Misery (short story)

"Misery" () is an 1886 short story by Anton Chekhov.

Publication The story was first published in Peterburgskaya Gazetas No. 26, 16 January (old style) 1886 issue, signed A. Chekhonte (). With minor changes it appeared in the collection Motley Stories (). In 1895 it made its way into an anthology called Probleski (, meaning "Glimpses"). Chekhov included a slightly revised version of the story in Volume 3 of his Collected Works published by Adolf Marks in 1899–1901.Shub, E. M. Commentaries to Тоска. The Works by A.P. Chekhov in 12 volumes. Khudozhestvennaya Literatura. Moscow, 1960. Vol. 3, p. 537

Synopsis The cabman Iona's son recently died. He desperately and unsuccessfully tries to have a talk with the people he meets and tell them of how shattered he is. He ends up talking to his horse.

Reception The story was positively reviewed by Peterburgskiye Vedomosti (No. 167, 1886) and N. Ladozhsky.Commentaries to The Misery. Рассказы и юморески 1885 - 1886 гг. Полное собрание сочинений и писем в тридцати томах. Сочинения том четвертый. 1885-1886 М., "Наука", 1984 Leonid Obolensky, writing for Russkoye Bogatstvo, praised Chekhov for his extraordinary ability to see the hidden drama behind deceptively simple things, and cited "Misery" as a perfect example of that."Русское богатство", 1886, N 12, стр. 178 Konstantin Arsenyev, in an essay called "The Writers of Our Times" (Vestnik Evropy, No.12, 1887) included "Misery" in his list of the best contemporary short stories."Вестник Европы", 1887, N 12, стр. 770. Leo Tolstoy included "Misery" in his personal list of Chekhov's best stories.

References

External links Misery on Standard Ebooks