#137 The Old House (A Story told by a Houseowner)

Find today’s 2424 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/137.html Travis review: In today’s story, Chekhov tells a tale of misfortune through the voice of a landlord. It could be summarized as the slow downfall of a family after the mother’s death. This story stood out to me for it’s writing style. Long, blocky paragraphs with summaries and foreshadowing. …

#131 The Doctor

Find today’s 2043 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/131.html  Travis review: With a title like “The Doctor,” I would have expected the titled character to be in the midst of surgery or giving a diagnosis to a patient. At the point we enter the story he has already given a terminal diagnosis of a friend’s (and his obsession’s) …

#112 Typhus

Find today’s 2555 word story. http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/112.html Travis review: Today’s story is a sad tale told from a young lieutenant’s personal point of view as he returns home. Sitting next to a pipe smoking “well-to-do Finn or Swede“, the lieutenant feels ill and his annoyance at the pipe smoker becomes an obsession as several paragraphs are dedicated to hate …

#078 The Dependents

Find today’s 2448 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/078.html Travis review: We’ve read a few old codgers from Chekhov, but Mihail Zotov might be the most pathetic. At first I suspected his ramblings were just rhetoric for a hidden love for his animals or as he sees them, dependents. And ultimately it was, but I didn’t expect (spoiler …

#045 Misery

This 2293 word classic can be found here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/045.html Travis Review: Stories like this is why I read Chekhov. Misery is a sincere, gut-wrenching examination of humanity, our desperate need to communicate, and kindness. When I saw this title was coming up, I remembered the story was significant, although I couldn’t recall the details. Reading the …

#038 Sorrow

Find this 2370 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/038.html Travis Review: This story could be summarized as a life wasted. Unlike other peasants we’ve read about, (The Huntsman excluded) Grigory Petrov has a skill that is valued by others. His woodturning craftsmanship is squandered by drinking and quarreling. The story is told non-linearly through Grigory’s rambling as he madly races through a blizzard …

#019 In The Graveyard

Relatively short story today at 884 words:  http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/019.html Travis Review: I saw this as a cautionary tale told from a graveyard. In one case, a person in the narrator’s party stumbles and catches himself on a titular counselor’s grave marker cross. The man had died in an accident, “a victim to his habits of observation.” Like …