The Shooting Party

Tales of Chekhov #13

by Anton Chekhov, Ronald Wilks (Translator), John Sutherland (Introduction)

Anton Chekhov's only full-length novel, this Penguin Classics edition of The Shooting Party is translated and edited by Ronald Wilks, with an introduction by John Sutherland.

The Shooting Party centers on Olga, the pretty young daughter of a drunken forester on a country estate, and her fateful relationships with the men in her life. Adored by Urbenin, the estate manager, whom she marries to escape the poverty of her home. She is also desired by the dissolute Count Karneyev and by Zinovyev, a magistrate, who knows the secret misery of her marriage. When an attempt is made on Olga's life in the woods, it seems impossible to discover the perpetrator in an impenetrable web of lust, deceit, loathing and double-dealing. One of Chekhov's earliest experiments in fiction combines the classic elements of a gripping mystery with a short story of corruption, concealed love and fatal jealousy.

Ronald Wilks's brilliant new translation of this work is the first in over seventy years. It brilliantly captures the immediacy of the dialogue that Chekhov was later to develop into his great dramas. This edition also includes an introduction by John Sutherland, suggestions for further reading and explanatory notes.

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was born in Taganrog, a port on the sea of Azov. In 1879 he travelled to Moscow, where he entered the medical faculty of the university, graduating in 1884. During his university years, he supported his family by contributing humorous stories and sketches to magazines. He published his first volume of stories, Motley Tales, in 1886, and a year later his second volume In the Twilight, for which he received the Pushkin Prize. Today his plays, including 'Uncle Vanya', 'The Seagull', and 'The Cherry Orchard' are recognised as masterpieces the world over.

If you enjoyed The Shooting Party, you might like Chekhov's Plays, also available in Penguin Classics.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Russia, Russian Literature, Mystery, Literature, 19th Century

199 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1884

About the author

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 Alfred Dreyfus, his friendship with Suvorin ended

Reviews

[Vit Babenco · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Shooting Party is a sarcastic mystery… The superficial personages of the tale are an odd lot.
Young Anton Chekhov distancing himself away from the narration presents his novel as the amateurish Memoirs of an Investigating Magistrate…
The narrator is cocksure, boastful and dishonest…

Those who knew both the Count and myself interpreted our mutual relationship in different ways. Those with limited brainpower, who couldn’t see further than their noses, were fond of claiming that the distinguished Count had found an excellent drinking companion and stooge in that ‘poor and undistinguished examining magistrate’. As they saw it, I, the author of these lines, went crawling and grovelling around the Count’s table for a few crumbs and titbits!

And his supposed friend is a picturesque type…

In appearance the Count hadn’t changed one bit during our two-year separation: there was that same small, thin body, as frail and sluggish as a corncrake’s, those same narrow, consumptive’s shoulders and that small head with reddish hair. His nose was as red as ever, and his cheeks were the same as they had been two years ago, sagging like limp rags. There was nothing bold, strong or manly in his face. Everything was weak, apathetic and flaccid.

And there is an unscrupulous heroine – the apple of discord…

Her flushed cheeks as fresh as the air, that rapidly breathing, heaving bosom, those curls scattered over her forehead and shoulders and over that right hand with which she was adjusting her collar, her big, sparkling eyes – all this in one small body that you could take in at a single glance. Just one look at this tiny creature and you would see more than if you stared at the boundless horizon for centuries.

The characters of the story exist without rhyme or reason… Drinking sprees… Crazy nights… Lust and no romance…

The man who, under the influence of mental pain or plagued with unbearable suffering, puts a bullet in his brains is called a suicide. But for those who give full rein to their pathetic, spiritually debasing passions during the sacred days of their youth there is no name in the language of man. Bullets are followed by the peace of the grave, ruined youth is followed by years of grief and agonizing memories. Anyone who has profaned his youth will understand my present state of mind.

He who willingly swims downstream just fritters his life away.

[Henry Avila · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is well-known that Anton Chekhov disliked long narratives, his plays and short stories are...yes... short and sweet. He found them, the endless novels uncomfortable, boring to read and write, get to the point quickly as possible and get out ( I'll do that soon hopefully) .This, his only novel which no surprise, Chekhov ignored in his later years, nevertheless authors are notorious at misjudging their own work, too close to the action...A very early 1884 murder mystery book from the great scribbler (who could have guessed) one of the first, set in southern Russia in an ordinary, small and not highly important town, truth be said ...a reprehensible crime will be committed , quite unusual there... Zinovyev, a young country magistrate in his early thirties falls in love with a very pretty nineteen -year -old peasant girl, but has two rivals, friends at the beginning, Count Karneyev, a little older and his estate manager Urbenin 50, both drunkards . The center of attraction or should I say lust is Olga , whose father am I repeating myself imbibes too, only the magistrate is sober when not at the Count's mansion, participating in wild orgies with gypsy women. Well the writer has a rather dark impression of Russian men but back to the story , excuse me. The poor lady desperately wants to escape the untenable situation at the dreary home , of her father's, a forester when feeling good which he seldom is, too much alcohol plus being utterly insane doesn't make for a happy life for her, and the two others, younger siblings , so much suffering, abuse, hunger happens there. She needs to get out soon , help her family and women then could do that only by marrying a man who has money, however the Count won't, he is a dissolute, the extremely handsome Zinovyev, likes chasing and catching ladies, why settle for one? To her ultimate disgust she marries the seemingly gentle but jealous Urbenin, the infatuated widower, all the town knew it would be a disaster looking at the couple in the church wedding, they're right...Olga the unhappy , ignorant, immature, nonetheless beautiful girl gives favors to her former suitors, promptly after the ceremony. And passion, inevitably strikes with a heavy, crushing blow on one of the four main characters...An unusual murder case, the crime is not in the beginning but during the second half of the novel, Chekhov is such a superb writer that he overpowers the simple plot with his wonderful gift of revealing human weaknesses, people's hopes, unreachable dreams, sorrows and fears which cripple them into ennui, if you enjoy marvelous literature in a strange package this is for you as it was for me, or is it I ?...no I believe it is indeed me...

