Succinct at two stars

I indulged in my love of literature by reading, in its entirety, A Night in the Cemetery: And Other Stories of Crime & Suspense, admitting freely that Chekhov’s collection of shorts (three to four pages, each) did not shine for me. As I went from one story to the next, I kept thinking, ‘Is this it? Where is the crime? Where is the suspense?’ All his little stories seem only to be filled with wry observations, apparent non sequiturs and bizarre characters, most of whom are named Ivan. Some stories don’t even have a point let alone a plot. They merely start then end with nothing but gibberish in-between. Or, is that the point?

I found these stories to be absurd with little to no insight into dark humor, or for that matter, the psychological suspense tales of mystery that this book is touted to be. I suppose the only mystery here is who, other than Chekhov fanatics, would even get this kind of writing?

Anton Chekhov was a Doctor of Medicine and a great Russian playwright.

 These short little stories are superfluous in comparison.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

1860-1904

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