Product Description

Chekhov's worldwide reputation as a dramatist rests on five great plays: Ivanov, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard. All are presented in this collection, taken from the authoritative Oxford Chekhov, in Ronald Hingley's acclaimed translation. Hingley has also written an introduction specifically for this volume in which he provides a detailed history of Chekhov's involvement in the theater and an assessment of his accomplishment as a dramatist.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #713355 in Books
• Published on: 1998-07-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian

About the Author
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a physician, major Russian short story writer and playwright.

Customer Reviews

Nice, but not Chekhov
This translation is a nice effort -- at rewriting the original, extremely subtle text as a modern English drama according to the tastes and limitations of the translator. If you're looking to capture the true genius of Chekhov, try another.

Why Not?
Although I only bought this edition because I needed for a class and the School bookstore was sold out, why not write a review? After all, Amazon.com asked me to...

Since I only read the "Cherry Orchard", I'll focus on that. The play concerns an old aristocratic family who is facing the foreclosure of their ancenstrl estate. Their solution? Wait for something random to occur. Neither the matriarch Mrs. Ranevsky or her brother Gayev have any inclination to lift a finger to save the estate, much to the chagrin of Lopahkin and Trofimov, who continually offer advice. It's a quick play, and actually quite funny (according to my professor, Chekov only saw one production of the "Cherry Orchard" and complained it was too dark, that it should be more comedic).

So if you're stuck for something to read this summer and decide you don't have anything to prove in the literary world (unlike me who has decided to read the unabridged version of "Les Miserables)...why not read a Chekov play?

Uncle Vanya was my personal favorite
Anton Chekhov was a writer who was able to capture the essence of life and inter-personal relationships in his stories. His writing is simple yet powerful and emotionally affecting. Uncle Vanya deals with envy, male-female relationships, despair, and takes a look at life from a realist perspective.