ISBN : 9780199536689
the greatest short story writer who has ever lived' Raymond Carver's unequivocal verdict on Chekhov's genius has been echoed many times by writers as diverse as Katherine Mansfield, Somerset Maugham, John Cheever and Tobias Wolf. While his popularity as a playwright has sometimes overshadowed his achievements in prose, the importance of Chekhov's stories is now recognized by readers as well as by fellow authors. Their themes - alienation, the absurdity and tragedy of human existence - have as much relevance today as when they were written, and these superb new translations capture their modernist spirit. Elusive and subtle, spare and unadorned, the stories in this selection are among Chekhov's most poignant and lyrical. They include well-known pieces such as 'The Lady with the Little Dog', as well as less familiar work like 'Gusev', inspired by Chekhov's travels in the Far East, and 'Rothschild's Violin', a haunting and darkly humorous tale about death and loss. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more._x000D_
THE HUNTSMAN ON THE ROAD THE LETTER FORTUNE GUSEV FISH LOVE THE BLACK MONK ROTHSCHILD'S VIOLIN THE STUDENT THE HOUSE WITH THE MEZZANINE IN THE CART THE MAN IN A CASE GOOSEBERRIES ABOUT LOVE THE LADY WITH THE LITTLE DOG AT CHRISTMAS TIME THE BISHOP
“Seventeen peerless examples of how much life you can put into a few pages of fiction if you have Chekhov’s economical mind, his eyes and ears, his feel for comedy and his sense of humanity. Chekhov is better known for his plays. But these are small masterpieces of their own, in a revelatory new translation.”
The Economist
Click on the links below to hear Rosamund Bartlett, who edited and translated the stories in the collection, About Love, introduce Chekhov and his work and read from her translations.
Who was Anton Chekhov? - Life and Times
Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) came from an unlikely background for a future literary celebrity. Unlike most of his fellow writers, he wasn’t from an aristocratic family but a conservative, merchant one. 
The early years of Anton Chekhov [2:18]
In 1879 Chekhov moved to Moscow, thereby taking the first step to his literary and medical career. Why did Chekhov feel he had entered the literary world by the back door? [2:29]
A “period of small deeds”: Find out how the politically reactionary climate of his times was better suited to the short story form than sweeping novels [3:16]
Tuning in to writing in a minor key
Chekhov’s early readers in both Russian and English were uncertain what to make of his stories: they didn’t have regular beginnings or endings and they also lacked conventional heroes. Rosamund Bartlett explains how modernist writers such as Virginia Woolf were among the first to appreciate what an innovative writer Chekhov really was [5:06]
How hard is it to capture the elegiac, musical quality of Chekhov’s prose in English?Rosamund Bartlett describes what she was trying to achieve as a translator [5:29]
The stories in the collection About Love extend from early works written in his mid-twenties to the majestic story “The Bishop”, which dates from right at the end of Chekhov’s career. Rosamund Bartlett discusses her selection from over 600 stories [3:49]
Sampling the stories
“Lady with a Little Dog” is probably Chekhov’s most famous story. Listen to an introduction and hear an extract from the story [4:25]
“Gooseberries” forms part of a trilogy of stories that Chekhov wrote in the late 1890s. Listen to an extract [3:24]
