Anton Chekhov Short Story Collection 1 Author:Anton Chekhov, Constance Garnett, Pyotr Tchaikovskiy, Max Bollinger A collection of 11 Short Stories by Anton Chekhov featuring A Tragic Actor; In A Strange Land; Oh The Public;The Looking Glass; Her Husband; Overdoing It; Talent; Anyuta; The Helpmate; Ivan Matveyich; Polinka; Audio book version contains 2 CDs or downloadable as 11 MP3 files. Read in English (Unabridged). A wonderful Chekhovian mix of humour and... more » poignancy, presented with fine flourish by the Russian-born narrator.
The selection of stories in this book represents Chekhov s early work which perhaps is not as well known as some of his plays. The stories nevertheless possess unique potency and relevance to our modern lives just as they did back in 19th century Russia when they first appeared in various Russian publications.
Chekhov himself described his work as comic satire: "All I wanted was to say honestly to people: 'Have a look at yourselves and see how bad and dreary your lives are!' The important thing is that people should realize that, for when they do, they will most certainly create another and better life for themselves. I will not live to see it, but I know that it will be quite different, quite unlike our present life.
Chekhov was often criticized by prominent literary reviewers of the time for not providing readers with an answer or ideas how these dreary lives can be improved. Of course Chekhov is not giving a direct instruction or providing readers with a manual on how to live a life, but it is possible to find solutions in his stories ? they appear between the lines for each reader. Resolutions are different for each person and only each individual soul can find the right and most appropriate way in their life. Chekhov s own response to this is well documented. He often insisted that the job of an artist was not to answer questions, it was to ask them.
CD1
01 A Tragic Actor
02 In A Strange Land
03 Oh! The Public
04 The Looking Glass
05 Her Husband
06 Overdoing It
CD2
01 Talent
02 Anyuta
03 The Helpmate
04 Ivan Matveyitch
05 Polinka
About The Composer
Pyotr Ilyich Chaikovskiy 1840 1893, a Russian composer of the Romantic era. Chaikovskiy achieved worldwide recognition during his lifetime, was awarded an honorary doctorate at Cambridge University. In 1891 the Carnegie Hall program booklet proclaimed him to be one of the greatest living musicians. Music critics praised him as a modern music lord . In Russia Chaikovskiy was considered a national treasure, and his music admired and adored by all. He wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the current classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his Piano Concertos, his Symphonies, and the opera Eugene Onegin.
About The Translator
Constance Clara Garnett 1861 1946, an English translator of nineteenth century Russian Literature. Following her visit to Russia in 1893 where she met Leo Tolstoy, Constance started translating Russian literature, which became her life's passion and resulted in English language versions of dozens of volumes by Tolstoy, Pushkin, Turgenev, Chekhov and other prominent Russian writers. Russian anarchist Sergei Stepniak assisted in preparation of her early works.
Joseph Conrad compared Constance to a great musician interpreting a great composer when (Turgenev). Katherine Mansfield wrote: Constance Garnett transformed the lives of younger authors by revealing a new world. Without her translations, H. E. Bates believed, modern English literature itself could not have been what it is. Max Bollinger considers Garnett s translation work as the most faithful to original Russian and most characteristic of the era.« less