Raymond Carver once said that Anton Chekhov was the best short story writer that ever lived. If you haven’t read any Chekhov, or you read the old translations by Constance Garnett, you might want to pick up this copy of Chekhov’s short stories with new translations by Rosamund Bartlett. Bartlett makes Chekhov’s sentences less clunky and modernizes the language from the Garnett translation that’s a hundred years old. This collection presents the wide range of Chekhov’s stories. “The Huntsman” (1885) is an early story about a huntsman who has been tricked into marrying a poor woman. The title story, “About Love” (1898) is part of a trilogy of stories that include “The Man in the Case” (1898) and “Gooseberries” (1898) about two men on a summer hunting trip. All three stories explore aspects of freedom. This collection includes what many consider Chekhov’s best story, “The Lady With the Little Dog” (1899). Chekhov presents some conflicting ideas about love and marriage in this story and leaves the reader pondering questions with no easy answers. I highly recommend this marvelous collection. GRADE: A
(This completes the January 2010 portion of my Short Story Reading Challenge. I will read and review one short story collection per month in 2010. To find out more about the Short Story Reading Challenge click: Short Story Reading Challenge.)
Great choice! As you know I read through all of the Chekhov stories I could get my hands on – even 38 newly-discovered stories – in 2002. He was a true master.
I hope the new translation brings in lots of readers.
I read the Constance Garnett translations years ago, Jeff. This new translation is very good.
If you have a chance read Richard Yates’ Eleven Kinds of Loneliness, one of my favorites. I have three shelves of short story collections and I never pass one up at a used book sale.
Wow! I have plenty of short story collections, Patti, but I’m impressed by your three shelves. Yes, I’ve read Yates’ ELEVEN KINDS OF LONELINESS. It’s about as good as it gets.
I loved the Yates book too.
I signed up for the reading challenge, George.
One of my problems is deciding which books to take to Florida for five weeks. I saved the last two Crippen & Landru collections and have a couple of sf short story collections (though the stories by Heinlein and Leinster are hardly “short”) as well as that Leo Bruce book you reviewed, plus a couple of EQMMs.
That should be enough.
Now for the novels…
Crider says he will only take his Kindle 2 when he travels, Jeff. After all, it holds 1500 e-books!
I am lucky enough to go to Florida for four days in ten days. Five weeks is next year’s sabbatical treat. Where do you go, Jeff? We are scouting possibilities next week in the Fort Myers area.
When we go to Florida, Patti, we go to Disney World.
East Coasters stay on the East Coast, mostly, Patti. We used to go to my in laws’ condo in Delray Beach, but this year we’ll be at a hotel in West Palm Beach.
Retirement – nothing like it!
We’ve been to Fort Myers and liked it a lot, especially Edison’s house.
We have plenty of retired friends who now live in the Fort Myers area, Jeff.
I have far more than three shelves of ss collections, but that is in good measure dur to being a subscriber to Crippen & Landru for many years, and many other mystery collections. I have a lot of SF short story collections )Many NESFA) too, even a coupple of western collections. As for literary collections, not so much. Saki, Cheever, Theroux, a few others. I almost said Bradbury, but I’m not sure if he isn’t fantasy / SF.
My books are vaguely organized by author in alphabetical order, Rick. But, like you, I have plenty of short story collections like the NESFA volumes and those dandy Crippen & Landru treasures.
George, I think the Midwesterners head to the West Coast of Florida. Your area certainly has Midwest weather more than NYC weather, so maybe that’s it.
One of my sisters lives on the east coast of Florida near Cape Canaveral, Jeff. But our retired friends have all gravitated to the west coast of Florida.
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