La steppa: Storia di un viaggio

by Anton Chekhov, Paolo Nori (Translator), Fausto Malcovati (Contributor)

La steppa è il viaggio in carrozza di un ragazzino di campagna, Egóruška, che la madre ha mandato a studiare al ginnasio di una grande città: l’immensa steppa ucraina, gli incontri a sorpresa lungo il viaggio, le sensazioni incantate del ragazzino, il bagno nel grande e placido fiume, le soste, i paurosi racconti dei contadini.
Scritto nel 1888, all’età di ventotto anni, Čechov considerava questo racconto il suo capolavoro; giudizio peraltro condiviso anche da altri scrittori come Leskov e Saltykov-Ščedrin, che lo paragonarono a Gogol’ e Tolstoj.

«Vai, vai, guardi avanti, la steppa è sempre la stessa steppa sconfinata che era prima: non si vede la fine!»

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Fiction, Russia, Russian Literature, Literature, 19th Century

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1881

About the author

Antón Chéjov (Spanish)

Dramas, such as The Seagull (1896, revised 1898), and including "A Dreary Story" (1889) of Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, also Chekov, concern the inability of humans to communicate.

Born ( Антон Павлович Чехов ) in the small southern seaport of Taganrog, the son of a grocer. His grandfather, a serf, bought his own freedom and that of his three sons in 1841. He also taught to read. A cloth merchant fathered Yevgenia Morozova, his mother.

"When I think back on my childhood," Chekhov recalled, "it all seems quite gloomy to me." Tyranny of his father, religious fanaticism, and long nights in the store, open from five in the morning till midnight, shadowed his early years. He attended a school for Greek boys in Taganrog from 1867 to 1868 and then Taganrog grammar school. Bankruptcy of his father compelled the family to move to Moscow. At the age of 16 years in 1876, independent Chekhov for some time alone in his native town supported through private tutoring.

In 1879, Chekhov left grammar school and entered the university medical school at Moscow. In the school, he began to publish hundreds of short comics to support his mother, sisters and brothers. Nicholas Leikin published him at this period and owned Oskolki (splinters), the journal of Saint Petersburg. His subjected silly social situations, marital problems, and farcical encounters among husbands, wives, mistresses, and lust; even after his marriage, Chekhov, the shy author, knew not much of whims of young women.

Nenunzhaya pobeda , first novel of Chekhov, set in 1882 in Hungary, parodied the novels of the popular Mór Jókai. People also mocked ideological optimism of Jókai as a politician.

Chekhov graduated in 1884 and practiced medicine. He worked from 1885 in Peterburskaia gazeta.

In 1886, Chekhov met H.S. Suvorin, who invited him, a regular contributor, to work for Novoe vremya, the daily paper of Saint Petersburg. He gained a wide fame before 1886. He authored The Shooting Party , his second full-length novel, later translated into English. Agatha Christie used its characters and atmosphere in later her mystery novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd . First book of Chekhov in 1886 succeeded, and he gradually committed full time. The refusal of the author to join the ranks of social critics arose the wrath of liberal and radical intelligentsia, who criticized him for dealing with serious social and moral questions but avoiding giving answers. Such leaders as Leo Tolstoy and Nikolai Leskov, however, defended him. "I'm not a liberal, or a conservative, or a gradualist, or a monk, or an indifferentist. I should like to be a free artist and that's all..." Chekhov said in 1888.

The failure of The Wood Demon , play in 1889, and problems with novel made Chekhov to withdraw from literature for a period. In 1890, he traveled across Siberia to Sakhalin, remote prison island. He conducted a detailed census of ten thousand convicts and settlers, condemned to live on that harsh island. Chekhov expected to use the results of his research for his doctoral dissertation. Hard conditions on the island probably also weakened his own physical condition. From this journey came his famous travel book.

Chekhov practiced medicine until 1892. During these years, Chechov developed his concept of the dispassionate, non-judgmental author. He outlined his program in a letter to his brother Aleksandr: "1. Absence of lengthy verbiage of political-social-economic nature; 2. total objectivity; 3. truthful descriptions of persons and objects; 4. extreme brevity; 5. audacity and originality; flee the stereotype; 6. compassion." Because he objected that the paper conducted against [a:Alfred Dreyfu

Reviews

[Vit Babenco · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Steppe and The Duel are among Anton Chekhov’s best novellas and they are among my favourite stories as well.

