The Chekhov Short Story Challenge

Welcome to the Chekhov Short’s site where two college buddies, Steve and Travis, try to read all of the English translated short stories of Anton Chekhov in a year. We will use the 201 stories originally posted by Eldritch Press as translated by Constance Garnett.  After that we will try to find other works that have been translated and published. We plan to start the reviews on January 29, 2014, the date of Chekhov’s 154th birthday. (Yeah, 2010 or 2015 would have made a better number, but when inspiration strikes…) Both of us will write a review of the stories as we go through them chronologically. We hope to do five a week, one a day, with the weekends off.

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Why Chekhov?

Travis: I first came across Chekhov one summer either between my high school and college or my freshman and sophomore year at the University of Oklahoma. I had checked out a speed reading book from the library because I wanted to read more books faster. There was a sample short story that I was supposed to read and time myself. It was Chekhov’s “The Bet.” I don’t think I finished reading the how-to book (and to this day I am not a fast reader), but the story blew me away. After that I started looking for Chekhov stories. Steve and I took a Modern European novel course together where we read some of short story master’s tales. (I know, short stories in a novel class, but the rest of the syllabus had epics.)

 It’s been years since I’ve read any of his works. I’ve found myself both reading and writing crime stories having been turned off by the drudgery of modern literature (e.g. The New Yorker). I wanted to go back and see what I think of Chekhov today, two decades later.

Steve: The first time I remember reading Chekhov was during a “World Cultures and Civilizations” class.  My first story was “Misery”…  I was instantly smitten.  I’d like to think the initial admiration of Chekhov was due to his ability to convey the human condition in a medium that didn’t require footnotes (in contrast to Proust or just about anything else I was supposed to read).  However, it is more likely I was drawn to the fact he was a physician writer and I knew I had aspirations to follow his lead.  Now two decades later I’m content to simply review his works from the perspective of a dad at 40.

What Makes Us Experts?

Nothing. We are two Letters majors who happen to share a love of literature. We are giving our opinions on the stories as we read them, probably slanted with 20th and 21st century points of view. We are bound to disagree with each other and probably with you too. Reading is subjective. No two interpretations are the same. We are using a 10 point scale with five being good and ten being one of the best short stories ever written. 

So please join us in reading these stories and let us know what you think.  And happy tales to you!  

UPDATE:

Here are the first 100+ stories we reviewed together. Links go to the reviews we’ve done. The average word count comes out to 2315 words. More to come later.

