Selected Stories - Anton Chekhov

About the Book

Anton Chekhov is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of short stories. He constructs stories where action and drama are implied rather than described openly, and which leave much to the reader’s imagination.This collection contains some of the most important of his earliest and shortest comic sketches, as well as examples of his great, mature works. Throughout, the doctor-turned-writer displays compassion for human suffering and misfortune, but is always able to see the comical, even farcical aspects of the human condition. Chekhov sees and depicts life with unwavering honesty and truthfulness, although a clear moral sense can be detected beneath his apparent objectivity.

Stories include:

• Overseasoned
• The Night before Easter
• At Home
• Champagne
• The Malefactor
• Murder Will Out
• The Trousseau
• The Decoration
• The Man in a Case
• Little Jack
• Dreams
• The Death of an Official
• Agatha
• The Beggar
• Children
• The Troublesome Guest
• Not Wanted
• The Robbers
• Lean and Fat
• On the Way
• The Head Gardener’s Tale
• Hush!
• Without a Title
• In the Ravine

***A note on the translation: our edition was first published in 1996 and no details of the translator were included. We have made a concerted effort to identify the source of the translation, but without success. The stories seem to have a continuity of style which suggests they are all the work of the same translator. Should anyone be able to cast any light on this, do please let us know.***

About the Author

Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian physician, writer and dramatist. Considered by many to be the most important short-story writer of all time, his prose works have had a lasting influence on the development of literature. His dramatic work is equally highly rated.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born on January 29 1860 in the small seaport of Taganrog, southern Russia. His father was a grocer, and his mother was the daughter of a cloth merchant.

Chekhov began studying at the Moscow University Medical School in 1879, and to enable him to support his family, he started to publish hundreds of comic short stories. His writing focused on silly social situations, marital problems, farcical encounters between husbands, wives, mistresses, and lovers, and the whims of young women, of whom Chekhov had not much knowledge as he was shy with women even after his marriage.

His works appeared in St. Petersburg daily papers, Peterburskaia gazeta from 1885, and Novoe vremia from 1886. Chekhov’s first novel Nenuzhaya pobeda was published in 1882. The novel was set in Hungary and parodied the novels of the popular writer Mor Jokai. He later published his second full length novel, The Shooting Party, which was translated in 1926.

Chekhov continued to practise medicine throughout his career after he graduated in 1884. In autumn 1887, Chekhov was commissioned to write a play, the result being Ivanov, written in a fortnight and produced that December.

In March 1897 Chekhov suffered a major haemorrhage of the lungs and doctors diagnosed tuberculosis and ordered a change in his manner of life. In 1898 he moved to the outskirts of Yalta with his mother and sisters. Here he kept dogs, tame cranes and received guests such as Leo Tolstoy and Maxim Gorky. On 25th May 1901 he married Olga Knipper.

In Yalta, Chekov wrote one of his most famous stories, The Lady with the Dog, which depicts a casual liaison between a married man and a married woman. His Selected Stories and Plays have been published.

In 1904 Chekhov became terminally ill with tuberculosis and died on 14th July in Germany. He was later buried in the cemetery of the Novodeviche Monastery in Moscow.