[Kalliope · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book opens up with the lines of a peculiar Greek-like-chorus. A parrot spits out: The-Husband-Killed-the-Wife. Fittingly this line comes back to ingrain an idea in the reader’s mind.

This is an early work by Chekhov, and it is his longest prose work. He was just twenty-four when he published this in a serialized format, although there was a hiatus of about half a year during the publication was interrupted. The novel complies with this presenting a diptych structure, which the text itself spells out at the end of one chapter towards the middle of the novel when the narrator declares: The introduction is finished, and the drama begins. The drama is a detective story. But there is something exploratory and self-conscious in this detective blueprint. So, we are not surprised when the novel mentions Emile Gaboriau (1832-1873) and Alexander A. Shklyarevsky (1837-1883) I had to google them as the revered figure in crime writing. Chekhov was finding his way in his literary jaunts.

Possibly continuing in his literary explorations, Chekhov uses a fictional framework similar to that in Don Quixote – the main body of The Shooting Party is the fictional manuscript of a novel that is presented to an unnamed editor who then recedes in the background until he emerges again in the Postscript. As the novel proceeds, narrated by a witness of the crime story, Chekov adds another layer to his scheme of fictional strata, as a series of footnotes, signed by A.Ch., commenting on the suitability or veracity of the narrator’s testimony. These footnotes are most extraordinary since the editor to whom the manuscript is brought is a different character to this A.Ch. signing the notes.

Another aspect I enjoyed were the literary and cultural references. In Russian literature I am particularly interested in the traces that French literature left – like guiding breadcrumbs. One of these crumbs was Alphonse Daudet. I also appreciated to learn about this magnificent painting by Vassily Pukirev (1832-1890), where in the far right the painter has included himself.



The Introduction to my edition is written by Julian Simons, whom I did not know, but who was also a crime writer. He mentions that this early and less known Chekhov is a milestone in the genre of crime fiction. And if Chekhov was aware of his literary predecessors, he paved the way also for the Queen of Crime, for Agatha Christie presents a similar scheme to the Shooting Party in her The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, which is where I am now heading.

And if you are still wondering about the aviary chorus. Eventually it shuts up when The-Narrator-Kills-the-Parrot.

[Ben Sharafski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been a serendipitous discovery for me. After thinking for many years that Chekhov had only written short stories, novellas and plays, I found out by chance about the existence of this early novel. It is a detective story, mixing in the tedium of provincial life, all-night sexual orgies at the count's estate, a love triangle (or perhaps quadrangle) and a murder - all drowned in rivers upon rivers of vodka.

Written in 1883 when Chekhov was only 23, it doesn't strictly adhere to the rules of the (then nascent) genre - the murder happens towards the end of the book and the attentive reader can spot the culprit from a mile away. Still, with Chekhov's gorgeous evocation of 19th century Russian life and a cast of characters bearing names like Kaetan Kazimirovich Pshekhotsky, Pavel Ivanovich Viznesensky and Count Karneyev, it is a highly enjoyable work, recommended to all lovers of Chekhov.

[AiK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Криминальный детектив от Чехова звучит необычно, но эта повесть написана именно в этом жанре. В этом одном из ранних произведений Чехов нащупывает свой стиль, и уже видны его критика и насмешки над мещанским привычками, дремучей косностью, пьянством и склонностью к бесшабашному разгулу, да чтоб с размахом, с цыганским хором. Особенностью этого детектива является то, что события описываются самим убийцей, а вычислил его редактор издания А.Ч., кому он отнес свою рукопись. Наличие двух рассказчиков усложняет структуру и позволяет ввести расследователя убийств. И все же это не классический детектив. Под его архитектурой скрывается глубокая социальная критика пошлых и ограниченных типов, характеров русской провинциальной жизни конца девятнадцатого века. Большинство героев карикатурно отвратительны - и граф Карнеев, пьяница, мот и неспособный ни к какому делу, и Оленька Скворцова, продажная женщина по сути, дарующая свою любовь в обмен на блага, мещанка, набравшаяся псевдоаристократической спеси, и сам Камышев/Зиновьев, жестокий, с завышенным самомнением человек, способный убить и подставить невиновного и при этом, в отличие от Раскольникова, не испытывать никаких душевных мук. Несмотря на карикатурность персонажей, особенностью Чеховского взгляда на людей, на своих героев, является его умение заметить и хорошее, человечное. Так Оленька в начале повести кажется лиричной и чистой, наивной девушкой, напевающей на придуманные мелодии стихи, она же на смертном одре не желает назвать имя убийцы, жалея его, что даёт основания думать, что она способна к любви и жертвенности.

