- Paperback: 222 pages
- Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr (T) (Mar 1987)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0226102416
- ISBN-13: 978-0226102412
- Product Dimensions: 21.3 x 13.5 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,425,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Shooting Party (Penguin Classics)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Product Description
When a young woman dies during a shooting party at the country estate of a dissolute count, a magistrate is called upon to investigate. The mystery deepens and suspicion falls more widely as it emerges that the dead woman was at the centre of a tangled web of relationships: with her elderly husband, with the lecherous count, and with the magistrate himself...
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
About the Author
Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian physician and writer of short stories and plays, including the masterpieces: 'Uncle Vanya', 'The Seagull', and 'The Cherry Orchard'.
Ronald Wilks has translated many Russian works of literature including, for Penguin, those of Gorky, Sologub, Tolstoy, and Pushkin. He is the translator of our three volumes of Chekhov's short stories.
John Sutherland teaches English at University College London and at Caltech. He is the author of several volumes of literary puzzles, including Was Heathcliffe a Murderer? His Life of Stephen Spender will be published in May 2004.
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
One April afternoon in 1880 Andrey the janitor came into my room and announced in hushed tones that a certain gentleman had turned up at the editorial offices and was persistently requesting an interview with the Editor. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
One April afternoon in 1880 Andrey the janitor came into my room and announced in hushed tones that a certain gentleman had turned up at the editorial offices and was persistently requesting an interview with the Editor. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Chekhov's "The Shooting Party" (1884), his only long novel, is a work of his immaturity, following the early stories for weekly magazines that launched his writing career but were later derided by him as juvenile, and four years before his novella "The Steppe," rightly considered his entry into serious literature. It is a colorful, zippy detective story, yet surprisingly crude and squalid, more Dostoyevsky than Turgenev. The murderer's identity was easy to guess early on, and no plot twist surprised. Read it, just for pleasure, after you have taken the full measure of mature Chekhov in all his acuity and delicacy. The Penguin translation worked well, except for those relentless Britishisms we get so often from English translators. Russians do not call each other "chap" and their peasants don't speak Cockney with dropped h's.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Impressive debut novel from Chekhov
2 Jun 2006
Format:Paperback
That Chekhov wrote this remarkable novel at the age of 24 is almost as impressive as Thomas Mann's writing of "Buddenbrooks" at the age of 26. "The Shooting Party" has a greater sense of feverish, almost Dostoyevskian intensity compared with Chekhov's later work, perhaps attributable to his youth. But it also has the same deep human understanding and descriptive ability - in Chekhov's almost minimalist style - as the later stories and plays.
The structure of the story-within-a-story and the metamorphosis from provincial novel of manners to an account of sexual misconduct and moral turpitude (in 19th century terms) to detective story, all within the space of a 200 pages, may seem a little clumsy to a modern reader (and the identity of the murderer may also be a little more obvious now than it was to a contemporary reader), but achieving all of this in such a short novel takes a great deal of talent, and Chekov's great talent is apparent even at this early stage of his career. It is also a fascinating and compelling novel, both for its account of provincial Russian life, as well as the psychological portrayals of the characters and the "whodunnit" element.
The previous review appears to refer to the 1926 translation (by Constance Garnett?), which no longer appears to be in print. This review relates to the new Ronald Wilks translation, which is adequate, though not outstanding. Constance Garnett's translations of Chekhov (which are still widely available) tend to be very readable and idiomatic (in English), if not always faithful to the original. Like many modern translations of Russian, this translation is occasionally a little wooden, and uses expressions or words that would generally not be used in English, reinforcing the fact that it is a translation. Not being fluent in Russian, I can't comment on its literal accuracy. However, despite these flaws, the translation conveys the story and the meaning of the text perfectly well.
One area for criticism - as is often the case in Penguin classics - is that the notes are often intrusive (and occasionally unnecessary, although not nearly so bad as in other books), and I personally object to the appearance of footnotes within the text. I also object to the introduction - which gives far too much of the plot away - appearing at the beginning of the book, especially as so many readers insist on reading the introduction first. Personally, I would prefer to see critical comments appearing after the text of the novel.
The structure of the story-within-a-story and the metamorphosis from provincial novel of manners to an account of sexual misconduct and moral turpitude (in 19th century terms) to detective story, all within the space of a 200 pages, may seem a little clumsy to a modern reader (and the identity of the murderer may also be a little more obvious now than it was to a contemporary reader), but achieving all of this in such a short novel takes a great deal of talent, and Chekov's great talent is apparent even at this early stage of his career. It is also a fascinating and compelling novel, both for its account of provincial Russian life, as well as the psychological portrayals of the characters and the "whodunnit" element.
