Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Harper Perennial (HarperCollins)
Pages
387
Description
Paul Schmidt's new translations of The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters, The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, and other plays bring Chekhov up to date. Schmidt restores the vitality and humor that are lost in most academic translations and makes the plays accessible to a modern American sensibility. He also retains their social context, unlike translations by those who have no experience of Russian language or culture.
Description
Table of Contents:
Swan song
The bear
The proposal
Ivanov
The seagull
A reluctant tragic hero
The wedding reception
The festivities
Uncle Vanya
Three sisters
The dangers of tobacco
The cherry orchard
Swan song
The bear
The proposal
Ivanov
The seagull
A reluctant tragic hero
The wedding reception
The festivities
Uncle Vanya
Three sisters
The dangers of tobacco
The cherry orchard
Collection
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1997 (Schmidt)
Physical description
387 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
0060928751 / 9780060928759
Similar in this library
User reviews
LibraryThing member pickwick817
Chekhov's plays are very good, but I was a little dissappointed with this book in comparison to his short stories.
LibraryThing member 391
I love Paul Schmidt's translation - it's very engaging and approachable.
LibraryThing member jburlinson
The 2 star rating is for the translation. More to come, when I can get the taste out of my mouth.
LibraryThing member AlCracka
Cherry Orchard, 1/6
I thought this was excellent. I'm just coming off Ibsen, who's sorta punch-you-in-the-face powerful, so I was underwhelmed a bit too, but I think it's a really elegant, subtle play with a lot going on. It's specifically about this huge transition from old to modern Russian
Not gonna change my life. Which Hedda Gabler may actually have done, in some small way. But I totally dug it.
--------------------
Uncle Vanya, 1/22
I liked this more, and I wonder if maybe it's just because I'm getting a tiny bit more used to Chekhov; I understand his sortof idiosyncratic use of anguished, expository soliloquy better, and his weird sense of humor, and his quiet form of depression. Vanya's cool, anyway. Some remarkably prophetic stuff on the environment here, by the way. (Although I somewhat suspect the translator of politically charging it.)
Nice echo to Dorothea and Casaubon in Middlemarch, too, btw.
"People are freaks, you know? You spend all your time with them, before you know it you're a freak yourself." (Act one)
"I used to think freaks were sick, but I've changed my mind. Now I think being a freak is the normal human condition. I think you're completely normal." (Act four)
Minor confusion: I, ah, I missed the gun in Act One. Where the f*ck does that show up? I mainly read this play because of a weird minor obsession with Chekhov's Gun that I've recently developed, and now I didn't even notice it. Can anyone bail me out here?
I thought this was excellent. I'm just coming off Ibsen, who's sorta punch-you-in-the-face powerful, so I was underwhelmed a bit too, but I think it's a really elegant, subtle play with a lot going on. It's specifically about this huge transition from old to modern Russian
Show More
culture, right? (I hope so.) An elegy for the old way, and a "Here we go" for the new. I thought it was eloquently done.Not gonna change my life. Which Hedda Gabler may actually have done, in some small way. But I totally dug it.
--------------------
Uncle Vanya, 1/22
I liked this more, and I wonder if maybe it's just because I'm getting a tiny bit more used to Chekhov; I understand his sortof idiosyncratic use of anguished, expository soliloquy better, and his weird sense of humor, and his quiet form of depression. Vanya's cool, anyway. Some remarkably prophetic stuff on the environment here, by the way. (Although I somewhat suspect the translator of politically charging it.)
Nice echo to Dorothea and Casaubon in Middlemarch, too, btw.
"People are freaks, you know? You spend all your time with them, before you know it you're a freak yourself." (Act one)
"I used to think freaks were sick, but I've changed my mind. Now I think being a freak is the normal human condition. I think you're completely normal." (Act four)
Minor confusion: I, ah, I missed the gun in Act One. Where the f*ck does that show up? I mainly read this play because of a weird minor obsession with Chekhov's Gun that I've recently developed, and now I didn't even notice it. Can anyone bail me out here?
Show Less
LibraryThing member john257hopper
This is a lovely edition of Chekhov's Plays that I picked up a few years ago in a charity shop. Amazingly enough, this is the first time I have read a Chekhov play in English (read some in Russian when doing my degree). Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard are definitely my favourites, whereas I
Three Sisters
This is an amusing play, with distinctive characters who quite quickly impress the reader with their individual personalities. There is very much a theme of longing in the play, whether to return to Moscow or to be in love or whatever.
Uncle Vanya
I was less impressed with this one, which didn't seem to get anywhere. And the title character isn't particularly the most important or interesting one.
The Cherry Orchard
Perhaps Chekhov's most famous play, this is a bittersweet piece, with the themes of love and loss between characters reflected in the sale and subsequent destruction of the Orchard. There are also some interesting reflections on the emancipation of the serfs, with the ancient valet Firs having been against it as he valued the certainty of the old life.
Ivanov
I found this one rather tedious and shapeless for the most part.
The Seagull
More complicated love relationships and literary competition, but didn't really resonate for me.
Show More
thought little of Uncle Vanya and Ivanov. Overall, though, I prefer Chekhov's short stories to his plays. 3.5/5 overall and a few thoughts below on each individual play. Three Sisters
This is an amusing play, with distinctive characters who quite quickly impress the reader with their individual personalities. There is very much a theme of longing in the play, whether to return to Moscow or to be in love or whatever.
Uncle Vanya
I was less impressed with this one, which didn't seem to get anywhere. And the title character isn't particularly the most important or interesting one.
The Cherry Orchard
Perhaps Chekhov's most famous play, this is a bittersweet piece, with the themes of love and loss between characters reflected in the sale and subsequent destruction of the Orchard. There are also some interesting reflections on the emancipation of the serfs, with the ancient valet Firs having been against it as he valued the certainty of the old life.
Ivanov
I found this one rather tedious and shapeless for the most part.
The Seagull
More complicated love relationships and literary competition, but didn't really resonate for me.
Show Less
LibraryThing member xieouyang
Although I have read so far only three of the plays, I have found them very sensible, funny and enjoyable. They depict the characters in common situations with common feelings. Entanglements, either love or otherwise, give the plays a clear realism,
I am looking forward to reading more of them over
I am looking forward to reading more of them over
Show More
thenext few weeks. Show Less
Call number
FIC E Che