[Ana Cristina Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

La servidumbre era detestable, completamente desmoralizada por el ocio y las ausencias prolongadas de su dueño. Todos los criados, desde el primero hasta el último, llevaban el sello de la perversión.

Me ha gustado este policial escrito por Chejov en 1884, su única novela, ya que se le conoce sobre todo por sus cuentos y obras de teatro. El escenario es una pequeña población del sur de Rusia, con sus nobles y pequeños hacendados, los campesinos y los sirvientes. Narrado en primera persona por un magistrado local, relata un crimen pasional y refiere la investigación para encontrar al culpable.

Dicho así, podría parecer un simple precedente de la novela detectivesca, pero tiene cosas muy interesantes. En primer lugar, el juego metaliterario: el juez escribe una novela que le entrega a un editor, y éste añade sus comentarios en forma de notas, que nos van matizando la interpretación de los hechos.

Por otro lado, la descripción de los personajes y el entorno rural es muy poderosa. Tanto amos como criados demuestran pocos valores morales y sus vidas están empapadas en vodka. El hastío y los vicios del conde, representante de las clases dominantes, reflejan una sociedad decadente y desmoralizada. La bella Olga, una chica de 19 años que se casa con un viejo para huir de la pobreza, tampoco es ejemplar: utiliza sus atractivos de manera calculadora e inmoral. No hay 'buenos' en este relato, sino una aspiración a reflejar la realidad de la manera más cruda posible.

Es esta descripción costumbrista lo que ocupa la mayor parte del libro, ya que el crimen y la investigación no aparecen hasta la parte final - todo se cuece a fuego muy lento.

En conjunto me ha parecido una buena lectura, con toques originales y sorprendentes para la época. Lástima que el mismo Chejov no tenía esta obra en gran aprecio - la escribió con sólo 24 años, antes de encontrar su verdadero estilo - y ha pasado hasta cierto punto desapercibida.

[Katia N · Rating 5 out of 5]

On Youtube, I came across on the fragment of the movie I knew since my childhood with breathtaking Waltz music. It is the one of the best waltz i know, including Strauss or Shostakovich. The movie is loosely based on Chekhov’s short novel. I’ve seen it many year ago, but, I’ve realised, I’ve never read the novel. So I’ve read it now. It is wonderful. It is the one of longer works by Chekhov (he did not leave any proper novel and preferred the short form). It feels surprisingly modern: it is structured as a longish novella packed within a short story. And I did not know anyone used the footnotes meaningfully in fiction before David Foster Wallace 100 years later. Chekhov does it here. Also it reminded me Nabokov’s “Pale Fire”. May be some people would find the comparison a bit far-fetched, but Nabokov loved Chekhov (while he hated Dostoyevsky and many others Russian writers).

I would not talk here about the plot, or the characters, or the language. Suffice to say, it is Chekhov at his best plus a bit of a twist, which I think is not usual for him. I do not know why they translate the title as “Shooting party”. In Russian it literary means “ A drama during the hunting”. It is quite a bit of a difference. So I am not sure how well the rest is translated. But I really recommend it if you like Russian literature.

Btw, this is the Waltz:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mSHQ...

По-русски

Удивительно, насколько Чехов умеет создать второстепенные персонажи! Поликарп, Франц, Сычиха делают это повесть просто гениальной. И еще атмосфера - такого русского беспробудного пьяно-разгильдяйства и неприкаянности. Я забыла про ee существование. Надо будет еще его позднего почитать.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chekhov's only novel and a detective novel at that. There is the usual cast of suspects, although the murder is quite late on in the book. It is narrated by the examining magistrate, who is also involved in the events described. Spotting the murderer is not that difficult; although if you don't the twist at the end is a good one. The descriptions of the landscape are good. Describing the plot would give too much away and this is after all a whodunnit.
This being a Russian novel most of the characters are profoundly miserable or debauched. There is lots of vodka drunk, plenty of illicit sex, a decent plot, decadent aristocracy, unhappy peasantry, schemimg bureaucrats and inept law enforcers. The novel within the novel idea was a little clumsy, but doesn't detract from the whole. It's a bit more Agatha Christie than Tolstoy but I enjoyed it for what it was.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

full post here:
http://www.crimesegments.com/2021/06/...

As John Sutherland says in his introduction to this edition of The Shooting Party, while readers are used to a "dash of internationalism" in the twenty-first century, excluding Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, the Russian novel has not been a "strong presence" in the realm of detective fiction. Like many fine mystery stories of yesteryear, The Shooting Party started out as a feuilleton in serial form, and given the fame of Anton Chekhov and his later dramatic works, has remained "unjustly ignored." A shame, really, because the mystery itself is quite good, and as Sutherland also notes, the book is "an accomplished crime novel in its own right." I tend to agree with him when he says that "few who start reading the work will be tempted to lay it down," because that's precisely what happened with me.

