Misery (short story)


"Misery" is an 1886 short story by Anton Chekhov.

Publication

The story was first published in Peterburgskaya Gazetas No. 26, 16 January 1886 issue, signed A. Chekhonte. With minor changes it appeared in the Motley Stories collection. In 1895 it made its way into an anthology called Probleski. In a slightly revised version Chekhov included it into Volume 3 of his Collected Works published by Adolf Marks in 1899–1901.

Synopsis

The cabman Iona's son recently died. He desperately and unsuccessfully tries to have a talk with the people he meets and tell them of how shattered he is. He ends up talking to his horse.

Reception

The story was positively reviewed by Peterburgskiye Vedomosti and N. Ladozhsky. Leonid Obolensky, writing for Russkoye Bogatstvo praised Chekhov for his extraordinary ability to see the hidden drama behind deceptively simple things, and cited "Misery" as a perfect example of that. Konstantin Arsenyev in an essay called "The Writers of Our Times" included "Misery" into his list of the best contemporary short stories. Leo Tolstoy included "Misery" into his personal list of Chekhov's best stories.