Today’s story is a short one…only 645 words! http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/043.html Travis Review: We have four characters in today’s flash story: a pair of scheming parents, their daughter, and a writing teacher. The story seems like a scene in bedroom farce play. Like Steve mentions below, there are a lot of references to writers and writing. When …
Today’s story, the last one written between 1882-1885, has 1524 words: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/041.html Travis Review: Chekhov starts today’s story as if he is writing a fantasy tale using elements of Lewis Carroll or the Brothers Grimm. Nellie, “a young and pretty girl, dreaming day and night of being married,” gazes into a looking-glass. In the mirror her …
Today’s story is 2015 words: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/040.html Travis Review: I was fairly disappointed with this story, expecting more. At first I thought this would be the story of an opera singer and her daughter reunited. Like Chekhov was going against type with a tale of a selfless diva. But the daughter never shows up again after …
Today’s story has 1233 words: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/039.html Travis Review: The motivation of today story reminds me of bad New Year’s resolutions. Often it’s not that the goal that is bad, but the administering of it sets one up for failure. When Podtyagin, a ticket collector on a train, decides to give up drinking and work honestly at his …
Today we have a story worth 1633 words: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/036.html Travis Review: Smirnov, a land surveyor, gets off a train and looks to hire a cab. Already he has apprehension on how long the journey will take based on a potential driver’s drunkenness and quality of the horse. When he is told he has to hire …
Today’s story has roughly 1470 words: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/035.html Travis Review: It seems Alphonse Champoun has it made. The native Frenchman no longer tutors the wealthy landlord Kamyshev’s children since they’ve grown up and are leading successful military careers. He gets paid to “be properly dressed, to smell of scent, to listen to Kamyshev’s idle babble, to eat and …
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Anton wanted to dress appropriately for the holiday. Our story today contains roughly 1909 words: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/034.html Travis Review: This story is seen through the eyes of Grisha, a “solemn little person of seven.” He watches in horror over a series of days as an arranged marriage of his family’s house cook …
Today’s story is 1379 words: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/027.html Travis Review: The last sentence could have easily been the title of this short, “The deceitfulness of man.” A wealthy general’s widow runs a clinic for the poor. While her liberal heart beats true for the impoverished locals in need, she is also a victim of their flattery. Her giving soul …
Very short one today…only 661 words: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/026.html Travis Review: The story begins with a husband and wife on an evening stroll walking by a train station. It seems they are alone, but they are not. The third character is the moon, which “peeped up from the drifting cloudlets and frowned, as it seemed, envying their …
Today’s story is only 1008 words: http://www.chekhovshorts.com/stories/023.html Travis Review: This is a satirical story about affected societal airs and how people can turn on a dime when it serves their interest. In this case, a colonel’s wife’s longwinded outrage, bolstered by the hotel-keeper’s stories of unseemly and shocking behavior, doesn’t matter once the marital status …