Find today’s 2043 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/131.html Travis review: With a title like “The Doctor,” I would have expected the titled character to be in the midst of surgery or giving a diagnosis to a patient. At the point we enter the story he has already given a terminal diagnosis of a friend’s (and his obsession’s) …
Find today’s 2453 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/130.html Travis review: A woman’s wrath is eternal. At least that is the moral of today’s story as told by a sportsman reflecting on his actions when he was a bratty, petulant kid. It is funny that the tales starts with sportmen spending the night in peasant’s hut, exhausting topics …
Find today’s 2349 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/129.html. Travis review: Chekhov has a great methods of telling stories. In this case, a wealthy man is dying via a self inflicted gunshot to the head. We could have seen the story from the grieving wife or the hopeless doctors trying to save him or even the man …
Find today’s 1643 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/128.html This is a tale of a matchmaker and a client who have found each other and will live happily ever after… or will they? Had Chekhov end the story with Lyubov Grigoryevna, tears in her eyes, assenting to Stytchkin proposal, the story would indeed be a happy ending. …
Find today’s 3086 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/127.html Travis Review This is a character examination of a sad alcoholic father. Chekhov does not judge, but lets the man bare his dignity and trample over it throughout the course of a few hours. Old Musatov’s self-depreciating monologues to his mostly silent, patient, and accommodating son, Boris, propel the story. …
Find today’s 6338 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/126.html In the past when Jewish characters have been presented in Chekhov stories, they have been depicted in a less than positive light (Mire). When his characters mention Jews in dialogue or song it has been very anti-Semitic, though I imagine accurate for time and morals. But in today’s story, …
Find today’s 3897 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/125.html A lot of today’s story reminds me of Notes From the Underground. I wonder if Chekhov is intentionally spoofing the classic. The character Nicolas has the same intensity and serious academic bend as Dostoyevsky’s unnamed character. At least that is what Nicolas tells us in his first person narrative that he …
Continue reading “#125 From the Diary of a Violent-Tempered Man”
Find today’s 1912 word story http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/124.html Travis review: In “A Transgression” we watch Miguev suffer through every philandering husband’s worst nightmare. His ex-housemaid and ex-lover is trying to extort five thousand rubles from him. She has given the following three threats, “I’ll leave the baby at your door, and I’ll have the law of you, and I’ll tell …
Find today’s 2048 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/123.html Chekhov returns to his earlier comical and satirical roots after a recent string of dark and melancholy works. In this particular piece, Chekhov toys with formats, bringing playwriting structure into a traditional short story. I also wonder if elements of the story are a mixture of autobiography and wish …
Find today’s 1919 word story here: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/122.html Travis review: Today’s story had an ominous feeling throughout, although it did not end as dark or tragic as expected. Starting with the title and the opening sentence: “Big raindrops were pattering on the dark windows,” one would assume bad things were on the horizon. Chekhov makes an interesting choice …