The Lady with the Little Dog and Other Stories, 1896-1904

The kindle e-book offered here is NOT the Penguin edition. Too bad! This is very deceptive. I would have liked to see the Wilks translation as the kindle edition.

The Lady With The Dog And Other Stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov An awesome book by one of the greatest short story writers in world literature!

This particular collection/translation is far and away the closest any english-speaking reader can come to experiencing Chekov in his native tongue. In his introduction, translator David Magarshack writes "reading [these stories] one gets the impression of holding life itself, like a fluttering bird, in one's cupped hands." Magarshack's sensitivity as a translator is unparalled, and this small, immaculately chosen collection of Chekov's work will leave readers marvelling at his ability to bring a character to life in two paragraghs, bring a sunset to life in two sentences, and capture the timeless experiences of life, love and loss in only a few pages. This particular Penguin Classic is now out of print, but definitely worth searching out. This one sets the standard-- no Chekov collection is complete without it.

These stories translated in this volume by Ronald Wilks are really superb. When one compares the translation of "The Lady with the Dog" with the earlier translation by Constance Garnett, the differences are apparent. Please compare them. The Wilks translation is high quality beautiful English expression, it captures the mood and the ideas of Chekhov perfectly.