#181 The Murder

Find today’s 12,412 word short story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/181.html Travis review: This is a story about the deadly consequences of religious fanaticism. Although Matvey had been getting on his cousins’ nerves by his criticism of their unique style of worship,  it is his act of putting oil into a bowl of potatoes during a fast that became the …

#176 A Head Gardener’s Story

You can find today’s 1925 word short story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/176.html Travis review: First off, I hope everybody Merry Christmas. This is a story within a story about forgiveness and tolerance. About the “faith in humanity” that a community had for the murderer of beloved man. The story starts off after a jury acquitted a man because …

#165 Nieghbors

Find the 7618 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/165.html Travis review: Chekhov starts this story with an immediate dilemma: aristocrat Pyotr Mihalitch’s younger sister, Zina, has run away to live with their neighbor Vlassitch, a married man. Pytor feels obligated to do something as his mother is bed-stricken with shame, yet conflict is not in his nature. …

#159 Peasant Wives

Find today’s 5840 word story here:  http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/159.html Travis Review:  I’m not sure if this would be considered an example of history repeating itself or how the repetitive nature of circumstance causes similar reactions. Chekhov sets up the tale with two powerful men talking. Dyudya is a local peasant who has become prosperous and Matvey Savitch is merchant …

#147 Sleepy

Find today’s 2327 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/147.html Travis review: This is ranks as one of Chekhov’s darkest stories. Perhaps the darkest of all as child abuse and sleep deprivation lead to horrible outcomes. Chekhov does a great job mixing Varka’s family situation that got her into such a horrible job through hallucinogenic dreams. I also see …

#133 An Avenger

Find today’s 1841 story here:  http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/133.html Travis review: Today’s story is a black comedy. The premise is simple, a cuckolded husband plans to purchase a gun to kill his wife, her lover, and himself. Chekhov pens some of his most graphic lines as Fyodor enters the gun shop  “…but already in imagination he saw three bloodstained …

#123 A Play

Find today’s 2048 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/123.html Chekhov returns to his earlier comical and satirical roots after a recent string of dark and melancholy works. In this particular piece, Chekhov toys with formats, bringing playwriting structure into a traditional short story. I also wonder if elements of the story are a mixture of autobiography and wish …

#117 An Adventure (A Driver’s Story)

Find today’s 2479 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/117.html Travis review: In the past I’ve said that Chekhov often uses restraint when it comes to conflict, but into today’s story there are two murders. I’m not sure that the title “An Adventure” is the most appropriate. There are elements of adventure, however thriller or suspense might be better to …

#033 A Dead Body

Find today’s 1887 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/033.html Travis Review: Today’s story, has two men “performing one of the most disagreeable and uninviting of peasants’ duties.” They are in the woods freezing and watching over a corpse. One is young and other is an old simpleton with a “goat beard.” The young man humiliates his companion’s intelligence, which seem to …

#014 The Swedish Match

Today’s story is a bit longer at 7481 words.   http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/014.html Travis Review: The Swedish Match is written very much like a classic murder mystery story until Chekhov turns the plot convention on its head. I love the a sixty year old, cantankerous magistrate, Tchubikov, leading a murder investigation while maligning his harder working, more thorough twenty-six year …