A Nervous Breakdown
Written by Anton Chekhov
Narrated by Dave Courvoisier
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian writer and playwright, considered by many to be one of the best writers of short stories in the history of literature. Chekhov was also a successful physician, but writing was his true passion. He was quoted as saying "Medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress."
Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov was born in Taganrog, in southern Russia, and in his youth paid for his own education and supported his entire family by writing short, satirical sketches of Russian life. Though he eventually became a physician and once considered medicine his principal career, he continued to gain popularity and praise as a writer for various Russian newspapers, eventually authoring more literary work and ultimately his most well-known plays, including Ivanov, The Seagull, and Uncle Vanya. He died of tuberculosis in 1904, and is regarded as one of the best short story writers in history, influencing such authors as Ernest Hemingway, Vladimir Nabokov, and Raymond Carver.
More audiobooks from Anton Chekhov
Short stories by Anton Chekhov Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In the Ravine, and Other Short Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anton Chekhov - A Short Story Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to A Nervous Breakdown
Related audiobooks
Grasshopper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Torrents of Spring Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5White Nights Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Drunk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Excellent People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/56 Short Stories by Guy de Maupassant Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Duel and Other Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Eye Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Liza of Lambeth Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Resurrection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Queen of Spades: A Pushkin Short Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Father Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The District Doctor: A Turgenev Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cloak aka The Overcoat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Anton Chekhov About Love Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Swann's Way Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Death of Ivan Ilych Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsZinotchka Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Hunger Artist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Simple Soul, a French Short Story by Flaubert Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Ideal Husband Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTalent and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Doll's House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gooseberries Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Devil and Other Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nose Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Metamorphosis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Short Stories For You
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two Scorched Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Manual for How to Love Us: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fragile Things Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Full Dark, No Stars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stories of Your Life and Others Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5UR Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is Salvaged: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Orgy: A Short Story About Desire Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Four Past Midnight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Living Girl on Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird: Stories Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Yellow Wallpaper: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Skeleton Crew: Selections Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maktub: An Inspirational Companion to The Alchemist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Her Body and Other Parties: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Minority Report and Other Stories Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Have No Mouth & I Must Scream and Other Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Just After Sunset: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5LT's Theory of Pets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Good Man Is Hard To Find And Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best of Edgar Allan Poe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homesick for Another World: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for A Nervous Breakdown
10 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is my first experience of Chekhov, who's often cited as one of the greatest short-story writers, and I have to confess that the jury's out for now. This little book contains three stories, translated by Ronald Wilks: the eponymous A Nervous Breakdown, The Black Monk and Anna Round the Neck, and they are all rather grim. In the first, the law student Vasilyev is driven into a state of distraction after spending an evening with his friends trawling the brothels of Moscow. Sensitive Vasilyev is distressed by the vulgarity of these working women and the way that his educated friends can happily flit between their high-minded studies and the exploitation of prostitutes. I'm not really sure what the point is, unless to suggest that too much reading and too little life has driven Vasilyev past the brink of reason...The other two stories feel more successful. In The Black Monk, the overworked Kovrin seeks sanctuary with his childhood guardian Pesotsky and Pesotsky's daughter Tanya in the country. His erratic mental state finds expression in visions of a black monk, whose flattering addresses lead Kovrin to an exaggerated notion of his own importance. Moving from exuberant affection to cold disdain, his sense of his own brilliance leads him into a tragic sequence of events. And, finally, Anna Round the Neck sees the titular Anna married off to a rich but old and ugly Modeste Alekseyevich. Having given up her freedom in the hope of gaining financial security for her impoverished family, Anna is distressed to realise that her husband means to keep a tight rein on the purse-strings. But, when she becomes something of a social sensation, Anna's principles are quite to disappear as she savours the thrill of high-society living.I have another collection of Chekhov's short stories (Gooseberries) waiting to be read, which will feature in a future Bite-Sized Russians post, but at the moment I'm not exactly bowled over. The stories don't have the power of The Queen of Spades or the nonsensical wit of The Nose. However, I'm sure that it's just a case of waiting until I find the right one, and then I'll be swept off my feet.