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'the greatest short story writer who has ever lived'Raymond Carver's unequivocal verdict on Chekhov's genius has been echoed many times by writers as diverse as Katherine Mansfield, Somerset Maugham, John Cheever and Tobias Wolf. While his popularity as a playwright has sometimes overshadowed his achievements in prose, the importance of Chekhov'sstories is now recognized by readers as well as by fellow authors. Their themes - alienation, the absurdity and tragedy of human existence - have as much relevance today as when they were written, and these superb new translations capture their modernist spirit. Elusive and subtle, spare andunadorned, the stories in this selection are among Chekhov's most poignant and lyrical. They include well-known pieces such as 'The Lady with the Little Dog', as well as less familiar work like 'Gusev', inspired by Chekhov's travels in the Far East, and 'Rothschild's Violin', a haunting and darklyhumorous tale about death and loss.… (more)
User reviews
Bartlett's introduction offers as good a brief primer as the uninitiated can reasonably hope for, and her translation is superb – although I have not (and could not) read the original russian, I have compared a few of the stories with previous english translations and found Bartlett's to be by far the more readable and enjoyable, with no discrepancies in meaning between the two.
I thoroughly enjoyed this collection and will be seeking out more of Chekhov's stories as soon as the characters contained in these – still very much alive in my mind – dissipate enough to make room for more.
The Huntsman – 1885 – 4 stars
On the Road – 1886 – 4.5 stars
The Letter – 1887 – 4.5 stars
Fortune – 5 stars
Gusev – 1890 – 3.5 stars
Fish Love – 3 stars
The Black Monk – 1894 – 5 stars
Rothschild's Violin – 1894 – 4 stars
The Student – 1894 – 3 stars
The House with the Mezzanine – 1896 – 4 stars
In the Cart – 1897 – 3.5 stars
The Man in a Case – 1898 – 3.5 stars
Gooseberries – 1898 – 4 stars
About Love – 1898 – 4.5 stars
The Lady with the Little Dog – 1899 – 4.5 stars
At Christmas Time – 1900 – 3.5 stars
The Bishop – 1902 – 4 stars