Status Updates From About Love and Other Stories

Fortune (1887) - A ranger and two shepherds discuss treasures and the quest for fortune.

The Letter (1887) - You're a church minister and your son continuously sins, he rejects faith, lives with a woman that isn't his wife, and doesn't follow your footsteps. Have you failed as a father? Should you follow the guidance of the archdeacon and write that letter, to bring him back to order? How cruel should you be in your words? Or instead, maybe your son doesn't deserve this, maybe forgiveness is the way?

On the Road (1886) - It's freezing cold out, a blizzard is raging and a people from different background meet in a small roadside inn (not to call it a hotel). A young princess that has everything meets a father that had every woman, but regrets a lot in his lifelong behaviour. Interesting conversation, almost a monologue from him, but with well placed words, and a nuanced mindset. Loved it.

The Huntsman (1885) - A man tricked into marrying a woman he doesn't love, unfortunately a woman who deserves everything and more. Well written, sad, but nothing groundbreaking.

Collection of short stories published between 1885 and 1902.

"The Bishop" was NOT a great way to start my Friday morning. The depressing story of an old bishop looking back on his life, wishing he could revisit his youth.

All done with the collection, just need to read all the supplemental material at the front of the edition.

"At Christmas Time", a very short story involving elderly parents trying to get in touch with their daughter.

"The Lady with the Little Dog", about a love affair that reflects on the private lives we hide vs the public lives we share with others.

"About Love", the final story of a little trilogy, about a man who falls in love with a married woman and falls into misery as a result.

"Gooseberries", a reread for me and the second of a trilogy of short stories that seem concerned with how we choose to live a satisfied life.

"... it's obvious that the contented person only feels good because those who are unhappy bear their burden in silence; without that silence happiness would be inconceivable. It's a collective hypnosis."

"The Man in the Case", about a man who lives a constrained life due to his insecurities.

"In the Cart", a deeply moving portrait of Marya Vasilievna, who's loneliness causes her to dwell on the past and what her life could have been. I first read this short story nearly two years ago in "A Swim in the Pond in the Rain" and it still hits just as hard.

"The House With the Mezzanine", a story about a spiritual cynic and a dreaming realist butt heads.

"The Student", where history is presented as a flow of events and that truth and beauty connect us to different times.

"Rothchild's Violin", a parable about living life to the fullest and not wasting a single moment of your health and youth.

"The Black Monk", a supernatural tale of vanity and insanity.

The shortest short story of the set, "Fish Love" is a surreal and funny story of...fish love.

"Gusev", the touching story of a sick soldier trying to make it home.

"Fortune", in which three men in different stages of their life contemplate mystical changes of fate and fortune.

"Most of the sheep were asleep... Their unhurried, drawn-out thoughts, stimulated only by the impressions of the broad steppe and the sky, and of days and nights, probably stunned and depressed them to the point of numbness."

"On The Road", where fleeting connections with strangers is put under the microscope, and "The Letter", where a father receives conflicting morality advice from the sinful and the sinless.

New sleep schedule means a new book of short stories to help me fall asleep. First up, The Huntsman, where a man and a woman stand a crossroads with each other. The story that launched Chekhov's career, short and sweet, with a gorgeous opening paragraph that sets the summer scene perfectly.

i love the whole little trilogy thing it’s so adorable