The Lady With the Little Dog and Other Stories, 1896-1904 by Anton Chekhov
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
After finishing this collection, I realised I've been reading it, on and off, for almost a year in between other readings. I also realised I read the book in all formats; paperback for few weeks until I had to return it to the library, ebook on computer, kindle edition on tablet, and on mobile. It accompanied me in different countries, seasons, and moods. I managed to enjoy these Russian tales over the weeks and months, and it was generally an entertaining as well as thought-provoking read overall.
By shear coincidence, my reading order started with "The House with the Mezzanine", "A Visit to Friends", "Ionych", and "The Lady with the Little Dog" which I, admittedly, thought were slightly monotonic, revolving around the same themes, locations, and characters; the idle Ivan Ivanichs/Dimitri Dimitrichs sipping tea with rich noble families in their drawing rooms, falling in love with the young tender slender daughter playing the piano, and discussing the meaning and purpose of life. Then came the trilogy "Man in a Case, Gooseberries, and About Love" with its special and memorable characters. The splendid "The Bishop", the incomplete story "Disturbing the Balance", and "The Bride" followed, I previously read numerous short stories that were probably inspired by the first, and I think the latter is one of the best in the collection and can be interpreted on different levels. The shocking and jarring depiction of the appalling conditions of the lower class in "Peasants", in addition to human cruelty in "In the ravine" came next. Then finally was the impressive and thought-provoking novella "My Life" with its protagonist's decision to desert the town life with it corrupt bureaucrats and pursue a manual labour life, describing the brutality and scornful side of peasant life as well, and discussing the social debates of that time. So, overall it was something like a panoramic view of the whole Russian society at that time starting from the rich noble families all the way to the lowest class, with the final novella to have both ends in the same story.
I was particularly fascinated throughout the whole collection by the realistic characters that you can understand their motives and relate to their feelings despite the time and distance from the 19th century Russia, in addition to the vivid descriptions and disconcerting endings. It has been indeed an interesting journey for a year with the stories of Chekhov who's among the few who influenced the very art of short story - now I recognize that many other short stories I read were inspired by his style, and I'd strongly recommend this collection though I don't know where it stands if compared with other collections of the same author.
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