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No. 98 – In Passion Week
A slice of life written from the perspective of a young boy as he wonders about life and God.
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No. 157 – The Beggar
A beggar’s life seems to be transformed by a bit of hard advice–but is that what really changed him?
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No. 162 – Happiness
Two shepherds and a bailiff trade stories about supposed treasures buried in the woods.
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No. 27 – The Letter
Of Chekhov’s portraits of the priesthood (there are not that many), this one might be the most “human,” for it shows different levels of faith, doubt, and seriousness within the church. The story features three men of the cloth, each at a different tier in the hierarchy. At the high end is the district clerical…
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No. 37 – (tie) Polinka/Anyuta
These two brief sketches focus on wretched love affairs. In the Constance Garnett translations of Chekhov, they appear side-by-side, and as a reader you can’t help but see them as a single piece of fiction, even though they stand completely separate, and were written months apart. Of the two, “Anyuta” is the harsher, more painful…
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No. 134 – A Chameleon
A policeman acts tough after a puppy nips someone on the street.
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No. 142 – The Lottery Ticket
A man fantasizes about winning the lottery, but even in fantasy there seems to be sufferingn and unhappiness.
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No. 23 – A Lady’s Story
This is an unusual entry in the Chekhov library, written in the first person and narrated by a woman. It’s a good story, maybe even great. In any case, it’s very tight, just seven pages long, with a breathless, thrilling opening: Natalya and Pyotr are riding through the fields as a storm approaches. The rains…
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No. 26 – Champagne
This is (for Chekhov) an unusual, foxy little story narrated by a bad man. The narrator works at a godforsaken railway station, where “for fifteen miles around there was not one human habitation, not one woman, not one decent tavern.” The station constitutes a tiny world unto itself: “My wife and I; a deaf and…
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No. 35 – The Cossack
Driving home from Easter services with his wife, a young farmer chances upon a man in a field–a Cossack–who has fallen ill. The farmer’s minor attempt to help the man is blocked by his wife, and they return home, leaving the Cossack alone in the field. This small failure of charity is an omen of…
A Chekhov Circus
A guide to the short stories of Anton Chekhov
A Chekhov Circus 