Starting this week, I’ve begun a reading project focused on Selected Stories of Anton Chekhov, translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. The plan is to read slowly and post a short video commentary on each story. I announced the plan last week in this video.
Below, I’ve included a tentative schedule for the series. Chekhov’s stories, regardless of their brevity, open large horizons. They engage with seemingly simple matters … like work, class, vanity, habit, illness, tenderness, and they foreground the strangeness of ordinary life. With this project, I intend to stay close to the text, keep a record of my responses over time, and perhaps encourage others to share theirs. If you’re even mildly interested, I’d encourage you to get a copy of this collection and join me in reading and thinking through it.
March 2026
- Mar 3 — The Death of a Clerk
- Mar 6 — Small Fry
- Mar 10 — The Huntsman
- Mar 13 — The Malefactor
- Mar 17 — Panikhida
April 2026
- Fri, Apr 10 — Anyuta
- Fri, Apr 17 — Easter Night
- Fri, Apr 24 — Vanka
May 2026
- Fri, May 1 — Sleepy
- Fri, May 8 — A Boring Story
- Fri, May 15 — Gusev
- Fri, May 22 — Peasant Women
- Fri, May 29 — The Fidget
June 2026
- Fri, Jun 5 — In Exile
- Fri, Jun 12 — Ward No. 6
- Fri, Jun 19 — The Black Monk
- Fri, Jun 26 — Rothschild’s Fiddle
July 2026
- Fri, Jul 3 — The Student
- Fri, Jul 10 — Anna on the Neck
- Fri, Jul 17 — The House with the Mezzanine
- Fri, Jul 24 — The Man in a Case
- Fri, Jul 31 — Gooseberries
August 2026
- Fri, Aug 7 — A Medical Case
- Fri, Aug 14 — The Darling
- Fri, Aug 21 — On Official Business
- Fri, Aug 28 — The Lady with the Little Dog
September 202
- Fri, Sep 4 — At Christmastime
- Fri, Sep 11 — In the Ravine
- Fri, Sep 18 — The Bishop
- Fri, Sep 25 — The Fiancée