The Complete Short Novels

by Anton Chekhov

Book Overview

Anton 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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 140003292X
• ISBN13: 9781400032921
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Diagnostic abilities

For the characters of THE STEPPE, travel is via a britzka. Deniska is the coachman, driver. Egorushka is the boy going to school. Others present are Father Khristofor and Ivan Ivanych Kuzmichov. When the party rests, a stranger appears, Titus. Later Egorushka is transferred to a wagon train where he is able to sleep. He goes fishing, kisses icons, and tells a storekeeper he is the nephew of Ivan Ivanych. The travelers eat kasha from a cauldron at the inn. Later they pass Armenian farms. In the end Egorushka's great aunt is found and he is left with her. THE DUEL confronts the issue that it is possible to fall out of love. Laevsky challenges the idea that it is his duty to marry his paramour, to marry without love. One of the observers thinks the duel will be trifling, ridiculous. One of the principals mentions Pushkin and Turgenev. In THE STORY OF AN UNKNOWN MAN, Orlov's new servant, the narrator, has consumption. He is a retired Navy lieutenant. He notices that Orlov prepares his irony in the way a savage raises his shield. Being a servant is a new life for the narrator. (His action has a political purpose. Orlov is the son of a statesman.) Orlov's mistress comes to live with him. She wants Orlov's apartment to smell of cooking he thinks. Orlov is accused of responding to her love with irony, with coldness. The supposed servant writes to Orlov explaining how they have both fallen. Things take a curious turn. THREE YEARS finds Laptev waiting for Yulia Sergeevna to pass by after vespers. His sister has cancer and she is a friend. Laptev confuses Yulia by asking her to marry him. He is not loved, but his proposal is accepted. Having a young wife, Laptev feels later that he is being ignored by his wife and his guests. He is bold at picture exhibitions. After the Laptev baby dies, Yulia retreats to the wing of the house to weep until she becomes accustomed to grief. Laptev believes he has no courage, no resilience, no strength of will. Finally there is MY LIFE. A young man, Misail Alexeich Poloznev tells his father a social position is the privilege of capital and education. He loves reading and theater. He makes a painter take him on as an assistant. Misail lives among the workers. A former neighbor tells Misail not to approach her. Becoming a worker, Misail sees the town life from the underside. He is told by a well-bred lady, Marya Viktorovna, that at least he is evading boredom and idleness. Masha's engineer father calls him Mr. Housepainter and approves of him. He receives a summons to see the governor. He is advised his activity is inconsistent with his rank of a nobleman. Missail marries Masha. They move to the country to farm her estate. They build a school. There are other developments, some involving Misail's sister Cleopatra. Some of the characters in the novel are carried away by life and by love. There are notes at the end of the book to help the reader. I grew used to

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.

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.

The Artifice of a Master

There is nothing more aesthetically pleasing than to surrender to the artifice of a master. One is deeply comforted in reading this collection of well-translated works. Chekhov reproduces human perception and experience with brilliant precision and insight. His deeply felt compassion and empathy lead him to an art that captures the consciousness of the most refined and the most tortured of souls. In "The Steppe," for instance, he almost cinematically creates the image of the Russian plains as a living being that casts its life force on a humble wagon train and a young boy crossing its great distances. This truly brilliant artist also compellingly and dramatically describes a mighty thunderstorm in such powerful strokes that one is utterly spellbound and engrossed in its fearsome energy. In "The Story of an Unknown Man," a consumptive servant narrates the events of his weak nihilistic upper-class master who is incapable of love. His master willfully torments a beautiful young woman who has sacrificed her marriage to come live with him, but in doing so, has condemned herself to his cynical disrespect. Before the age of tape recorders, Chekhov has recorded dialog in this work that is thoroughly authentic and captures underlying psychological motives and unconscious forces that push these people to the breaking point. But the narrator too is an intimate character in this work and finds himself drawn into the life of his employer. This subtle change is handled with such skill that one is completely convinced of its reality. Here's where Chekhov's artifice produces magic. Its choice of detail, its dialog, its plot, its events all combine to sculpt a living experience, one that will never die. Chekhov's art is immortal. I invite every reader to partake of this satisfying feast that has been created for us. Not only are all these short novels worth every minute of your time, but you will feel the power of true art when you read them and perhaps you will never again settle for anything less.