The Black Monk and Other Stories, Anton Chekhov
The Black Monk and Other Stories, Anton Chekhov
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The Black Monk and Other Stories

Author: Anton Chekhov

Narrator: Ralph Cosham

Unabridged: 2 hr 20 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/01/2000

Categories: Fiction, Short Stories

Synopsis

Chekhov can characterize with a single well-selected detail. He sums up relationships among a group of people, or the beliefs held by an entire country, by finding those key objects that crystallize his characters' strongest emotions. These four stories dramatize an array of obsessions that are at once purely Russian and deeply universal. Ralph Cosham's voice is so clear and unaccented as he reads these tales that he is a bit surprising; the complex Russian names stand out, jolting the listeners. But that's the only shock here, as Cosham fits his delivery to Chekhov's style, surging to pile description on description, then pausing, to give entire scenes a unified feel and pace.

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 piperitapitta

Senza orizzonti. Ho letto questi tre racconti, compresi nella raccolta «I racconti della Maturità», subito dopo aver letto «La casa con il mezzanino - La signora con il cagnolino». Inizialmente avevo pensato ad un unico commento ma dopo aver terminato «Il monaco nero» la mia impressione, poi conferma......more

Goodreads review by Francesco

Ritornare a leggere narratori di tale calibro, ha l'effetto dirompente di una cura di disintossicazione. Ricordare di nuovo cosa significhi "evocare", "raccontare", "descrivere" è un'esperienza unica. Niente da fare, siamo di fronte a figure di una tale altezza, che la vita che ci circonda ci sembra......more

Goodreads review by Alisea

Racconti diretti, stile lineare di facilissima lettura al punto da far dimenticare che sono scritti all'incirca 100 anni fa. I racconti hanno come filo conduttore il senso della vita. Cogliamo sin dai primi racconti l'obiettività dell'autore, intuiamo in lui un testimone imparziale che ci offre, in......more

Goodreads review by Giada

Questo mio primo approccio alla letteratura russa non é stato dei più felici. Dei tre racconti del volume, l'ultimo, “La fidanzata” é quello che mi é piaciuto di più. Semplice e lineare, racconta di una ragazza che poco prima del matrimonio viene assalita da moltissimi dubbi. Il secondo brevissimo r......more

Goodreads review by Kevan

(I read the "Il Sole 24 ORE" 2007 edition "Il monaco nero e altri racconti" translated from the Russian into Italian by Emanuela Guercetti and Giampietro Piretto. — This is an interesting (thin) little book, because from the pricing on the back, the book was bundled together with the Sunday edition......more

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