I was not a fan of the narrator of these stories. I had a hard time appreciating them because his delivery was so stilted. ( )

I confess, this was a mistake on my part - I saw the words "Chekhov" and "short stories" and clicked on the Early Reviewers listing, and was startled when an audiobook arrived in the mail. I am notably dim-witted at times, and this was one of them.

I am a die-hard Chekhov fan but new to audiobooks. This first outing suggests that I should stick to the printed page. The production quality was good, I suppose - clear sound; acceptable (if heavily accented) narration blended with unremarkable swatches of Tchaikovsky.

I applaud anything that brings Chekhov's short stories to a wider audiences, and I do hope this series will, but personally I think I'll be better served by the copies on my shelves. If you're an audiobook lover, do give it a listen and judge for yourself.

Great collection of stories, brought to life by an English-speaking narrator with a Russian accent. Chekhov's stories are thoughtful, if somewhat bleak. Bollinger reads well, and differentiates characters clearly and consistently. Very few slips or mispronounciations. The Tchaikovsky pieces are few and far between, but add nicely to the readings, setting a good tone. The first story, Talent, critiques the time-wasting life of those who never actually use their talents, and does so in a subtle way that doesn't beat the listener over the head with the moral point. The fourth story, Ivan Matveyitch, was my favorite, describing the relationship of a poor secretary with his highly critical but secretly loving master. All in all, a great way to spend an hour. ( )

Everyone should read at least some of Chekhov’s magnificent stories. The five stories included in this audiobook illustrate the range of people he wrote about.
A shaggy poverty-stricken artist dreams of being great. His landlady’s daughter overhears the dreams and believes them. She is also in love with him, but he refuses to commit himself because he says that as an ARTIST he has to be free.
We then hear of the poverty-stricken medical student revising for his anatomy exams using his girlfriends naked body to check details. She has survived like this by providing a similar service to six previous medical students.
And then we learn of a jealous and successful surgeon who believes that his wife, who lives a high social life, is having an affair with a man living overseas. In the end, after a confrontation, they lapse back to their normal way of life.
The fourth story contrasts the life and attitudes of a wealthy Man of Learning and that of a poverty-stricken amanuensis.
The last story is a conversation between a young dressmaker and a young male shop assistant. It doubles as a courtship conversation.
Not only are these stories entertaining but they tell us something of Russian life at the end of the nineteenth century. Max Bollinger’s Russian-accented reading adds something to the stories.

A collection of five interesting Chekhov stories (Talent, Anytua, The Helpmate, Ivan Matveyitch & Polinka) that are deceptively simple. On the surface they seem more like vignettes than complete stories, but under the surface Chekhov exposes the inequalities of class and gender.

As audio books go, this one is fine. At times the reader sounds almost like a computer voice, which is sort of odd. More of a quibble than a complaint though. ( )