Review: Short-stories by Anton Chekhov

Short-stories are a difficult to review on the whole, even at the best times.  In my case, I have traveled thousands of miles (kilometers) as of late, it has been many months since I read this work, I have read about 10 books since these stories, and I didn't write down any notes!  This 'review' is an impossibility and it had been daunting for me, which is why I left it until last in my reviewing backlog. 

I'm a big fan of the Russians greats, which I think I have documented here quite often: Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Nabokov, Turgenev, Pasternak, etc.  I was lucky to have picked up a few of Chekhov's stories in Nottingham when I was traveling around; I thought that it would be a great idea to read a few of them on trains or before bed or at other moments where I didn't have very much time to read something seriously.   I had never read any short-stories by Chekhov before, but since he is well known as one of the masters of the short-story, I was excited to plow through them.

I read somewhere that one thing that many people struggle with is Chekhov's particular style in regards to the 'message' located within each story.  I found that the reviews I had read were correct - Chekhov leaves it up to the reader to decide which lessons to glean from most of his stories.  I believe he tells a story to have told it and once it's completed, he moves onto the next not really caring what readers THINK of it.  Chekhov was a physician before he ever became a writer and I could theorize that he just began to write for sheer enjoyment and not with a greater purpose in mind.  I don't pretend to know if I would be right in making this assumption, but it seems to make sense after reading these 24 stories.

I also agree that he seems to embody the Russian way of life (granted, I am fairly ignorant in a very good portion of their history), preferring to focus on common people as opposed to the aristocracy and 'elite' of society.  When I think back upon the stories many months after reading them, I can FEEL various scenes in the stories and I think that's indicative of a good writer.  I will definitely re-read some of these stories in the future and make substantial notes on my feelings about each one, and which ones are my favourites.  I'll now just present a list of which stories were involved in my edition (along with a small amount of quotations), more for my own benefit than anything else.  Would love to hear what you think of Chekhov's short stories or his only novel, The Shooting Party.

1.       Overseasoned

2.       The Night Before Easter

“why is it that even in the presence of great happiness, a man cannot forget his grief?”

“when a man is tired and drowsy he thinks that nature, too, is in the same condition.”

3.       At Home

“No doubt that is one of the laws of society – the less an evil is understood the more bitterly and harshly it is attacked.”

“The more enlightened a man is the more he is given to reflection and hair-splitting; the more undecided he is, the more full of scruples, and the more timidly he approaches a task.”

4.       Champagne

5.       The Malefactor

6.       Murder Will Out

7.       The Trousseau

8.       The Decoration

9.       The Man in a Case

“How many wrong and foolish deeds are committed in our country towns because we are bored!”

10.   Little Jack

11.   Dreams

12.   The Death of an Official

13.   Agatha

14.   The Beggar

15.   Children

16.   The Troublesome Guest

17.   Not Wanted

18.   The Robbers

19.   Lean and Fat

20.   On the Way

21.   The Head Gardener’s Tale

22.   Hush!

23.   Without a Title

24.   In the Ravine