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The Kiss and The Duel and Other Stories
[This is the Audiobook Cassette Library Edition in vinyl case.]
Here is the greatest novella and the most unforgettable stories of a master writer who saw all of life and rejected none of it. In '' The Kiss'' , a lonely, love-starved soldier keeps a secret rendezvous for another man and becomes enamored with a woman he is never to see again.
''The Duel'' describes the collisions between men and women in hopeless relationship, and how two men are driven to settle the score in a clandestine meeting on a bridge, pistols in hand.
Other stories included here
* Excellent People
* Mire
* Neighbours
and
* The Princess.
In all of these stories, Chekhov's brilliant portrayal of people from all walks of life and how they deal with the moral dilemmas their circumstances press upon them come to vivid life in the reader's mind.
Here is the greatest novella and the most unforgettable stories of a master writer who saw all of life and rejected none of it. In '' The Kiss'' , a lonely, love-starved soldier keeps a secret rendezvous for another man and becomes enamored with a woman he is never to see again.
''The Duel'' describes the collisions between men and women in hopeless relationship, and how two men are driven to settle the score in a clandestine meeting on a bridge, pistols in hand.
Other stories included here
* Excellent People
* Mire
* Neighbours
and
* The Princess.
In all of these stories, Chekhov's brilliant portrayal of people from all walks of life and how they deal with the moral dilemmas their circumstances press upon them come to vivid life in the reader's mind.
Audio Cassette
First published December 29, 2000
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About the author
Anton Chekhov
6,002 books9,836 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
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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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 6, 2019
I finally see why Anton Chekhov is so revered among the classics.
None of the stories are particularly outrageous or breathtaking in the normal sense of the word, but the writing and the evocations, while being sharp and explosive in implications and color, turn all the characters into living, breathing people.
I have rarely read such stories that are so effortless to imagine in my mind's eye, and I'm a fair hand at mental movie reels. :)
I was right there with the fumble in the closet. I was there when the friend explained why his buddy was so distraught as to insist on the duel. But these are simply the stories that made the title of this collection. What really drives home the joy is how it all ties together in true world-building. Yeah, yeah, my real love is in SF and F, so sue me. I LIKE it when the whole sense of a setting is so VIBRANT and I can tell who these people ARE in their culture, their quirks, and their obsessions.
*takes notes*
Damn... it's like I'm back in school. :)
None of the stories are particularly outrageous or breathtaking in the normal sense of the word, but the writing and the evocations, while being sharp and explosive in implications and color, turn all the characters into living, breathing people.
I have rarely read such stories that are so effortless to imagine in my mind's eye, and I'm a fair hand at mental movie reels. :)
I was right there with the fumble in the closet. I was there when the friend explained why his buddy was so distraught as to insist on the duel. But these are simply the stories that made the title of this collection. What really drives home the joy is how it all ties together in true world-building. Yeah, yeah, my real love is in SF and F, so sue me. I LIKE it when the whole sense of a setting is so VIBRANT and I can tell who these people ARE in their culture, their quirks, and their obsessions.
*takes notes*
Damn... it's like I'm back in school. :)
April 17, 2021
داستانهایی دربارهی زنان احمق، هرزه، بدجنس، بدذات، نادان، سبکسر و مردان مظلوم، طفل معصوم، دستبهخیر، ملاحظهکار، مهربان و یکسره در حال التماس به و نازکشی از این عفریتهها.
ناباکوف دربارهی ترجمههای این خانم کانستنس گارنت از ادبیات روسی گفته تولستوی و چخوف و داستایوفسکی و غیرهش هیچ فرقی با هم ندارن و هر چی ازش بخونین، اثری از سبک نویسنده توش نیست. راست گفته. البته گمونم تو ویکیپیدیا نوشته بود ناباکوف معتقد بوده جای زن تو آشپزخونهس و نقدهای شدیدش هم از همین ریشه میگرفته ولی واقعاً اینا در حد زبانآموز آپر اینترمیدیت نوشته شده بودن و من بعید میدونم چخوف اینقدر بیروح و بیهیچی نوشته باشه اصلشون رو.
