Read and Discuss Anton Chekhov's Brilliant Short Story "The Bet"

Hello ATS and welcome!

Anton Chekhov is in my top 5 short story writers. His stories are varied and deep, and explore many levels of the human condition in such a probing yet beautiful way. He says so much in so little.

He published "The Bet" in 1889.

One night at a dinner party, during which many clever men held lively discussion, an exceptional bet was made between a banker and a lawyer.
Now 15 years later, it is time for the banker to pay up.

Read here about the bargain forged between the two men and follow the gripping tale to its last.

I promise you won't regret the read
www.eastoftheweb.com...


If anyone's interested in participating (and I just plan on a leisurly thing here) I'll post some good questions I found here and you can answer whichever strike you. Thanks in advance for joining! This should be fun

ishamlanguagearts.weebly.com...

Hi, thought I'd wait a bit in order to give anyone who stumbled in here time to read. I do plan on commenting a bit on the text later but this quote is just so powerful!

Chekhov, born in 1860, would have been quite young when he penned this classic.



"You have lost your reason and taken the wrong path. You have taken lies for truth, and hideousness for beauty. You would marvel if, owing to strange events of some sorts, frogs and lizards suddenly grew on apple and orange trees instead of fruit, or if roses began to smell like a sweating horse; so I marvel at you who exchange heaven for earth. I don't want to understand you."


This is a very scathing view on humanity. I have no urge, like the character, to shun mankind; however, society in general does seem to fit into certain of the above terms. As do many politicians, generals arms dealers, bankers, lawyers, etc etc. And well let me include myself in there as well at times.

I find it interesting that the prisoner spent a year on the gospels and got from it a philosophy devoid of humanism. The gospels feature prominently in his final letter but there is no love for man.

I love that he renounced the money. Hope he ran off to Aruba or something.


Thanks for reading. If you read it, let me know if you liked the writing! I find Chekhov's prose and story matter quite striking.

a reply to: zosimov

That was an awesome read. He discovered that the ways of this world was not the ways of the gospel. He actually turned himself over to God and let God decide what was best for him. He tried to find something to keep him tied to this world, but found nothing. Thank you for posting this. It was great.

a reply to: 3daysgone

Great commentary, and I am so glad that you enjoyed the read! This and Rothschild's Fiddle (also by Chekhov) are among my favorite short stories. If you haven't read Rothschild's Fiddle, I would definitely recommend it.
www.eldritchpress.org...
His work had so much heart.

Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts! I agree with your analysis and it is so interesting that, despite losing 15 years to a life of captivity, after renouncing all that is left for him on this earth and his rightful reward, the lawyer doesn't evoke pity from me, rather a kind of wondrous envy.

I hope we can have more literature discussions in the future!

Interesting read.

I've never read anything by Chekhov before, and didn't realise he was such a prolific and highly regarded short story writer. Always thought of him as a playwright (The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya).

Very captivating, economical writing style.

Rothschild's Fiddle was thought-provoking and sad.

I'm now keen to plow through the 201 stories on eldritchpress.org.

a reply to: CJCrawley

Nice! You have some serious reading ahead.

I'd be very interested in hearing which, of all 201 stories, struck you the most and why.

If you happen to remember, would you please come back on here when you finish your Chekhov journey?



PS: I Made a thread on Rothschild's Fiddle some time back- and had one very thoughtful response and wrote some commentary of my own- here's a link if you're interested:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

My favorite thing by Anton Chekhov is a story In the ravine (В овраге) - www.gutenberg.org...

a reply to: turretless

I'll check it out and let you know what I think.
Thanks for sharing!!

a reply to: zosimov

I had no idea the guy from Star Trek wrote stories too.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I had to google it cause I'm not a trekkie

for me, Chekhov was an ambiguous writer, he wrote strangely enough

for me,

a reply to: KristianAdamson

You write a bit ambiguously, yourself

So succinct a story, no padding, no subplot.

Fifteen Decartesian years.

And at the end, the goaler left unchanged, still preoccupied with and to protect his material status, contemplating murder. Overwhelmed with relief when the prisoner takes that decision out of his hands.

The prisoner's mind now that of the mature autist, not concerned with worldly matters, only truth.

The final sentence in your chosen passage, "I do not want to understand you", so poignant. For the banker, the goaler could have at any time, forfeited the bet and chose not. Who would want to understand such wickedness?

Reading the story I wondered about the physical impact of locked away, no sunlight. Chekhov's description of a man withered and old beyond his years implies an understanding beyond knowledge of vitamin D deficiency.

a reply to: teapot

It's been quite a while since I've read the text, but I really enjoyed reading your response. I think I'll give it another read so I can refresh my memory about the details and comment on your ideas.
I definitely like your thoughts regarding the lack of growth/maturity on the gaoler's part, the corrosive nature of the bet on his nature.
Thank you for the excellent comments

originally posted by: KristianAdamson
To be distinguished is that work. Constant homework, olympiads and teachers who throw more and more work. And one day I couldn't take it anymore. Just ordering an essay on the service best.customwritingservice.com... and he himself decided to relax for at least a couple of days! My teacher didn't even notice the difference, and so it went on until the end of my studies.

keep reading and i love it