First published in 1891, this morality tale pits a scientist, a government worker, his mistress, a deacon, and a physician against one another in a verbal battle of wits and ethics that explodes into a violent contest: the duel. When Laevsky, a lazy youth who works for the government, tires of his dependent mistress, Nadyezhda Fyodorovna, Von Koren, the scientist, delivers a scathing critique of Loevsky’s egotism, forcing the young man to examine his soul. The Duel is a tale of human weakness, the possibility of forgiveness, and a man’s ultimate ability to change his ways. It is classic Chekhov, revealing the multifaceted essence of human nature.
About The Duel
About This Book “Hate you!” Laevsky said quietly, breathing heavily. “I’ve hated you a long time!”
This new translation of the literary masterpiece— which combines a beautiful romance with high suspense— is here presented for the first time as a stand-alone volume.
One of Chekhov’s most important lengthy works, this remarkable story gives a startling twist to his classic, ongoing study of bourgeois romance when he sets it on a collision course with a decaying, Czarist concept of honor. It ends in the ultimate Chekhovian observation: that fate is often ludicrous.
This Is A Melville House “HybridBook”
HybridBooks are a union of print and electronic media: Purchasers of this print edition also receive Illuminations—additional illustrated material that expand the world of Chekhov’s novella through text and illustrations—at no additional charge.
To obtain the Illuminations for The Duel by Anton Chekhov, simply scan the QR code (or follow a url) found at the back of the print book, which leads to a page where you can download a file for your preferred electronic reading device.
“Illuminations” contains writings by Mikhail Lermontov – Ivan Goncharov – Alexander Pushkin – Herbert Spencer – Friedrich Nietzsche – Jack London – Thomas Paine – Francis Bacon – Charles McKay – And a guide to the game of vint.
Full-color illustrations include: William Hogarth – James Joseph Tissot – Jan Steen – The Shahnameh and more.
Also Included: “Against The Duel: Writing In Protest of Dueling”
About The Duel
Includes a new forward by the screenwriter Mary Bing
In Anton Chekhov’s The Duelthe escalating animosity between two men with opposed philosophies of life is played out against the backdrop of a seedy resort on the Black Sea coast.
Laevsky is a dissipated romantic given to gambling and flirtation; he has run off with another man’s wife, the beautiful but vapid Nadya, and now finds himself tiring of her. The scientist von Koren is contemptuous of Laevsky; as a fanatical devotee of Darwin, von Koren believes the other man to be unworthy of survival and is further enraged by his treatment of Nadya. As the confrontation between the two becomes increasingly heated, it leads to a duel that is as comically inadvertent as it is inevitable. Masterfully translated by the award-winnning Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, The Duelis one of the most subtle examples of Chekhov’s narrative art.
About The Duel
First published in 1891, this morality tale pits a scientist, a government worker, his mistress, a deacon, and a physician against one another in a verbal battle of wits and ethics that explodes into a violent contest: the duel. When Laevsky, a lazy youth who works for the government, tires of his dependent mistress, Nadyezhda Fyodorovna, Von Koren, the scientist, delivers a scathing critique of Loevsky’s egotism, forcing the young man to examine his soul. The Duel is a tale of human weakness, the possibility of forgiveness, and a man’s ultimate ability to change his ways. It is classic Chekhov, revealing the multifaceted essence of human nature.
About The Duel
About This Book “Hate you!” Laevsky said quietly, breathing heavily. “I’ve hated you a long time!”
This new translation of the literary masterpiece— which combines a beautiful romance with high suspense— is here presented for the first time as a stand-alone volume.
One of Chekhov’s most important lengthy works, this remarkable story gives a startling twist to his classic, ongoing study of bourgeois romance when he sets it on a collision course with a decaying, Czarist concept of honor. It ends in the ultimate Chekhovian observation: that fate is often ludicrous.
This Is An Enhanced eBook
This eBook contains Illuminations—additional illustrated material that expand the world of Kleist’s novella through text and illustrations—at no additional charge.
“Illuminations” contains writings by Mikhail Lermontov – Ivan Goncharov – Alexander Pushkin – Herbert Spencer – Friedrich Nietzsche – Jack London – Thomas Paine – Francis Bacon – Charles McKay – And a guide to the game of vint.
Full-color illustrations include: William Hogarth – James Joseph Tissot – Jan Steen – The Shahnameh and more.
Also Included: “Against The Duel: Writing In Protest of Dueling”
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904) was a Russian playwright and short story writer who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short fiction in history. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his best short stories are… More about Anton Chekhov
About Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904) was a Russian playwright and short story writer who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short fiction in history. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his best short stories are… More about Anton Chekhov
About Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904) was a Russian playwright and short story writer who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short fiction in history. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his best short stories are… More about Anton Chekhov
