Chekhov: The Major Plays [Paperback]

Anton Chekhov (Author), Jean-Claude Van Itallie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2000

Despite the abundant variety of Chekhov translations available in bookstores and libraries, American directors and actors have sought out these versions by Jean-Claude van Itallie to make them the most often performed renditions on the American stage today. This edition includes "The Seagull," "Uncle Vanya," "Three Sisters," and "The Cherry Orchard."

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: Applause Books (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557831629
• ISBN-13: 978-1557831620
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #501,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Splendid Translation of Chekhov, February 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Chekhov: The Major Plays (Paperback)

Van Itallie's translations of Chekhov have been around since the late 1970s, but are now in a fine paperback version by Applause Books. His translation of Chekhov is right up there with those of Paul Schmidt's. I have been using Van Itallie's translations with my senior English students and they have found a lightness and clarity in Chekhov's plays (especially The Seagull) that is sometimes missing in earlier translations (Fen's, Dunnigan's, and Garnett's). I highly recommend this translation.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chekhov's greatest plays., January 18, 2001

By 

Jerry Clyde Phillips (Sutton, Vermont) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chekhov: The Major Plays (Paperback)

While other Amazon.com reviewers of Chekhov's plays have been concerned with the quality of the translation, I would like to place my emphasis on the quality of the plays. These four great plays: The Sea Gull, The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters, and Uncle Vanya represent some of the most influential drama written at the turn of the twentieth century; their impact on the development of modern theater is well documented.

Chekhov brought drama out of its conventional Victorian setting and made human character the pivotal point of his work. Plot becomes secondary and what is important is how the various characters respond to situations which usually take place off stage. There are no convenient denouements or deus ex machinas with Checkhov. His characters are flesh and blood and do not undergo dramatic character changes during the play; they are usually the same at the end of the play as they were at the beginning.

Common threads run through these four plays. The dramas are set in provencial Russia with the recurring theme of a longing for a life that is just out of the reach of its characters. Especially moving is the masterful Three Sisters in which the sisters become more and more certain that their dream of returning to Moscow is never to be realized, and that they will spend the rest of their lives in an isolated garrison town where their talents will never be recoginized. Also, for the first time that I am aware, nature is given central stage. Chekhov takes his plays out of the drawing room and sets them in nature with detailed set descriptions describing the time of day and the nature of the weather - all of which gives his plays a palpable realism.

21 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A "Translation", December 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Chekhov: The Major Plays (Paperback)

As the "translator" himself admits (as he pompously plugs the fact that he is associated with elite and narrow institutions such as Harvard and Princeton), he doesn't even know Russian. Ah, but that's OKAY, because some guy gave him a "literal translation" from which he could "become" Chekhov. The translator admits that he was never really interested in the writer, and his commentary is pretty superficial. He thinks of Chekhov as "an old uncle," as an old fashioned writer who might serve some historical purpose (we'll leave it for the schmucks at Yale to decide!). He revises his "translation" many times to fit the "evolving tones of language." The translator continuously writes things like "Chekhov is like me because he knew a little French." One can easily glean where the translator's real interest is - in himself. This translation might be good for readers looking for a book by Van Italie, but one must search elsewhere to find Chekhov. I was very disappointed that I bought this without flipping through the pages. Let this be a lesson: ANYONE will try to translate something these days, such is the nature of human vanity in the modern age. Therefore: Please buy my new translations of Rilke. I will sell them to you at a ridiculous price and only edit parts of the poems that are no good in my opinion, leaving the rest for Harvard undergraduates to mill over and screw up.