Chekhov, widely hailed as the supreme master of the short story, also wrote five works long enough to be called short novels. The Steppe-the most lyrical of the five-is an account of a nine-year-old boy's frightening journey by wagon train across the steppe of southern Russia to enroll in a distant school. The Duel sets two decadent figures-a fanatical rationalist and a man of literary sensibility-on a collision course that ends in a series of surprising reversals. In The Story of an Unknown Man, a political radical plans to spy on an important official by serving as valet to his son, however, as he gradually becomes involved as a silent witness in the intimate life of his young employer, he finds that his own terminal illness has changed his long-held priorities in startling ways. Three Years recounts a complex series of ironies in the personal life of a rich but passive Moscow merchant, engaging time as a narrative element in a way unusual in Chekhov's fiction. In My Life, a man renounces wealth and social position for a life of manual labour, and the resulting conflict between the moral simplicity of his ideals and the complex realities of human nature culminates in an apocalyptic vision that is unique in Chekhov's work.

Anton Chekhov's short novels are here brought together in one volume for the first time, in a masterly new translation by the award-winning translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. In these five short novels, Chekhov's masterful storytelling and his profound understanding of human nature are brilliantly evinced.

About the Author
Anton Chekhov was the author of hundreds of short stories and several plays and is regarded by many as both the greatest Russian storyteller and the father of modern drama.

Reviews

Praise for previous translations by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky:

"The reinventors of the classic Russian novel for our times." -PEN/BoMC Translation Prize Citation

"Their translations have become the standard English-language texts." -Newsday

The Brothers Karamazov: "One finally gets the musical whole of Dostoevksy's original." -The New York Times Book Review

Anna Karenina: "The most scrupulous, illuminating and compelling version yet." -The Oregonian

Book Information
ISBN 9781857152777
Author Anton Chekov
Format Hardback
Page Count 560
Imprint Everyman's Library
Publisher Everyman
Weight(grams) 640g
Dimensions(mm) 206mm * 134mm * 40mm