Lady with The Dog and Other Stories By Anton Chekhov

This particular collection/translation is far and away the closest any english-speaking reader can come to experiencing Chekov in his native tongue.

In his introduction, translator David Magarshack writes "reading [these stories] one gets the impression of holding life itself, like a fluttering bird, in one's cupped hands." Magarshack's sensitivity as a translator is unparalled, and this small, immaculately chosen collection of Chekov's work will leave readers marvelling at his ability to bring a character to life in two paragraghs, bring a sunset to life in two sentences, and capture the timeless experiences of life, love and loss in only a few pages. This particular Penguin Classic is now out of print, but definitely worth searching out. This one sets the standard-- no Chekov collection is complete without it.

The Lady with the Dog is perhaps Chekhov's best known and certainly one of his best-loved stories. It exemplifies the author's subtle yet powerful style, as Chekhov is economical with language and never says more than he needs. He conveys emotional complexity in just a few words, thus preserving the intensity of his characters' feelings. For example, on first seeing Anna at the theater in her hometown, Chekhov expresses Dmitri's romantic yearning with the passage: "she, this little woman, in no way remarkable, lost in a provincial crowd, with a vulgar lornette in her hand, filled his whole life now, was his sorrow and his joy. He thought and dreamed." The author writes as though he is painting a canvas, producing a work that is grand in scope yet intimate in feel. The author uses colors to convey both the changing spirits and feelings of the characters, as they veer from the grandly impressive to the muted and prosaic.

For example, the aging Dmitri's hair is described as graying, and he often wears gray suits, whereas the sea at Yalta is suffused with color as "the water was of a soft warm lilac hue, and there was a golden streak from the moon upon it." Chekhov presents Yalta as a romantic oasis for Anna and Dmitri, a place of color, freedom, and intimacy that they cannot hope to recreate elsewhere. The lovers worry about what they mean to one another--Anna frets that Dmitri thinks of her only as a "common woman," while Dmitri thinks that Anna is beguiled by a false impression of him as a "kind, exceptional, lofty" man--because both recognize that their relationship is founded on past disappointments and future hopes, as well as on present desires. Chekhov thus plays with our implicit belief that characters do not exist beyond their narrative framework: clearly, Anna and Dmitri are people defined by the past and their dreams for the future, as much as they are by the short period of their lives conveyed here.

Memories from the past...

The Lady with the Dog is about a chance love affair that takes possession of two people and changes them against their will, and which closes with them far apart and rarely able to meet.One intimate meeting, changed their entire outlook towards life.In The Lady with the Lap Dog, Gurov and Anna are both married.Both have gone on a stolen holiday to Yalta, a resort notorious for its casual love affairs. One interesting thing is that Chehkov never described the seduction unlike the later novelists. The memories from their affair haunts them and they want to be together forever. Every time they meet, they have to over come the fact that they both are married.The real subject of the story is this serious conflict in the minds of the lovers. Every two or three months after this they will meet and wrestle with their dilemma. Chekhov doesnt want to end the novel in a typical manner. He wants the rest to be interpreted by the reader's imagination. Thats the best part of the novel in point of view. Many of us have gone through this situation ourselves. We may have betrayed our loved ones once in a while.A night with a stranger might haunt us throughout the rest of our life.

Every one has certain priorities in their life. The novel explains few critical decisions a person takes while tacking one of the most sensitive issues of their lives.

Cherry Orchard deals with the forced sale of a beautiful Cherry Orchard by an aristocratic family experiencing hard economic times. The plangent sound of an ax cutting down the cherry trees ends the play.

All of these plays were written in four acts. Their major themes are the need for work even in a world where such effort might seem futile.

Chekhov's focus is on families of the lower aristocracy and middle class. He wrote on the eve of Russian revolution as the old way of life was about to pass from the scene forever

Out of respect for the author and the translator, I will refrain from mentioning other stories that could have been added in lieu of the ones chosen.

Maybe I'm being selfish in only giving four stars based on a personal opinion of the plays included, but, after all, that is why this is a review, right? Enjoy the book anyway. A great addition to your Checkov collection. Download this book here.