April, 1880. A man walks into a newspaper office, hoping for an appointment with "the Editor." After identifying himself as Ivan Petrovich Kamyshev, former investigating magistrate, he asks the Editor to read his manuscript, and if possible, to publish it. The subject, Kamyshev says, is "love, murder," and he calls it From the Memoirs of an Investigating Magistrate, swearing that the story "happened before his eyes," -- in fact he was both "eyewitness and even an active participant." The Editor isn't quick to bite, citing the readers who have "for far too long now... have had their teeth set on edge by Gaboriau and Shklyarevsky" and are

"sick and tired of all these mysterious murders, these detectives' artful ruses, the phenomenal quick-wittedness of investigating magistrates."

The particular story under consideration is called "The Shooting Party", and eventually the Editor agrees to read it, telling Kamyshev to come back in three months' time during which he'll make his decision. What follows is the story-within-the-story, as the Editor offers Kamyshev's story for the reader's "perusal" after reading it, assuring that it is "a page-turner." That it is, and while it may not be one of the best crime novels I've read, it is certainly very much worth the read -- this may have been one of Chekhov's earliest works, but he is a master of characterization here which is much more important than the crime or its solution. He wrote this in the 1880s, while Russia was still under Czarist rule, but he seems to have keen, almost uncanny insight into the future of class and social structure (including the roles and expectations of women) in an empire that in just a short while will be completely transformed.

Definitely recommended.

[Ebru Çökmez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Avda Trajedi hem klasik, hem Rus hem de polisiye. Zor bulunan bir bileşim. Karamazov kardeşler gibi.

Çehov daha çok öykü ve oyun yazarı olduğu için pek üzerinde durulmayan bu kitap okuduğuma göre kendisinin de pek hakkında konuşmadığı tek romanı. Ben Çehov’un ne öykülerini bilirim ne de oyunlarını. Okuduğum ilk Çehov, Avda Trajedi. Birkaç daha okuyacağım anlaşılan.

Romanda ne isterseniz var; aristokratlar, köylüler, kaçıncı dereceden olduğu belirtilmemiş memurlar, aşk, entrika, partiler ve tabii ki cinayet… Gözümüzü korkutmasın bütün bunlar. Karamazov kardeşler gibi 1000 küsur sayfada değil, kısacık, 200 sayfada derli toplu anlatılmış. Kitap Yapı Kredi Yayınları tarafından Kazım Taşkent Klasik Yapıtlar Dizisine dâhil. Baskı kalitesi harika, Kayhan Yükseler’in çevirisi de tam Rus Klasiği tadında.

Avda Trajedi, 1884-1885 yıllarında ilk kez Moskova’da bir gazetede tefrika halinde, Gerçek Bir Olay başlığı ile yayınlanmış. Çehov, o zamanlar kavram olarak adı konulmamış olan “üst kurmaca” tekniğini kullanmış. Bir gazete editörü, kendisine yayınlanmak üzere teslim edilen romanı anlatıyor. Sonra romanı okumaya başlıyoruz. Son bölümde editörün romanla ve romanda geçen olaylarla ilgili yaptığı değerlendirmelerini ve roman yazarı ile ikinci karşılaşmasını okuyoruz. Enteresan bir yapısı var.

Buradan sonrası SPOILER içerir!

İlk bölümde, anlatıcı olan gazete editörünün odasına elinde roman taslağı ile giren Kamışov, kendisinin eskiden S. Kasabasında sorgu yargıçlığı yaptığını, o yıllarda yaşanan bir cinayetten yola çıkarak romanını yazdığını belirterek, yalvar yakar yayınlanmasını rica eder. Adam iri yarı, yakışıklı, aynı zamanda kibar ve dürüst bir izlenim vermektedir. Editör romanı ancak iki ay sonra okur ve çok önemli bir keşif yapar.

İkinci bölümde söz konusu romanı okuruz. Bu defa anlatıcı S. Kasabasında sorgu yargıcı olan Zinovyev’dir. Konumu itibarıyla kasabada saygı görse de Zinovyev, kendisini çok dengeli ve ahlaklı bulmaz. Anlatı boyunca kusurlarını, zaaflarını yazmaktan çekinmez. O yüzden de, okur olarak roman boyunca güvenilir bir anlatıcıyla karşı karşıya olduğumuz inancını taşırız.  

Cinayet olayında, gözü yükseklerde cahil bir genç kız olan Olenka, onu elli yaşında kocası Urbenin, zengin ama sefil bir kont ve bizim sorgu yargıcımız başrol oynarlar. Bir sürü de yan karakter var tabii ki. Bir kaçı bahse değer ama yazmaya üşeniyorum. Mesela sorgu yargıcının hizmetkarı Polikarp, kasaba doktoru, iyi yürekli İspinoz, hakimin kızı zavallı Nadenka Kalinina…vs. Tüm olaylar; aşk, evlilik, ihanet, içki alemleri, av partisi ve cinayet birkaç ay içinde olup biter. En sonunda cinayet soruşturması yapılır, katil bulunur, yargılanır, sürgüne gönderilir.  Roman içindeki roman burda bitmiştir.

Fakat olaylarda başrol oynayan, soruşturmaları yapan sorgu yargıcının kendi içinde sular durulmaz. Tutar olayları anlatan bir roman yazar. Romanına aynı kendisi gibi bir sorgu yargıcı yerleştirir.  Sorgu yargıcının ismini Zinovyev olarak değiştirmiştir sadece.

