Customer Reviews

The Complete Short Novels

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

Dr. Anton Chekhov is best known as Russia's greatest playwright in such classics as "The Cherry Orchard"' "Uncle Vanya" and "The Sisters." Therefore, readers will be delighted to explore his work in these five short novels. The novellas were written in the 1880s and 1890s as Chehhov's literary career was beginning. The works are:

The Steppe: This story takes place in southern Russia. The plot concerns a nine year old boy Egorushka who is on his way to schooling in a small town in a remote province. This is a lyrical work as Chekhov relishes the beauties of the Caucacus landscape. This novel was the most memorable of the five in the mind of this reviewer.

The Duel concerns life in a small provinical town. It concerns the life of Ivan Andreich Lavesky a man of 28. He engages in a duel with the zooligist von Koren. von Koren is a Nietzchian advocate of a survival of the fittest philosophy. The duel ends with Lavesky suffering a slight bullet wound; his opponent is not wounded.Lavesky is another in the long list of "superfluous" lazy chaps who inhabit the pages of Chekhovian plays and prose fiction.

The Story of an Unknown Man deals with a moribund radical who takes a position in the home of one of his fathere's political oppponent named Orlov. The story is narrated in the first person by the retired first Lt. from the navy who works as a domestic in Orlov's wealthy home. Orlov is an adulterer and not an attractive personality. The narrator and Orlov's lover Zinaida run off together to Italy. They live in Venice and Nice. Zinaida dies giving birth. The narrator cares for Sonya who is the daughter of the deceased Zinaida. An interesting story well told evocative of place. The characters are well drawn by Chekhov.

Three Years is the story of Laptev who is a wealthy Moscow merchant. He marries to his later regret. His wife
Yulia is a crass materialist who engages in affairs, enjoys shopping and spending. She has nary a serious thought frolicking through her frivolous little head. Laptve's beloved sister dies, his father goes blind and his brother is placed in a madhouse. As the novel ends there is a gleam in the gloom as Laptve and Yulia remain a couple. Will the marriage be redeemed? The last line of the novella is "Time Will Tell"

My Life is told by a young man who leaves urban society to find happiness working in manual labor jobs. His sister Cleopatra falls in love with Dr.Anyuta Blagovo who is an adulterer.Narrator Poloznev is at times a house painter ,wallpaperer and farmer. He falls in love with the daughter of his boss Dolzhikov.His lovely wife Masha is a singer who leaves him for the glamourous world of opera and musical theatre. The narrator's sister dies in childbirth. This is a sad and moving story .
Chehov's works have an autumnal and sad ambience. He is great at drawing character, portraying nature and telling stories of ordinary people in the landownin, military and middle class worlds he knew so well.

I didn't want ANY of these stories to end! What a master of fascinating character development. "The Duel" alone is worth the price of this book, and I could have read an 800-page version of "The Steppe".

This is one of the most enjoyable books I ever read. The odd characters made it all the more funny. Being a recent peruser of Russian books and having developed an interest in them, I am up and ready for more Russian stories. The stories are deep, witty and humorous in a classic way. It comes after The Usurper and Other Stories as my second collection read this year. The stories are fine and hilarious and Chekhov's books to good to read.

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.

This is an absolutely phenomenal compilation of excellent short stories. It was my introduction to Chekhov, and the start of a wonderful friendship. I can't recommend this volume enough!

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.