Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Penguin Classics (2004), Paperback, 224 pages
Description
In Moscow an unknown author approaches a publisher (the narrator), asking him to read and publish his manuscript. The narrator agrees to read it before the author returns three months later. At the heart of the story in the manuscript is a love triangle and themes of corruption, concealed love and fatal jealousy. When one of the central characters is discovered dead, the narrative becomes a murder-mystery as the search for the culprit begins. Written by Chekhov in his early twenties, The Shooting Party is his only full-length novel. Here it is read by the prolific and popular narrator Nicholas Boulton.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Differenti
I have never felt a real passion for Russian literature, with it's typical cold descriptions of emotions, lots of characters (often with multiple complicated names), and the tendency to describe boring and unimportant matters in full detail. I am, of course, exaggerating, and there are exceptions
The real action only begins around three quarters into the book, and consists of a rather simple murder story. The announced 'surprising ending' is not as surprising as I had hoped, and is quite abrupt.
The main advantage of this book is that it is not too long, and probably a nice introduction to Tsjechov's larger works if you have a few hours of spare time. But you will have to struggle through the dull first 120 pages before things get interesting.
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(personally I am a fan of Dostoyevsky's work). But this book is not.The real action only begins around three quarters into the book, and consists of a rather simple murder story. The announced 'surprising ending' is not as surprising as I had hoped, and is quite abrupt.
The main advantage of this book is that it is not too long, and probably a nice introduction to Tsjechov's larger works if you have a few hours of spare time. But you will have to struggle through the dull first 120 pages before things get interesting.
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LibraryThing member LGCullens
This book was part of my immersion in Chekhov's writing, which I elaborated on in my review of the Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Anton Chekhov ebook.
This was his longest work that tells the story of a retailer's daughter in a provincial Russian village who is stabbed to death
It's not what is considered a 'great' novel, nor even a great mystery story, though some have proclaimed it a landmark in the history of the crime story. Its uniqueness lies in its innovative structure which has prefigured numerous stories since, and, of course, in Chekhov's ability to bring any simple premise to engrossing, realistic life. A story that's recalled even as the gray matter shrinks in old age :-) [Somehow this book came to mind as I was pondering why I got up and headed for another room.]
This was his longest work that tells the story of a retailer's daughter in a provincial Russian village who is stabbed to death
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in the woods during a hunting party, and the efforts to uncover her killer.It's not what is considered a 'great' novel, nor even a great mystery story, though some have proclaimed it a landmark in the history of the crime story. Its uniqueness lies in its innovative structure which has prefigured numerous stories since, and, of course, in Chekhov's ability to bring any simple premise to engrossing, realistic life. A story that's recalled even as the gray matter shrinks in old age :-) [Somehow this book came to mind as I was pondering why I got up and headed for another room.]
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Language
Original publication date
1884 to 1885
2004 (English: Wilks)
Physical description
224 p.; 7.6 inches
ISBN
0140448985 / 9780140448986