favorite checkov short story

[underground_idiot]

I just discovered this powerful author a few weeks ago, so  im not too familiar with all his works (over 200 of em, i also read he wrote 69 in one year!! ).  Post your favourite story and why.  
http://chekhov2.tripod.com/
check this site out if you havent had the chance to read him yet.

[axon]

"Lady With a Dog" is a classic, and is one of my favorites; I also like "Ward No. 6." - overall, Chekhov is one of the best short story writers I have read thus far.

If you enjoy short stories check out: Kafka, Hemingway, and Marquez - they are all excellent as well.

[Mogwai]

axon, I've tried Kafka and I couldn't get through his other short stories besides Metamorphosis.  REALLY weird stuff.  

I'll have to Chekh out Chekhov.  Okay, that was retarded.  

[axon]

I love Kafka's short stories; some of them are not longer than a paragraph, and you're right, they are very weird. As far as I know, a lot of them are basically his dreams - boy, he must've been on some heavy opium

One of my favorites is "The Vulture" - if I can find it I'll post it.

[axon]

Kafka's stories are like Dali's paintings....I present:

THE VULTURE

Franz Kafka
   
A vulture was hacking at my feet. It had already torn my boots and stockings to shreds, now it was hacking at the feet themselves. Again and again it struck at them, then circled several times restlessly round me, then returned to continue its work. A gentleman passed by, looked on for a while, then asked me why I suffered the vulture. "I'm helpless," I said. "When it came and began to attack me, I of course tried to drive it away, even to strangle it, but these animals are very strong, it was about to spring at my face, but I preferred to sacrifice my feet. Now they are almost torn to bits." "Fancy letting yourself be tortured like this!" said the gentleman. "One shot and that's the end of the vulture." "Really ?" I said. "And would you do that?" "With pleasure," said the gentleman, "I've only got to go home and get my gun. Could you wait another half hour?" "I'm not sure about that," said I, and stood for a moment rigid with pain. Then I said: "Do try it in any case, please." "Very well," said the gentleman, "I'll be as quick as I can." During this conversation the vulture had been calmly listening, letting its eye rove between me and the gentleman. Now I realized that it had understood everything; it took wing, leaned far back to gain impetus, and then, like a javelin thrower, thrust its beak through my mouth, deep into me. Falling back, I was relieved to feel him drowning irretrievably in my blood, which was filling every depth, flooding every shore.

the end what do you guys think?  

[Daydreamer]

Recently I've read "The Black Monk" by Chekhov and it managed to capture my attention. This is a story about a philosophist, Kovrin, falling into insanity. He is happy until his family makes him start the treatment...
A nice and very interesting one.
That's the only Chekhov's text I've ever read so I have to name it my favourite

[Gabrinus]

Neil Simon wrote a play The Good Doctor, based on a number of Chekhov's short stories.  If you get a chance to see it or read it, you will not be disappointed.  I hope it is not too light hearted for you Dostoyevsky fans, it is a comedy with a bit of the absurd, very well written as such.

[crazyboutx]

"from the diary of a violent-tempered man" is my favorite
it makes me laugh every time I read
but my friends think it's boring
and I also like "Volodia"

[mudgopher]

Ward No. 6
Enchanted circle. As long as there are mental hospitals...
Great stuff.

[MikeK]

"In The Ravine" is my favorite Chekhov story.  Long on characterization, short on plot (as he's known for).  The best thing about it is the mood he creates that grips the reader throughout the whole story as he describes the village, the people there, and their lives.

I also like "Easter Night".

[OlegB]

My favourite story by Chekhov is "The Steppe", though it can't be considered really 'short'. It is very beautiful though very short on plot, so I found it very boring when I was reading it in the 9th form or about that time (when we were studying it at school). Now I understand how wrong I was .
The second for me is "Ionitch" - a great story of a man's spiritual downfall. Then I love the series of 3 short stories (which are not very related but share the same narrators) - "The Man in a Case" (a name that's become a nickname for people like Belikov in Russia), "Gooseberries" and "About Love", they are very deep and yet subtly ironic, just the style of Chekhov.
EDIT: Almost forgot about "The Nervous Breakdown" - it was also quite good. Very psychological and insightful.