#096 On the Road

Find the last story from 1886 that we’ll read here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/096.html  It comes in at 6669 words (including a poem.) Travis Review Today’s story felt like a Dostoyevsky tale. It features Liharev, a passionate, unhappy man whose unanchored soul craves to travel, learn, and experience as much as possible even though he knows it will put …

#040 Mari D’elle

Today’s story is 2015 words: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/040.html Travis Review: I was fairly disappointed with this story, expecting more. At first I thought this would be the story of an opera singer and her daughter reunited. Like Chekhov was going against type with a tale of a selfless diva. But the daughter never shows up again after …

#023 In a Hotel

Today’s story is only 1008 words:  http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/023.html Travis Review: This is a satirical story about affected societal airs and how people can turn on a dime when it serves their interest. In this case, a colonel’s wife’s longwinded outrage, bolstered by the hotel-keeper’s stories of unseemly and shocking behavior, doesn’t matter once the marital status …

#011 A Tragic Actor

This story weighs in at  1294 words. http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/011.html  Travis Review: This story is only interesting in that Chekhov would later on in life write plays that revolutionized theater with understated, realistic performances. Reading the line  “…he trembled all over as nobody ever trembles in reality, and gasped loudly,” I felt Chekhov was already annoyed with the …