A Chekhov Circus

A guide to the short stories of Anton Chekhov

Category: First appeared in print in 1899

  • No. 15 – The New Villa

    This is one of the occasional Chekhov stories that is explicitly about social tensions in Russia. It’s a compelling tale and an interesting peephole into the ways that the rich and poor lived–and their sometimes fraught relationships. The story: A bridge is being built outside a small village. We’re never told why the bridge is…

  • No. 50 – On Official Duty

    Chekhov wrote quite a few stories set in waystations of one sort or another – mean little inns, railway stations, etc. – where folk of different classes and backgrounds are forced to cohabit with one another, if only for a night or two. “On the Road,” “The Post,” “Easter Eve,” “The Witch”…. really it’s a…

  • No. 25 – The Lady with the Dog

    Here it is, Chekhov’s best-known story. If you, an American reader, have ever read any selection of Chekhov tales, this one was almost certainly included in your volume. I, too, had read “The Lady With the Dog” (probably more than once) and my hazy, warm memories of it were the main reason that I thought…

  • No. 127 – A Dreary Story

    A retired professor looks back on his life and that of his adoptive daughter.

  • No. 102 – The Darling

    The life story of a woman who assumes the identities of the people she falls in love with.