RobAroundBooks» Checkin Off the Chekhov Shorts

Chekhov Shorts: Excellent People

Rob — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:53:08 +0000

Title: Excellent People
Date Read: 21st February 2012
Briefly: The relationship between a ‘literary man’ and his sister becomes strained, when the sister begins to form views and beliefs that the brother doesn’t agree with.
Afterthoughts: I’ve got to be honest with you here and admit that this story made my brain hurt. It’s completely philosophical, playing on the theme of nonresistance to evil; a concept promoted by Tolstoy and one which Chekhov was interested in exploring. He does so to some degree in this story – with a brother and sister forming either side of the argument – but I can’t say that I left it feeling any the wiser. In fact my mind drifted several times while reading Excellent People (even on the second reading), but perhaps this is down to the fact that I prefer to be entertained by my short fiction rather than have it encourage me to ruminate over deep philosophical matters. For once dear Chekhov, you’ve almost bored me to death.
Notable Quote: “Volodya,” Vera Semyonovna interrupted his critical effusions, “I’ve been haunted by a strange idea since yesterday. I keep wondering where we should all be if human life were ordered on the basis of non-resistance to evil?

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

*Story read as part of my Checkin’ Off The Chekhov Shorts reading challenge.

Chekhov Shorts: Hush!

Rob — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:52:55 +0000

Title: Hush!
Date Read: 21st February 2012
Briefly: Journalist Ivan Yegoritch returns home late one night, clearly frustrated at the writing task that lies ahead of him.
Afterthoughts: An hilarious tale from Chekhov, which focuses on the theme of writing, and the emotions and dramatics that a writer often goes through in getting the words onto paper. And if the writer is suffering in this one then his poor wife is suffering a lot more, for it is she who has the bear the brunt of her husband’s frustrations, and it is she who has to accommodate her husband’s wishes, no matter what time of day or night. Summing it up more succinctly, Ivan Yegoritch is a bit of a diva, but then again aren’t all male writers? Thank you Chekhov for reminding me of that fact, and for doing so in a highly entertaining way.
Notable Quote: “Nadya,” he says, “I am sitting down to write. . . . Please don’t let anyone interrupt me. I can’t write with children crying or cooks snoring. . . . See, too, that there’s tea and . . . steak or something. . . . You know that I can’t write without tea. . . . Tea is the one thing that gives me the energy for my work.”

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

*Story read as part of my Checkin’ Off The Chekhov Shorts reading challenge.

Chekhov Shorts: Dreams

Rob — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:42:41 +0000

Title: Dreams
Date Read: 7th February 2012
Briefly: While tramping towards the district town, peasant constables Ptaha and Sapozhnikov get to know something of the person they’re escorting – a tramp who doesn’t look anything like a tramp, who’s forgotten his name. Afterthoughts: From it’s opening paragraph I thought that this was going to be a humourous tale, but it turned out not to be. It’s more sorrowful than anything else. More interesting, is a musing on Siberia, where the place is made to sound as though it’s a land of wild beauty, and of freedom and of bountiful resource for the person that lives there (Chekhov makes it sound a bit like Alaska. He should have worked for the Siberian Tourist Board ). Siberia is where the tramp thinks he’s headed to as punishment for his crimes, but there remains a stumbling block. It’s this which brings sorrow to the tale. Worth reading for the Siberia bit and the descriptions of the characters, but other than that, a fairly average tale.
Notable Quote: “I am not afraid of Siberia,” the tramp went on muttering. “Siberia is just as much Russia and has the same God and Tsar as here. They are just as orthodox Christians as you and I. Only there is more freedom there and people are better off. Everything is better there. Take the rivers there, for instance; they are far better than those here. There’s no end of fish; and all sorts of wild fowl. And my greatest pleasure, brothers, is fishing.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

*Story read as part of my Checkin’ Off The Chekhov Shorts reading challenge.

Chekhov Shorts: Mire

Rob — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:42:25 +0000

Title: Mire
Date Read: 7th February 2012
Briefly: Lieutenant Alexandr Grigoryevitch Sokolsky arrives at the home of a young wealthy Jewess to collect money owed to his cousin, Kryukov. Keen to collect the money because it is getting loaned to him for his wedding, Sokolsky is confident that this is going to be a straightforward, uncomplicated visit. It turns out to be everything but.
Afterthoughts: This is a fairly lengthy tale from Chekhov, but it needs its length in order for the story to fully unfold. It’s also one of Chekhov’s complete stories i.e. it has a beginning, a middle and an end, so the reader is not left hanging or having to decide on an outcome for himself (which is often the case with Chekhov). Aside from this, Mire is definitely worth sticking with it for its entertainment factor. The Jewess is a real star of this one. She demonstrates with real comical effect that she’s gutsy, independent and brilliant cunning. I kept thinking of a black widow spider when I was reading this story, and how it allures prey to its web. There may not be a murder or anything as dark in this story, but the Jewess is certainly a mistress of allure and manipulation, and it’s poor old Sokolsky and Kryukov that find themselves on the receiving end of this devious woman’s enchantment.
Notable Quote: Exactly opposite the entrance, he saw sitting in a big low chair, such as old men use, a woman in an expensive Chinese dressing-gown, with her head wrapped up, leaning back on a pillow. Nothing could be seen behind the woollen shawl in which she was muffled but a pale, long, pointed, somewhat aquiline nose, and one large dark eye. Her ample dressing-gown concealed her figure, but judging from her beautiful hand, from her voice, her nose, and her eye, she might be twenty-six or twenty-eight.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

*Story read as part of my Checkin’ Off The Chekhov Shorts reading challenge.

