The Shooting Party - Anton Chekhov

...Chekhov. This is, in fact, the only full length novel that Chekhov ever wrote; he is better known for his plays and short stories. There is a literary argument about whether Chekhov was influenced by British detective fiction, such as Edgar Allan Poe and Wilkie Collins, or, as seems more likely, he was influenced by French detective fiction, such as Gaboriau. Whatever, this book is an interesting take on detective fiction in 19th century Russian. ...
...in 1860, graduated from the medical faculty of Moscow University. He supported his family during this time by writing for magazines. After The Shooting Party was published in 1885, he published two collections of short stories in 1886, the second of which won the Pushkin Prize. His best-known work, in the form of plays such as The Seagull, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard, was published after 1890.

The plot
Young and beautiful ... more

Introduction
I can't claim to be an expert on Russian 19th century literature, but one thing I don't associate with it is crime fiction; so I was surprised to pick this book up and find that it was crime fiction. I was also surprised it was a novel, again, something I don't associate with Chekhov. This is, in fact, the only full length novel that Chekhov ever wrote; he is better known for his plays and short stories. There is a literary argument about whether Chekhov was influenced by British detective fiction, such as Edgar Allan Poe and Wilkie Collins, or, as seems more likely, he was influenced by French detective fiction, such as Gaboriau. Whatever, this book is an interesting take on detective fiction in 19th century Russian.

The author
Anton Chekhov, born in 1860, graduated from the medical faculty of Moscow University. He supported his family during this time by writing for magazines. After The Shooting Party was published in 1885, he published two collections of short stories in 1886, the second of which won the Pushkin Prize. His best-known work, in the form of plays such as The Seagull, Three Sisters and The Cherry Orchard, was published after 1890.

The plot
Young and beautiful Olga, the daughter of a forester on an estate, is desired by three men: Count Karneyev, who owns the estate, Urbenin, the estate manager and Zinovyev, the local investigating magistrate, who tells the story. Urbenin is the first to ask Olga to marry him, and in order to escape from her drunken father, Olga agrees. However, shortly after the marriage, she realises that she has made a mistake and throws herself on the mercy of first Zinovyev and then the Count, both of whom fall in love with her.

Olga moves in with the Count and begins to enjoy a life of luxury. Her husband, Urbenin, is distraught and turns to drink. Zinovyev is jealous. Then the Count's wife turns up, shortly before Olga is found in the woods, having been stabbed and hit over the head. She still lives, but her life hangs in the balance. In the meantime, Zinovyev must try to find out who the attacker is.

The characters
The attention she receives from her three admirers goes to Olga's head, and she changes from being a sweet, innocent young girl to a selfish and demanding woman. She plays the men off against one another, and falling for her innocent charm, they are all killed. I disliked her from the instant she decided that marrying Urbenin was a mistake - she had seen him as a meal ticket, but once she realised she had to live with and love a man in his fifties, she changed her mind.

Urbenin is probably the most likeable of the four main characters. Older than the others, he had owned a neighbouring estate, but had fallen on hard times, and so found a job with the Count. He fell for Olga right from the start and was delighted when she agreed to marry him; then fell apart when she left him shortly after the wedding, turning to drink and eventually losing his job. I felt a great deal of sympathy for him, and thought that he was probably the best portrayed of all the characters.

Zinovyev, the investigating magistrate, considers himself a ladies' man, who wants to avoid marriage at all costs. He broke the heart of a local girl that he had been visiting on a regular basis as soon as her father referred to him as her fiancé. He is weak-willed; he knows that his friendship with the Count, whom he doesn't really like, always leads to trouble, yet still finds himself taking part in regular drunken orgies over at the Count's house. I disliked him immediately.

The Count was a caricature. Rich and lazy, he spends his time drinking, although he has been told he will die if he continues to drink, arranging orgies and chasing women - ideally any that are not his wife. Selfish and hedonistic like Zinovyev, there was something not quite believable about him.

'Extras'
There are three introductory sections before the actual novel begins. These include:

1) A chronology of events that affected Chekhov's work and his publications from 1936 through to his death in 1904. I found this really useful - it was interesting to see his work set in the context of this period of great Russian writers.
2) An introduction by John Sutherland. This explains the influences of other authors on The Shooting Party, explains some of the background to the story and introduces the characters and the story. Again, I found this really interesting, although if you are not interested in the history of crime fiction, it could be a bit boring. There is also a list of books on Chekhov for further reading.
3) A note on the text by the translator, Ronald Wilks. This looks at Chekhov's reasons for writing the book and how it was published. Not vital reading, but fascinating background.

Conclusion
This was an enjoyable book and one I'm glad I've read. However, I did feel that it was a little juvenile; perhaps not surprising considering that Chekhov was only in his twenties at the time. It would appear that Chekhov was not fully satisfied either; in the last part of his life, he stopped writing new work and spent his time correcting his old, with the exception of The Shooting Party. I also found the characters difficult to take. I would have preferred at least one to be pleasant. Although I felt sorry for Urbenin, it was hard to like him. For me, this made the book less gripping and I had to keep putting the book down because the characters annoyed me. I was also disappointed by the ending, which to me, was obvious. I am recommending this book, especially if you're a fan of the great Russian writers, because it was interesting to read such an early piece of work by Chekhov, but I can't merit giving more than three stars.

A note on the translation by Ronald Wilks - this is an updated translation, which is the first in seventy years. At times, it felt a little wooden, but on the whole, it ran very smoothly. Personally, I can't help but admire someone who can translate 19th century Russian to this standard.

The book is available from Amazon for £7.19. Published by Penguin Classics, it has 240 pages. ISBN: 0140448985
 

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