#126 Uprooted

Find today’s 6338 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/126.html In the past when Jewish characters have been presented in Chekhov stories, they have been depicted in a less than positive light (Mire). When his characters mention Jews in dialogue or song it has been very anti-Semitic, though I imagine accurate for time and morals. But in today’s story, …

#125 From the Diary of a Violent-Tempered Man

Find today’s 3897 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/125.html A lot of today’s story reminds me of Notes From the Underground. I wonder if Chekhov is intentionally spoofing the classic. The character Nicolas has the same intensity and serious academic bend as Dostoyevsky’s unnamed character. At least that is what Nicolas tells us in his first person narrative that he …

#124 A Transgression

Find today’s 1912 word story http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/124.html Travis review:  In “A Transgression” we watch Miguev suffer through every philandering husband’s worst nightmare. His ex-housemaid and ex-lover is trying to extort five thousand rubles from him. She has given the following three threats, “I’ll leave the baby at your door, and I’ll have the law of you, and I’ll tell …

#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 …

#122 Bad Weather

Find today’s 1919 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/122.html Travis review: Today’s story had an ominous feeling throughout, although it did not end as dark or tragic as expected. Starting with the title and the opening sentence: “Big raindrops were pattering on the dark windows,” one would assume bad things were on the horizon. Chekhov makes an interesting choice …

#121 Happiness

Find today’s 4000 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/121.html Travis review Hmm. I wasn’t blown away by today’s story. An 80 year old shepherd and his grandson, Sanka, sit below the slumbering stars of the Milky Way as a herd of sheep sleep. Panteley, the overseer, comes up and listens to the old man’s tale of Yefim Zhmenya. …

#120 Volodya

Find today’s 5141 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/120.html Travis review:  This may be one of Chekhov’s darkest stories. It drips with gloomy teenage male angst and ends with a bang. Volodya, “a plain, shy, sickly-looking lad of seventeen,” is uncomfortable in this world. He lives with his vain and superficial mother. The family’s fortune has been squandered by her …

#119 Aborigines

Find today’s 2401 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/119.html Travis review: Readers get to spend a day with an irritable veteran of Polish descent complaining about the lazy Russians to his friend, a German architect. Lyashkevsky has a head injury so this story could be seen as a sad tale of mental illness. Yet the tone reminded me …

#118 The Examining Magistrate

Find today’s story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/118.html An examining magistrate tells a true story about a woman, who in the prime of her health successfully predicts her own death. The structure unfolds like a mystery, as the majority of the story details the woman’s life starting from the point that she made her prediction: “Directly after my confinement. …

#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 …