Chekhov Shorts: A Peculiar Man

Rob — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 07:37:12 +0000

Title: A Peculiar Man
Date Read: 20th September 2011
Briefly: Midwife, Marya Petrovna Koshkin is awoken in the middle of the night by Kiryakov, a ‘tall, well-made gentleman, no longer young, but with a handsome, severe face and bushy whiskers.’ The man’s wife is in labour and he requires the services of the midwife with some urgency. However, it seems to be more important to Kiryakov to set the right charges before the services of the midwife are engaged.
Afterthoughts: I really rather enjoyed this short moralistic story from Chekhov, not least for his treatment of the character Kiryakov, who turns out to be rather a despicable man. In this tale Chekhov succinctly explores what can happen when one becomes too preoccupied with money minding and penny pinching. He does greatly exaggerate things, but in doing so his message comes through loud and clear.
Notable Quote: Extraordinary the way things are mismanaged. Neither the chemist, nor the police, nor the house-porters can give me the address of a midwife, and so I am under the necessity of assenting to your terms. I will give you three roubles, but . . . I warn you beforehand that when I engage servants or receive any kind of services, I make an arrangement beforehand in order that when I pay there may be no talk of extras, tips, or anything of the sort. Everyone ought to receive what is his due.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

*Story read as part of my Checkin’ Off The Chekhov Shorts reading challenge.

Chekhov Shorts: In the Court

Rob — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 07:35:50 +0000

Title: In the Court
Date Read: 20th September 2011
Briefly: The Circuit Court is in session, but for all members on this day – and one expects every day – it’s a mundane and lethargic affair. Even the case of peasant Nikolay Harlamov, who is charged with the murder of his wife, fails to raise the interest of the court to any level other than mild disinterest.
Afterthoughts: I found this story from Chekhov to be rather dull and and not all that interesting, which I guess fits in perfectly with the mood of the story even though it doesn’t really make for entertaining reading. The saving grace i.e. why this tale scores a three and nothing less, all comes down to the ending and a rather slight but genius twist in the tale. All in all though, a largely forgettable effort from Chekhov.
Notable Quote: At first the prisoner turned pale and coughed nervously into his sleeve, but soon the stillness, the general monotony and boredom infected him too. He looked with dull-witted respectfulness at the judges’ uniforms, at the weary faces of the jurymen, and blinked calmly. The surroundings and procedure of the court, the expectation of which had so weighed on his soul while he was awaiting them in prison, now had the most soothing effect on him. What he met here was not at all what he could have expected. The charge of murder hung over him, and yet here he met with neither threatening faces nor indignant looks nor loud phrases about retribution nor sympathy for his extraordinary fate; not one of those who were judging him looked at him with interest or for long. . . . The dingy windows and walls, the voice of the secretary, the attitude of the prosecutor were all saturated with official indifference and produced an atmosphere of frigidity, as though the murderer were simply an official property, or as though he were not being judged by living men, but by some unseen machine, set going, goodness knows how or by whom. . . .

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

*Story read as part of my Checkin’ Off The Chekhov Shorts reading challenge.

Devouring De Maupassant: Beside Schopenhauer’s Corpse

Rob — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:43:10 +0000

Title: Beside Schopenhauer’s Corpse
Date Read: 19th September 2011
Available Online?: YES
Briefly: Intrigued by another man’s reading habits, the narrator sets about befriending a sick German guest who is staying at the same hotel as him. He soon discovers what the German man has been reading, and as a bonus his fellow guest relates a story about the book’s author.
Afterthoughts: This is perhaps the oddest tale I’ve read from Maupassant, not because it has a bizarre storyline or any kind of ambiguous ending, but because it focuses rather oddly on the pessimistic German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer. I say ‘oddly’ because the story doesn’t really have any reason or benefit from having Schopenhauer as a primary character (as you’ll find out for yourself if you read it). The only reason I can think of for Maupassant including Schopenhauer is this story, is simply because he wanted to have a pop at him (and he certainly does have pop, that much is evident in the notable quote below). Putting this little oddity aside, this is still an entertaining and well written story, which is worth reading for its humourous ending.
Notable Quote: A disabused pleasure-seeker, he [Schopenhauer] overthrew beliefs, hopes, poetic ideals and chimeras, destroyed the aspirations, ravaged the confidence of souls, killed love, dragged down the chivalrous worship of women, crushed the illusions of hearts, and accomplished the most gigantic task ever attempted by scepticism. He spared nothing with his mocking spirit, and exhausted everything. And even to-day those who execrate him seem to carry in their own souls particles of his thought.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

*Story read as part of my Devouring De Maupassant reading challenge.