این یه ستاره رو هم فقط به داستان "بوسه" میدم وگرنه که عمرم نصف شد تا تموم شدن و حتی یک نکتهی نیممثبت نبود در کل اینا که اون بشه دو ستاره.
ناباکوف دربارهی ترجمههای این خانم کانستنس گارنت از ادبیات روسی گفته تولستوی و چخوف و داستایوفسکی و غیرهش هیچ فرقی با هم ندارن و هر چی ازش بخونین، اثری از سبک نویسنده توش نیست. راست گفته. البته گمونم تو ویکیپیدیا نوشته بود ناباکوف معتقد بوده جای زن تو آشپزخونهس و نقدهای شدیدش هم از همین ریشه میگرفته ولی واقعاً اینا در حد زبانآموز آپر اینترمیدیت نوشته شده بودن و من بعید میدونم چخوف اینقدر بیروح و بیهیچی نوشته باشه اصلشون رو.
این یه ستاره رو هم فقط به داستان "بوسه" میدم وگرنه که عمرم نصف شد تا تموم شدن و حتی یک نکتهی نیممثبت نبود در کل اینا که اون بشه دو ستاره.
January 19, 2026
Chekhov weaves and delves deeply the hidden motives and thoughts of man with humor and poetry. You stumble across a sentence and realize somebody put into print something you've always thought to be something only you felt or thought. Your revelry of being seen so clearly is cut short when you realize it is often the revelation of some of the darker sides of human nature that he unravels. However, there is a relief that remains. Reading Chekhov is confessional, and your soul leaves lighter and wiser.
I listened to the audiobook on this one and it is one of those that took away from the book. It was a very proper British voice actor and he read it in a very stilted cadence. I want to get this one in print because I it will resonate even deeper.
I listened to the audiobook on this one and it is one of those that took away from the book. It was a very proper British voice actor and he read it in a very stilted cadence. I want to get this one in print because I it will resonate even deeper.
Read
August 27, 2025Well thought collection.
April 17, 2025
I've been working my way through a few books of Chekhov's stories. The two title stories ("The Kiss," about a sadly boring young man who has his life changed by a random kiss) and "The Duel" (an intricate novella about a group of Russian expatriates living in the Caucasus) were really excellent. I was less engaged with some of the other stories, but still, I love the way Chekhov explores the inner lives of his characters.
June 15, 2013
"I love to hear the truth"
Anton Chekhov's The Kiss and the Duel and Other Stories translated by Constance Garnett (1916-1923) is an excellent collection. Each story features a crisis in some human relationship: between strangers in "The Kiss" (1887), when a bespectacled, lynx-whiskered, milquetoast army officer is mistakenly kissed by an unknown woman in a dark room at a tea party; enemies in "The Duel" (1891) when a coldly superior botanist challenges a lazy, spoiled, and amoral intellectual official to a duel; brother and sister in "Excellent People" (1886), when a listless sister who has always worshiped her wannabe literary figure brother begins asking him about the principle of non-resistance to evil; dupes and vamp in "Mire" (1886), when a younger cousin and his older cousin take turns visiting a cynical and mercurial Jewess who owes one of them money; brother, sister, and friend in "Neighbours" (1892), when a young country gentleman rides to confront his beloved sister and the idealistic and pathetic married man she's run away to live with; and royal and subject in "The Princess" (1889), when a spoiled princess who believes she's an angel dispensing light and joy to humanity asks a doctor she's fired to tell her the truth about her mistakes.
To explain the crisis and prepare for the climax of each story, Chekhov dispassionately and sympathetically cores the human soul. His insights into the human heart and mind are accurate, humorous, and devastating. He excels at placing people out of their depths in intolerable situations, so that if they manage to swim back to shore it's a heroic feat. At the same time, he concisely depicts Russian culture near the end of the 19th century, complete with growing conflicts between different classes, cultures, regions, philosophies, and so on.
