Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

"In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, George Saunders guides the reader through seven classic Russian short stories he's been teaching for twenty years as a professor in the prestigious Syracuse University graduate MFA creative writing program. Paired with stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, these essays are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it's more relevant than ever in these turbulent times. Saunders approaches...

The Seagull is Anton Chekhov's brilliant four-act play that is considered a monumental work of drama, and one of the most sublime literary examinations of the complexities of love and friendship. First performed over a century ago, this play remains one of the most widely staged productions throughout the world. The four protagonists in The Seagull are all artists; Trigorin is a well-established writer, Arkadina is a renowned yet aging actress, her...

A Russian author, playwright, and physician, Anton Chekhov is widely considered one of the best short-story writers of all time. Having influenced such writers as Ernest Hemingway, Raymond Carver, and James Joyce, Chekhov's stories are often noted for their stream-of-consciousness style and their vast number. Raymond Carver once said, “It is not only the immense number of stories he wrote—for few, if any, writers have ever done more—it is the...

Aging actress Irina visits the country estate where her brother Sorin and her son Konstantin reside. She brings her lover Boris, a successful novelist. The estate teems with desire, jealousy and angst. The estate manager's daughter Masha is in love with Konstantin, who is in love with the sweet neighbor Nina, who is in love with Boris. Boris casually uses and discards Nina while Irina continuously treats Konstantin with similar disdain. Emotions run...

Movie star Elizabeth takes her paramour Peter to her lakeside estate to visit her family during Memorial Day weekend. There they meet up with Elizabeth's ailing brother, her artist son, the family doctor, the estate's custodian, its careless caretaker, their temperamental daughter, and her long suffering ornithologist husband who's the keeper of the sacred land where a bald eagle is trying to raise its young.

Set in the picturesque landscape of Cappadocia in Central Anatolia, Winter Sleep focuses on a small village, half-empty, in the wintry off-season. The film follows a local celebrity, Aydin, an actor who runs a small hotel with his wife, writes a column for the local newspaper, and is toying with the idea of producing a book on Turkish theatre. With a steady, penetrating gaze reminiscent of that which Ingmar Bergman brought to his chamber pieces, Ceylan...