Devouring De Maupassant: Miss Harriet

Rob — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:42:50 +0000

Title: Miss Harriet
Date Read: 19th September 2011
Available Online?: YES
Briefly: While on a coach trip from Etretat to the ruins of Tancarville, the old painter Leon Chenal is asked to tell a love story of which he’s played a part in. He obliges, stating that the story he is about to tell is not a happy one, but rather relating to one of the ‘saddest love affairs of his life.’
Afterthoughts: This rather lengthy tale from Maupassant is beautiful, and for a couple of reasons. Firstly, strongly impressionistic and invoking a sense of ‘being there’, Maupassant’s descriptions of the countryside and of nature are sublime (see notable quote below). Readers of Maupassant will know fine well how deft this writer is at describing scene, but in this story more than any other he takes it to another level (an almost heavenly one). Secondly, the storyline itself, which although quite rambling at times is cutting and wholly memorable. As Chenal says this a story about a sad love affair, and ultimately it is sad, so expect to leave this one feeling somewhat deflated. Don’t let that put you off though because Miss Harriet makes for unmissable reading, and for all the right reasons.
Notable Quote: You sit down by the side of a spring which gushes out at the foot of an oak, amid a growth of tall, slender weeds, glistening with life. You go down on your knees, bend forward and drink that cold, pellucid water which wets your mustache and nose; you drink it with a physical pleasure, as though you kissed the spring, lip to lip. Sometimes, when you find a deep hole along the course of these tiny brooks, you plunge in quite naked, and you feel on your skin, from head to foot, as it were, an icy and delicious caress, the light and gentle quivering of the stream.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

*Story read as part of my Devouring De Maupassant reading challenge.

Chekhov Shorts: Difficult People

Rob — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:32:59 +0000

Title: Difficult People
Date Read: 13th September 2011
Briefly: Yevgraf Ivanovitch Shiryaev’s family await at the dinner table for the farmer to finish washing his hands. He finally joins them and in something of a tense atmosphere, the eldest son Pyotr announces to his father that he should really be returning to Moscow for the new college term. He has a small issue however, with regards to money.
Afterthoughts: In this story Chekhov touches on the proverb ‘like father, like son’, but more significantly he explores the moment in a young man’s life when he first challenges a father’s authority. Anger, regret, fear and pride all feature strongly in this tale, while a sidewards glance is directed towards the collateral damage that can be caused to other members of a family when the head of the household clashes with an eldest son. Ultimately this turns out be rather a sad tale from Chekhov, but he is merely playing out – quite brilliantly may I add – a coming-of-age scenario which has long been played out, and continues to be so, in a million homes around the world. In that respect, this story is timeless. Very highly recommended!
Notable Quote: Shiryaev’s short, fat neck turned suddenly red as a beetroot. The colour mounted slowly to his ears, from his ears to his temples, and by degrees suffused his whole face. Yevgraf Ivanovitch shifted in his chair and unbuttoned his shirt-collar to save himself from choking. He was evidently struggling with the feeling that was mastering him. A deathlike silence followed. The children held their breath.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

*Story read as part of my Checkin’ Off The Chekhov Shorts reading challenge.

Chekhov Shorts: A Trifle from Life

Rob — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 21:32:26 +0000

Title: A Trifle from Life
Date Read: 13th September 2011
Briefly: Nikolay Ilyitch Belyaev goes to visit the home of his long-term love interest, Olga Ivanovna Irnin. Finding Olga Ivanovna not at home, Nikolay Ilyitch settles down on a lounge chair in the drawing-room to wait for her. He soon discovers that he’s not alone. Olga’s young son Alyosha is also in the room. Nikolay begins striking up a conversation with the boy he has ignored completely since beginning his relationship with the boy’s mother.
Afterthoughts: What I adore about Chekhov is the way in which he swoops in on a small but episodic moment in a character’s life and delivers detail, before flying off again into the big blue yonder, leaving the reader to piece together whatever he can from a story that has no resolution. This perfectly titled story is a great example of this. The reader must decide for himself what will become of the characters in this story as a consequence of certain events, and that’s no bad thing (and fairly typical of Chekhov). It gives a sense of continuity; a suggestion that the characters have a life outside of the story, and that to me is something almost magical.
Notable Quote: In the twilight of the evening, Alyosha’s face, with his white forehead and black, unblinking eyes, unexpectedly reminded Belyaev of Olga Ivanovna as she had been during the first pages of their romance. And he felt disposed to be friendly to the boy.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

*Story read as part of my Checkin’ Off The Chekhov Shorts reading challenge.