Product Description

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)

Aanton Chekhov, widely hailed as the supreme master of the short story, also wrote five works long enough to be called short novels–here brought together in one volume for the first time, in a masterly new translation by the award-winning translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky.

The Steppe–the most lyrical of the five–is an account of a nine-year-old boy’s frightening journey by wagon train across the steppe of southern Russia. The Duel sets two decadent figures–a fanatical rationalist and a man of literary sensibility–on a collision course that ends in a series of surprising reversals. In The Story of an Unknown Man, a political radical spying on an important official by serving as valet to his son gradually discovers that his own terminal illness has changed his long-held priorities in startling ways. Three Years recounts a complex series of ironies in the personal life of a rich but passive Moscow merchant. In My Life, a man renounces wealth and social position for a life of manual labor.

The resulting conflict between the moral simplicity of his ideals and the complex realities of human nature culminates in a brief apocalyptic vision that is unique in Chekhov’s work.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44843 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-30
• Released on: 2005-08-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781400032921
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Review
Praise for previous translations by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky:

“The reinventors of the classic Russian novel for our times.” –PEN/BoMC Translation Prize Citation

“Their translations have become the standard English-language texts.” –Newsday

The Brothers Karamazov: “One finally gets the musical whole of Dostoevksy’s original.” –The New York Times Book Review

Anna Karenina: “The most scrupulous, illuminating and compelling version yet.” –The Oregonian


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Review
Praise for previous translations by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky:

“The reinventors of the classic Russian novel for our times.” –PEN/BoMC Translation Prize Citation

“Their translations have become the standard English-language texts.” –Newsday

The Brothers Karamazov: “One finally gets the musical whole of Dostoevksy’s original.” –The New York Times Book Review

Anna Karenina: “The most scrupulous, illuminating and compelling version yet.” –The Oregonian

About the Author
Anton Chekhov was the author of hundreds of short stories and several plays and is regarded by many as both the greatest Russian storyteller and the father of modern drama.


From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews

Great Intro to Chekhov !!!
I had hoped to find a single book to introduce me to one of the greatest short story writers in history. This book absolutely fills that bill.

The writing is captivating. The Steppe was actually my favorite. I understand how some might see it as slow or plodding; yet the visual and auditory descriptions were so complete and mesmerizing.

I will definitely be looking into more Chekhov.

I should note that I picked up this book specifically because the same translators (Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky) of these stories also translated the much lauded Anna Karenina recently popularized by Oprah Winfrey. They again do a wonderful job! I will look for other Russian translations from this duo in the future.

Good Place to Start, but Read "The Shooting Party."
I have been reading books by a number of 19th century authors including Balzac, Flaubert, Dostoevsky, Gogol, and Chekhov - all in an attempt to get a better understanding of their work and to enjoy the writing.

This is an excellent place to start with Chekhov, although it is not his best work in my opinion.

I found the first story "The Steppe" to be rough going. It is a bit drab, and the characters are not great. If you read only that story you would not understand Chekhov - in my opinion. His strength is with a good set of characters set in a small town or similar. I had trouble with the story, started and stopped reading it twice, and read it only after I had read the others.

The best of this group is probably "The Duel" because it follows the formula of a small town with geat characters and some romance. Similarly, the story "My Life" has a similar setting and good characters. "Three Years" is a Saul Bellow like story about a man who marries a younger woman and searches for his identity or soul. He becomes a successful businessman by accident - by default from a wealthy father.

"The Story of an Unknown man" is not about a man as much as it is about a depressed young woman who fails to find happiness in love. I thought it was one of the weaker stories in the group.

The stories are good but I read Chekhov's novel "The Shooting Party" and thought it was far superior to any of these five stories. It is a novel within a novel; it has a great set of characters and wonderful prose.

In any case, 5 stars for these short stories.

In a Russian heart there is always winter
Checkov is considered the master of the short stories, but I prefer to think of him as the master of GRAYNESS. The stories have a gloomy, dark perspective that may leave one in quite a depressing mood.
Is it because of the long, cold, windy Russian winters that blow outside ? Or is it because of the dark inside of the main characters so succintly and (universally relevant) Checkov portrayed ?
What really amazes me is the fact that Checkov can have this influence within the span of barely 4-5 pages long story.