…and now the boy was sitting on the box beside the coachman Deniska, holding on to his elbow to keep from falling off, and dancing up and down like a kettle on the hob, with no notion where he was going or what he was going for. The rapid motion through the air blew out his red shirt like a balloon on his back and made his new hat with a peacock’s feather in it, like a coachman’s, keep slipping on to the back of his head. He felt himself an intensely unfortunate person, and had an inclination to cry.

A little boy leaves his home and first time he finds himself face to face with the huge outside world and people that live there. He is sad and full of child’s fears and sorrows and a new unknown life lies ahead.
Chekhov masterfully describes boy’s feelings and his experience of the journey and his pictures of nature are brilliant.

Suddenly, exactly over his head, the sky cracked with a fearful deafening din; he huddled up and held his breath, waiting for the fragments to fall upon his head and back. He inadvertently opened his eyes and saw a blinding intense light flare out and flash five times on his fingers, his wet sleeves, and on the trickles of water running from the mat upon the bales and down to the ground. There was a fresh peal of thunder as violent and awful; the sky was not growling and rumbling now, but uttering short crashing sounds like the crackling of dry wood.

And The Duel is a florid portrayal of provincial living: deadly boredom and stagnation, wicked gossiping and envy. And the hostility of two main characters turns into an acidic travesty.

A silence followed. Boyko took a pair of pistols out of a box; one was given to Von Koren and one to Laevsky, and then there followed a difficulty which afforded a brief amusement to the zoologist and the seconds. It appeared that of all the people present not one had ever in his life been at a duel, and no one knew precisely how they ought to stand, and what the seconds ought to say and do. But then Boyko remembered and began, with a smile, to explain.
‘Gentlemen, who remembers the description in Lermontov?’ asked Von Koren, laughing. ‘In Turgenev, too, Bazarov had a duel with some one…’
‘There’s no need to remember,’ said Ustimovitch impatiently. ‘Measure the distance, that’s all.’

Life consists of episodes… And in any life there are plenty of vivid and memorable moments.

[Mary Phung · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally understand why Anton Chekhov is hailed as one of the greatest short story writers. This book is a collection of two novellas and six short stories, all of which are captivating and beautifully written. Through vividly realistic scenarios, Chekhov presents slices of life across a diverse range of characters, where ordinary moments reveal deep emotional and striking psychological truths.

I’m planning to read works by other great short story writers, such as Lu Xun, Tagore, and Gogol, just for the fun of comparison

[E. G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Introduction
Further Reading
Chronology
Note on Text
Patronymics

--The Steppe
--Panpipes
--The Kiss
--Verochka
--The Name-day Party
--A Dreary Story
--Gusev
--The Duel

Publishing History and Notes

[Cristian Sirb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Păi, o seamă de capodopere! Orice cuvânt e în plus.

[Omaira · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 estrellas bien merecidas

Si yo hubiese empezado a Chéjov por el teatro lo habría odiado, así os lo digo. Creo que es necesario entender el contexto sociocultural de Chéjov y la dinámica de sus historias. Y, bajo mi punto de vista, es más fácil hacerlo a través de sus cuentos que a través de sus obras de teatro. Por supuesto, eso no significa que considere el teatro de Chéjov menos relevante que su narrativa.

Hace unas pocas semanas pude adquirir un volumen que venían dos relatos. La verdad es que me sentí atraída sobre todo por el título La estepa. Hacía tiempo que quería leer algo que no estuviera ambientado en Moscú o San Petersburgo, y con esta publicación acerté de pleno. Ambas historias, tanto La estepa como Historia de un provinciano, están ambientadas en el complejo mundo rural ruso.

Por una parte, La estepa me pareció una obra con mucha sensibilidad. La historia está narrada en tercera persona y el protagonista es un niño de ocho años llamado Gregori (Egor o Egorushka). El niño va a ingresar en una escuela de formación muy lejos de la ciudad donde vive con su madre y con su tío. Aprovechando una venta de lana, el tío de Egor se lo lleva a la escuela de formación. Y la historia, básicamente, nos relata el viaje de Egor, su tío y el padre superior de la Iglesia de San Nicolás.

