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Great Works of Anton Chekhov

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This unique collection of Anton Chekhov's greatest works has been designed and formatted to the highest digital standards."In each one of us there are too many springs, too many wheels and cogs for us to judge each other by first impressions or by two or three external indications." Ivanoff, Act 3 (1887)Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian physician, dramaturge and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. Chekhov practised as a medical doctor throughout most of his literary career. Along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, Chekhov is often referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theatre. Chekhov had at first written stories only for financial gain, but as his artistic ambition grew, he made formal innovations which have influenced the evolution of the modern short story. He made no apologies for the difficulties this posed to readers, insisting that the role of an artist was to ask questions, not to answer them.The Shooting PartyOn the High RoadSwan SongIvanoffThe AnniversaryThe ProposalThe WeddingThe BearThe SeagullA Reluctant HeroUncle VanyaThe Three SistersThe Cherry OrchardShortThe Safety MatchThe BoysGrishaA Trifle from Real LifeThe Cook's WeddingShrove TuesdayIn Passion WeekAn IncidentA Matter of ClassicsThe TutorOut of SortsA JokeAfter the TheatreVolodiaA Naughty BoyBlissTwo Beautiful GirlsThe Chorus GirlThe Father of a FamilyThe OratorIonitchAt Christmas TimeIn the Coach HouseLady N—'s StoryA Journey By CartThe Privy CouncillorRothschild's FiddleA Horsey NameThe PechenegThe BishopThe SlandererThe KissVerotchkaOn TrialThe Mass for the DeadThe Privy CouncillorThe RunawayThe ReedLa CigaleThe Head Gardener's TaleOystersWomenWoeZinotchkaThe PrincessThe MuzhiksThe Darling

320 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2015

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About the author

Anton Chekhov

5,972 books9,884 followers
Antón Chéjov (Spanish)

Dramas, such as The Seagull (1896, revised 1898), and including "A Dreary Story" (1889) of Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, also Chekov, concern the inability of humans to communicate.

Born ( Антон Павлович Чехов ) in the small southern seaport of Taganrog, the son of a grocer. His grandfather, a serf, bought his own freedom and that of his three sons in 1841. He also taught to read. A cloth merchant fathered Yevgenia Morozova, his mother.

"When I think back on my childhood," Chekhov recalled, "it all seems quite gloomy to me." Tyranny of his father, religious fanaticism, and long nights in the store, open from five in the morning till midnight, shadowed his early years. He attended a school for Greek boys in Taganrog from 1867 to 1868 and then Taganrog grammar school. Bankruptcy of his father compelled the family to move to Moscow. At the age of 16 years in 1876, independent Chekhov for some time alone in his native town supported through private tutoring.

In 1879, Chekhov left grammar school and entered the university medical school at Moscow. In the school, he began to publish hundreds of short comics to support his mother, sisters and brothers. Nicholas Leikin published him at this period and owned Oskolki (splinters), the journal of Saint Petersburg. His subjected silly social situations, marital problems, and farcical encounters among husbands, wives, mistresses, and lust; even after his marriage, Chekhov, the shy author, knew not much of whims of young women.

Nenunzhaya pobeda , first novel of Chekhov, set in 1882 in Hungary, parodied the novels of the popular Mór Jókai. People also mocked ideological optimism of Jókai as a politician.

Chekhov graduated in 1884 and practiced medicine. He worked from 1885 in Peterburskaia gazeta.

In 1886, Chekhov met H.S. Suvorin, who invited him, a regular contributor, to work for Novoe vremya, the daily paper of Saint Petersburg. He gained a wide fame before 1886. He authored The Shooting Party , his second full-length novel, later translated into English. Agatha Christie used its characters and atmosphere in later her mystery novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd . First book of Chekhov in 1886 succeeded, and he gradually committed full time. The refusal of the author to join the ranks of social critics arose the wrath of liberal and radical intelligentsia, who criticized him for dealing with serious social and moral questions but avoiding giving answers. Such leaders as Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Leskov, however, defended him. "I'm not a liberal, or a conservative, or a gradualist, or a monk, or an indifferentist. I should like to be a free artist and that's all..." Chekhov said in 1888.

The failure of The Wood Demon , play in 1889, and problems with novel made Chekhov to withdraw from literature for a period. In 1890, he traveled across Siberia to Sakhalin, remote prison island. He conducted a detailed census of ten thousand convicts and settlers, condemned to live on that harsh island. Chekhov expected to use the results of his research for his doctoral dissertation. Hard conditions on the island probably also weakened his own physical condition. From this journey came his famous travel book.

Chekhov practiced medicine until 1892. During these years, Chechov developed his concept of the dispassionate, non-judgmental author. He outlined his program in a letter to his brother Aleksandr: "1. Absence of lengthy verbiage of political-social-economic nature; 2. total objectivity; 3. truthful descriptions of persons and objects; 4. extreme brevity; 5. audacity and originality; flee the stereotype; 6. compassion." Because he objected that the paper conducted against [a:Alfred Dreyfu

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