust of many of these stories, there is also an element of hope present. Chekov keeps coming back to the idea that the future will be better. Some stories, such as Anna on the Neck, even have an element of humor. The last story, The Fiancée, perhaps sums up Chekhov's view of Russian life. In this tale a young woman living in a small town becomes engaged to a local man. A guest from the city, Sasha, starts to talk with her about how empty her life will be if she marries this man. Gradually she begins to come to this realization and in the end leaves to move to St. Petersburg to have "a new, expansive, spacious life, and that life, still unclear, full of mysteries, lured and beckoned to her."
I have given Chekov a rating of 4 stars, rather than 5, because, compared to Guy de Maupassant and O. Henry, his stories do not sufficiently express the full range of human emotions. Both of the latter masters of the short story infuse their work with humor and even broad satire and this is the stuff of life as well as the dreary world that Chekov inhabits. Yet maybe Chekov is reflecting the reality of Russia in his time. In any case these stories are well worth reading.
Summary of Stories of Anton Chekhov
Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, the highly acclaimed translators of War and Peace, Doctor Zhivago, and Anna Karenina, which was an Oprah Book Club pick and million-copy bestseller, bring their unmatched talents to The Selected Stories of Anton Chekhov, a collection of thirty of Chekhov?s best tales from the major periods of his creative life.Considered the greatest short story writer, Anton Chekhov changed the genre itself with his spare, impressionistic depictions of Russian life and the human condition. From characteristically brief, evocative early pieces such as ?The Huntsman? and the tour de force ?A Boring Story,? to his best-known stories such as ?The Lady with the Little Dog? and his own personal favorite, ?The Student,? Chekhov?s short fiction possesses the transcendent power of art to awe and change the reader. This monumental edition, expertly translated, is especially faithful to the meaning of Chekhov?s prose and the unique rhythms of his writing, giving readers an authentic sense of his style and a true understanding of his greatness.
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