Como podéis esperar, sí, abunda la descripción. Era lo que yo buscaba, es decir, quería un relato que me hiciera sentir en la estepa. Y Chéjov lo consiguió ampliamente. La descripción es pura lírica, muy delicada. Pero la maestría no reside en esto tan solo. Chéjov muestra de forma muy bien escogida los elementos para que con una descripción de un par de páginas te sientas entre las avefrías.

Es una historia emotiva, dulce y sencilla que deja una placentera sensación en el corazón. No hay otra forma de resumir mis sentimientos.

La otra historia, Historia de un provinciano, no es la biografía de Chéjov. Y digo esto porque Historia de un provincianoes el subtitulo de el relato, que en realidad se llama Mi vida. A pesar de lo dicho, algunos paralelismos si habremos de encontrar. El padre cruel, por ejemplo. El padre que pega a sus hijos incluso estos siendo ya bastante adultos. El protagonista a veces recuerda al propio Chéjov en el carácter sosegado y pensativo, incluso su forma de concebir el matrimonio.

La historia trata sobre un joven que decide, un buen día, renunciar a los privilegios que le brinda su condición de noble y vivir con un proletario. Es interesante que Chéjov en ningún momento saque a coacción ideología alguna. Simplemente se limita a pintar un cuadro sin añadir propagada, mostrando la ruina de todo ser humano, la pobreza moral e intelectual del campesinado, la hipocresía de la burguesía, el desamor...

El relato está muy bien pensado, no le falta de nada. Tiene todo lo que les falta a Dostoyevski y a Tolstói en la narrativa breve: un ritmo estable, claridad y concisión . Tiene todo lo que le falta a Gorki: que la ideología del creador no subyazca bajo las palabras. Así solo te quedas con experiencias humanas, que es al final la verdadera razón por la que leemos historias.

