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wkndstbl's review
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
A beautifully illustrated collection of 3 connected short stories, all dealing with love. Philosophical and meditative these stories gave me a lot to think about.
crookedtreehouse's review against another edition
2.0
The three stories in this Chekov collection read less like stories, and more like listening to a dull coworker describe a story they read. The stories are dull. The sentence structure is tedious. Nothing interesting happens, and the lack of action is not balanced by dispensed wisdom.
Without Seth's spot illustrations, this is a one-star collection.
I recommend this for people who need to gear up for getting a root canal from a self-important dentist.
Without Seth's spot illustrations, this is a one-star collection.
I recommend this for people who need to gear up for getting a root canal from a self-important dentist.
jasonfurman's review against another edition
4.0
A nicely translated and beautifully illustrated and bound set of Anton Chekhov's three linked stories, all featuring the same characters in bucolic settings, sitting around, swimming, waiting out the rain, and telling stories to each other. They are among the last stories Chekhov wrote (he wrote them while he was in France) and they have an enormous range from absurd to comic to tragic to profound and more, often within the same story, sometimes shifting on a single page.
It is nice to read a collection that has just three stories (and is less than 100 pages) because with Chekhov I find myself starting out excited but then having a hard time getting through too many stories. I would also recommend the Pushkin press collection [b:The Beauties: Essential Stories|36439864|The Beauties Essential Stories|Anton Chekhov|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508418376l/36439864._SX50_.jpg|14927568] for a nice selection, nicely translated and nicely printed.
It is nice to read a collection that has just three stories (and is less than 100 pages) because with Chekhov I find myself starting out excited but then having a hard time getting through too many stories. I would also recommend the Pushkin press collection [b:The Beauties: Essential Stories|36439864|The Beauties Essential Stories|Anton Chekhov|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1508418376l/36439864._SX50_.jpg|14927568] for a nice selection, nicely translated and nicely printed.
bravelass85's review against another edition
4.0
I fell in love with Chekhov when I was 15 through his short stories. Since, I have attempted to love his plays (Cherry Orchard, Seagull, etc.) and failed miserably. In fact, I had almost written Chekhov off when I found this small, incredibly well-bound and designed book holding 3 of his short stories called "About Love." This was Chekhov's only attempt to write short stories that were connected - the two main characters in each story appear in a different setting and each story represents a different type of love. Gooseberries was my favorite of the three. Chekhov's stories are haunting; his observations of both individuals and society are spot-on, often to the point of harshness. But they are also very human; his characters vacilate, they get bored, they have obsessions - in other words, they are very believable. I really enjoyed this collection of stories and I appreciated the beautiful way in which it was presented (thick paper, great design, illustrations).
francoisvigneault's review against another edition
5.0
(Note: This review originally appeared as part of a series of capsule reviews of illustrated novels, hence the focus on the art)
A very handsome and slim volume. “Designed & decorated” by the contemporary
cartoonist Seth, this new translation of three interconnected stories by Chekov
particularly caught my attention because I was considering releasing a Great
Shorts edition of the same stories. Great care was taken in crafting the
atmospherics of this edition; the book begins with several pages of two-color
landscape illustrations of the snowy Russian countryside before finally arriving at
a depiction of the main characters of the three tales. One of the best conceived and
executed contemporary illustrated editions I have seen in a long time.
A very handsome and slim volume. “Designed & decorated” by the contemporary
cartoonist Seth, this new translation of three interconnected stories by Chekov
particularly caught my attention because I was considering releasing a Great
Shorts edition of the same stories. Great care was taken in crafting the
atmospherics of this edition; the book begins with several pages of two-color
landscape illustrations of the snowy Russian countryside before finally arriving at
a depiction of the main characters of the three tales. One of the best conceived and
executed contemporary illustrated editions I have seen in a long time.
jgwc54e5's review against another edition
4.0
Three short stories that are linked. The Man in a Case, Gooseberries and About Love all have the characters Burkin and Ivan Ivanovitch, Alehin in the latter two. Each character tells a story to the others. They seem to me to be about how people live their lives within the constraints of society, whether that be expectations, or laws or position in society. In The Man in a Case, the subject of the story Byelikov, constrains his life by rules and appearances and constrains the lives of all around him.
In Gooseberries, Ivan tells the story of his brother whose dream of owning land and yes, growing gooseberries makes him live with complete disregard for all those around him until he fulfills his dream. The last story I liked the best of the three, a strangely sweet tale of love that cannot be acted upon as the woman is married to another.
In Gooseberries, Ivan tells the story of his brother whose dream of owning land and yes, growing gooseberries makes him live with complete disregard for all those around him until he fulfills his dream. The last story I liked the best of the three, a strangely sweet tale of love that cannot be acted upon as the woman is married to another.
the_brewed_bookworm's review against another edition
5.0
Three different tales of human curiosity, individualism and frailty. Of love, happiness and honor. Each explored in lengths through the daily life of man. It was thought provoking and well-written.
bent's review against another edition
3.0
These were three decent stories. I liked the first two better than the third, which felt very familiar to me. I always feel when I read Russian works that I'm missing something - either something gets lost in translation, or that because I'm not familiar with the culture, I'm lacking some fundamental understanding. Anyway, I did enjoy the first two stories, but the third felt like a lot of other stories with similar themes of unrequited love.
dimebag's review against another edition
5.0
Some passages from the book
"...as Pushkin said, ‘Deception that exalts is dearer than thousands of truths.’"
