The Three Sisters (Dover Thrift Editions) [Paperback]

Anton Chekhov (Author)

Book Description

Series: Dover Thrift Editions | Publication Date: May 12, 1993

This landmark probes the lives and dreams of Olga, Masha and Irina, former Muscovites now living in a provincial town from which they long to escape. Their hopes for a life more suited to their cultivated tastes and sensibilities provide a touching counterpoint to the relentless flow of compromising events in the real world.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Chekhov's brilliant tale of the sisters' dream to return to Moscow, and the clash between duty and desire that keeps them in their garrison town, is rendered anew in Susan Coyne's vital new translation. She infuses all with a muscularity and humour even as heartbreak and betrayal insinuate themselves, and we are left standing alone with the sisters watching the parade go by -- right out of town." --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English
Original Language: Russian

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; Unabridged edition (May 12, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486275442
• ISBN-13: 978-0486275444
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #386,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Drama > Continental European

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fable for the modern reader, January 14, 2001

By 

Daisy chain "marie" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Three Sisters (Dover Thrift Editions) (Paperback)

Checkov was a master of composing life's largest problems into beautiful language and ordinary situations which the entire world could understand. Granted he wrote them a long time ago but the underlying situation exists everywhere today. Here are three sisters completely unable to move on with their lives. They are unhappy, they are desperate for a change of scene, they are forced to give up anyone they love to someone else but yet they remain glued to the exact place where all of this occurs. Olga has passed her prime, Masha loves someone other than her husband, and Irina has no idea what could possibly make her happy and all they do is talk about change, but never do anything active. And in the end it all comes full circle and we as an audience, a reader, need to decide how to not fall into such a life rut, to learn by their actions as we do from Aesop's fables. This play is just written a great deal better, with a little more comedy and tugging at the heartstrings.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "We must live!", February 5, 2011

By 

B. Wilfong (Newark, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Three Sisters (Paperback)

"Three Sisters" has lasted over a hundred years in the fickle world of dramatic literature for one simple reason; because it matters. This is a play that touches on the very essence of what it means to be human, and how our choices (or lack thereof) can make life feel like prison. Through a large ensemble cast Anton Chekhov gives us many different prisms to choose to view life through. The trick is that regardless of which ideology or prism you value, you still have to actually live your life. It does not just happen to you.
The play revolves around the Prozorov home in provincial Russia late in the 1800s. In this house we see the lives of four siblings (a brother and the three sisters of the title) their in-laws and other relatives, soldiers, lovers, servants, and coworkers played out over a 4-5 year period. What is so astonishing to the reader is how static and stationary their lives seem to be, and yet when you reflect on your own life most of us will find the similarities unnerving, and possibly quite unpleasant. Chekhov seems to be saying that life is the everyday simple things that happen to us. What makes life either grand or mundane is how we react to everyday things. This is something that every self aware adult struggles with on their journey through this world.
One could write entire papers about the philosophies of life and existence contained in this play. I won't attempt it here. I will simply say that this is a very powerful theatrical experience in the hands of a superior theatre company. It would be deadly dull in the hands of amateurs, so be careful where you view it. However, reading it on your own (or even better in a book club) will yield many pleasant discoveries about yourself and force you into some serious self reflection. Not bad things at all.
A side note on the new version by actress/ writer Susan Coyne. It is a lovely translation with some modern vernacular that makes the play slightly more accessible to an English speaking audience.

4.0 out of 5 stars meaning of life, other than living it?, April 7, 2011

By 

whj - See all my reviews

This review is from: Three Sisters (Stage Edition Series) (Paperback)

Life like a passing, migrating flock of birds, is an absurd existence where alot happen--wars, births, fights, deaths, jobs, marriages, and yet everything can seem transient, vapid and disappointing.