Si Chéjov hubiese nacido en la época de Pushkin, seguramente él habría sido el más grande de todos los autores rusos. Y, objetivamente, así lo siento ahora mismo.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a review only of Anton Chekhov's long short story (or short novel) entitled The Steppe, which apparently is not published by itself. I had read it years ago, but felt like giving it another look. It is probably one of my favorite tales of childhood, and certainly my favorite Chekhov story: The story is seen from the point of view of a child in the provinces being taken from his home to attend a school in a larger provincial city. There is a simple beauty and innocence to this tale that time cannot stale. It makes me want to read some more of his stories.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Den gesamten Erzählband habe ich nicht gelesen, sondern nur die titelgebende Erzählung "Die Steppe". Falls das Vorwort von Alexander Ilitschewski dieser Ausgabe beigefügt war...- es lohnt die Lektüre nicht. Auch die Nachbemerkungen zu meinem Text sind nicht eben umwerfend, bieten aber immerhin den autobiografischen Bezug einer Reise nach Taganrog und ein paar erhellende Zitate von Tschechow.
Sie bestätigen den Lektüreeindruck, dass "Mensch und Natur" die Helden sind; hier also die Steppe in ihrer Eintönig- und Großartigkeit. Für den Helden der Geschichte, den kleinen Egor, der von seiner Mutter aufs Gymnasium in die Stadt geschickt wird und der anfangs den Verlust seiner vertrauten Heimat bitterlich beweint, wird das Erlebnis eines Steppengewitters mit der darauf folgenden fiebrigen Erkrankung zum Wendepunkt seines jungen Lebens. Die Weinerlichkeit verlässt den Jungen, der neugierig wird auf die Attraktionen der Stadt (Eisenbahn, Dampfschiffe). Der Autor entlässt seine Leser mit dem Hinweis auf eine offene Zukunft. Man darf gespannt sein, was aus dem Jungen wird.
Zu den weiteren ideellen Fixpunkten der Erzählung gehört die Beschreibung der einfachen Menschen, deren Vergangenheit Tschechow jeweils mit wenigen Worten als "früher ging es ihnen besser" umreißt. Vergangenheit ist das, was wir wissen können; die Zukunft hingegen bleibt offen und unbestimmt. Sie hängt gewiss von den Menschen (Egor) ab, die sie gestalten müssen. Dabei ist ziemlich klar, dass dem Studierten Zukunft wird, nicht aber den vom Leben bereits geschlagenen, von denen der Junge auch nicht lernen kann.
Neben den grauen Volksgestalten sind es der Onkel und der ihn begleitende Priester, die Egor Anhaltspunkte fürs Leben geben könnten. Allerdings ist der Onkel ein nüchterner Geschäftsmann ohne Sinn für Höheres, der die Ausbildung des Jungen für Adelsschnickschnack hält. Bleibt der Priester, der Egor vor der Arroganz und Überheblichkeit der Studierten gegenüber den einfachen Menschen warnt. An sich ehrenwert, aber Tschechow selbst nennt ihn einen "Dummkopf". Das könnte sich darauf beziehen, dass der alte Christophor Egor Worte mit auf seinen Weg gibt, die er selbst nicht beherzigt, insofern er ein Schwätzer ist, der sich durchaus selbst lobt und sich über andere erhebt, obwohl er ein Theologie- Studium nicht beendet hat. (So hält er sich sowohl für einen besseren Handelsmann als seine Verwandten als auch für jemanden, der allein mit Juristen aus der Stadt als seinesgleichen verkehren könne.) Darüber hinaus sind seine Studien- Tipps von vorgestern, denn - beginnend beim Latein - ist das am theologischen Kanon orientierte Durcheinander von Mathematik und Philosophie, Geschichte und Theologie etc. eher dem mittelalterlichen Kanon der "septem artes" verwandt als einem modernen Studium verpflichtet. Von Christophor kann Egor also so wenig etwas lernen wie von dem Raufbold oder dem leidenden Großvater nebst dem kranken Sänger - allesamt Fuhrleute auf seiner Reise. (Unterschwellig wird hier übrigens auf Differenzen im aufkeimenden Nationalgefühl der Russen und Ukrainer angespielt, so in einer Szene, in der sich der Raufbold nicht als "Mazeppa", ukrainischer Hetman, der als Verbündeter Karls IV. von Schweden zum Verräter an seinem russischen Lehnsherren Peter I. wurde, bezeichnen lassen möchte. Tschechow nennt denn auch Gogol als den Ahnherren aller Literatur über die Steppe.) Kurz: Egor bleibt also auf sich allein gestellt und man kann deswegen in der Tat neugierig sein, was die Zukunft für ihn bereit hält. Diesen offenen Schluss halte ich für eine Stärke der Erzählung, die - trotz der den Lesenden irritierenden Schreibweise der Namen in wissenschaftlicher Transkription - einfach "schön" und deswegen angenehm zu lesen ist. Unbedingte Empfehlung also.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is just for the novella, The Steppe. I've only just had a taste of Chekhov's short stories, so this was different. It took me a while to adjust - everything lengthened and widened out - just like the Steppe itself, I suppose. And it was disconcerting. Here is a young boy, leaving home, travelling with a relative to begin school and life away from everything he knows. They meet an array of people and situations and weathers and settings, and the boy is somehow at a distance from all - even where he came from and his family are barely mentioned. There are passages describing the Steppe which are quite evocative - the thunderstorm especially. But the thing that struck me forcibly was that from beginning to end, the boy seemed a stranger within himself to everyone and everything. A big, lonely, unpredictable world. Unknowns ahead and unknowns behind. And I imagine that's the truth for a young one, just starting out.

[Ben Samson · Rating 4 out of 5]

FOUR AND A HALF STARS. Steppe on me.

[AC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six early stories plus two novellas: The Steppe & The Duel.

Despite the fact that these are early stories, one can already see Chekov’s genius in their emotional depth, the complexity of character, and the intricacies and control over the plot. My rankings:

“A Dreary Story” (1889) [5] — the last days of a dying old prof.
“Verochka” (1887) [4.5] — sad & affecting
The Duel (1892) [4.5] — long, but brilliant (= novella)

“The Name-Day Party” (1888) [4.25] — psychologically complex
“Panpipes” (1887) [4] — so sad! melancholy
“The Kiss” (1887) [3] — sad, but meh

The Steppe (1888) [2] — long, rather dull (= novella)
“Gusev” (1890) [2] — awkward

[Noor · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Steppe' is an example of a story that has no major incidents. It mentions the story of a small boy being taken to school in another city by his uncle and his uncle's friend.

I could not locate a 'peak' which the event ascend to. However, the way Checkhov describes the scenery of nature and the natural visuals that they encounter is just amazing.

And the way in which he describes the stillness and vastness of the steppe is just so relaxing and so soothing that it makes your hear beat gos s.....l.....o.....w!

I recommend!...

