Read this when
The Lady with the Dog and Other Stories
He thought it was just a holiday fling. Then he got home and couldn't stop thinking about her. Chekhov wrote the situationship in 1899.
Who it's for
Gurov starts as a cynical man who treats women as diversions, and the title story tracks, without judgment, his surprise at discovering that this affair has made him feel truly alive for the first time.
Feelings it meets
What it is
This collection of Anton Chekhov's short stories, in Constance Garnett's English translation, takes its title from his 1899 story. In 'The Lady with the Dog', Dmitri Gurov, an unhappily married Moscow banker nearing 40, begins an affair with Anna Sergeyevna, who is also unhappily married, while both are on holiday in Yalta.
Where to find it
Public domain in the US in Constance Garnett's 1917 translation; free on Project Gutenberg. Modern translations (e.g., in Penguin and other Chekhov selections) are in print, in libraries and as audiob.
Before you start
Heads up: Adultery; a teen suicide in some editions.
Age: Ages 14+
I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time.Henry David Thoreau, Walden, “Solitude”
