Chekhov may well be the best short story writer to put pen to paper. His stories demonstrate a tight, crisp, and unadorned revelation of character. His charactives act, yearning and struggling to define themselves without authorial intrusion. They're laid bare by life, as we all are. Many stories capture in a few thousand words what other authors need tens of thousands to achieve. Pure genius. Pure insight. Read and re-read Chekhov, the master of the form.

Anton Chekov's Short Stories (Norton Critical Edition) would be your best introductory volume to have in first experiencing his works. Not only does Norton have better translations of the stories but also there is an appendix in the back of the volume offering some critical expositions of Chekov's works.



Please keep in mind also that Chekov had a social conscience as well. He did not write merely for capitalistic reasons but wrote about Imperial Russia as an observer and expositor of its decline and eventual fall. Through his various humanitarian activities amongst the Russian peasants class he was able to see first hand the poverty and degradation that was endemic in late 19th Century Czarist Russia.



Chekov's stories are brief windows or vistas into the depths of human character. Unlike Poe or O Henry, there are no "punch lines" at the end of the story...but you do come away with a deeper understanding of the spirit in man.

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Anton Chekov's Short Stories (Norton Critical Edition) would be your best introductory volume to have in first experiencing his works. Not only does Norton have better translations of the stories but also there is an appendix in the back of the volume offering some critical expositions of Chekov's works.

Please keep in mind also that Chekov had a social conscience as well. He did not write merely for capitalistic reasons but wrote about Imperial Russia as an observer and expositor of its decline and eventual fall. Through his various humanitarian activities amongst the Russian peasants class he was able to see first hand the poverty and degradation that was endemic in late 19th Century Czarist Russia.

Chekov's stories are brief windows or vistas into the depths of human character. Unlike Poe or O Henry, there are no "punch lines" at the end of the story...but you do come away with a deeper understanding of the spirit in man.
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Tolstoy accurately compared Chekhov's keen observations; his realistic depiction of the world to that of a photographer with added humor and insight and to the French Impressionists (with an emphasis on light and its changing qualities and ordinary subject matter). Anton Chekhov's short stories are remarkable in their use of detailed and elegant description of place amid narration and character development--a technique which helped to ground me within each story. Each character is influenced by place as well as relationships in a seamless, natural, and realistic manner. The stories employ irony and the theme of communication gone astray in a way that renders new insights. It is especially interesting to witness his progression from his early, darkly humorous, stories to his latter, more serious, and significant works.

Tolstoy accurately compared Chekhov's keen observations; his realistic depiction of the world to that of a photographer with added humor and insight and to the French Impressionists (with an emphasis on light and its changing qualities and ordinary subject matter). Anton Chekhov's short stories are remarkable in their use of detailed and elegant description of place amid narration and character development--a technique which helped to ground me within each story. Each character is influenced by place as well as relationships in a seamless, natural, and realistic manner. The stories employ irony and the theme of communication gone astray in a way that renders new insights. It is especially interesting to witness his progression from his early, darkly humorous, stories to his latter, more serious, and significant works.

I have always loved reading the work of a writer along with critical essays that provide richer insights into the work. Such an anthology brings both great stories and serious analysis of the work together. This edition also contains some of Chekhov's memorable correspondance.
After reading many Chekhov stories I think it is possible to venture a few generalizations about the essence of his art. First of all he is a great creator of human character, of idiosyncratic individuals. He too is a master of depicting the clash between the inner dream and longing of the individual and the cruel reality that he faces. The child Vanka who desperately writes letters to his grandfather in the hope of escaping a life of virtual slavery is a prominent example in this work. Chekhov is a writer with a great heart and great feeling for the inner emotions of his characters. And he creates in the reader a sympathy for those characters. Consider the story ' The Darling ' in which a woman's loving and caring and positive nature, a nature which totally supports and takes upon herself the husband or in the end the imagined step- child she cares for , persists through the various individuals who are part of her life. Chekhov is the writer who makes us feel the twilight poignance of life , the great heartbreak of human souls in longing and disappointment. So many of his characters are dreamers, longing for a reality which the crude tough world before them either ignores or violently contradicts. I think that in an age in which people talk about ' post- character literature' it is important to see how much of a great writer's greatness is in the creation of characters, vibrant human beings that the reader can identify with. Chekhov is also the great portrayer of human folly, and does this with irony and humor. Consider how in the story ' The Chameleon' the judge changes his verdict back and forth as he thinks first that the dog which has bitten the complaintant belongs to a highly important official, or does not. This judge changing his opinion to suit what will be good for himself is the perfect embodiment of human injustice and hypocrisy. The foibles and weaknesses of Chekhov's character are everywhere apparent, and yet so many of his characters are , excuse the word, ' lovable'. One feels that Chekhov is a great and generous and loving soul as a writer, and that his spirit pervades his literature.
What a pleasure to be in the world of such a soul.

I'm a big fan of Chekhov's earlier, shorter stories, which are more plot and less "atmosphere", like the earlier selections in this book. It's clear to see how the early 1880's Chekhov was influenced by Guy de Maupassant's stories , an influence he acknowledged. Chekhov is equally adept at dealing with both serious and comical themes in his fiction. And although he's best known for his plays, his finest stories too stand the test of time, both in re-creating a historically accurate portrait of Russia and its people in the late 19th century, but also in giving us memorable characters and their stories to enjoy. Although his stories are often sad or tragic, Chekhov writes about these Russians with a real sympathy and understanding that is endearing to the reader. This collection of over 30 of his stories covers the span of his whole literary career, from the early 1880's to 1903, the year before his death.

David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Constance Garnett ruins Chekhov for me.

Her work is reprinted for financial reasons, not artistic ones. Want to read "good" Chekhov? Read Robert Payne or Ann Dunnigan's translations. Yarmolinsky is good too.

Rosa La Luna

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Constance Garnett ruins Chekhov for me.

Her work is reprinted for financial reasons, not artistic ones. Want to read "good" Chekhov? Read Robert Payne or Ann Dunnigan's translations. Yarmolinsky is good too.

Rosa La Luna

This collection will expose you to not only some of the best short stories by Anton Chekhov, but some of the best stories ever written in any language. Chekhov's sense of mood and characters overrides his need to provide a predictable plot. He is the forerunner for America's beloved Hemingway, Raymond Carver, and may others in between. People may criticize some of Chekhov's Romantic devices and tendencies, but no one can deny the exactitude of his writing. His work is simple and does not rely heavily on existential characters and events, creating a timeless air.

For writers (and interested readers), there is an appendage of letters that Chekhov wrote to friends about writing. His advice is so right and simple that you'll wonder why your favorite author, or even you, didn't think of them first. Chekhov turns out to be a rather arrogant guy, claiming he never spent more than a day on a story and that his only job was "to be talented," but that is part of his charm. He is the link to modern fiction that is often forgotten. Buy or check out this book. It is a must.

In over 35 years of reading adult literature, these are my all-time favorite works. Chekhov has an uncanny and incomparable ability: virtually nothing happens in many of his stories, yet as you close the book you are aware that something deep and wonderful about human character has been revealed. Chekhov has often been described as being unsurpassed in describing the RUSSIAN character, but I find his descriptions of people, their insecurities and their relationships, to be universal.

If you read books for the action, the color, or the conflict, you will find little of it here. All you will find is quiet and penetrating insight into what it means to be a human being living with other human beings.