[Russio · Rating 4 out of 5]

The edition I have read if this is the Everyman Millennium Project version with The Steppe as its main story and then eight other shorter works, a few of which I had previously read, in it. It contains The Kiss, which is rather good ands have, along with the title story, is considered to be an advance on the others, which are early writings in the career of the prolific and prodigious talent. The Steppe itself is a road story, travelling a long way in the minds of its constantly growing cast of characters. It has a feel of a panorama about it, although the narrative thrust is pretty much the travels and travails, rather than any lit match on a firework. I enjoyed it but for the 140 page investment a bit more drive would have helped me to love it more. The chapter on inn murders is the stand out one for me.

The Swedish Match is an entertaining murder mystery with a twist in the tale - quite an unusual one, which makes it witty and enjoyable. Mire is a black tale of usury, lampooning the ruling classes for their corruptability. It reminds a little of scenes from the later An Inspector Calls by Priestley. It too has an ironic wit that sits well with the otherwise serious tone.

Volodya, on the other hand, is anything but funny, with its focus on a deeply earnest young man and his struggle with his passions. Tragic and harsh - a real stand-out story for me. Verotchka is similarly a tale with a splinter of ice in its heart and prefigures the coldness of Dostoevsky in its unremitting negativity of a worldview. Another great story. But these two pale into insignificance beside the soul-crushing verbal spectacle that is the nightmarish Sleepy, written from the perspective of a nursemaid blacking out from exhaustion, so that her mind slips away from her. Anyone who has cared for a baby will know the unique challenges faced through exhaustion and will shudder at this tale. It reminds me of a very concentrated form of a story from Dubliners but, if anything, the potency is greater. Handle with care.

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, this is probably my favorite collection in this series of Chekhov's short stories. Chekhov is at his best when he weds lyricism with narrative, and the stories in this collection really showcase that.

One will never experience a more vivid literary storm than that in “The Steppe”, or enjoy as sumptuous a literary dance as that in “Thieves”. “Gusev” ends with one of most astounding pages ever penned by Chekhov: a glimpse of the Afterlife as a canvas bag (“resembling a carrot or black radish”) sinking underwater, welcomed by a school of pilot fish. In “New Villa”: The metaphor of a bridge is not at all original, but it does not feel at all trite or forced, thanks to Chekhov's meticulous descriptions of the rift between the engineer’s family and the villagers: the comical misinterpretations of language, the absurd drunken brawls. Finally, there are “In Exile” and “On Official Business”, both complete with a wonderful moment of revelation, where the horizon widens; the soul gains an astonishing degree of freedom.

In fall of 2016 I reread about 65 of Chekhov's short stories as well as short novels in chronologic order over 2 weeks. It was an immersive experience; the stories really sank in this time. The reviews, including this one, may be accessed as follows: Selected Stories, Ward Number 6 and Other Stories, The Princess and Other Stories, The Russian Master and Other Stories, A Woman's Kingdom and Other Stories.

[Arto Marashelian · Rating 2 out of 5]

the exact title of my book is (the steppe and early stories)but i couldn't find that version on goodreads.
there is about 40 short stories in this book, they are the first writings of chekhov in the weekly and monthly newspapers. at 1880 in the era of assassinating of alexander the cesar, there was restrictions on the media but chekhov has to write under those restrictions because it was his only way to provide money for him and his family so that circumstances made him write pointless stories and the goal was to entertain and make the reader laugh.
those short stories give an image for the russian public life with love and compassion to the poor person.
actually the two stars that i gave for this book is only for those short stories and i can't judge chekov's writings by what i mentioned previously in his situation for the money need and for the restrictions the country was under.
they can draw a light smile at your face but you can feel that you are wasting your time while reading them but you can't skip the book.
244 page of short stories are fine till....
his first long novel started at page 245 (the steppe)
you can't imagine how was the struggle by reading those words, and the joy when flipping the page knowing that i finished a damn boring page.
picturing the steppe and the valley of the road for a boy who want to reach his school with the company of his uncle and a priest, what a pointless miserable novel..
the last line will make you even more angry (and how this life will be?)
after 225 pages (that i felt i am reading 2000) this stupid question come across your eyes and you will be very pissed...
for your information leo tolstoy said that the steppe is one of chekhov's most amazing works..(no comment)