"...it’s obvious that the happy man feels good only because the unhappy carry their burden in silence, and without this silence happiness would be impossible. We’re in a hypnotic trance. What do we need? Someone to stand with a little hammer at the door of every satisfied, happy man, the tapping a constant reminder that the unhappy exist, that though he may be happy, life will sooner or later show him its claws, misfortune befall him – sickness, poverty, loss, and no one will see or hear, as now he doesn’t see or hear the others. But there is no man with a little hammer; the happy man lives for himself with only small worldly anxieties to disturb him a little, like wind in the aspens – and all goes well."
"don’t settle down, don’t let yourself be lulled to sleep. While you’re young and powerful and brisk, don’t weary in doing good. Happiness is nothing, inessential; if there is a reason, a purpose to life, that reason and purpose is not to aim at happiness, but something higher and wiser. Do good.”
"Since what matters in love is personal happiness, it’s beyond all knowing, say what you like about it. Up till now we have only this irrefutable truth about love – ‘It’s a sheer, utter mystery,’ – every other single thing that has been said or written about it is not an answer but a reframing of the question, which remains unresolved. The explanation which would seem to be right for one case isn’t right for ten others, so what’s much the best, in my judgment, is to explain each case separately, not attempting to generalize. What we need, as the doctors say, is to individualize each separate case.”
"There is a proverb: if an old woman has no problems, she’ll buy a piglet."
"I confessed my love for her, and with a burning pain in my heart I understood how superfluous and small and illusory everything was that prevented us from loving. I understood that when you love, and when you think about this love, you must proceed from something higher, of more importance than happiness or unhappiness, sin or virtue in the commonplace sense; or you mustn’t think about it at all."
"When, on a moonlit night, you see a wide village street with its peasant houses, haystacks, sleeping willows, tranquility enters the soul; in this calm, wrapped in the shade of night, free from struggle, anxiety and passion, everything is gentle, wistful, beautiful, and it seems that the stars are watching over it tenderly and with love, and that this is taking place somewhere unearthly, and that all is well."
"We came back from the cemetery in a good mood. But that went on no more than a week, and life flowed by just as before, harsh, dull, stupid life, nothing to stop it going round and round, everything unresolved; things didn’t get better."
"...as Pushkin said, ‘Deception that exalts is dearer than thousands of truths.’"
"...it’s obvious that the happy man feels good only because the unhappy carry their burden in silence, and without this silence happiness would be impossible. We’re in a hypnotic trance. What do we need? Someone to stand with a little hammer at the door of every satisfied, happy man, the tapping a constant reminder that the unhappy exist, that though he may be happy, life will sooner or later show him its claws, misfortune befall him – sickness, poverty, loss, and no one will see or hear, as now he doesn’t see or hear the others. But there is no man with a little hammer; the happy man lives for himself with only small worldly anxieties to disturb him a little, like wind in the aspens – and all goes well."
"don’t settle down, don’t let yourself be lulled to sleep. While you’re young and powerful and brisk, don’t weary in doing good. Happiness is nothing, inessential; if there is a reason, a purpose to life, that reason and purpose is not to aim at happiness, but something higher and wiser. Do good.”
"Since what matters in love is personal happiness, it’s beyond all knowing, say what you like about it. Up till now we have only this irrefutable truth about love – ‘It’s a sheer, utter mystery,’ – every other single thing that has been said or written about it is not an answer but a reframing of the question, which remains unresolved. The explanation which would seem to be right for one case isn’t right for ten others, so what’s much the best, in my judgment, is to explain each case separately, not attempting to generalize. What we need, as the doctors say, is to individualize each separate case.”
"There is a proverb: if an old woman has no problems, she’ll buy a piglet."
"I confessed my love for her, and with a burning pain in my heart I understood how superfluous and small and illusory everything was that prevented us from loving. I understood that when you love, and when you think about this love, you must proceed from something higher, of more importance than happiness or unhappiness, sin or virtue in the commonplace sense; or you mustn’t think about it at all."
"When, on a moonlit night, you see a wide village street with its peasant houses, haystacks, sleeping willows, tranquility enters the soul; in this calm, wrapped in the shade of night, free from struggle, anxiety and passion, everything is gentle, wistful, beautiful, and it seems that the stars are watching over it tenderly and with love, and that this is taking place somewhere unearthly, and that all is well."
"We came back from the cemetery in a good mood. But that went on no more than a week, and life flowed by just as before, harsh, dull, stupid life, nothing to stop it going round and round, everything unresolved; things didn’t get better."