Editör, son bölümde gerçek sorgu yargıcı ve romanın yazarı Kamışov ile konuşması öncesinde romanının yayınlanmasıyla ilgili bilgi verir.  Romanda yayın kurulundan geçmeyen bazı bölümler çıkarılmıştır. Bunlar bizim okuduğumuz kısımda da yer almamaktadır. (Burada benim aklıma takılan editörün eklediği yerler olup olmadığı? Kurban son nefesinde sorgu yargıcına katilin kim olduğunu gerçekten söylemiş midir? Yoksa bu kısım editör tarafından keşfi sonrasında mı eklenmiştir?)

Son bölümde, Kamışov bu romanı neden yazdığını, neden o şekilde açık vererek yazdığını da anlatır. Şöyle der: “ İnsanların bana sıradan biriymişim gibi bakmaları bana her zaman tuhaf geliyordu; bu sekiz yıl boyunca tek bir canlı ruh bana meraklı gözlerle bakmadı; saklanmak zorunda kalmamak bana garip görünüyordu. İçime çöreklenmiş korkunç bir sır var". Bu roman Kamışov'un sıkıntısını hafifletmeye yetmiş midir acaba?

[Richard R]

Hmm. I'm very much afraid that if Agatha Christie and PG Wodehouse collaborated on a Dostoevsky pastiche, it would look a great deal like this.

[Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can see why Chekhov wrote only this one 'true' novel...

It is very early; done in genre; serialized during initial release; etc. However, the bigger issue is, should you choose to work in one of the 'crime' genres hinged around whodunnit, you likely want to hide your telegraph while doing so. Still, it is VERY early (1885) for the detective novel and, credit due, clearly the work of a writer of great ability. As I fucking hate short stories, I am an adherent of the so-called 'short novels' (Steppe, Duel...) and plays, so it was nice reading something new by the fledgling A.C.

I'll also clarify that the 3 stars is informed by my distaste for Zola, the same Zola that Chekhov is fawning over in imitation here. It may be more fun (and kink-fucked) than anything than Emile ever penned, but the 'what makes a man start fires,' psycho-dramatic Naturalist school will almost always bore the socks off of me. Presupposing I am wearing socks, of course.

If you ever meet anyone that tells you Chekhov's greatest accomplishment is The Shooting Party, just know that you are in the company of one pretentious, contrarian asshole. Please tell them I said so.

[Haifa · Rating 3 out of 5]

تعتبر اطول رواية الفها تشيخوف وكعادة الادب الروسي الجميل تستهدف الاحداث صور الخير والنقاء والبراءة في النفس الانسانية وفي المقابل هناك الشر والدناءة والتي تقود الانسان الى الى ارتكاب ابشع جريمة على وجه الارض

هي ليست رواية بوليسية برغم من وقوع جريمة في الربع الاخير منها وهذا يوضح ان هدف القصة لم يكن الكشف عن القاتل او ملابسات الجريمة
والتي جاءت نتيجة لارادة الانسان الانانية

الرواية جميلة ومشاهدها مرسومة بدقة كما هي ايضا اللغة والاسلوب والحوارات الذاتية
ولكن هناك البطء والتفاصيل المملة قليلا


انصح بها طبعا

[Vishy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anton Chekhov mostly wrote only short stories and plays. His longest story and probably his only novel was this one, 'The Shooting Party'. I have wanted to read this for a long time. I finally read it today.

The story told in 'The Shooting Party' goes like this. A man walks into a magazine editor's office. He looks handsome and distinguished. He tells the editor that he has written a novel based on a real event. And he hands over a manuscript to the editor. The editor says that he can't promise anything but he will read the manuscript and see what he can do. The story told in the manuscript goes like this. The narrator is an investigating magistrate who lives and works in the countryside. He is friends with the count who owns the nearby estate. The count is travelling most of the time and occasionally drops by at his estate. Then he calls our magistrate and they party for days. The narrator describes their parties and adventures. At one point the narrator meets a beautiful young woman who lives nearby. There is mutual attraction. A lot of things happen after that – love, wedding, seduction, affairs, fights, heartbreaks, jealousy. At around three-fourths into the story, one of the main characters is dead. It looks like this character was murdered. The rest of the story is about finding out who the murderer is.

I think 'The Shooting Party' is probably not Chekhov's best work. For a significant part of the story, it is more and more parties and people getting drunk, and seductions and affairs and jealousy and fights. Chekhov tries to do a Turgenev here, but, in my opinion, it doesn't work. Turgenev was a master at this kind of plot. Chekhov – maybe the play or the short story form was more his thing, or maybe he wrote this book when he was young, before his style matured. Wish he had tried his hand at a novel again, later in life.

There are some nice passages here and there in the book, which are a pleasure to read. One of my favourites was this one :

"Pine trees are boring in their silent monotony : they are all the same height, they all look exactly the same and they do not change with the seasons, knowing neither death nor vernal renewal. On the other hand they are attractive in their very gloominess – so still, so silent, as if they are thinking melancholy thoughts."

There are beautiful, evocative character sketches in the story. One of my favourites is the narrator's servant Polikarp, who is hardworking and loyal, loves reading Alexandre Dumas' 'The Count of Monte Cristo', but who is also fearless and speaks his mind to his master and doesn't think twice about screaming at his master, if his master has done some reprehensible thing. Polikarp is so cool! Another of my favourites is the doctor Pavel Ivanovich, who is wise and kind and loves knowledge and learning new things.

