The Prank: The Best of Young Chekhov

Posted on 17 November 2019 by Anton Chekhov

An NYRB Classics Original The Prank is Chekhov s own selection of the best of his early work, the first book he put together and the first book he hoped to publish Assembled in 1882, with illustrations by Nikolay Chekhov, the book was then presented to the censor for approval which was denied Now, than a hundred and thirty years later, The Prank appears here for the first time in any language.At the start of his twenties, when he was still in medical school, Anton Chekhov was also busily setting himself up as a prolific and popular writer Appearing in a wide range of periodicals, his shrewd, stinging, funny stories and sketches turned a mocking eye on the mating rituals and money grubbing habits of the middle classes, the pretensions of aspiring artists and writers, bureaucratic corruption, drunken clowning, provincial ignorance, petty cruelty on Russian life, in short Chekhov was already developing his distinctive ear for spoken language, its opacities and evasions, the clich s we shelter behind and the clich s that betray us The lively stories in The Prank feature both the themes and the characteristic tone that make Chekhov among the most influential and beloved of modern writers. Best Read The Prank: The Best of Young Chekhov By Anton Chekhov For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr IntroductionA Note on the Translation Artists Wives Papa St Peter s Day Chase Two Rabbits, Catch None A Confession, or, Olya, Zhenya, Zoya A Letter A Sinner from Toledo The Temperaments Based on the Latest Scientific Findings Flying Islands by Jul...This collection of all new stories by the young Anton Chekhov published this summer by New York Review of Books nyrb reveals an artist desperate to make a living He was twenty two years old and collected these stories hoping to launch his career, but they were never published Illustrated by Nikolay Chekhov, Anton s older brother, it was censored before it could come out.When you read the stories you may be surprised, as I was, at what the censors deemed subversive The stories are broad This collection of all new stories by the young Anton Chekhov published this summer by New York Review of Books nyrb reveals an artist desperate to make a living He was twenty two years old and collected these stories hoping to launch his career, but they were never published Illustrated by Nikolay Chekhov, Anton s older brother, it was censored before it could come out.When you read the stories you may be surprised, as I was, at what the censors deemed subversive The stories are broad comedy, slapstick satires, and absurd parodies of Jules Verne and Victor Hugo The story St Peter s Day reminds me of Jerome Jerome s Three Men in a Boat, it is so filled with manly boasting and ridiculously goofy repartee But there is a razor streak of criticism in there and Chekhov gives no quarter An old peasant accompanying a hunting party drifts off while the other men, middle class an...Satires, send ups, tales of student life, artistic ambition, hunting parties, troubled families, love and betrayal, these twelve stories, accompanied by Nikolay s illustrations, display the zest, energy, humor, and unsparing insight that were Chekhov s from the start.A depiction of Russian life through humor, candor with a subtle gritty rawness, innuendo only the talented Chekhov achieves with intellectual insight Descriptive and original, full of verve, relationships paraded with their flaws Satires, send ups, tales of student life, artistic ambition, hunting parties, troubled families, love and betrayal, these twelve stories, accompanied by Nikolay s illustrations, display the zest, energy, hu...These short stories have been collected and published in one volume for the first time and this collection also features two stories that have never before been translated into English The book includes an index in which the original publication is mentioned for each story as well as any changes that Chekhov made to each narrative before final publication.The collection is a humorous and sarcastic commentary on Russian life in the 19th century Chekhov particularly likes to poke fun at These short stories have been collected and published in one volume for the first time and this collection also features two stories that have never before been translated into English The book includes an index in which the original publication is mentioned for each story as well as any changes that Chekhov made to each narrative before final publication.The collection is a humorous and sarcastic commentary on Russian life in the 19th century Chekhov particularly likes to poke fun at relationships and marriage In The Artist s Wives, various types of creative men are featured, including a painter, a novelist and a sculptor, all of whom ha...Chekov certainly knew how to describe the nuances of people with satire and extravagant descriptions His characters highlight how little things do change such as students are lazy and noisy, men and women misunderstand each other, the rich and poor do not mix and Governments are not always as clever as they think These stories were written in 1880 but except for the lack of the internet and mobile phones could be describing people today I now look ...These stories written by a young and up and coming Anton Chekhov are to be sure lacking the maturity of much of his later work They were by his own admission written to make money first and foremost and consequently not much time was spent on their literary merit That being said, there is still a gleeful joy in these stories What they lack in the pathos we normally associate with Chekhov, they make up for in parody and absurdity His send ups of Jules Verne and Victor Hugo in particular had These stories written by a young and up and coming Anton Chekhov are to be sure lacking the maturity of much of his later work They were by his own admission written to make money first and foremost and consequently not much time was spent on their literary merit That being said, there is still a gleeful joy in these stories What they lack in the pathos we normally associate with Chekhov, th...from the introduction Chekhov aspired to concision throughout his career as a writer, and towards the end of his life joked that he had written a story from which he d then crossed out every unnecessary detail, until all that was left was a single phrase He and she fell in love, got married, and were unhappy from Artists Wives We are all mortal, my dear If not today, then tomorrow, if not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow, it s all the same One day your friend would have died from the introduction Chekhov aspired to concision throughout his career as a writer, and towards the end of his life joked that he had written a story from which he d then crossed out every unnecessary detail,...A set of amusing, satirical trifles written when Chekhov was 22 that bear little resemblance at least to my eyes of the later Chekhov Many of them are over the top satires, the first being of Bohemian life in Portugal with an absurd set of artists and writers living together in one hotel, together with satirical mock novels based on Jules Verne and Victor Hugo Many of the others explicitly satirize Russian life, for example a wealthy father who s 15 year old son keeps repeating his A set of amusing, satirical trifles written when Chekhov was 22 that bear little resemblance at least to my eyes of the later Chekhov Many of them are over the top satires, the first being of Bohemian life in Portugal with an absurd set of artists and writers living to...One might approach these stories in a number of ways, and the reading of course makes all of the difference Are they short pieces, perhaps quickly jotted, read with a briskness belying their subversive content Yes Maria Bolshteyn s introduction spills elucidating light over the conditions during which the stories were collected into this volume and left unpublished Do they constitute a study of the early work of a beloved literary artist That, as well But do these stories not on their own One might approach these stories in a number of ways, and the reading of course makes all of the difference Are they short pieces, perhaps quickly jotted, read with a briskness belying their subversive content Yes Maria Bolshteyn s int...At first I was charmed and mesmerized and couldn t wait for the part of my day that involved winding down with a funny tale or two from Chekhov s longtime unpublished work But theI stretched out my reading, the less enjoyable it became and theit felt like a chore The last ten pages were so unbearably slow that I had to have a really good follow up prepared as motivation for me to finish That being said, do I think his writing is fantastic Yes and I am forever indebted to the At first I was charmed and mesmerized and couldn t wait for the part of my day that involved winding down with a funny tale or two from Chekhov s longtime unpu...

English
17 November 2019

Anton Chekhov