Radio Open Source: Reading Chekhov

Series produced by Open Source

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“Reading Chekhov” is the name of this game – a podcast experiment with, by all accounts, the greatest short-story writer of them all, the medical doctor who was also the “Cherry Orchard” playwright, Anton Chekhov.

“Reading Chekhov” is the name of this game – a podcast experiment and safe indoor sport with, by all accounts, the greatest short-story writer of them all, the medical doctor who was also the “Cherry Orchard” playwright, Anton Chekhov.

Why? Because Chekhov (1860 – 1904) is ageless and everywhere – “the voice of twilight Russia,” it’s been said, and one of the great pre-revolutionary visionaries – but also a literary influence on Joyce and all the moderns and still a contemporary, almost.

For many readers today he has the rare effect his friend Maxim Gorky observed. In Chekhov’s presence, Gorky said, “every one involuntarily felt in himself a desire to be simpler, more truthful, more one’s self.” The several actors in our group keep discovering, and demonstrating, that Chekhov’s phrases, scenes and lines keep expanding when they’re spoken aloud. For me he has the further peculiar effect of inviting digressions as we go – conversations and asides about all manner of things, philosophical and emotional, and not at all specially Russian.

Additional full-length conversations are available via podcast or at radioopensource.org

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“Reading Chekhov” is the name of this game – a podcast experiment and safe indoor sport with, by all accounts, the greatest short-story writer of them all, the medical doctor who was also the “Cherry Orchard” playwright, Anton Chekhov.Why? Because Chekhov (1860 – 1904) is ageless and everywhere – “the voice of twilight Russia,” it’s been said, and one of the great pre-revolutionary visionaries – but also a literary influence on Joyce and all the moderns and still a contemporary, almost. For many readers today he has the rare effect his friend Maxim Gorky observed. In Chekhov’s presence, Gorky said, “every one involuntarily felt in himself a desire to be simpler, more truthful, more one’s self.” The several actors in our group keep discovering, and demonstrating, that Chekhov’s... Show full description


5 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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We’re reading and gabbing about a story called “The Teacher of Literature,” published in 1894; Chekhov was 34 years old. It’s a story about a young...

  • Added: Apr 11, 2014
  • Length: 01:21:57
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We’re reading a famous story called “The Student.” It’s a late winter, early spring night in the 1890s, Easter weekend. A student is coming home f...

Bought by KICI Iowa City and KWMR


  • Added: Mar 27, 2014
  • Length: 20:08
  • Purchases: 2
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Chekhov wrote “Gusev” on shipboard, returning from his stark study mission to the prison island of Sakhalin in 1890. He was 30 years old, ten years...

  • Added: Mar 27, 2014
  • Length: 52:19
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Vanka is a tiny tale that has the feel of Dickens, about a 9-year-old orphan in Moscow, pining for his grandpa in the village, his only vestige of ...

  • Added: Mar 27, 2014
  • Length: 26:29
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The story this time is called “Dreams.” It’s a dense 7-page fantasy of the good life in the far wilds of Eastern Siberia. It’s a dream of freedom t...

Bought by KMXT


  • Added: Mar 27, 2014
  • Length: 41:36
  • Purchases: 1