The Undiscovered Chekhov: Forty-Three New Stories

By Anton Chekhov and Peter Chekhov, Anton Pavlovich;Constantine

Book Overview

The Undiscovered Chekhov gives us, in rich abundance, a new Chekhov. Peter Constantine's historic collection presents 38 new stories and with them a fresh interpretation of the Russian master. In contrast to the brooding representative of a dying century we have seen over and over, here is Chekhov's work from the 1880s, when Chekhov was in his twenties and his writing was sharp, witty and innovative.
Many of the stories in The Undiscovered Chekhov reveal Chekhov as a keen modernist. Emphasizing impressions and the juxtaposition of incongruent elements, instead of the straight narrative his readers were used to, these stories upturned many of the assumptions of storytelling of the period.
Here is "Sarah Bernhardt Comes to Town," written as a series of telegrams, beginning with "Have been drinking to Sarah's health all week Enchanting She actually dies standing up ..." In "Confession...," a thirty-nine year old bachelor recounts some of the fifteen times chance foiled his marriage plans. In "How I Came to be Lawfully Wed," a couple reminisces about the day they vowed to resist their parents' plans that they should marry. And in the more familiarly Chekhovian "Autumn," an alcoholic landowner fallen low and a peasant from his village meet far from home in a sad and haunting reunion in which the action of the story is far less important than the powerful impression it leaves with the reader that each man must live his life and has his reasons.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1583220267
• ISBN13: 9781583220269
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press
• Length: 212 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.2" x 0.6" x 5.6"

Customer Reviews

A "must" for Chekov fans & Russian literature students.

The Undiscovered Chekhov is a compilation of superbly crafted short stories by the Russian literary master writer Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), drawn from his work in the 1880s when he was a young man in his twenties. These witty and original short stories are very ably translated for an American readership by Peter Constantine, who discovered these literary gems in the New York Public Library while browsing through old magazines in the Slavic and Baltic division. The Undiscovered Chekhov is a "must" for Chekhov enthusiasts and an essential, core addition to all academic and public library Russian literature collections.

Pure delight - early Chekhov as enjoyable as later

The only elements holding these 43 pieces together are (a) they are short and (b) they are earlier works of Chekhov. They include character sketches, experimental literature, humor, groups of aphorisms ... all done with great wit and excellent writing. The translation is very readable; there is no sense of reading foreign syntax.Examples of pieces in the book: "First Aid" is a short story in which the inepitude of the civil service/nobility kills a drunk "drowning" victim through folk medicine (tossing on a rug) and vague "CPR" instructions."From the Diary of an Assistant Bookkeeper" is a tale of perpetual hope of promotion based on the demise of the current bookkeeper given in the form of a diary."Questions Posed by a Mad Mathematician" presents the worst fears for a mathmatics test. Example: "I was chased by 30 dogs, 7 of which were white, 8 gray, and the rest black. Which of my legs was bitten, the right or the left?""Confession - or Olya, Zhenya, Zoya: A Letter" is a bachelor's explanation of why he has never married - the disasters (from hiccups up) that have foiled each proposal.The remaining pieces are as diverse and entertaining. The pieces are the best of over 400 short pieces available from the early period. Even if you don't generally read Russian literature you will enjoy these pieces.

A real tressure for Chekhov lovers

`The Undiscovered Chekhov' is a real tressure for Chekhov lovers. This is a collection of 38 stories previously untranslated to English-speaking readers. The original stories published in Russian magazines while Chekhov was studying medicine at Moscow University in the 1880s represent new angles in many ways. They provide great insights into young Chekhov's talents as an innovative and a gifted writer. Secondly, they represent Chekhov's early experimentations with narratives and techniques even before he became well known as a master craftsman of modern short stories. Thirdly, the stories translated by a gifted translator provide an excellent historical account of Chekhov's contemporary Russia.As Peter Constantine records in his introduction the discovery of the original Russian stories at the New York Public Library is also an interesting story. The introduction provides an excellent background to the Chekhov's life, his techniques as well as background to some of the stories.This collection is a rare gift for anyone who wants to know how a modern master story-teller had begun his career.