Anton Chekhov's literary work is often labelled as 'pessimistic' and this is not untrue. However, it is not merely pessimistic; in fact, to try and reduce his writing or worldview to any single concept would be folly. Yes, Chekov does like to focus on settings that are wretched and tragic, but he also maintains hope that man's condition might someday be improved and is too sympathetic towards human beings to be considered a mere cynic.

Chekhov isn't just an impressionist either. He definitely excels in portraying lovable characters as they are without the need for a driving narrative or solid denouement, as in stories like 'The Huntsman', but a fair deal of his stories are not above telling moral lessons. Although Chekhov maintained he only wanted to portray Russian life as is, it is hard not to read 'Ward No. 6', 'The Fidget' or 'The House on the Mezzanine' without feeling like you have been given a warning.

That is what I loved most about Chekhov. He has many virtues: elegant and stately prose, a strong voice, the ability to craft flawed and vivid characters; but to me he is most effective as a teacher. He reveals the lies we tell ourselves, the people we take for granted and the happiness we wilfully deny. It is not often I read a book and feel changed as a person, but from this I was told 'For the love of all that is good, don't compromise your values, don't harden your heart or idle away your hours' and was shaken to the core.

Of course, I am not blind to Chekhov's shortcomings either. A great writer often has great flaws and Chekhov's would be a tendency to have his characters spout big philosophical diatribes, as if reading a passage on stoicism from a textbook, or to occassionally layer his writing with mock profundity, a ripple in the water leading him on a tangent to ponder life's infinite mysteries. In fairness, this does add to the mystical weight of his prose, and there is so much real profundity in his writing that it overshadows the times when it is forced.

The above hardly detracts from the brilliance of his stories though, and it is safe to say that Chekhov's work will endure for a long time, his oeuvre ready to awe any who approach it.

Selected Stories by Anton Chekhov

Quiet and unassuming

Did I really spend the last three months reading his stories? Well actually I have been reading them for the last forty years. Not every month, but a few every year. And every new anthology in Dutch or English is an invitation to (re)read some of his stories.

For me Chekhov is perhaps the greatest of all play and short story writes. Why, well of course the modern cinematic approach of his plays, make that they are always shown somewhere around the globe, even to this day on. In his plays and hundreds of short stories he wrote, he shows our struggle, he shows compassion with his heroes yearning for love and at the same time he often leaves them empty-handed. Ultimately that is what we have to live with, the fact that we are always left empty handed in the end. How do we do that without massively turning into the younger brothers of Oblomov, but live every day as if we have eternal life while realizing that every hour might be our last. Believe me the compassionate stories of Chekhov help us there.

Perhaps this is best shown when we compare him with his friend and fellow author Maxim Gorky.

‘How many wonderful moments I've been through with your books' Gorky say’s in a letter to Chekhov from 1898.

Incidentally, this admiration was mutual. The writing tips Chekhov - the undisputed master of the short story - gave to the little younger Gorki can teach us a lot. Chekhov finds the descriptions of nature, the portrayal of women and the love scenes of Gorki but uncontrolled. In fact, he thinks that for his entire style of writing (and living?). Where Gorki needs many long pages for Chekhov a single sentence or word is sufficient. Where Gorki shouts and stands on the barricade, Chekhov is nursing his poorest patients for free and supports charitable initiatives. Where Gorky becomes the standard bearer of communism, Chekhov denounces the punishment regime in Sakhalin. Who of them lacks political involvement?

Exactly that is what, for me, makes Chekhov a great writer and man. Can the two do without each other?

Anton Chekhov must have been an incredibly nice man with whom I would have loved to spend an afternoon on a park bench in Yalta, enjoying the autumn sun, feeding ducks and watching a lady with a white dog pass by.

Simply amazing !!

I very much enjoyed these stories. At first I thought they were very boring - because not much happens. But they really grew on me the more I read. Like any collection of short stories, some are better than others. At least 75% of these are excellent. My favorites: The Lady With the Little Dog, The House With the Mezzanine, Ward No. 6, Sleepy, The Black Monk, The Fiancee, The Bishop, The Huntsman, The Student. These are all 5-star short stories.

Death of a Clerk: A man sneezes at a theater and accidentally sprays the man seated in front. The man makes several attempts, over several days, to apologize and obtain forgiveness, but never feels that forgiveness has been satisfactorily granted. The man who was sprayed finally loses his temper and angrily tells the man to leave him alone. He promptly goes home -- and dies.

Small Fry: During Easter festivities a man sits around in his flat lamenting his lot in life, angry at his superior who has denied him a promotion to a higher-paying job. He notices a cockroach on his table, which he grabs and tosses into the lamp fire. He then feels much better.

