About Love and Other Stories

Name: About Love and Other Stories
Brand: Recorded Books
Availability: InStock
Author: Anton Chekhov
ISBN: 9781470387648

Author: Anton Chekhov, Rosamund Bartlett

Narrator: Adam Grupper, Henry Strozier, T. Ryder Smith

Unabridged: 9 hr 9 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 03/21/2014

Categories: Fiction, Classic

Synopsis

Raymond Carver called Anton Chekhov 'the greatest short story writer who has ever lived.' This unequivocal verdict on Chekhov's genius has been echoed many times by writers as diverse as Katherine Mansfield, Somerset Maugham, John Cheever and Tobias Wolf. While his popularity as a playwright has sometimes overshadowed his achievements in prose, the importance of Chekhov's stories is now recognized by readers as well as by fellow authors. Their themes--alienation, the absurdity and tragedy of human existence--have as much relevance today as when they were written, and these superb new translations capture their modernist spirit. Elusive and subtle, spare and unadorned, the stories in this selection are among Chekhov's most poignant and lyrical. The book includes well-known pieces such as 'The Lady with the Little Dog,' as well as less familiar work like 'Gusev,' inspired by Chekhov's travels in the Far East, and 'Rothschild's Violin,' a haunting and darkly humorous tale about death and loss. The stories are arranged chronologically to show the evolution of Chekhov's art.

About Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian short story writer, playwright, and physician, considered to be one of the greatest short story writers in the history of world literature. His career as a dramatist produced four classics-The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard-and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics alike. Initially, Chekhov wrote stories solely for financial gain, but as his artistic ambition grew, he made formal innovations that have influenced the evolution of the modern short story. His originality consists in an early use of the stream-of-consciousness technique, later adopted by James Joyce and other modernists, combined with a disavowal of the moral finality of traditional story structure. He made no apologies for the difficulties this posed to readers, insisting that the role of an artist was to ask questions, not to answer them. Chekhov published over a hundred short stories, including "The Duel," "In Exile," "On Official Business," "The Bishop," and "The Cobbler and the Devil."

Reviews

Goodreads review by Leonard on July 31, 2022

Before being a successful playwright, Chekhov was an extraordinarily prolific and influential author of short stories: several hundred of them in the span of twenty years. This collection includes only a dozen of his most famous stories, presented chronologically, which provides a beautiful cross-se......more

Goodreads review by Violet on March 19, 2020

Recently, someone asked me who I thought the most overrated writer is. I answered, somewhat flippantly, Margaret Atwood. After reading the first five stories in this collection I decided I would change my answer to Chekhov. I was astonished just how dreary I found them. He was the favourite writer o......more

Goodreads review by Sir Jack on March 26, 2008

Chekhov describes a character or a scene just enough to let the reader cleanly infer what’s being indicated. His descriptions are never overstated or garish; always subtle, wavering, whimsical, but precise. He lets his stories tell themselves somehow, getting out of the way when he should. And the d......more

Goodreads review by Hamidreza on January 25, 2018

love is to leave......more

Goodreads review by Sana on March 30, 2020

A lot of short stories, a lot of descriprions of the settings, the clothes, the seasons, and the people of course. Old people, young people, clergy, peasants, artists and even a love stricken carp. After all the build up the stories fizzle out to an abrupt, hasty ending which I find disappointing. I a......more