When one of the characters drops dead, the story undergoes a transformation and becomes a murder mystery. There are some dark, almost Dostoevsky-ian passages, in this part, and in the end when the identity of the murderer is revealed, we jump from our seats, because we don't see that coming – the surprise is as good as the best Agatha Christies, it would have had even Hercule Poirot stumped. That revelation turns the book on its head, and we start seeing everything in new light.

It was fun reading Chekhov's longest story. It is probably not his best work, but I am happy that I can cross it off my checklist now. I discovered that this book was adapted into a Russian movie. I want to watch that sometime. (In case you are interested, it is called 'Мой ласковый и нежный зверь' ('My Tender and Affectionate Beast') (A Hunting Accident). You can find it here – https://youtu.be/IQhBo9Pz0rw . Unfortunately, it doesn't have English subtitles.)

Have you read Chekhov's 'The Shooting Party'? What do you think about it?

[Tuna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Çehov’u geç tanıdım (Altıncı Koğuş ile başlayan bu serüven, onun bıraktığı muazzam hisler nedeniyle hala devam ediyor) ama hemen her yıl onun eserlerinden birini okumaya çalışırım. Bu yıla “Martı” ile başlamış doğrusunu isterseniz pek keyif almamıştım. “Avda Trajedi” ise Çehov’un en sevdiğim eserlerinden biri oldu diyebilirim. Gençlik yıllarında kaleme alıp sonradan çok da sahiplenmediği bu tek romanında aşk, arkadaşlık, dostluk, ihanet, kıskançlık gibi duyguları etkili bir şekilde kullanıyor.

Papağanın adının konma hikayesiyle ilk düğmeyi doğru ilikleyen roman sonrasında yaşanacakların teminatını veriyordu sanki☺️ Taşrada görevli bir sorgu yargıcıyla oranın varsıl kontunun sıradışı dostluğu tuhaf vakaların yaklaştığını muştuluyordu. Toplumsal konumları farklı basamaklarda yer alan bir dizi karakterin varlığı anlatıya sınıfsal bir boyut katılacağını işaret ediyordu ya da en azından ilk başta bana öyle geliyordu.

Görece uzun bir zamandan sonra Kontun çağrısıyla onun içine küçük sayılmayacak bir ormanı ve gölü de sığdıran çiftliğinde bir araya gelirler. Sıcak bir Mayıs ikindisinde edilen tatsız bir muhabbetin ardından kısa bir yürüyüşe geçerler. Kır gezisi esnasında karşılarına çıkan kişinin (romanın dilimize ilk tercümesinde tercih edilen ismiyle müsemma) hikayeye dahil olmasıyla değişir, işler.

Anlatıcının hikayeyi bir alt anlatıcıya devrettiğini onun da okurla doğrudan temas kurmaya çalıştığı bir anlatım biçimi benimseniyor. Romandaki doğa, karakter ve mekân tasvirleri son derece gerçekçi ve ironik bir şekilde resmediliyor. Bununla birlikte insan fizyolojisi ile basit eşyalar arasında kurulan benzerlikler bazen gülümsetebiliyor. Birbirlerini tanımayan insanların konuyu havadan suya getirerek iletişime geçmeleri de yarı alaycı bir şekilde ifade ediliyor. Ayrıca romanın belirli aşamalarında kurulan sofralar yeme ve içme adına pek çok seçenek sunan zenginliğiyle dikkat çekiyor. Ayık insanı az, entrikası bol, hikayesi karışık bir roman ortaya çıkıyor. Polisiye ile trajedinin uyumlu bir melodisi gerçekleşiyor.

Not:Kitabın giriş kısmında bulunan, çevirmen tarafından hazırlanmış olan önsöz gayet güzel bir tanıtım ve tahlil yazısı olmakla beraber romanın içeriğine ilişkin hemen hemen bütün sürprizleri açık ettiği için romanın sonraki baskılarında sonsöz olarak yer alırsa daha keyifli bir okuma olacaktır.

[Steven R. Kraaijeveld · Rating 4 out of 5]

"What poetry from the past could withstand the filth of the present?" (125)

The Shooting Party is Chekhov's only full-length novel, although that fact doesn't really distinguish it from other long works like The Steppe, The Duel, and so on (even within the story, he refers to it as a "novel (or novella if you prefer)" with characteristic ambivalence). What does differentiate it is the fact that it is a detective novel. Chekhov apparently experimented with the detective story early on—The Shooting Party (1884) was written when young Chekhov still signed his work as Antosha Chekhonte. He never returned to the detective story. In fact, Chekhov never included The Shooting Party in anthologies and rarely mentioned it in any of his letters. Why? There isn't really a consensus; he may have viewed it as a youthful work. It is a cruel book—probably his darkest work, which may be surprising, given that it is supposed to be a detective story. It mostly describes people being debased and petty and mercenary and doing horrible things to the creatures around them. There is little to redeem these acts; there are few, if any, noble motivations. In fact, I think that you could read The Shooting Party as an antithesis to Crime and Punishment—both involve murders, but while Dostoevsky at least has his murderer grapple with conscience and God, Chekhov's murdered has no remorse. We say: "I find you perfectly loathsome…" And he says: "That's only natural… I'm loathsome to myself."

