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A review by teresatumminello
The Essential Tales of Chekhov by Anton Chekhov
5.0
Reread (for a buddy read with Howard)
I’m so glad the stories are in chronological order, as they show the maturation of Chekhov as a writer, one who has either influenced many, many writers (of course he has) or anticipated, arguably, much of twentieth-century writing, including [a:Erskine Caldwell|17326|Erskine Caldwell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1255330914p2/17326.jpg]’s [b:Tobacco Road|59091|Tobacco Road|Erskine Caldwell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1369852920l/59091._SY75_.jpg|1238780] (at least I think so).
The story “The New Villa” is full of the same issues we are grappling with in the twenty-first century: The huge gap between rich and poor; the paternalism of the rich; the communication divide, no one understanding the other—even though they're speaking the same language, they're not. The unfinished bridge in “The New Villa” reminded me of construction projects such as interstate overpasses cutting through Black neighborhoods. The community doesn't want the overpass and after the money has run out—or, more likely, been diverted—it ends up leading nowhere. It's downright depressing sometimes how nothing changes.
Original review (March 5, 2008):
I'm not sure what else there is to say about these stories of Chekhov that hasn't been said already by many others. Richard Ford writes in the introduction that his first encounter with Chekhov came when he was too young, at the age of 20. I can say the same thing, having first read Chekhov in high school. There was no way I could've grasped the subtlety of the details in, for example, "Lady with a Dog" back then.
Chekhov's characters break your heart, including the dog in "Kashtanka," which is told from its viewpoint. There is humor in the stories too, whether it's the mistake made by the parents of an old-maid daughter in "A Blunder" or just the ironic voice of a narrator.
The stories are elegant but simple. And many, if not all, of them feel as if they could've been written today.
I’m so glad the stories are in chronological order, as they show the maturation of Chekhov as a writer, one who has either influenced many, many writers (of course he has) or anticipated, arguably, much of twentieth-century writing, including [a:Erskine Caldwell|17326|Erskine Caldwell|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1255330914p2/17326.jpg]’s [b:Tobacco Road|59091|Tobacco Road|Erskine Caldwell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1369852920l/59091._SY75_.jpg|1238780] (at least I think so).
The story “The New Villa” is full of the same issues we are grappling with in the twenty-first century: The huge gap between rich and poor; the paternalism of the rich; the communication divide, no one understanding the other—even though they're speaking the same language, they're not. The unfinished bridge in “The New Villa” reminded me of construction projects such as interstate overpasses cutting through Black neighborhoods. The community doesn't want the overpass and after the money has run out—or, more likely, been diverted—it ends up leading nowhere. It's downright depressing sometimes how nothing changes.
Original review (March 5, 2008):
I'm not sure what else there is to say about these stories of Chekhov that hasn't been said already by many others. Richard Ford writes in the introduction that his first encounter with Chekhov came when he was too young, at the age of 20. I can say the same thing, having first read Chekhov in high school. There was no way I could've grasped the subtlety of the details in, for example, "Lady with a Dog" back then.
Chekhov's characters break your heart, including the dog in "Kashtanka," which is told from its viewpoint. There is humor in the stories too, whether it's the mistake made by the parents of an old-maid daughter in "A Blunder" or just the ironic voice of a narrator.
The stories are elegant but simple. And many, if not all, of them feel as if they could've been written today.