The Huntsman: While searching for game, a hired hunter encounters a peasant woman from a group of nearby field laborers. They talk, and it is revealed that she is his estranged wife. She bemoans the fact that he never comes by to visit. He explains that he was deceived into marrying her in the first place, and besides, he is too fondly attached to his free life as a huntsman to settle down. Before he departs, he gives the woman a ruble. The woman watches him until he is completely out of view.

The Malefactor: An uneducated peasant is brought before a magistrate for the crime of stealing a nut from the railroad track. The peasant explains that such pilfered nuts are used as sinkers for fishing, but he is quite incapable of comprehending how one missing nut could cause any harm. He is sentenced to hard labor as he decries the injustice of it all.

Panikhida: A man is chastised by his Priest for petitioning a special prayer for his dead daughter "the harlot." The man recalls from the scriptures how Jesus forgave the prostitute, so he sees nothing wrong with his "harlot" reference, even though the Priest is livid.

Anyuta: A poor girl survives by living with and accommodating a medical student (as she has done with a few previous students). Her current roommate treats her poorly and disrespectfully. He has come to the conclusion that since he will soon be moving on to a life of higher status he will have to get rid of this girl; so, he might as well get rid of her now. He tells her to leave, but then has a slight change of heart and tells her she doesn't have to go if she doesn't want to. So she stays.

Easter Night: A man takes a ferry across a river to an Easter celebration. The ferryman is a monk who is distraught at the recent, untimely death of a fellow monk who was dear to him and who was especially talented at writing hymnal type praises. After the celebration the man returns on the ferry with the same ferryman, who now gazes at a female passenger whose face (the man supposes) reminds the ferryman of his departed friend.

Vanka: An orphan indentured servant boy writes a letter to his grandfather. This grandfather is not a good character and has apparently abandoned the boy. In the letter the boy begs his grandfather to please rescue him from the terrible situation he is in. The letter will never make it to his grandfather.

Sleepy: A much abused servant girl is denied adequate sleep because she is expected to care for her master's baby who is sick and in need of attention throughout the night. She dozes and dreams of sleep but only for mere moments. In her sleep-deprived state she kills the crying baby so that she can finally rest.

A Boring Story: A science professor who seems to know that he is dying, laments the inadequacies in his life and his family. The only person with whom he seems to relate well is a young woman who he had helped raise after the death of her parents.

Gusev: A ship carries a contingent of soldiers home to Russia. The soldier Gusev is confined to the ship's sick bay. He visits with some of the other sick soldiers, some of whom die. Eventually, Gusev also dies and is buried at sea. As his body sinks a shark rips open the burial sack.

Peasant Women: A traveler stops at an inn and converses with the innkeeper's family. He explains that the boy traveling with him is the orphaned son of his former neighbors. The man had an affair with the boy's mother while the father was consigned to the army. The mother killed her husband upon his return from the army. She later dies in prison. One of the innkeeper's daughter-in-law, who heard most of the traveler's story, is having an illicit affair also. She openly discusses with her sister-in-law the idea of killing her own husband.

The Fidget: A woman marries a good, hard-working, intelligent man who does not share her interest in hobnobbing with high society. Her highfalutin friends have little regard for her husband. She has an affair with a well-known painter who eventually gets bored with her. She regrets what she has done, but her husband dies before she can repair their relationship.

In Exile: A long-time exile tries, mostly unsuccessfully, to convince other exiles that their life in Siberia can be very satisfactory if they just quit worrying about home and family and friends and warmth and other conveniences.

Ward No. 6: A mental ward houses an intelligent and educated but paranoid man. Because the appointed doctor appreciates conversing and debating with this mentally ill man more than with the dull people of the village, his friends assume that he must be mentally ill himself, so they contrive a way to cure him. Their ill-conceived and seemingly selfish plan fails miserably, and the doctor becomes destitute and miserable and probably actually insane -- at which point his friends trick him and lock him up in the mental ward. He dies within a day.

The Black Monk: A well-respected but stressed man visits his former foster father. He falls in love with the daughter and takes a keen interest in the affairs of the father's immaculate orchards. He begins having visions of a monk all dressed in black who flatters him by telling him what a great and intelligent person he is. At first this makes him very happy. But shortly after he marries the daughter it becomes obvious that he is very seriously disturbed. Everything falls apart for him and his wife and her father. Just before he dies the monk returns to tell him that he should have believed the good things he had been told.

Rothchild's Fiddle: A cranky old coffin maker plays a mean fiddle for the local band. He despises and persecutes, for no particular reason, the Jew Rothchild who plays the flute in the band. His wife dies and he cuts every corner to get her buried. He becomes ill. When he realizes that he is dying he bequeaths his fiddle to Rothchild. The Jew treasures the gift.

