Chekhov Shorts: A Pink Stocking

Title: A Pink Stocking
Date Read: 1st June 2010
Briefly: Agitated and at his wits end with almost everything, Pavel Petrovitch Somov demands to see the letter that his wife has been penning for two hours. He is shocked to discover that despite it spanning six pages, the letter – which is to her [...]

Chekhov Shorts: A Misfortune

Title: A Misfortune
Date Read: 1st June 2010
Briefly: Sofya Petrovna the twenty-five-year-old wife of Lubyantsev the notary, has summoned her lover, the lawyer Ilyin, to tell him that for the sake of her marriage the relationship must end. Ilyin who has an infatuation with the young wife doesn’t take the news well, [...]

Chekhov Shorts: The Husband

Title: The Husband
Date Read: 25th May 2010
Briefly: A cavalry regiment arrive to stay overnight in a sleepy town and the townsfolk are all excited; not least the women who are a little intoxicated by the presence of so many men. So what does a husband do when his wife gets all [...]

Chekhov Shorts: A Troublesome Visitor

Title: A Troublesome Visitor
Date Read: 25th May 2010
Briefly: Poor old Artyom, a short and lean peasant with a wrinkled, aged-looking face and a little beard that grows out of his neck, is petrified with his current situation. So many villains have knocked on the door of his isolated hut and made demands [...]

Chekhov Shorts: The Schoolmaster

Title: The Schoolmaster
Date Read: 18th May 2010
Briefly: Fyodor Lukitch Sysoev is the very proud master of a prestigious factory-maintained school. It’s the time of the year when the yearly exams are finished and all teachers, inspectors and the master himself are looking forward to the annual dinner. After a bit of [...]

Chekhov Shorts: The Chorus Girl

Title: The Chorus Girl
Date Read: 18th May 2010
Briefly: Singer Pasha is entertaining her admirer Nikolay Petrovitch Kolpakov in the outer room of her summer villa when suddenly there’s a knock at the door. Wishing to keep anonymity Kolpakov springs up out of his repose and rushes off to an adjoining room [...]

Chekhov Shorts: Not Wanted

Title: Not Wanted
Date Read: 11th May 2010
Briefly: Summer holidays are more trouble than they’re worth if you believe anything that Zaikin says. Vexed at the cost and effort of going away for the summer, Zaikin’s bad mood is set to get a whole lot worse when he realises that his wife is [...]

Chekhov Shorts: The Chemist’s Wife

Title: The Chemist’s Wife
Date Read: 11th May 2010
Briefly: Stuck in a humdrum life with an equally humdrum husband, the life of the chemist’s wife is set to get a little more exciting one evening when two officers pass by the pharmacy on their way home from an evening with the Police Captain.
Afterthoughts: [...]

Chekhov Shorts: Panic Fears

Title: Panic Fears
Date Read: 4th May 2010
Briefly: The narrator recounts the only three occasions in his life when he’s been truly scared.
Afterthoughts: Although this is one of the more atmospheric stories that I’ve encountered from the pen of Chekhov, it turns out being one of the most mediocre tales I’ve read [...]

Chekhov Shorts: At a Summer Villa

Title: At a Summer Villa
Date Read: 4th May 2010
Briefly: Receiving an unexpected love letter from an unknown woman, married man Pavel Ivanitch Vyhodtsev tussles with the suggestion that he should rendezvous with the mysterious admirer at an old arbour. With curiosity and desire finally getting the better of him he sets [...]

Next Page »