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No. 13 – Betrothed
This was Chekhov’s final story, published about a year before he died. Death hovers over the story: One of the characters is in poor health and ultimately dies of tuberculosis, the disease that felled Chekhov himself. The story: Nadya is engaged to be married to a well-off local man, but as the wedding day approaches,…
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No. 11 – Enemies
“Enemies” begins, like half-a-dozen other Chekhov stories, with a doctor being summoned to attend to a sick patient. In this case, though, the doctor, Kirilin, has just suffered a devastating loss: The death of his son, at age six, of diphtheria. In a miasma of grief, the doctor is visited by a stranger, Abogin, from…
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No. 46 – In the Graveyard
As early as 1884, Chekhov was busy hating on actors, or at least finding their profession miserable. It’s really a wonder to me that he ever wanted to be a playwright. This story, about a miserable and basically pathetic little actor at the end of his life, was published well before Chekhov was deeply involved…
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No. 63 – From the Diary of a Violent-Tempered Man
A comically inept academic resists marriage, but resistance is futile.
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No. 91 – A Tripping Tongue
A blabbermouth wife reveals a bit too much about her girls-only trip to her husband.
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No. 143 – The Orator
A voluble young writer agrees to eulogize a man he barely knew.
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No. 7 – The Schoolmaster
This is an amazing story, certainly among Chekhov’s best. The plot: An aged principal attends his school’s annual dinner despite his ill health and general weakness. The schoolmaster, Sysoev, is not, it seems, a terribly nice man: Tetchy and volatile, he rejects any suggestion that he may not be strong enough to attend the festivities.…
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No. 33 – At the Barber’s
The setting is a filthy barbershop rural village. It is tended by a filthy barber, Makar Kuzmitch. Into the shop comes Erast Ivanitch. As it happens, Erast is Makar’s godfather. He is also the father of a daughter. Makar is in love with the daughter, and she with him. For all these reasons, Makar is…
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No. 69 – In a Strange Land
A bullying landowner delights in insulting his servant.
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No. 34 – A Peculiar Man
What kind of man would bargain with a midwife while his wife is in labor? “A Peculiar Man,” per the title of this story. “A Peculiar Man” is chilling and grim. The man of the title, Kiryakov, a mid- to senior level government bureaucrat, barges into a midwife’s home demanding haste, as his wife is…
A Chekhov Circus
A guide to the short stories of Anton Chekhov
A Chekhov Circus 