Chekhov in English

Thursdays, September 30 - November 4, 12:30 to 2 p.m. 
(Please note that the times have changed from our original announcement.)
Taught by Penny duBois

The time is past that we must identify Chekhov with the picturesque decline of Russia under the Tsars or with the distorted image of his work projected by the Soviets.  Chekhov has become an honorary world citizen, read and performed widely, studied, admired and imitated by writers and thinkers in many languages. 

Chekhov opposed theory and made fun of people who expected a better world to follow abstract principles.  But his understanding of a vast range of characters is based on a definite attitude to life.  “Pitiless” he was called, also tender and compassionate.  Can we discern in the stories and the plays a definite moral attitude?  He was able to observe and laugh at the foolishness and blindness of many different kinds of people, all struggling to survive, some forced to give up consoling images of themselves.  We will be looking for the steely moral backbone that allowed him to pass through judgment to acceptance, and for insights into the stories which will help us to see how he created a new kind of writing for the theater. 

We will discuss a selection of Chekhov’s stories and then read together "The Cherry Orchard".  The text will be THE PORTABLE CHEKHOV (Penguin, $18).  For the first class you should read "The Name-Day Party".  A Life in Letters,  by Anton Chekhov, edited by Rosamund Bartlett (Penguin, $16) is also recommended, but not required. These books are both discounted 20% for class participants.

You can register for the class at Politics & Prose or by clicking below. The cost is $80 for members and $100 for non-members. 

The Portable Chekhov (Paperback)

By Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Avrahm Yarmolinsky

$20.00

ISBN-13: 9780140150353
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Books, 8/1977

Other Editions of this Title

---

The Complete Short Novels (Paperback)

By Anton Chekhov, Richard Pevear, Larissa Volokhonsky

$17.00

ISBN-13: 9781400032921
Availability: Not currently in the store – Usually ships in 1-5 days
Published: Vintage, 8/2005

Other Editions of this Title

---

---

A Life in Letters (Paperback)

By Anton Chekhov, Anthony Phillips, Rosamund Bartlett

$16.00

ISBN-13: 9780140449228
Availability: Not currently shipping from publisher – Subject to future availability
Published: Penguin Classics, 10/2004

Text

The Portable Chekhov, ed. Avrahm Yarmolinsky, Penguin ($18, discounted at $14.40)

Recommended Reading

Anton Chekhov: A Life in Letters, ed. Rosamund Bartlett, trans. Anthony Phillips, Penguin ($16, discounted at $12.80)

Anton Chekhov: The Complete Short Novels, trans. Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, Vintage ($17, discounted at $13.60)

Meetings

30 September
“The Name Day Party,” Portable, p. 180-222.

7 October
Stories “Vanka”- “The Kiss”: Portable 34-180
Recommended Reading: Letters to p. 117

14 October
Stories “Attack of Nerves” –“About Love”   Portable, pp. 222-395.
Recommended reading:  continue with A Life in Letters at your own rhythm. 

21 October
Stories “The Darling”-“In the Ravine”, Portable, 396-512.

28 October
“The Cherry Orchard,” Acts  I-II.
Recommended reading: “Ivanov,” “The Seagull.” 

4 November
“The Cherry Orchard,” Acts III-IV.

---