The Russian reading room
Club Chekhov, in the original
This page is for listeners of Club Chekhov — All Subtext, No Action, the podcast reading through Chekhov's works with Lev Lesokhin and Prof. Alexander Burry. If an episode left you wanting the story itself — not a translation of it — this reading room holds Chekhov in his own Russian, with every word answering on a tap: dictionary form, meaning, stress. You do not need to know Russian to begin; the page carries you.
Start tonight
The first instalment of every story on the shelf is open to anyone, every word answering a tap, every sentence carrying its English — «Дама с собачкой» and «Скрипка Ротшильда» included — and four stories read whole with no account at all: «Смерть чиновника», «Толстый и тонкий», «Ванька» and «Студент». A free account opens the seven Chekhov stories whole, saves the words you look up, and keeps your place across devices; membership opens the complete library, the course and the practice, the first seven days free. Open the reading room, or browse the editorial story pages, which stay free without any account.
The episodes, against the shelf
Every story the club has taken on air, and where each stands here. The club reads a story first and holds its discussion after — both are linked where they exist, straight into the show.
«Человек в футляре» — The Man in a Case
Человек в футляре stands on the shelf — 4,005 words, 1898, part of the library.
«Крыжовник» — Gooseberries
Крыжовник stands on the shelf — 3,241 words, 1898, part of the library.
«О любви» — About Love
О любви stands on the shelf — 3,056 words, 1898, part of the library.
«Дама с собачкой» — The Lady with the Dog
Дама с собачкой stands on the shelf — 5,109 words, 1899, part of the library.
«Анна на шее» — Anna on the Neck
Анна на шее stands on the shelf — 3,935 words, 1895, part of the library.
«Душечка» — The Darling
Душечка stands on the shelf — 3,850 words, 1899, part of the library.
«Палата № 6» — Ward No. 6
Палата № 6 stands on the shelf — 16,043 words, 1892, part of the library.
«Дом с мезонином» — The House with the Mezzanine
Дом с мезонином stands on the shelf — 5,600 words, 1896, part of the library.
«Толстый и тонкий» — Fat and Thin
Толстый и тонкий stands on the shelf — 511 words, 1883, part of the library.
«Скрипка Ротшильда» — Rothschild's Violin
Скрипка Ротшильда stands on the shelf — 3,017 words, 1894, part of the library.
What reading here is like
Nothing is levelled or rewritten — the texts are Chekhov's own, in the editions he was printed in. What changes is the cost of not knowing a word: touch it, and it answers. When you can read a sentence whole, nothing is in your way.
More than the shelf
Reading is the destination, not the whole room. A structured course starts from zero and climbs toward the books themselves, lesson by lesson, built from the stories' own scenes; every word you meet is remembered and returns for practice until it holds; a grammar shelf answers the questions the texts raise; audio reads the lines to you. All of it — the books, the course, the practice — is one library.
Listen to the club
New to the show? Club Chekhov — All Subtext, No Action is walking through the complete works, a reading and then a discussion at a time, roughly twice a month. Start from the introduction, or pick the story you have just read here and hear what a Chekhov scholar and a lifelong reader make of it.