Story Recomendations

I have just recenetly aquired a voulume of works by Chekhov and I have never read him before, so I was just wondering what are some of your faveorite stories, or what stories would you must recomend?

Chekhov wrote short stories of a few different kinds. Early on, he wrote short comic pieces for magazines. Later, his work became slightly darker and more tragic. This is his middle period from about 1886 until the mid 1890's. Eventually toward the end, he started to write stories with more ambiguity and uncertainty. There's obviously plenty of stories that don't fit this simplistic overview, but I think it works for the most part. Depending on what you like to read, you'll probably take more to one of his periods. I'll suggest some classics from each to give you some options.


Here are a couple comic pieces written in the mid 1860's:
"On the Road"--funny story about a deluded idealist
"Oh! The Public"--we're reading this one on the Chekhov thread right now. A ticket collector makes a resolution to reform his ways, and he runs into some problems.

From the more serious middle period:
"About Love"--a story about love told by a rather interesting character. It's about ten pages long.
"Sleepy"--it's about mistaken associations. I consider it to be one of the best stories Chekhov wrote, but Janine thought the ending was a little disturbing.
"Rothschild's Fiddle"--The ending in this one is just as surprising as the one in "Sleepy" but it's a bit more uplifting. The story is about a coffin maker and his coping with loss.
"A Doctor's Visit"--It's hard to describe without giving too much away, so I won't comment.
"The Student"--more optimistic than the other ones above, it's more of a poem than a story. There's little action, but very good use of symbol and analogy.

By far the best story from Chekhov's later period:
"The Lady with the Dog"--This is often considered to be Chekhov's greatest short story. A womanizing philanderer meets with a woman who he has mixed feelings about.

Those are my suggestions. If I had to pick a favorite, I don't think I would be able to respond right away. The one that is best written would have to be "Sleepy." The way Chekhov draws you into her sleep-deprived state is really well done. It's a great story, but it's not quite my personal favorite. "About Love" is probably closer. I think that's for personal reasons, though. Anyway, tell us which ones you like.


Oh, and you may want to check out the best thread on LitNet, the Chekhov short story discussion. We're here at:
http://www.online-literature.com/for...=17728&page=12

Thank you for the list, if I enjoy what I read, that maybe I will join in with the Chekhov discussion thread, I will drop in and take a look at it.

I love the two longer stories, "Ward 6" and "the Black Monk"... though they are both quite depressing and melancholy.. just incredibly well written and very interesting... and do come join the chekhov discussion group if you enjoy his writing, we need more people to make it interesting...
cheers

I am thinking about joining in the discussion when you start the next story, as the story you are discussing now does not happen to be in my volume of his works, and I did not want to come into the middle of it.

The Stories that I love of Chekov's are Vanka, Goose Berries, The House with the Mansard and The LADY wITH tHE dOG

I think there was one called The Kiss- that was a bit weird.

Personally I'd recommend his plays- The Seagull in particular.

The Black Monk

The black monk is very uncharacteristic of Chechov. Interesting, though, as a rather detailed account of a journey to a deeper level of the mind, where some associations become more striking, but at the same time others (those used in daily life) wither away, and the latter effect has a deteriorating conclusion.
I think that Tolstoy commented on that story as being "extremely beautifull".

I recall another, shorter story, about a coach-driver whose son died. Maybe it is the "Vanka" mentioned? Anyway it made an impression on me, although it is a very simple story.

To sleep (here mentioned as "sleepy") is another of the good ones :)

The Bet