The Student: A seminary student travels by foot through the dreary countryside. He stumbles upon two widows who are toiling around a fire. He stops to warm himself up and regales the women with the Bible story about Peter the Apostle who denied Christ three times before the cock crowed.

Anna on the Neck: A young woman reluctantly marries a middle-aged man because he is wealthy. She hopes he will use his wealth to help out her father and brothers who are experiencing difficult times, but the man is very stingy with his money. At a prestigious ball the young woman is so beautiful and graceful that all the powerful men are enchanted by her. This gives her the self esteem and authority to put her husband in his deserved place.

The House with the Mezzanine: A young, idealistic, but non-industrious artist meets and falls in love with a young girl near where he lives. He has ideological differences with the girl's older sister. As a result, the older sister insists that the two love birds stay away from each other. The young man never sees her again, but he never forgets her. Years later he still pines for her. He wonders if she still thinks about him and if they will ever meet again.

The Man in a Case: Two hunters converse before bed time. One, a high school teacher, tells the story of a fellow teacher (of Greek) who was quite the social misfit -- constantly donning galoshes and an umbrella in every type of weather. Everything that veered from what he considered normal caused him stress and concern. He almost became engaged to the sister of a fellow teacher until one day when he saw her and her brother riding bicycles at a school function. This distressed him so badly that he had a confrontation with the teacher about it, and upon leaving the confrontation he had an awkward and embarrassing stumble that was witnessed by the sister. He shut himself up after that and died within a month. The man listening to the story considers how in many ways we might all be a lot like this man. He begins to tell a story to illustrate his point, but they both decide it is time to go to sleep.

Gooseberries: The same two hunters from the previous story are hunting the next day when they get caught in the rain and take refuge at the home of nearby friend. The second man then gets his chance to tell his story. His brother had a desk job but always yearned for a home in the countryside. His ideal place always included gooseberry bushes. Eventually, he got his wish, but he just became fat and idle. He obviously wasn't happy. The storyteller then philosophizes about the despair of life -- that it's impossible to be happy because so much bad happens, if not to you then to so many others. We should just try to do our best and to do good. That's the best we can do.

A Medical Case: A doctor is called out to a factory (with its accompanying company "town") far out in the countryside. The doctor loathes the ignorant and uneducated people and the deplorable conditions of such work environments. He administers to the adult daughter heiress of the factory and converses mostly with the governess. The girl suffers from what seems to be a severe case of nerves or anxiety. The doctor tells her she should get away from the factory. The next day she is much improved.

The Darling: A much-loved girl easily falls in love and marries, twice. Both of her husbands die after just a few short years of marriage. She has an affair, possibly begun before the death of her first husband, with a man who is separated from his disturbed wife. This man and his young son eventually live at the woman's house. She adores the man's son. In all the relationships in which this woman gets involved she consistently adopts the opinions, thoughts, and philosophies of the other. She seems to not be able to think for herself, and her mind is quite barren when she is alone.

On Official Business: A doctor and a coroner are dispatched to a distant community on official government business to investigate and make a ruling on a suspected suicide. The weather is bad, the investigation gets delayed. They spend the evening, the night, and the next day and night at the festive home of a community leader. During all this time the coroner philosophizes about suicide, life in general, and life in small agrarian communities.

The Lady With the Little Dog: A middle-aged, unhappily married philanderer, while vacationing in Yalta, meets an unhappily married young woman. They fall in love, probably the first time for both of them. The pair separate, as society obliges them, and they go back to their spouses, but they secretly meet once or twice a year, and their yearning for each other grows stronger. The man wonders why, in his older age, and out of so many women he has known, this one has been the only one able to make him feel true love. They both wonder how they can endure their illicit and secretive love affair.

At Christmas Time: An old illiterate couple in a remote village desperately miss their daughter who left many years ago with her new husband and has not been heard from since. They pay a local, barely literate drunk to write a letter to her. Taking advantage of the old couple, the man simply writes gibberish. A week later the daughter receives the letter. She pretends to her young children that it tells of wonderful, exciting happenings back at their grandparents' place. It is revealed that the woman's husband has been secretly keeping his wife's letters from being delivered to her parents.

In the Ravine: In a small town off the beaten path one of the wealthier families suffer because of greed and jealousy. It comes to a head when one son is convicted of counterfeiting and sentenced to a long term of hard labor. The father then tries to transfer his wealth to the infant son of his other son. This infuriates the childless wife of the convicted son, so she kills the baby by pouring boiling water on him.

The Bishop: A bishop is not feeling well, but he performs all his never-ending duties just the same. His mother comes to visit him. He is disturbed that everyone, even his mother, treats him like a bishop and not like a regular human being. His illness eventually does him in and he is soon replaced and forgotten.

