Anton Chekhov : Later Short Stories 1888-1903 (Modern Library)
Continuing The Modern Library's presentation of the short stories of Anton Chekhov, selected and
introduced by Shelby Foote, LATER SHORT STORIES includes 42 stories written up to the last year
of Chekhov's life. These stories include "The Horse-Stealers", "A Doctor's Visit", "The Lady with the
Dog", and "The Bishop", among others.
This volume presents forty-two of Chekhov's later short stories, written between 1888 and 1903, in
acclaimed translations by Constance Garnett and chosen by Shelby Foote. Among the most
outstanding are "A Dreary Story," a dispassionate tale that reflects Chekhov's doubts about his role as
an artist. Thomas Mann deemed it "a truly extraordinary, fascinating story ... unlike anything else in
world literature." "The Darling," a delightful work highly admired by Tolstoy, offers comic proof that
life has no meaning without love. And in "The lady with the Dog," which Vladimir Nabokov called "one
of the greatest stories ever written," a chance affair takes possession of a bored young woman and a
cynical roue, changing their lives forever.
"Chekhov is one of the few indispensable writers," said Susan Sontag. "His stories, which deluge
us with feeling, make feeling more intelligent; more magnanimous. He is an artist of our moral
maturity."
This volume presents forty-two of Chekhov's later short stories, written between 1888 and 1903,
in acclaimed translations by Constance Garnett and chosen by Shelby Foote. Among the most
outstanding are "A Dreary Story," a dispassionate tale that reflects Chekhov's doubts about his role as
an artist. Thomas Mann deemed it "a truly extraordinary, fascinating story . . . unlike anything else in
world literature." "The Darling," a delightful work highly admired by Tolstoy, offers comic proof that
life has no meaning without love. And in "The Lady with the Dog," which Vladimir Nabokov called
"one of the greatest stories ever written," a chance affair takes possession of a bored young woman
and a cynical roué, changing their lives forever. Also included in this collection are the famous trilogy,
"The Man in a Case," "Gooseberries," and "About Love," as
well as "Sleepy," "The Horse-Stealers," and "Betrothed."
"The greatest of Chekhov's stories are, no matter how many times reread, always an experience
that strikes deep into the soul and produces an alteration there," wrote William Maxwell. "As for those
masterpieces 'The Lady with the Dog,' 'The Horse-Stealers,' 'Sleepy,' 'Gooseberries,' 'About
Love'--where else do you see so clearly the difference between light and dark, or how dark darkness
can be."
(Shelby Foote has provided an Introduction for this edition)
"On reading Chekhov, we first grow ecstatic, and then we grieve. For he is one of those writers
whose spiritual and literary intelli-
gence (they are one thing with him) is so powerful that for a moment we are seduced by our pleasure
into believing in human progress, in the moral evolution of the species; then, a moment later, we see
that he is in fact only a giant, an anomaly, possibly an angel, and that we may not have another like him
for a thousand years."
(Russell Banks)
Selected Stories - Anton Checkov
(USA)
(England)
WFH, 15 okt 1999
The first volume covers the period between 1880 and 1882,
which completes the first three years of his writing
career, when he, a Medical Academy student, was widely
published in humor magazines.
The second volume includes stories of 1883, the period of transition
from medicine to full-time writing.