[César Carranza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Видно что Чехов ещё молодой, но очень хорошая книга! Ещё не полностью его стиль, иногда мне казалось что читаю Стефан Швейг

Новелла о том как один человек себе пропал в жизни окончательно, он судя, но у него не очень удачный друг, граф который может только пить и делать "праздники", вот они двое подают на яме.

Есть что то традиционно от 19ого века, детектив) все хорошо, но кажется что если хочется чувствовать лучше Чехова, то идти за его рассказы

[Abeer · Rating 3 out of 5]

اعتبرها رواية نفسية لا بوليسية فالجريمة تحدث بعد منتصف الرواية والفاعل واضح جدا.

أول ما لفت نظري التناقض بين رؤية رئيس التحرير للبطل وما ظهر من شخصيته حين بدأ روايته.

أكثر ما يميزها الجانب النفسي في وصف البطل لمشاعره ولنفسه ومن حوله.
أعجبني كذلك رسم شخصية الفتاة وتطورها.
.
لكن في رأيي الإيقاع بطيء، والوصف طويل.
.
جزيل الشكر للمترجم على نقلها للقراء العرب وإضافة هوامش ساعدت في فهم تفاصيل النص.

#مايو_2021

[Ahmed Wardany · Rating 4 out of 5]

أحب الأدب الروسي، يتميز بشيء خاص به، لا أدري على وجه التحديد كنه هذا الشيء، ربما يكون وصف المشاعر الإنسانية باستفاضة، أو طريقة السرد، أو الجو العام لروسيا القديمة الذي تستشفه في كل الروايات تقريباً.
الرواية هي رواية روسية في المقام الأول قبل أن تكون رواية بوليسية، بل إنها قد لا تعد رواية بوليسية من الأساس، فالجريمة لم تحدث إلا في الصفحات الأخيرة، .ويستطيع أي قارئ اكتشاف القاتل بسهولة، إلا أنها لا تخلو من إثارة رغم ذلك. رواية جيدة للغاية وهي الأولى لتشيخوف، وتقريباً روايته الطويلة الوحيدة

[L.G. Cullens · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was part of my immersion in Chekhov's writing, which I elaborated on in my review of the Project Gutenberg Compilation of Short Stories by Anton Chekhov ebook.

This was his longest work that tells the story of a retailer's daughter in a provincial Russian village who is stabbed to death in the woods during a hunting party, and the efforts to uncover her killer.

It's not what is considered a 'great' novel, nor even a great mystery story, though some have proclaimed it a landmark in the history of the crime story. Its uniqueness lies in its innovative structure which has prefigured numerous stories since, and, of course, in Chekhov's ability to bring any simple premise to engrossing, realistic life. A story that's recalled even as the gray matter shrinks in old age :-) [Somehow this book came to mind as I was pondering why I got up and headed for another room.]

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A man who under the influence of mental pain or unbearably oppressive suffering sends a bullet through his own head is called a suicide; but for those who give freedom to their pitiful, soul-debasing passions in the holy days of spring and youth there is no name in man's vocabulary. After the bullet follows the peace of the grave: ruined youth is followed by years of grief and painful recollections. He who has profaned his spring will understand the present condition of my soul. I am not yet old, or grey, but I no longer live. Psychiaters tell us that a solider, who was wounded at Waterloo, went mad, and afterwards assured everybody - and believed it himself - that he had died at Waterloo, and that what was now considered to be him was only his shadow, a reflection of the past. I am now experiencing something resembling this semi-death . . ."

[Sara the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fascinating little literary artifact that I certainly wasn't aware of despite my abiding love for good 'ol Anton.

A good 45 years before Agatha Christie wowed everyone with her unreliable narrator in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd the author behind The Cherry Orchard and Uncle Vanya tried his hand at a murder mystery in exactly the same vein.

An editor (with the initials A.C.) is surprised one night in his office by a strange man who begs him to publish the novel he's written. A.C. pushes him off for three months but when he finally reads the book he can't put it down. Its the story of a handsome, young local magistrate who finds himself embroiled in a debauched tale of drunken orgies, dissolute aristocracy, fallen women and....MURDER! But as he reads A.C. begins to notice strange discrepancies in the story that suggest its writer may not be telling the whole truth.

My favorite part of this is how you can see young Chekhov just beginning to find his way as a writer. You can even see the early prototypes of characters who will go on to become as famous as Stanley Kowalski and Willy Loman.

Chekhov wrote this when he was only 24 years old and it was originally published in serial form thanks to a friend who edited the local paper. He banked on the popularity of salacious mystery stories to help him make a little money to feed his starving family but he hated how outlandish and poorly written they were so this is also something of a parody of a literary form he detested.

Don't go into this expecting the greatest mystery ever written, but it is a totally fascinating example of his early writing and it would go on to influence Christie and many other mystery novelists we treasure today.

[Nicoletta · Rating 4 out of 5]

всегда очарована чеховской прозой.

особенно рассказы «сон», «в суде» и «злоумышленник» восхитили. «драма» неимоверно повеселила, не зря её хвалил толстой.