The Fiancee: Nadya, a young woman from a wealthy family is engaged to the son of an even wealthier family. She has come to realize that she doesn't really love her fiance and generally feels dissatisfied with the meaninglessness of her life. Sasha, a sort of foster brother or uncle is visiting the family. He points out to Nadya how the wealthy people don't work or contribute to society and how they mistreat everyone of a lower social stature than themselves. Nadya decides to flee the situation. Sasha helps her get away. Her family is heart-broken, but a year later they have reconciled, even though Nadya's family has lost a lot of its former social status. While visiting her family Nadya learns that Sasha has died.

Chechov is an absolute master of the short story format. Aside from AC Doyle Ive never read another author that made me enjoy short stories so much. Aside from funny and great storytelling, Chechov manages to uncover inherent human flaws and interesting philosophical dialogue within a simple storyline.

Look. I've read a lot of these before. I think they're great. Especially his marvelous endings, where the camera telescopes out from closeup to long shot, all at once exposing the desolate conditions of the protagonist's hopeless condition. I think this time around, my lukewarm reaction to some of these is my resolute disinterest in the specifics of 19th Century Russian bourgeois life (the peasant stories are always better) and possibly a bad translation? You can do a lot worse than Pevear and Volokhonsky, and I think that's what I've done...

Bettie's Books

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qb5jd

Of course I've always heard the name Chekhov but wow I had no idea!

I was so pleased with this collection of Anton Chekhov's short stories. Many were very simple stories without much character depth or plot, yet the central turn of the story resonates so deeply. Chekhov's ability to convey only what is necessary for the story to proceed is a facinating writing ability. Not a word is wasted in his stort prose, of which he is likely the world's master. The best part is, now I can simply look at the title of one of his stories, like Rothchild's Fiddle, and instantly transport myself to that short story. These works are so well created and memorable!

This collection is nice as it includes many of Chekhov's stories without attempting to be a stories + plays collection at the expense of the lesser known stories. I highly recommend this collection and found Pevear and Volokhonsky's translation to be nice and floral in how they translate these works. I suppose it had many 5-star stories included, but also a few duds including the over-hyped famous works. So it averages to a 4-star collection.

My favories of his very short stories are The Huntsman or Sleepy, both of which I remember every detail and every relevation of the plot. As Chekhov's Gun theory goes, nothing is wasted in the few pages these stories take up.

My favorites of his longer stories are The Black Monk, The House With the Mezzanine, and Anna on the Neck. These stories took a little longer to build up and explain out, yet their stories and plots are amazing! I see so much of the Russian Psychological Novel movement in The Black Monk and yet I found it to be a more personal window into the mind than his more famous (and longer) Ward No. 6 which I didn't like as much. My other two favorites were more love stories (or hate stories sometimes) and were beautifully told.

As for his uber-famous stories, Ward No. 6 and The Lady with the Little Dog, I wasn't very impressed with them. Perhaps because I had so much built into the reading of these famous works I didn't approach them with the same freshness as to the unknown stories.
I will say about Ward No. 6, after reading Cancer Ward by Solzhenitsyn, I can see many paralleles to the insane Ward No. 6 and the Cancer Ward of Kostoglotov in the way the patients act as a microcosm for society. Solzhenitsyn masterfully updated Chekhov's Tsarist ward to the Soviet ward.

Wonderful collection, and WELL worth the effort to read all 30 stories!

Reread some stories. Those touching on bipolar illness, “The Black Monk”—trained as a physician it seems Chekhov was familiar with the disorder—and the Russian Orthodox religion, “Panikhida” and “Easter Night.”

A note from Richard Pevear’s introduction, “His familiarity with church life shows in many of his stories, and his knowledge of the services and prayers was probably more precise than that of any other Russian writer. His work is imbued with a Christian understanding of suffering. The critic Leonid Grossman has described him as ‘a probing Darwinist with the love of St. Francis of Assisi for every living creature.’” (p. xv)

“The Huntsman,” “Death of a Clerk,” “A Boring Story,” “The Malefactor.” I’ve read these stories in other iterations, including the thirteen-volume The Tales of Chekhov, translated by Constance Garnet, the first volume of which is The Darling and Other Stories.

I don’t recall “A Boring Story” being so compelling in the Garnet translation. It’s a masterpiece of first-person narration. A distinguished professor of science, suffering from insomnia and other complaints, who believes himself to be dying yet who won’t see a doctor, grows estranged from his wife and adult children, falling into an ever-intensifying critique of his friends, colleagues, family, theater, bad Russian writers, good French ones, which angers him almost to fits of apoplexy (to use that appropriate period word). Dylan Thomas later wrote: “Do not go gentle into that good night, / Old age should burn and rave at close of day; / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” The professor robustly agrees. The story grips and won’t let go; one feels wrung out by it.

تشحوف ده عالم تااااااني بس كده