--- product_id: 276010350 title: "Fifty-Two Stories (Vintage Classics)" brand: "anton chekhov" price: "118 zł" currency: PLN in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.pl/products/276010350-fifty-two-stories-vintage-classics store_origin: PL region: Poland --- # Fifty-Two Stories (Vintage Classics) **Brand:** anton chekhov **Price:** 118 zł **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Fifty-Two Stories (Vintage Classics) by anton chekhov - **How much does it cost?** 118 zł with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.pl](https://www.desertcart.pl/products/276010350-fifty-two-stories-vintage-classics) ## Best For - anton chekhov enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted anton chekhov brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Fifty-Two Stories (Vintage Classics) ## Images ![Fifty-Two Stories (Vintage Classics) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61hMKOiGB7L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Yet Another from Pevear and Volokhonsky *by D***Y on Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2020* In a distinguished joint career, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky have gifted us with more than 20 books translated from the Russian of Bulgakov, Chekhov, Dostoyevsky, Gogol, Leskov, Pasternak, Pushkin, and Tolstoy. (Pevear on his own has also translated from the French. His translation of Dumas’ THE THREE MUSKETEERS enabled me to grasp all the rich comedy I of course missed in that classic as a boy.)Now this indispensable couple have given us new translations of FIFTY-TWO STORIES by Anton Chekhov. 52 — “a perfect deck,” as Pevear observes in his preface. For a stellar year, you might read one story each week.From his 1887 story “The Siren”: “A local justice of the peace, Milkin, a young man with a languid, melancholy face, reputed to be a philosopher, displeased with his milieu and seeking a purpose in life, stood by the window and looked sorrowfully outside.” In stark contrast, the fat main character in the same story rhapsodizes at length on the glories of eating and describes a lavish meal in detail: “ … homemade honey spiced vodka is better than any champagne. After the first glass, your whole soul is engulfed in a sort of fragrant mirage and it seems that you’re not at home in your armchair, but somewhere in Australia on some sort of ultrasoft ostrich.” (I wondered what “ultrasoft” was in the original Russian and was pretty sure careful time was spent arriving at a serviceable equivalent — not recognized, I happily note, by SpellCheck.)Perhaps the most unusual story in the collection, seeming a children’s story until it begins to deepen, is “Kashtanka,” in which half the characters are animals. I know there are folks who tell us we should never call anything perfect, but Chekhov’s portrayal of a goose tempts me to go ahead and make the claim.Nowhere is Chekhov’s handling of the effects of social disparities more effective than in the final story in the collection, “The New Dacha.” Here’s a passage from that story that will give you a sense of the heft and sparkle of Chekhov’s language as translated by Pevear and Volokhonsky:“On a clear, warm morning at the end of May, two horses were brought to Rodion Petrov, the Obruchanovo blacksmith, to be reshod. They were from the New Dacha. The horses were white as snow, sleek, well-fed, and strikingly resembled each other.“ ‘Perfect swans!’ Rodion exclaimed, looking at them in awe.“His wife Stepanida, his children and grandchildren came outside to look. A crowd gradually gathered. The Lychkovs came, father and son, both beardless from birth, with swollen faces and hatless. Kozov also came, a tall, skinny old man with a long, narrow beard and a stick with a crook; he kept winking his sly eyes and smiling mockingly as if he knew something.”Ubiquitous themes in Chekhov are boredom, frustration and exhaustion, but his stories are never boring, frustrating or exhausting because his attention to details of character and place is so sharp. He is one of the most compassionate writers we’ve ever had among us, and even the weakest of his stories is an earnest undertaking to understand.I can’t improve upon Pevear’s eloquent closing paragraph in his preface: “In his stories, Chekhov does what storytellers have always done: he satirizes human pretensions and absurdities, he plays out the comedy of human contradictions, and ultimately, even in the darkest of them, he celebrates natural and human existence in all its conditional variety.”Even by todays’s low standards, the physical production of the book is impressive — no surprise with a book coming from the distinguished imprint of Knopf. The striking dust jacket design by John Gall features what I take to be printers’ devices of the period.On the rear flyleaf of the book, we get that endearing photograph of the translators in their home in France, a photograph that welcomely started appearing in their books about halfway through their career. Looking at it once more, I can just hear Volokhonsky: “Oh, Richard, that paragraph is so good. You deserve a glass of armagnac. Let me get it for you, and I believe I’ll have one myself.” I wish I were there to raise a toast to them. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ KINDLE EDITION *by E***O on Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2022* Love the selection they made of Chekhov's short stories. My review is of the KINDLE EDITION: it's great. Nothing wrong with it. If you like e-books and would like to read Chekhov, go and get one. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ very good collection of short fiction *by J***S on Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2022* Unlike a lot of short fiction collections this one has no bad stories and most if not all of his classics are here. As usual the translators provide ample footnotes to explain Russian cultural items, I highly recommend this book. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.pl/products/276010350-fifty-two-stories-vintage-classics](https://www.desertcart.pl/products/276010350-fifty-two-stories-vintage-classics) --- *Product available on Desertcart Poland* *Store origin: PL* *Last updated: 2026-04-22*