Story #	Title	link	Travis Rating	Steve Rating	Ave Rating	Word Count
#001	A Living Chattel	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/01-human-chattel/	8	7	7.5	14477
#002	Joy	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/story-002-joy/	5	4	4.5	697
#003	At The Barber’s	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/003-at-the-barbers/	5	5	5	1261
#004	An Enigmatic Nature	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/004-an-enigmatic-nature/	6	7	6.5	838
#005	A Classical Student	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/005-a-classical-student/	4	5	4.5	1081
#006	The Death of A Government Clerk	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/006-the-death-of-a-government-clerk/	5	4	4.5	1026
#007	The Trousseau	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/007-the-trousseau/	6	7	6.5	2056
#008	A Daughter of Albion	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/008-a-daughter-of-albion/	5	4	4.5	1600
#009	An Inquiry	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/009-an-inquiry/	5	6	5.5	886
#010	Fat And Thin	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/010-fat-and-thin/	6	6	6	798
#011	A Tragic Actor	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/011-a-tragic-actor/	4	4	4	1294
#012	The Bird Market	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/012-the-bird-market/	5	6	5.5	1562
#013	A Slander	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/013-a-slander/	6	7	6.5	1511
#014	The Swedish Match	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/014-the-swedish-match/	7	6	6.5	7481
#015	Choristers	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/015-choristers/	4	4	4	1802
#016	The Album	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/016-the-album/	7	6	6.5	763
#017	Minds In Ferment	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/017-minds-in-ferment/	6	7	6.5	1360
#018	A Chameleon	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/018-a-chameleon/	6	6	6	1390
#019	In The Graveyard	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/019-in-the-graveyard/	6	8	7	884
#020	Oysters	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/020-oysters/	9.5	9	9.25	1568
#021	The Marshal’s Widow	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/21-the-marshals-widow/	7	5	6	1510
#022	A Small Fry	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/022-a-small-fry/	5	5	5	1358
#023	In A Hotel	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/023-in-a-hotel/	6	5	5.5	1008
#024	Boots	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/024-boots/	6	7	6.5	1611
#025	Nerves	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/025-nerves/	6	4	5	1598
#026	A Country Cottage	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/026-a-country-cottage/	5	5	5	661
#027	Malingers	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/027-malingerers/	7	7	7	1379
#028	The Fish	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/028-the-fish/	6	5	5.5	2047
#029	Gone Astray	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/029-gone-astray/	5	4	4.5	1590
#030	The Huntsman	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/030-the-huntsman/	5	6	5.5	1854
#031	A Malefactor	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/031-a-malefactor/	6	6	6	1543
#032	Head Of The Family	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/032-head-of-the-family/	4	5	4.5	1500
#033	A Dead Body	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/033-a-dead-body/	6	8	7	1887
#034	The Cook’s Wedding	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/034-the-cooks-wedding/	5	4	4.5	1909
#035	In A Strange Land	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/035-in-a-strange-land/	7	7	7	1470
#036	Overdoing It	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/036-overdoing-it/	7	5	6	1633
#037	Old Age	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/37-old-age/	6	7	6.5	2200
#038	Sorrow	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/38-sorrow/	6	8	7	2370
#039	Oh! The Public!	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/039-oh-the-public/	5	6	5.5	1233
#040	Mari D’elle	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/040-mari-delle/	4	4	4	2015
#041	The Looking-Glass	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/041-the-looking-glass/	5	5	5	1524
#042	Art	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/042-art/	7	7	7	2286
#043	A Blunder	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/043-a-blunder/	5	6	5.5	645
#044	Children	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/044-children/	6	6	6	1926
#045	Misery	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/045-misery/	10	10	10	2293
#046	An Upheaval	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/046-an-upheaval/	6	6	6	2814
#047	An Actor’s End	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/047-an-actors-end/	5	4	4.5	2500
#048	The Requiem	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/048-the-requiem/	6	7	6.5	2059
#049	Anyuta	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/049-anyuta/	7	8	7.5	1531
#050	Ivan Matveyitch	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/050-ivan-matveyitch/	7	5	6	2236
#051	The Witch	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/051-the-witch/	5	6	5.5	4756
#052	A Story Without An End	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/052-a-story-without-an-end/	3	4	3.5	3373
#053	A Joke	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/053-a-joke/	7	7	7	1696
#054	Agafya	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/054-agafya/	7	7	7	4182
#055	A Nightmare	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/055-a-nightmare/	4	4	4	5553
#056	Grisha	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/056-grisha/	6	7	6.5	1200
#057	Love	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/057-love/	7	7	7	2522
#058	Easter Eve	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/058-easter-eve/	6	8	7	3452
#059	Ladies	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/059-ladies/	6	6	6	1349
#060	Strong Impressions	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/060-strong-impressions/	6	6	6	1995
#061	A Gentlemen Friend	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/061-a-gentleman-friend/	6	5	5.5	1314
#062	A Happy Man	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/062-a-happy-man/	7	7	7	1845
#063	A Privy Councillor	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/063-a-privy-councillor/	6	4	5	6975
#064	A Day In The Country	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/064-a-day-in-the-country/	6	7	6.5	2387
#065	At A Summer Villa	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/065-at-a-summer-villa/	5	8	6.5	1819
#066	Panic Fears	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/066-panic-fears/	5	4	4.5	2281
#067	The Chemist’s Wife	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/067-the-chemist-wife/	7	6	6.5	2050
#068	Not Wanted	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/068-not-wanted/	6	7	6.5	2319
#069	The Chorus Girl	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/069-the-chorus-girl/	6	6	6	2180
#070	The Schoolmaster	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/70-the-schoolmaster/	8	7	7.5	2800
#071	A Troublesome Visitor	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/071-a-troublesome-visitor/	7	6	6.5	2466
#072	The Husband	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/72-the-husband/	6	8	7	1876
#073	A Misfortune	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/073-a-misfortune/	7	6	6.5	4989
#074	Pink Stocking	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/074-pink-stocking/	5	5	5	1468
#075	Martyrs	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/075-martyrs/	5	5	5	2008
#076	The First-Class Passenger	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/076-the-first-class-passenger/	5	8	6.5	2868
#077	Talent	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/077-talent/	6	6	6	1692
#078	The Dependents	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/078-the-dependents/	8	8	8	2448
#079	The Jeune Premier	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/079-the-jeune-premier/	6	5	5.5	1760
#080	In The Dark	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/080-in-the-dark/	6	7	6.5	1755
#081	A Trivial Incident	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/081-a-trivial-incident/	4	4	4	4075
#082	A Tripping Tongue	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/082-a-tripping-tongue/	7	4	5.5	1262
#083	A Trifle from Life	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/083-a-trifle-from-life/	7	5	6	2003
#084	Difficult People	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/084-difficult-people/	6	6	6	3148
#085	In The Court	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/085-in-the-court/	5	6	5.5	2626
#086	A Peculiar Man	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/086-a-peculiar-man/	7	6	6.5	1607
#087	Mire	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/087-mire-2/	7	8	7.5	7198
#088	Dreams	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/088-dreams/	5	6	5.5	3430
#089	Hush!	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/089-hush/	7.5	7	7.25	1104
#090	Excellent People	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/090-excellent-people/	3	7	5	4049
#091	An Incident	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/091-an-incident/	6	7	6.5	1910
#092	The Orator	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/092-the-orator/	7	6	6.5	1269
#093	A Work of Art	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/093-a-work-of-art/	7	7	7	1585
#094	Who Was To Blame	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/094-who-was-to-blame/	6	7	6.5	1419
#095	Vanka	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/095-vanka/	6	7	6.5	1654
#096	On The Road	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/ontheroad/	7	5	6	6669
#097	Champagne (A Wayfarer’s Story)	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/097-champagne-a-wayfarers-story/	5	5	5	2263
#098	Frost	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/098-frost/	6	5	5.5	2557
#099	The Beggar	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/099-the-beggar/	7	8	7.5	2132
#100	Enemies	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/100-enemies/	8	7	7.5	5604
#101	Darkness	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/101-darkness/	4	4	4	1622
#102	Polinka	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/102-polinka/	5	4	4.5	1765
#103	Drunk	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/103-drunk/	7	5	6	2359
#104	An Inadvertence	http://www.chekhovshorts.com/104-an-inadvertence/	5	7	6	1563