The Lottery Ticket

Name: The Lottery Ticket
Brand: Ascent Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Anton Chekhov
ISBN: 9781469091884

Author: Anton Chekhov

Narrator: Dave Courvoisier

Unabridged: 15 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Ascent Audio

Published: 09/01/2014

Categories: Fiction

Synopsis

When Ivan Dmitritch's wife, Masha, invests her money in the lottery, he can help but feel it is a foolish waste of timing. However, having read through the rest of the paper, he agrees to check the numbers for his wife at her request. To his astonishment, the series number of Masha's lottery ticket matches the winning series number. Without checking the rest of the number needed to win, both husband and wife quickly begin to fantasize about what they would do if they won the lottery. Their happy thoughts quickly turn to anger and hostility towards one another as they become greedy over the money. It is only then that Ivan consents to checking the final number to see whether or not their musings would come true.
Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian writer and playwright, considered by many to be one of the best writers of short stories in the history of literature. Chekhov was also a successful physician, but writing was his true passion. He was quoted as saying "Medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress."

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 Sandra on March 19, 2019

Enjoyable and amusing short story about a couple who imagine what they would do if they won the lottery. (And how their thoughts go from happy to angry towards each other when they think of what they would do with the money they would win).......more

Goodreads review by Gabrielė on February 11, 2023

I have a simple rule in life—if I don’t know what to read, I read Chekhov. He never lets me down. Ivan and his wife Masha are simple middle-class people. They are content with what they have and proud of their hard-earned property. However, Ivan sees in the newspaper that his wife’s lottery ticket ma......more

Goodreads review by Luthfi on July 23, 2024

Well, it's fine as long as daydreaming is still free. Chekhov captures the state of mind of both the wife and husband, showing that they are essentially the same—they are simply human, ordinary people. Even before knowing the lottery results, they are already daydreaming about all sorts of things. Anot......more

Goodreads review by Akash on November 29, 2022

To torment and tantalize oneself with hopes of possible fortune is so sweet, so thrilling! লোভ মানুষকে ধীরে ধীরে শয়তানের রাস্তায় নিয়ে যায়, মস্তিষ্ক বিকৃতি করে দেয়; আর মানুষ তা বুঝতেও পারে না। মানুষ কল্পনাও করতে পারে না যে সে লোভের জন্য কত বড় জঘন্য কাজ করে ফেলেছে; তখন জঘন্য কল্পনা-চিন্তা মানুষের......more