Uncle Vanya: Scenes from Country Life in Four Acts Paperback – April 22, 2017

A handful of desperately unhappy characters reconciling themselves to unmitigated sadness, but with a certain admirable grace. Not free to enjoy the rustic joys of the peasants, and living in such a confined world that happiness for one must mean disappointment for many others, they seek redemption in service and companionable isolation, both somewhat noble and almost overwhelmingly tragic. A troubling triumph.Also noteworthy is Check pc's concern for deforestation, an early conservationist.

Anthon Chekhov is widely regarded as one of the masters of Russian literature. His life was relatively short, dying from tuberculous at the age of 44. His life spanned a period of Russian history that can be described as post-serf, pre-automobile, from 1860 to 1904. I saw  The Cherry Orchard  produced a couple decades ago and recently read the play. I just finished Cédric Gras’ excellent  L'hiver aux trousses (Essais - Documents) (French Edition)  concerning his travels in the Russian Far East. Gras made a few references to Chekhov in his book, and I decided to add  Sakhalin Island (Alma Classics)  to the to-read list. Gras also referred to the “Uncle Vanya” like aspects of one person he met in his travels; I had no idea what he meant, and decided to remedy that forthwith.“Uncle Vanya” was first published in 1897, and performed in 1899. Like “The Cherry Orchard,” the setting is a country estate in rural Russia. The emancipated serfs/peasants are in the deep background. There are six to eight principal characters: the estate owner with the various relationships and hangers-on. Professor Aleksandr Vladimirovich Serebryakov (ah, don’t you love those Russian names, in all their glory?), who is bordering on his dotage, is re-married, to 27-year old Helena. Ivan Voitski, who is “Uncle Vanya,” was the Professor’s brother-in-law via his first marriage. Sonia is the Professor’s daughter from that first marriage. And Michael Astroff is a country doctor, tending ailments physical as well as mental, including some of his own. A good mixture of “star-crossed” individuals, that Chekhov handles with Balzac-like precision.As one might suspect, the young wife is “up for grabs,” the center of attention for most of the males. Sonia, who is “plain,” and knows it, would love to be the center of at least one man’s attention – alas. And there is considerable conflict between Uncle Vanya and the Professor, with the former describing the later as: “for twenty-five years he has been reading and writing things that clever men have long known and stupid ones are not interested in; for twenty-five years he has been making imaginary mountains our of molehills.”Chekhov demonstrates a strong ecological streak, and love of the natural world, long before the first “Earth Day.” Consider the remarks of Doctor Astroff: “Oh, I don’t object, of course, to cutting wood from necessity, but why destroy the forests? The woods of Russia are trembling under the blows of the axe. Millions of trees have perished. The homes of wild animals and birds have been desolated; the rivers are shrinking and many beautiful landscapes are gone forever. And why? Because men are too lazy and stupid to stoop down and pick up their fuel from the ground.” And this is written at the end of the 19th century!Dr. Astroff also chimes in on the eternal questions of male-female relationships: “A woman can only become a man’s friend after having first been his acquaintance and then his beloved – then she becomes his friend.” Overall, the play is morose and gloomy, with Uncle Vanya saying it might be a fine day for a suicide. The climactic scene, and one that it is important to recall if one is to be “au courant” in literature, is the failed homicide attempt made by Uncle Vanya. In fact, his gun is a reference point. The attempt is the closing of the third act. The fourth act is a “long good-bye” that I felt added very little to the play, and thus, overall, believe it rates 4-stars.

Oddly enough, I came to read this vis-a-vis Murakami's "1Q84", a very complex, contemporary book set in 1984. Murakami included choice quotes from Chekhov throughout his story and I couldn't help but wonder about the source material. Also, after reading the 1,000 or so pages of "1Q84", I wanted something short. Very short. This fit the bill.Overall, a quick read about a time and place I'm largely unfamiliar (Tsarist Russia, on a rural estate), occupied by individuals who all are unhappy for one reason or another. They never become happy. They simply remain miserable in their own idleness. Everyone loves someone they can't have, and life offers them far from enough.All in all, and it's uncomfortable to say it, nothing happens. Sounds like a winner, right?It is. The fast paced dialogue and emotional weight moves the story at a brisk pace. To be sure, Chekhov has a way with words (of course, assuming the Russian translation has been done well. I have no reason to think otherwise). There's a tangible feel to the place; the setting is immersive. And did I say it was short? It's wonderfully short.It's also free. Translated by the community, the Kindle edition is absent any noticeable errors. It is highly well-done for a public domain book. Congrats, community.

I found Uncle Vanya to a well written play, but I wasn’t moved. I learned little of the world outside our characters dull lives. I was surprised by how quickly the main conflict came about and was resolved. I have no interest in seeing the play performed.