[Roger Pluma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Com que és un recull de narracions, dividiré la meva ressenya en quatre parts:
1. Una cacera dramàtica: 5/5
Aquesta novel·la ha sigut la meva introducció a Txèkhov i la vaig gaudir enormement. No es pot dir que tingui una gran profunditat, però l'estil, les descripcions i com et trasllada l'autor a la Rússia rural, juntament amb la manera com t'enganxa m'han encantat. Com a punt negatiu, crec que alguns punts de pàgina sobraven ja que explicaven massa coses que es podien intuir.
2. Pavelló número 6: 5/5
L'estil narratiu del bo d'Anton m'ha semblat sublim, i la seva descripció d'un món concret dins de la societat russa, excepcional. Reflexiu sobre la bogeria i la humanitat, un imprescindible.
3. Contes: 4/5
Hi ha hagut alguns contes que m'han agradat molt, de gran bellesa i estil, però amb d'altres m'he quedat més fred. En resum, és un bon recull i m'agraden els contes de Txèkhov, però no m'han semblat tant atractius com les seves novel·les curtes.
4. L'estepa: 4/5
La narració que dona títol a aquest recull, sempre símbol de la seva importància. M'ha semblat una història bella, en què l'autor demostra el domini de la llengua i la capacitat de representar escenes i situacions. Tot i això, no he connectat estretament amb la història, i per mi s'ha quedat en un retrat bell i fidedigne d'una Rússia estratificada.

En resum, he gaudit molt d'aquest recull de narracions. La tria m'ha semblat molt encertada, ja que les tres narracions permeten descobrir habilitats diferents de l'autor i els contes li donen un toc fresc i diferent. Seguiré llegint Txèkhov i literatura russa pròximament, em sembla un escenari molt atractiu que no sol defraudar.

[Myles · Rating 4 out of 5]

From The Steppe:

"Vasya also looked in the bucket. His eyes became unctuous, and his face became tender, as before, when he saw the fox. He took something out of the bucket, put it in his mouth, and began to chew. A crunching was heard.

'Brothers,' Styopka was astonished, 'Vasya's eating a live gudgeon! Pa!'

'It's not a gudgeon, it's a goby,' Vasya a replied calmly, continuing to chew.

He took the fish's tail from his mouth, looked at it tenderly, and put it back in his mouth. As he chewed and crunched with his teeth, it seemed to Egorushka that it was not a man he saw before him. Vasya's swollen chin, his lackluster eyes, his extraordinarily keen sight, the fish tail in his mouth, and the tenderness with which he chewed the gudgeon made him look like an animal."

[Blaise · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is only for The Steppe. I have not read the other stories yet. I enjoyed the author's command of language. His descriptions of the land, the weather, the time, and the place were superb. I felt like I was there on the plains (the steppe) with the characters. It reminded me of reading Willa Cather's My Antonia in that way. The story is very simple and that's where the novella fell short for me. The story really never goes anywhere which for me resulted in a complete lack of any kind of urgency or suspense. However, that is made up for in large part by the strengths I mentioned above.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

This rating is just for The Steppe. Although nothing groundbreaking, the vivid, dismally poignant imagery and the crisp, frank interplay between characters of different backgrounds (of failure) and perspectives (of failure) was enthralling. It played out to me as an appropriate sequel to the scenes in Anna Karenina in which Levin goes to work with the peasants in the wheat fields, scenes which may have been my favourite part of that wonderful work. Coupled together they give a more complete picture of peasant and gentry life, but (seeing that Chekhov is Chekhov) it includes his thoroughly negative take on all lifestyles as well as Tolstoy's thorough Utopian part which offset nicely.

[Constantin Vasilescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deși "Stepa" e cea mai vastă, "Salonul nr. 6" e povestirea de cinci stele a volumului. Te izbește granița atât de indistinctă dintre nebunie și normalitate încât pare de-a dreptul subiectivă, în cel mai bun caz convențională. Societatea care îți otrăvește mintea și-ți siluiește conștiința, prietenii care gravitează interesat, ipocrizia aiuritoare, luciditatea nebunilor...
Cehov, melancolic și sumbru. Simplu, complicat și genial.

[Kieran Van De Riet · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
The steppe: 4.5 - best literary depiction of childlike wonder and beautifying the seemingly mundane steppe
Panpipes: 3.5
The kiss: 5 - literally me
The name-day party: 5 - suffer
A dreary story: 5 - I have a thing for raw confession style stories
Gusev: 3
The duel: 5 - love a good duel, though the captivating characters really make this a 5.