Interestingly, Chekhov's stories, no matter how bleak, give me intense pleasure, and make me feel more alive. How does he do it? It must be his irony and empathy, keen eye for observation, and original mind for metaphors. Whenever his characters resolve to righteously take someone to task and then find themselves instead wimpishly appeasing the person, I think, Ah, that's me! The best we can hope to achieve, it seems, is coming to understand, as one character says near the end of "The Duel," "No one knows where the real truth lies." That and trying to treat people with humanity and kindness.
Fred Williams gives a solid reading of the stories. He doesn't dramatically change his voice for different characters, unlike virtuoso actor-readers, but he reads every word clearly and every sentence with appropriate rhythm and emphasis, and he enhances the text with appropriate wit and emotion. And I really like his deliberate, deep, and slightly gravelly and nasal voice. The only difficult point about the audiobook lay in my unfamiliarity with Russian names, so that, especially in the novella "The Duel," I sometimes mixed the characters up in my mind when listening. So I'd recommend getting a text version of the story (many free ones are online) and reading the character names in it once or twice so as to be able to hear their differences more readily.
You have to love lines like this from "Neighbours":
"It's a charming house altogether," she went on, sitting down opposite her brother. "There's some pleasant memory in every room. In my room, only fancy, Grigory's grandfather shot himself."
And it's a testament to Chekhov's genius that of the conclusions of the last two stories in the collection, the self-realization of the first nearly makes a happy ending, while the self-delusion of the second surely makes an unhappy one:
"From Koltovitch's copse and garden there came a strong fragrant scent of lilies of the valley and honey-laden flowers. Pyotr Mihalitch rode along the bank of the pond and looked mournfully into the water. And thinking about his life, he came to the conclusion he had never said or acted upon what he really thought, and other people had repaid him in the same way. And so the whole of life seemed to him as dark as this water in which the night sky was reflected and water-weeds grew in a tangle. And it seemed to him that nothing could ever set it right." (from "Neighbours")
Trying to look like a bird, the princess fluttered into the carriage and nodded in all directions. There was a gay, warm, serene feeling in her heart, and she felt herself that her smile was particularly soft and friendly. As the carriage rolled towards the gates, and afterwards along the dusty road past huts and gardens, past long trains of waggons and strings of pilgrims on their way to the monastery, she still screwed up her eyes and smiled softly. She was thinking there was no higher bliss than to bring warmth, light, and joy wherever one went, to forgive injuries, to smile graciously on one's enemies. The peasants she passed bowed to her, the carriage rustled softly, clouds of dust rose from under the wheels and floated over the golden rye, and it seemed to the princess that her body was swaying not on carriage cushions but on clouds, and that she herself was like a light, transparent little cloud. . . .
"How happy I am!" she murmured, shutting her eyes. "How happy I am!" (from "The Princess")
Anton Chekhov's The Kiss and the Duel and Other Stories translated by Constance Garnett (1916-1923) is an excellent collection. Each story features a crisis in some human relationship: between strangers in "The Kiss" (1887), when a bespectacled, lynx-whiskered, milquetoast army officer is mistakenly kissed by an unknown woman in a dark room at a tea party; enemies in "The Duel" (1891) when a coldly superior botanist challenges a lazy, spoiled, and amoral intellectual official to a duel; brother and sister in "Excellent People" (1886), when a listless sister who has always worshiped her wannabe literary figure brother begins asking him about the principle of non-resistance to evil; dupes and vamp in "Mire" (1886), when a younger cousin and his older cousin take turns visiting a cynical and mercurial Jewess who owes one of them money; brother, sister, and friend in "Neighbours" (1892), when a young country gentleman rides to confront his beloved sister and the idealistic and pathetic married man she's run away to live with; and royal and subject in "The Princess" (1889), when a spoiled princess who believes she's an angel dispensing light and joy to humanity asks a doctor she's fired to tell her the truth about her mistakes.
