The Undiscovered Chekhov: Fifty-one New Stories by Anton Chekhov - Softcover

Anton Chekhov

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0715631551 ISBN 13: 9780715631553

Publisher: Duck Editions, 2002

Synopsis

These early stories by Anton Chekhov were rediscovered by translator Peter Constantine in the New York Public Library collection of rare Russian magazines. Chekhov (1860-1904) is regarded as one of the world's modern masters both as playwright and short story writer. Chekhov wrote these stories in his mid-twenties, when he had already proved himself a prolific writer of astonishing talent and output, having published over 400 short stories and vignettes as well as two books. They are some of the stories that made Chekhov's name in his day.

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Review:

Here's a treat for any Chekhov lover: a collection of 38 previously untranslated stories by the Russian master. Even better, these stories date back to the 1880s, when the author was still in his 20s and at his most prolific. That he wrote at all is something of a miracle--unlike other great Russian authors of his time (Dostoevski, Pushkin, Tolstoy, to name a few), Anton Chekhov was not a member of the nobility. The son of a bankrupt grocer, he entered medical school and became, at the same time, the breadwinner for his impoverished family by cranking out stories for magazines. His revolutionary approach to literature was apparent from the get-go. In "Sarah Bernhardt Comes to Town," for example, Chekhov uses a string of telegrams instead of a conventional narrative to tell his story. ("Telegram: Have been drinking to Sarah's health all week! Enchanting! She actually dies standing up! Our actors can't touch the Parisians!") Even more unusual for 19th-century literature is the apparent lack of a plot. The telegrams are simply a collection of reactions to a single performance, from an usher ("Let in four. Fourteen rubles. Let in five. Fifteen r. Let in three and one madame. Fifteen rubles") to a doctor ("Last night I saw S.B. Her chest--paralytic and flat. Skeletal and muscular structure--unsatisfactory") to various members of the audience ("Darling! When it comes to Sarah Bernhardt, as the saying goes: you can dip a frog in honey but it doesn't mean I'll eat it").

All the qualities the more mature Chekhov is known for in his later works are apparent in these early stories: unconventional narratives, tremendous wit, psychological perspicacity, and above all that peculiarly modern interest in why human beings behave the way they do. Translator Peter Constantine's introduction gives readers both a good overview of Chekhov's life and a literary context for appreciating the stories collected here, but it is Chekhov himself whose remarkable brilliance will keep readers coming back for more. --Alix Wilber

About the Author:

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) is regarded as one of the world's modern masters as both playwright and short-story writer. When he wrote these stories he was just 26 but he had come into his own as a prolific writer of astonishing talent and output, having published over four hundred short stories and vignettes as well as two books of stories. He had written his first series of eight plays and was about to begin writing his first major theatrical success: Ivanov. At the same time he was energetically studying medicine and supporting his parents and two older brothers. His achievement would be recognised within two years when he was awarded the Pushkin Prize in 1888, the most prestigious literary award in Russia. Gifted translator Peter Constantine's Six Early Stories by Thomas Mann received the 1997 PEN /Book-of-the-Month-Club Translation Prize. His work has appeared in the New Yorker and Harper's among others and he is currently at work on a new translation of Dostoyevsky's Ilouse of the Dead. He lives in New York City.

About this edition

• Publisher: Duck Editions
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0715631551
• ISBN 13: 9780715631553
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 238