But Tsarist Russia, of course! It was really a crushing loss to literature to lose him so young. Although 44 wasn't necessarily 'young' back then, not like to day. but you get my point I think.And Vanya is such an exquisitely common, yet unavoidable masterpiece of stage drama -- seemingly wrenched from the jaws and bowels of every day existence, the way things can be turned on their head and life being not as we know it-- indeed, not ever the same as it once was and seemed destined to be for 'All time.' ... well, this is life itself, and what can you do?Really, death is the answer at the end of all our tales,. isn't it?

This is classic literature, so you can't read it expecting to be wildly entertained. From a cultural-historical point of view, it is quite interesting though. It is a play in which some "dialogues" momentarily look like monologues because they are so long. The life philosophies though are worth examining. Characters are distinct and offer different points of view. This play definitely gets into several universal themes: unrequited love, marrying for convenience, wasted lives, intellectual stimulation as a source of meaning, aging, etc. It provided a lot of material for classroom discussion.

A great play by the master. Eloquent speeches by miserable people caught up in their sad and superficial lives. The estate is not where the retired professor and his wife want to be. Like Shakespeare's plays, every one is in love with someone they can't have.

A very fluid translation. However there were Russian expressions in Russian text that were not explained.

Anton Chekhov was one of the world’s greatest short story writers, and also with quite a good reputation with his play writing. One of the pioneers of modernism in the theatre, so this is of course one of his classic plays, with a rather simple (on the surface) story that has a timeless appeal. This was first written in 1898, and then premiered in Moscow the following year initially with good reviews but pointing out weaknesses in the story and the poor acting of the company who performed it, thus leading to revisions being made.The plot for this was lifted and revised from one of the author’s own earlier plays, and so he had a fair idea of what he wanted to represent. We are thus taken to an estate over one summer where Alexander a professor, and his much younger second wife have turned up to be with the family, as they have found city living a bit too expensive for them at the moment. But the professor’s wife, being quite young and attractive, so it is not long before others are sniffing around her. We see within the opening of the play the different dynamics coming into play, with resentment also being felt by Vanya (Ivan Voitski). Please note that I am using the names in this public domain edition, which in more modern translations are spelt slightly differently.As we see the story being played out, so we also see unrequited love, and passions start to run hot, brought to a point when the professor decides that the estate should be sold off to give him and his wife money to live on in more urban settings. Bringing to life the listlessness of the provincial characters who spend all their lives working away, with no respite and at times loneliness, so we see the clash that is brought by the city dwellers who have come to stay. Along with this there are also pieces on the doctor of the area, who wants to keep the forests alive and producing, both for the benefit of the people and the flora and fauna, seeing ahead to a time where the land will become barren and useless, unable to support life and altering the climate and region. This of course takes a more prominent position today as we can already feel the effects of this, which is happening all the time, with the continual destruction for instance of the rain forests.Being rather nuanced this is something that at times you do have to think about, as Chekhov takes us on a journey of sorts, not only with regards to families, and the way we all interact with others, but also on the way we interact with our environment, and also that ultimately life goes on. By no means a difficult play to understand this shows the genius of the author in keeping things on one level quite simple and subdued at times.

Plenty of vodka goes down in this play as bitter feelings are expressed and lost chances regretted. Professor Serebryakov has returned to his first wife's house with his new wife Yelena. His daughter Sonya already lives there with her Uncle Vanya and between them they manage the place. Uncle Vanya is the brother of Professor Serebryakov's first wife.Professor Serebryakov is an inwardly focused, selfish character and demands constant attention from his family. Uncle Vanya resents his presence and feels unappreciated. In my eyes Vanya loses his argument when he admits he has taken a shine to the Professor's beautiful new wife. Doctor Astrov is a frequent visitor to the house and is also in love with Yelena. Everything comes to a dramatic climax and we see shouting, gunshots and general conflict.It was quite depressing when they were all philosophising in the garden as they are all pretty unhappy with their lot. Vanya is a gloomy melancholy character who is not particularly likeable. Sonya kept the family together and cared for everyone and I sympathised with her.In the play the men describe Yelena as beautiful and fall over themselves to impress her. Poor Sonya overhears some women from church saying she is ugly and how they pity her. Sonya worked hard and cared for everyone but it was Yelena's beauty that won the hearts of the male characters. She didn't do much to contribute to the household. It was sad.The author Anton Chekhov was a writer from Russia. He lived from 1860-1904. Uncle Vanya was published in 1898. I would recommend watching the play after you have read it. That helped me remember the characters better and their motivations.

I gave three stars for this play. It is only that I should read the form and study every angle of a work that was penned for the good of performance, but I did not rate it much for a modern audience.

Plays by their nature are hard to review as you really need to see them performed. Saying that the copy is clear and easy to read. Don't be daunted because its Chekhov. As a play or a general read it trundles along and is easy to follow.

I read this alongside Ronald Hingley's translation of Uncle Vanya. Surprisingly, Hingley's version did not flow as well. I have no idea if Hingley's it was truer to Chekhov's original wording, but this freebie kindle version was certainly the more pleasing read.For anyone looking to start reading Chekhov, I would recommend reading this. It is one of his better known plays, and the translation reads well.