To explain the crisis and prepare for the climax of each story, Chekhov dispassionately and sympathetically cores the human soul. His insights into the human heart and mind are accurate, humorous, and devastating. He excels at placing people out of their depths in intolerable situations, so that if they manage to swim back to shore it's a heroic feat. At the same time, he concisely depicts Russian culture near the end of the 19th century, complete with growing conflicts between different classes, cultures, regions, philosophies, and so on.
Interestingly, Chekhov's stories, no matter how bleak, give me intense pleasure, and make me feel more alive. How does he do it? It must be his irony and empathy, keen eye for observation, and original mind for metaphors. Whenever his characters resolve to righteously take someone to task and then find themselves instead wimpishly appeasing the person, I think, Ah, that's me! The best we can hope to achieve, it seems, is coming to understand, as one character says near the end of "The Duel," "No one knows where the real truth lies." That and trying to treat people with humanity and kindness.
Fred Williams gives a solid reading of the stories. He doesn't dramatically change his voice for different characters, unlike virtuoso actor-readers, but he reads every word clearly and every sentence with appropriate rhythm and emphasis, and he enhances the text with appropriate wit and emotion. And I really like his deliberate, deep, and slightly gravelly and nasal voice. The only difficult point about the audiobook lay in my unfamiliarity with Russian names, so that, especially in the novella "The Duel," I sometimes mixed the characters up in my mind when listening. So I'd recommend getting a text version of the story (many free ones are online) and reading the character names in it once or twice so as to be able to hear their differences more readily.
You have to love lines like this from "Neighbours":
"It's a charming house altogether," she went on, sitting down opposite her brother. "There's some pleasant memory in every room. In my room, only fancy, Grigory's grandfather shot himself."
And it's a testament to Chekhov's genius that of the conclusions of the last two stories in the collection, the self-realization of the first nearly makes a happy ending, while the self-delusion of the second surely makes an unhappy one:
"From Koltovitch's copse and garden there came a strong fragrant scent of lilies of the valley and honey-laden flowers. Pyotr Mihalitch rode along the bank of the pond and looked mournfully into the water. And thinking about his life, he came to the conclusion he had never said or acted upon what he really thought, and other people had repaid him in the same way. And so the whole of life seemed to him as dark as this water in which the night sky was reflected and water-weeds grew in a tangle. And it seemed to him that nothing could ever set it right." (from "Neighbours")
Trying to look like a bird, the princess fluttered into the carriage and nodded in all directions. There was a gay, warm, serene feeling in her heart, and she felt herself that her smile was particularly soft and friendly. As the carriage rolled towards the gates, and afterwards along the dusty road past huts and gardens, past long trains of waggons and strings of pilgrims on their way to the monastery, she still screwed up her eyes and smiled softly. She was thinking there was no higher bliss than to bring warmth, light, and joy wherever one went, to forgive injuries, to smile graciously on one's enemies. The peasants she passed bowed to her, the carriage rustled softly, clouds of dust rose from under the wheels and floated over the golden rye, and it seemed to the princess that her body was swaying not on carriage cushions but on clouds, and that she herself was like a light, transparent little cloud. . . .
"How happy I am!" she murmured, shutting her eyes. "How happy I am!" (from "The Princess")
March 23, 2020
Pretty good. "The Duel" was my favorite although I appreciated the brevity of the other stories in comparison. Chekhov undeniably has a way of capturing very human moments and morally compromising situations.
January 26, 2018
Classic Russian short stories, beautifully written. The author’s disdain for the “elite” exudes from his prose.
January 15, 2021
Chilling
February 9, 2021
Pretty damn good.
August 26, 2022
I remember reading this in highschool, feeling like one of the villagers. Duel was also fantastic.
August 25, 2018
Although ‘The Duel’ is the most celebrated work of Anton Chekhov, I was deeply moved by another thought provoking tale - Malefactor! Throughout the tale Chekhov explores how social and economic improvishment leads to moral decadence.