The previous review appears to refer to the 1926 translation (by Constance Garnett?), which no longer appears to be in print. This review relates to the new Ronald Wilks translation, which is adequate, though not outstanding. Constance Garnett's translations of Chekhov (which are still widely available) tend to be very readable and idiomatic (in English), if not always faithful to the original. Like many modern translations of Russian, this translation is occasionally a little wooden, and uses expressions or words that would generally not be used in English, reinforcing the fact that it is a translation. Not being fluent in Russian, I can't comment on its literal accuracy. However, despite these flaws, the translation conveys the story and the meaning of the text perfectly well.
One area for criticism - as is often the case in Penguin classics - is that the notes are often intrusive (and occasionally unnecessary, although not nearly so bad as in other books), and I personally object to the appearance of footnotes within the text. I also object to the introduction - which gives far too much of the plot away - appearing at the beginning of the book, especially as so many readers insist on reading the introduction first. Personally, I would prefer to see critical comments appearing after the text of the novel.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Chekhov's Second Novel (or Only Novel? )
15 Mar 2006
Format:Paperback
Chekhov gained fame as the master of dozens of short stories and plays. Most of his works are set in small Russian towns and in the countryside. There is some debate on whether his two longer stories - this being one - are novels.
The present novel is written in the same style as some of his short stories. For example, see "The Complete Short Stories" from Vintage Classics. The present story reminds the reader of "The Duel" and "The Story of an Unknown Man." Many consider it to be his second novel, or his only full novel. Compared to many well know novels by other authors it is short - just over 200 pages with the notes. It was written a few years after the time of his graduation from medical school in 1884. It was one of his first efforts in fiction and contains some elements of a mystery story with an element of comedy or farse.
Chekhov is a little more subtle and human than his contemporary Dostoevsky and he did not write a 500 page novel. But one must admire both writers. In terms of setting and plot, the present work is closest to his other famous work the short story "The Duel" in flavour and setting. "The Shooting Party" has more drama than that short story, and it seems very informal almost slightly crazy; the characters drink a lot of vodka; it is a flamboyant story that takes place in rural Russia; and, the protagonist is a country detective or what they call investigating magistrate. In short, it is a bit of a wild tale. He uses the technique of placing a story within a story, and the two converge at the end.
The Shooting Party, was translated into English in 1926 and Agatha Christie used parts in her mystery novel: "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd."
The present novel is written in the same style as some of his short stories. For example, see "The Complete Short Stories" from Vintage Classics. The present story reminds the reader of "The Duel" and "The Story of an Unknown Man." Many consider it to be his second novel, or his only full novel. Compared to many well know novels by other authors it is short - just over 200 pages with the notes. It was written a few years after the time of his graduation from medical school in 1884. It was one of his first efforts in fiction and contains some elements of a mystery story with an element of comedy or farse.
Chekhov is a little more subtle and human than his contemporary Dostoevsky and he did not write a 500 page novel. But one must admire both writers. In terms of setting and plot, the present work is closest to his other famous work the short story "The Duel" in flavour and setting. "The Shooting Party" has more drama than that short story, and it seems very informal almost slightly crazy; the characters drink a lot of vodka; it is a flamboyant story that takes place in rural Russia; and, the protagonist is a country detective or what they call investigating magistrate. In short, it is a bit of a wild tale. He uses the technique of placing a story within a story, and the two converge at the end.
The Shooting Party, was translated into English in 1926 and Agatha Christie used parts in her mystery novel: "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd."
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
FROM HIS SECOND DRAWER
2 Nov 2007
Format:Paperback
Chekhov's "The Shooting Party" (1884/5), his only long novel, is a work of his immaturity, following the early stories for pulp magazines that launched his writing career but were later derided by him as juvenile, and four years before his novella "The Steppe," rightly considered his entry into serious literature. It is a colorful, zippy detective story, yet surprisingly crude and squalid, more Dostoyevsky than Turgenev. The murderer's identity was easy to guess early on, and no plot twist surprised. Read it, just for pleasure, after you have taken the full measure of mature Chekhov in all his acuity and delicacy. The Penguin translation worked well, except for those relentless Britishisms we get so often from English translators. Russians do not call each other "chap" and their peasants don't speak Cockney with dropped h's.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
