#138 The Cattle-Dealers

Find today’s 7162 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/138.html Travis review: This is a long story about a father and son hauling eight vans of cattle across Russia and the bribes they must pay to the railroad stationmasters, guards and workers to get from one stop to the next. I personally felt offended reading this, but for Malahin, the …

#039 Oh! The Public!

Today’s story has 1233 words:  http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/039.html Travis Review: The motivation of today story reminds me of bad New Year’s resolutions. Often it’s not that the goal that is bad, but the administering of it sets one up for failure. When Podtyagin, a ticket collector on a train, decides to give up drinking and work honestly at his …

#026 A Country Cottage

Very short one today…only 661 words:  http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/026.html Travis Review: The story begins with a husband and wife on an evening stroll walking by a train station. It seems they are alone, but they are not. The third character is the moon, which “peeped up from the drifting cloudlets and frowned, as it seemed, envying their …

#004 An Enigmatic Nature

Next up is another short short (830+ words), An Enigmatic Nature. http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/004.html Travis review: A writer and a rich young widow meet on the train. She wants him to write about her, because she believes her life is full of dramatic misery as she invokes Dostoyevsky’s name. She chose to marry a rich old general …