Dennis is charged with stealing the rail nut, and is put on trial for it. Within the course of the trial, it becomes conspicuous that Dennis has been doing this all his life, and for which he has no sense of remorse, for this is the only economically viable alternative available to him to make ends meet. He uses the stolen nut to keep the fishing net, immersed in the water, to catch fish. Denis fails to understand his crime and believes he is being convicted for something, which is so trivial. He refuses to believe that something as innocuous as taking a small nut off the rails can have such grave consequences. The story is a beautiful dichotomy of laughter and sorrow - mostly sorrow!
There are several themes that emerge from the tale - Could you enforce the laws of society upon ones who are made to remain ignorant of these laws by the same society? If state does nothing to educate and enlightened people about the laws of the Society, could the same state punish them for not adhering to these same laws?
While state takes lot of pains to punish the improvised for not following the laws of society, do they put sufficient measures In place to educate them about these laws in the first place.
Another theme that comes out conspicuously is whether survival is more important than social and moral conformance - if one has to choose from the two, what would one choose?
The judge refuses to consider the circumstances under which the crime was committed by the Denis. He even neglects the fact that an officer while apprehending Denis on the scene of crime manhandles him. Could justice consider the social and economic condition of the convict before pronouncing justice? If so, punishment, that serves as deterrence, if reduced, could be interpreted as a positive invitation to crime.
Dennis is charged with stealing the rail nut, and is put on trial for it. Within the course of the trial, it becomes conspicuous that Dennis has been doing this all his life, and for which he has no sense of remorse, for this is the only economically viable alternative available to him to make ends meet. He uses the stolen nut to keep the fishing net, immersed in the water, to catch fish. Denis fails to understand his crime and believes he is being convicted for something, which is so trivial. He refuses to believe that something as innocuous as taking a small nut off the rails can have such grave consequences. The story is a beautiful dichotomy of laughter and sorrow - mostly sorrow!
There are several themes that emerge from the tale - Could you enforce the laws of society upon ones who are made to remain ignorant of these laws by the same society? If state does nothing to educate and enlightened people about the laws of the Society, could the same state punish them for not adhering to these same laws?
While state takes lot of pains to punish the improvised for not following the laws of society, do they put sufficient measures In place to educate them about these laws in the first place.
Another theme that comes out conspicuously is whether survival is more important than social and moral conformance - if one has to choose from the two, what would one choose?
The judge refuses to consider the circumstances under which the crime was committed by the Denis. He even neglects the fact that an officer while apprehending Denis on the scene of crime manhandles him. Could justice consider the social and economic condition of the convict before pronouncing justice? If so, punishment, that serves as deterrence, if reduced, could be interpreted as a positive invitation to crime.
August 3, 2016
I only got to The Kiss and The Duel. The cover was misleading, love was not really a theme in either. Well, not real love.
The kiss: The better of the two. I'm not sure what the message was here. The mystery of love or mystery is love or love is a mystery...?
The Duel: Misogynistic nonsense! I should have known I wasn't going to like this when the main character was going on and on about Anna Katerina like they were kindred spirits. You know, since he decided he never really loved his lover and most of all hated her hair like Anna Katerina hated her husband's ears...ummm yeah. Okay...
The kiss: The better of the two. I'm not sure what the message was here. The mystery of love or mystery is love or love is a mystery...?
The Duel: Misogynistic nonsense! I should have known I wasn't going to like this when the main character was going on and on about Anna Katerina like they were kindred spirits. You know, since he decided he never really loved his lover and most of all hated her hair like Anna Katerina hated her husband's ears...ummm yeah. Okay...
April 8, 2014
Anton knew how to write a short story. This particular story made you think about taking chances and how they dont always work out. Also he chose to have his lead character human by putting together his dream girl.
October 2, 2014
For this year's "Red October reading project" I have decided to tackle several smaller works of Russian literature, beginning and ending with a pair of short story collections by Chekhov. My favorite stories in this one were "The Kiss", "Mire", and "The Princess".
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March 30, 2013honoured
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