[Katja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Что тут комментировать, гениальный Чехов, гениальные повести и рассказы. Читать надо не рецензии, а самого Чехова. "Степь" -- ярчайшая повесть о Малороссии конца 19го века, прочитаешь и как будто сам побывал. Жаль, что не включена в школьную программу.

[Amanda Farough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chekhov's mastery of the human condition is phenomenal.

[Mirza Muratspahić · Rating 2 out of 5]

booring

[Ramón Ramírez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le pongo cinco estrellas por "Una historia aburrida", de lo mejor que he leído en mucho tiempo.

[JacobCHR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice prose and interessting characters. Russian culture is so different from what i am used too, so this was a very interessting peak into the history of old mother Russia.

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Layevsky had decided not to tell her the pack of lies all at once" ("The Duel ", page 321)

[Riccardo Mazzocchio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miei preferiti: L'incubo, Un problema. La Steppa dà un senso di vuoto nella sua vastità...tale a quello provato - mirabilmente descritto - dal piccolo Jegòruska alla fine del racconto.

[Ostap Bender · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Pushkin open Russian 19th century literature, so Chekhov closes it. It's interesting that Chekhov's own life (1860-1904) also aligned with the emancipation of the serfs (1861) and the "first" Russian revolution (1905). In this volume the stories I liked most were "On the Road", with its haunting ending, and Verotchka, with its theme of transience.

Quotes:
On good and evil, from "On the Road":
“…Not a day passes but one makes acquaintance with somebody one would give one’s soul for. There are ever so many more good people than bad in this world”

On saying good-bye, also from "On the Road"; I love this imagery:
"She was silent. When the sledge started, and had to go round a huge snowdrift, she looked back at Liharev with an expression as though she wanted to say something to him. He ran up to her, but she did not say a word to him, she only looked at him through her long eyelashes with little specks of snow on them.
Whether his finely intuitive soul were really able to read that look, or whether his imagination deceived him, it suddenly began to seem to him that with another touch or two that girl would have forgotten his failures, his age, his desolate position, and would have followed him without question or reasonings. He stood a long while as though rooted to the spot, gazing at the tracks left by the sledge runners. The snowflakes greedily settled on his hair, his beard, his shoulders…Soon the track of the runners had vanished, and he himself, covered with snow, began to look like a white rock, but still his eyes kept seeking something in the clouds of snow."

From "The Steppe":
"Yegorushka kissed his hand, and shed tears; something whispered in his heart that he would never see the old man again….Yegorushka felt that with these people all that he had known till then had vanished from him for ever. He sank helplessly on to the little bench, and with bitter tears greeted the new unknown life that was beginning for him now…What would that life be like?"

On love, from "On the Road":
“…The meaning of life lies in just that unrepining martyrdom, in the tears that would soften a stone, in the boundless, all-forgiving love which brings light and warmth into the chaos of life…”

On meaninglessness, and solitude, from "The Steppe":
"When you gaze a long while fixedly at the deep sky thoughts and feelings for some reason merge in a sense of loneliness. One begins to feel hopelessly solitary, and everything one used to look upon as near and akin becomes infinitely remote and valueless; the stars that have looked down from the sky thousands of years already, the mists and the incomprehensible sky itself, indifferent to the brief life of man, oppress the soul with their silence when one is left face to face with them and tries to grasp their significance. One is reminded of the solitude awaiting each one of us in the grave, and the reality of life seems awful…full of despair…"

On memories, from "Verotchka"
"He walked along thinking how frequently one met with good people, and what a pity it was that nothing was left of those meetings but memories. At times one catches a glimpse of cranes on the horizon, and a faint gust of wind brings their plaintive, ecstatic cry, and a minute later, however greedily one scans the blue distance, one cannot see a speck nor catch a sound; and, like that, people with their faces and their words flit through our lives and are drowned in the past, leaving nothing except faint traces in the memory. … as soon as he was out of the gate all this would be changed to memory and would lose its meaning as reality for ever, and in a year or two all these dear images would grow as dim in his consciousness as stories he had read or things he had imagined.
“Nothing in life is so precious as people!” Ognev thought in his emotion, as he strode along the avenue to the gate. “Nothing!”

