Notebook of Anton Chekhov [Paperback]

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1987

This anthology is a thorough introduction to classic literature for those who have not yet experienced these literary masterworks. For those who have known and loved these works in the past, this is an invitation to reunite with old friends in a fresh new format. From Shakespeare s finesse to Oscar Wilde s wit, this unique collection brings together works as diverse and influential as The Pilgrim s Progress and Othello. As an anthology that invites readers to immerse themselves in the masterpieces of the literary giants, it is must-have addition to any library.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Russian (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 146 pages
• Publisher: Ecco Pr (October 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880011459
• ISBN-13: 978-0880011457
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,374,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Glimmer of Insight into the Master of the Short Story, April 16, 2002

By 

"botatoe" (Albany, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Notebook of Anton Chekhov (Paperback)

In 1984, The Ecco Press published a handsome thirteen-volume edition of The Tales of Chekhov that contained the respected, if somewhat dated, English translations of Constance Garnett. The original thirteen volumes were subsequently supplemented by two additional volumes, "The Unknown Chekhov: Stories and Other Writings," translated by Avrahm Yarmolinsky (a volume which is still in print under the auspices of another publisher) and the book I review here, "Notebook of Anton Chekhov," translated by S. S. Koteliansky and Leonard Woolf.

Chekhov's stories are, of course, classic examples of the genre. In writing those stories, he was known (not surprisingly) to draw on numerous incidents from his everyday life. As Vladimir Nabokov relates in his "Lectures on Russian Literature," interpolating and quoting from an article on Chekhov:

" 'Do you know how I write my short stories?' [Chekhov] said to Korolenko, the radical journalist and short story writer, when the latter had just made his acquaintance. 'Here's how!' 'He glanced at his table,' Korolenko tells us, 'took up the first object that met his eye--it happened to be an ash tray--placed it before me and said: "If you want it you'll have a story to-morrow. It will be called 'The Ash Tray.' " ' And it seemed to Korolenko then and there that a magical transformation of that ash tray was taking place: 'Certain indefinite situations, adventures which had not yet found concrete form, were already beginning to crystallize about the ash tray.' "

Chekhov regularly recorded seemingly mundane daily incidents in notebooks and diaries and later referred to them in writing his stories. It is from this material that Koteliansky and Woolf have drawn in compiling the short (146 pages) collection of materials titled "Notebook of Anton Chekhov." While hardly an exhaustive collection of these materials, it is a useful little volume that illustrates some of Chekhov's writing habits.

The diary excerpts are a mere twelve pages from Chekhov's 1896 diary. The notebook excerpts are 130 pages from the notebooks written between 1894 and 1896. As the translators note in their short introduction to this collection, "[the] volume consists of notes, themes and sketches for works which Anton Chekhov intended to write, and are characteristic of the methods of his artistic production. If he used any material, he used to strike it out in the note-book."

While unfortunately out of print, "Notebook of Anton Chekhov" is a fascinating companion to Chekhov's stories, a little glimmer of insight into how Chekhov created the remarkably drawn pictures of nineteenth century Russian life that still enchant readers today.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Glimmer of Insight Into the Master of the Short Story, January 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Notebook of Anton Chekhov (Paperback)

In 1984, The Ecco Press published a handsome thirteen-volume edition of The Tales of Chekhov that contained the respected, if somewhat dated, English translations of Constance Garnett. The original thirteen volumes were subsequently supplemented by two additional volumes, "The Unknown Chekhov: Stories and Other Writings," translated by Avrahm Yarmolinsky (a volume which is still in print under the auspices of another publisher) and the book I review here, "Notebook of Anton Chekhov," translated by S. S. Koteliansky and Leonard Woolf.

Chekhov's stories are, of course, classic examples of the genre. In writing those stories, he was known (not surprisingly) to draw on numerous incidents from his everyday life. As Vladimir Nabokov relates in his "Lectures on Russian Literature," interpolating and quoting from an article on Chekhov:

" 'Do you know how I write my short stories?' [Chekhov] said to Korolenko, the radical journalist and short story writer, when the latter had just made his acquaintance. 'Here's how!' 'He glanced at his table,' Korolenko tells us, 'took up the first object that met his eye--it happened to be an ash tray--placed it before me and said: "If you want it you'll have a story to-morrow. It will be called 'The Ash Tray.' " ' And it seemed to Korolenko then and there that a magical transformation of that ash tray was taking place: 'Certain indefinite situations, adventures which had not yet found concrete form, were already beginning to crystallize about the ash tray.' "

Chekhov regularly recorded seemingly mundane daily incidents in notebooks and diaries and later referred to them in writing his stories. It is from this material that Koteliansky and Woolf have drawn in compiling the short (146 pages) collection of materials titled "Notebook of Anton Chekhov." While hardly an exhaustive collection of these materials, it is a useful little volume that illustrates some of Chekhov's writing habits.

The diary excerpts are a mere twelve pages from Chekhov's 1896 diary. The notebook excerpts are 130 pages from the notebooks written between 1894 and 1896. As the translators note in their short introduction to this collection, "[the] volume consists of notes, themes and sketches for works which Anton Chekhov intended to write, and are characteristic of the methods of his artistic production. If he used any material, he used to strike it out in the note-book."

While unfortunately out of print, "Notebook of Anton Chekhov" is a fascinating companion to Chekhov's stories, a little glimmer of insight into how Chekhov created the remarkably drawn pictures of nineteenth century Russian life that still enchant readers today.