FiftyTwo Stories, Anton Chekhov
FiftyTwo Stories, Anton Chekhov
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Fifty-Two Stories
(1883-1898)

Author: Anton Chekhov, Richard Pevear, Larissa Volokhonsky

Narrator: Jim Frangione

Unabridged: 20 hr 13 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/14/2020


Synopsis

From the celebrated, award-winning translators of Anna Karenina and The Brothers Karamazov: a lavish volume of stories by one of the most influential short fiction writers of all time.
 
Anton Chekhov left an indelible impact on every literary form in which he wrote, but none more so than short fiction. Now, renowned translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky give us their renderings of fifty-two Chekhov stories. These stories, which span the complete arc of his career, reveal the extraordinary variety and unexpectedness of his work, from the farcically comic to the darkly complex, showing that there is no one single type of “Chekhov story.” They are populated by a remarkable range of characters who come from all parts of Russia and all walks of life, including landowners, peasants, soldiers, farmers, teachers, students, hunters, shepherds, mistresses, wives, and children. Taken together, they demonstrate how Chekhov democratized the form.
 
Included in this volume are tales translated into English for the first time, including “Reading” and “An Educated Blockhead.” Early stories such as “Joy,” “Anguish,” and “A Little Joke” sit alongside such later works as “The Siren,” “Big Volodya and Little Volodya,” “In the Cart,” and “About Love.” In its range, in its narrative artistry, and in its perceptive probing of the human condition, this collection promises profound delight.

Author Bio

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."

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