On sorrow, from "Easter Eve":
“…Only tell me, kind sir, why, even in the time of great rejoicing, a man cannot forget his sorrows?”

[Moushine Zahr · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is the first time I read Anton Chekhov and even read Russian Classic literature. I believe it's the first time that I rate a short story book 5 stars, usually it's only 3 stars. This book is composed of 3 short stories representing 3 different stages in the life of the author.

The first short story (160 pages) is based on the early life of Anton Chekhov, who had to travel a long distance to attend school. This story is about that trip taken with his uncle and a priest from one town to another one near a port and through the Russian Steppe. The author did a superb job in writing and describing beautifully the Steppe landscape crossed and through the eyes of a young child, shy and traveling for the first time to a long distance. Through the dialogues and scenes, the author showed the culture of 'road people' (whose livelihood depeneded entirely on traveling with people and stocks). He described how they intereact with each other and with other people expected to see through their road trip. While in most books, we criticize authors for not developing main characters, in this book the absence of character development is intentional and logic. Don't forget that:
- The story was told through the eyes of a child, who's not going to be able to analyze deeply the people he met, like an adult would;
- the 'road people' share a common experience and fate while together on the road. They might share to each other other people's stories and/or stories of their previous lives, but they don't share their feelings, their fears, and their emotional status to each other. The character wore the same faces throughout the trip never revealing their true selves.
This short story was very well written in all its aspects. A must read.

The second short story (90pages), Salle 6, was written by the author based on his visit to a similar place and following his disagreement with Tolsoi philosphy of not resisting evil according to notes at the end of the book. This story is about a hospital located in a rural area far from train routes, where room 6 is the psychiatric unit hosting permanently 5 different people. These 5 people were placed there by the local ignorant and incompetent ruling society, who decide to place there people who had experience tragic social downfall and unfit anymore to live among the society. The two main characters are:
- the doctor, doctor against his wish, who followed the hospital and the unit during 25 years with monotony, disregard and disdain until he followed once one of the patient inside the 'room6' and started conversing with a second patient, intelligent and educated,
- the second patient, Gomorov, had suffered severe and extreme social downfall despite having received an education.
The best part of this story is of course the dialogue between the doctor and Gomorov, representing and confronting the philsophies of Chekhov and Tolstoi.
This is also a must read short story.

The last short story is only about 20 pages long written toward the last years of the author as he's been sick several times. It is a about the last days of a Bishop whose death goes unnoticed. The story is average and too short to be interesting.

[Zico · Rating 4 out of 5]

Instead of trying to summarize this virtually plotless novel, let me tell you a little anecdote. A few days ago, I was talking to a friend on GoodReads about life abroad. I asked her if she could leave for good and live in some foreign country. Her answer was touching: “There is no mom abroad; I don’t want to go.” I couldn’t help but reflect on my own motherless childhood. She was right. If my mother was alive, I would go home more often (instead of once every decade). Perhaps I wouldn’t have left in the first place.

Immediately after our conversation, I read this in The Steppe:

"Egorushka thought of his grandmother, who was sleeping now under the cherry-trees in the cemetery. He remembered how she lay in her coffin with pennies on her eyes, how afterwards she was shut in and let down into the grave; he even recalled the hollow sound of the clods of earth on the coffin lid... He pictured his granny in the dark and narrow coffin, helpless and deserted by everyone.

I am not the superstitious type, but this kind of coincidences is one of the reasons why I read literature. After that conversation about my own dead mother, I felt as if the book was talking to me or about me, as if I was reading about myself, except that, unlike Egorushka (the 9-year old protagonist), I didn’t imagine chunks of earth being thrown on my mother’s coffin. I saw it and I still remember it.

Any writer who instills such vivid images in the mind of his reader, or in my case brings them back from the recesses of his memory, is worth reading and writing about. The Steppe is permeated by passages like this, where I was stopped by the overwhelming nostalgia and had to take a break to reflect on similar moments of my childhood and landscapes similar to the steppe (not in their geography but in the effects they had on me as a child).

It is no wonder this book jumpstarted Chekhov’s career as a serious literary figure at age 28. There are no sweeping theories about the human condition a la Tolstoy, no political wisdom or visionary psychological insight as found in Dostoyevsky’s works. What you will find in The Steppe, however, is universal, eternal truth. They say it comes from the mouths of babes. In The Steppe it is seen through their eyes and comes from Chekhov’s prose.