The Complete Short Novels (Vintage Classics)

★★★☆☆ 3/5

NOTE: Out of the novellas in this collection, I've only read The Duelist<br/><br/>I'm taking a class where we read both the Pevear/Volokhonsky translation (this edition) and the translation by Constance Garnett. Everyone in the class preferred the Garnett translation! She does a better job capturing the poetry and the humor of the original; P&V's translation may stick closer to the literal Russian, but 9 times out of 10 when Garnett renders a phrase more loosely it reads more naturally in English while conveying the same meaning and staying loyal to the spirit of the original. E.g., P&V have Samoilenko refer to his friend Laevsky as "dear heart" while Garnett has him say "my dear boy." No doubt "dear heart" is exactly what it says in Russian, but it sticks out like a broken thumb. No one would say that in English, and "my dear boy" gets the point across just fine. <br/><br/>Garnett was a late Victorian Englishwoman, but on the whole her translation isn't hard to read or distractingly antiquated--and if there's sometimes a phrase that sounds a bit turn-of-the-20th-century, maybe that's OK given that Chekhov wrote the original around the turn of the 20th century. And, if you need further convincing, the Garnett translation of "The Duel and Other Stories" is in the public domain and available free from project Gutenberg.<br/><br/>CONCLUSION: I would not recommend buying this edition when you can find a copy of the (superior) Garnett translation for free.<br/><br/> <br/>

3/1/2026