James Mustich's 1000 Books to Read Before You Die discussion

Here we'll discuss our February group read, Uncle Vanja by Anton Chekhov.

Is anyone else getting the suggested collection that 1000 books suggests? Or are folks getting a different translation?

I hadn’t quite got to buying this yet, but it was the obvious first choice.
However, I have now googled “Chekhov plays best translation” and came up with the below from an Edinburgh learned journal, which makes me wonder whether I should go with the Frayn translation, as he is a dramatist and I enjoyed an audio book version of his Spies. Anyone else have a view, or should we follow James Mustich’s suggestion as easily accessible?
Anyway, here’s the quote:

Chekhov's major plays must have been translated and published in English some twenty times by now: does translation resemble medicine, in that 'a disease that has many cures is incurable"? Arguably, each generation needs a new version, as time makes some idioms unintelligible to audiences, and as translators become more adept and professional. In any case, America and Great Britain each need their own versions. In the UK, it is hard to improve on Michael Frayn's translations of the 1970s and 1980 (although Peter Carson's translations for Penguin sometimes have the edge), for Frayn is a superb dramatist as well as a trained Russian interpreter. In the USA, Laurence Senelick's excellent 2006 Anton Chekhov: The Complete Plays, which has all the variants, shows familiarity with the stage as well as with the original. Defects can be found in both translators: Frayn omits Russian place names, such as Rozhdestvennoe, knowing full well that no anglophone actor, however talented, will ever get his or her tongue round them; Senelick's annotations are often off-key, for instance asserting that Astrov's assistant who softens the final consonant in the third person singular (saying idet' for idet) is in fact punning on the word for idiot. But these are faults that a new edition could easily correct.
Theatre-goers in either country are unlikely to hear either Frayn or Senelick, whose publishers will demand royalty payments. Usually, we are confronted with a 'new' version by someone we shall call A. Bodger (his or her name is legion), perhaps a friend of the director who, without reference to, or understanding of the original, has taken an out-of-copyright version (at no cost to the theatre) by either an

To add to the options - or confusion - I recently read Uncle Vanya translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, who seem to be the go to for translations of Russian literature classics these days. I enjoyed it immensely, thought it kept enough Russian proper names, felt spontaneous, funny, and despairing in the best Chekhovian way.

I also recently had the chance to read The Seagull translated by Paul Schmidt, who apparently, many theatre folks admire. I did too. Loved the clarity of the characters and it seemed to have a lot of heart. I have not yet read others by Schmidt. His Chekhov's appear to be available only as a collection.

Many years ago I was familiar with the Van Itallie translation of The Cherry Orchard, which felt similar to Schmidt's Seagull in it's lovely simplicity and beating heart. Again, I have not read other Van Itallie to compare.

I have a hunch the best set of translations of all Chekhov's plays are not by the same translator.

I read the version available through the Project Gutenberg. No one is credited with the translation. I still found it to be very entertaining.

Finished this a week or so ago. I can't say I really enjoyed it too much, I felt it was a bit depressing for my current mood, as well as not being able to actually see the plays performed, which will always lose something.

I don't think I can finish it. My attention keeps wandering and the play format is difficult for me.