ну, а «драма на охоте» хороша, особенно своим повествованием и откровенностью, хотя я понимаю, почему чехов позже игнорировал это произведение и не стал включать в собрание сочинений.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

didn't scratch my mystery/crime itch but still a fun little read

[Stef De Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

wat een goed einde! een heel aangename detectieveroman met het typische tsjechowiaanse cynisme, aanrader

[Federico Escobar Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Olvídese del relato policial lleno de sorpresas y que lo va a mantener desorientado hasta el punto final. Un drama de caza es más bien una confesión, la de un asesino por celos, que con algo de poder desvía hacia otro la culpabilidad del caso y usa este libro, sus memorias, como burla a un sistema que se dejó engañar fácilmente.
Aquí, mas que en la historia, resaltan los personajes y la ambientación. Ellos por nítidos en su construcción, ella por rica en detalles. Un libro entretenido para conocer al Chéjov novelista.

[Jersy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a fun read but such a fractured story. A good half of the book is just about some men drinking, during which I didn't know where this would lead and the assumptions I formed proved mostly wrong. Then it leads into a conflict about a woman, after which it abruptly transforms into a murder mystery. I never quite settled down into the story or got a feeling of what or who mattered. I liked the tone, though, managing a good balance of humor, drama and intruige. The conclusion is handled extremely well, too. Enjoyable, but a bit too unfocused.

[natura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dramón ruso al más puro estilo. El misterio policiaco es mínimo, puesto que el mismo Chéjov va dejando a pie de páginas las anotaciones que van dirigiendo la atención del lector hacia el auténtico culpable del horrible crimen pasional. Que tampoco es que haga mucha falta, porque se ve venir desde el principio ya que la narración lo va recordando oportunamente: tras una pequeña introducción para justificar cómo y porqué llega el autor hasta la historia, entramos directamente en el supuesto manuscrito autobiográfico del juez Kamishov, que nos narra en primera persona, por supuesto, una etapa de su vida que le sigue atormentando pasados los años
Mucha vida rural, con aristócratas arruinados, funcionarios de clase media y campesinos de la más baja calaña. Lucha de clases todavía desde el punto de vista clásico conformista-religioso; personajes dominados por sus caracteres extremos y escaso rigor policial para aclarar un asesinato.
Un poco lioso el desarrollo de la accion, pero compensado por esas pasiones tan fuertes que llevan a los protagonistas desde lo más alto al abismo más profundo, sin medias tintas.

[ديانا فواز دودو · Rating 5 out of 5]

كل من في هذه القصة مذنب بشكل او بآخر حتى الأماكن والطقس، عبقرية تشيخوف التي جعلته من الكتاب المفضلين لدي.
من الخطأ أن نصنف هذه الرواية على أنها رواية بوليسية، إنها قصة الجريمة نفسها، تفتح أبوابها في مكتب المحرر ثم يبدأ الراوي والكاتب بسرد حكايته الحقيقية، خيوط الجريمة تتجمع منذ اللحظات الأولى أثناء حفلات الثمالة في ضيعة الكونت والشخصيات الأخرى التي تدور في تلك القرية الصغيرة، هذه قصة جريمة لا تحتوي على تحقيقات غامضة وتقلبات في القصة وصدمات متتالية، حتى أن القارئ يتعرف على الضحية والقاتل بكل سهولة.
يتحدث المحقق القضائي الشاب عن ذلك المجتمع الصغير وما يدور فيه من أحداث غيرت حياة الجميع، الكونت المريض السكير الداعر الذي يجمع الناس في حفلات ماجنة في ضيعته، الخدم والغجر، هذا يسرق وذاك ينصب والآخر يبحث عن ملذاته بينما يتستر الجميع برداء الصداقة والمشاعر الطيبة، بينما تنسج الظروف العنكبوتية الموت، المحقق نفسه يمضي في الرواية ويغير الأحداث من مكان إلى مكان ومن شخص إلى آخر فيصف البعض بالأصدقاء وهو يكرههم، يتخبط في مشاعره الخاصة فيحب ويكره في اللحظة ذاتها، يجمع اللين والقسوة معا، يعترف بوجود الضمير لكنه لا يعترف بأهميته.
عبقرية الرواية تكمن في الغوص في تلك النفوس المتناقضة الواقعية، أحلامها وأطماعها وما يريده كل شخص وما يفعله، كيف يحدث نفسه ويبرر لها، ويمكن لأي شخص قرأ قصص تشيخوف القصيرة أن يميز الجانب السيكولوجي العميق دوما فيها، إلى جانب السخرية المريرة.
رواية مميزة جدا من الكلاسيكيات الخالدة، لا بد أن أقرأها مرة أخرى.

[Koen Van den Eeckhout · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have never felt a real passion for Russian literature, with it's typical cold descriptions of emotions, lots of characters (often with multiple complicated names), and the tendency to describe boring and unimportant matters in full detail. I am, of course, exaggerating, and there are exceptions (personally I am a fan of Dostoyevsky's work). But this book is not.

The real action only begins around three quarters into the book, and consists of a rather simple murder story. The announced 'surprising ending' is not as surprising as I had hoped, and is quite abrupt.

The main advantage of this book is that it is not too long, and probably a nice introduction to Tsjechov's larger works if you have a few hours of spare time. But you will have to struggle through the dull first 120 pages before things get interesting.