Anton Chekhov is widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of short stories. He constructs stories where action and drarna are irnplied rather than described openly, and which leave much to the reader's imagination.This collection contains sorne of the most important of his earliest and shortest cornic sketches, as well as examples of his great, mature works.Throughout, the doctor-turned-writer displays cornpassion for human suffering and misfortune, but is always able to see the comical, even farcical aspects of the hunlan condition. Chekhov sees and depicts life with unwavering honesty and truthfulness, although a clear moral sense can be detected beneath his apparent objectivity.

In the overall context of the development of Russian literature,Anton Chekhov represents a break with the main tendencies of the nineteenth century and acts as a bridge to the twentieth. His whole literary persona is very different from most of the "giants" who preceded him. He had no links to the radical journal The Contemporary, which had dominated literary-political life from 184o to 186o; more generally, for much of his creative career his works seemed to display little interest in the contemporary political scene. Equally, we find little evidence of an attempt by him to tackle the so-called "accursed questions", the big issues of life and death and the meaning of life, which had so preoccupied Russian literature throughout the previous fifty years. He wrote no novels,but instead revitalised the neglected genres of the short story and the drama. Coincidentally, he began writing, around 1880, just as the "greats" died (Dostoevsky in 1881, Turgenev in 1883) or turned away from literature, as Tolstoy claimed he would from about 1880 onwards.……

Overseasoned

The Night before Easter

At Home

Champagne

The Malefactor

Murder Will Out

The Trousseau

The Decoration

The Man in a Case

Little Jack

Dreams

The Death of an Official

Agatha

The Beggar

Children

The Troublesome Guest

Not Wanted

The Robbers

Lean and Fat

On the Way

The Head Gardener"s Tale

Hush!

Without a Title

In the Ravine

Notes to the text