My Life (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. A Russian Realist Novella of Class Conflict, Labor, Conscience, and Moral Disillusionment in Provincial SocietyBy Anton Chekhov
Length5h 45m
About this audiobook
Anton Chekhov's My Life (1896) is a searching novella of provincial Russia, narrated by Misail Poloznev, a young gentleman who rejects bureaucratic respectability to become a house-painter and laborer. Through his defiance of class expectations, Chekhov examines work, conscience, marriage, philanthropy, and the moral emptiness of social prestige. Written in his characteristic style of lucid restraint, ironic understatement, and psychological exactness, the book belongs to the great late phase of Russian realism, yet it quietly unsettles the certainties of the nineteenth-century social novel. Chekhov, trained as a physician and formed by intimate contact with poverty, illness, and provincial stagnation, brought to fiction an unusual combination of compassion and diagnostic coolness. His experience of Russian towns, official pettiness, and the failures of liberal idealism deeply informs My Life. Like much of his mature work, it refuses melodrama and easy judgment, allowing moral complexity to emerge from ordinary gestures, disappointments, and compromises. This book is strongly recommended to readers interested in social conscience without rhetoric, and in fiction where ethical questions arise from lived experience rather than doctrine. My Life is brief, subtle, and quietly devastating: an essential Chekhovian study of freedom, labor, and disillusionment.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A succinct Introduction situates the work's timeless appeal and themes.
- The Synopsis outlines the central plot, highlighting key developments without spoiling critical twists.
- A detailed Historical Context immerses you in the era's events and influences that shaped the writing.
- An Author Biography reveals milestones in the author's life, illuminating the personal insights behind the text.
- A thorough Analysis dissects symbols, motifs, and character arcs to unearth underlying meanings.
- Reflection questions prompt you to engage personally with the work's messages, connecting them to modern life.
- Hand‐picked Memorable Quotes shine a spotlight on moments of literary brilliance.
- Interactive footnotes clarify unusual references, historical allusions, and archaic phrases for an effortless, more informed read.
Audiobook details
GenreLiterary Classics, General Fiction
Length5 hrs 45 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateDec 8, 2023
LanguageEnglish
The Shooting Party (A Murder Mystery) (Annotated)Anton Chekhov9h 48m$2 · $0.00
Greatest Works of Anton Chekhov (Annotated)Anton Chekhov48h 15m$2 · $0.00
Greatest Works of Anton Chekhov (Annotated)Anton Chekhov41h 13m$2 · $0.00
Anton Chekhov: The Collected Novellas and Short Stories in Multiple Translations (Annotated)Anton Chekhov132h 15m$2 · $0.00
The Life and Genius of Anton Chekhov: Diary, Letters, Reminiscences and Biography (Unabridged) (Annotated)Anton Chekhov18h 37m$2 · $0.00
The Life and Genius of Anton Chekhov: Letters, Diary, Reminiscences and Biography (Annotated)Anton Chekhov18h 55m$2 · $0.00
Anton Chekhov: The Collected Novellas and Short Stories in Multiple Translations (Unabridged) (Annotated)Anton Chekhov132h 14m$2 · $0.00
Collected Plays of Anton Chekhov (Annotated)Anton Chekhov16h 28m$2 · $0.00
The Collected Works of Anton Chekhov: Plays, Short Stories, Diary & Letters (Unabridged) (Annotated)Anton Chekhov165h$2 · $0.00
The Collected Works of Anton Chekhov: Plays, Novellas, Short Stories, Diary & LettersAnton Chekhov163h 51m$1 · $0.00
A Living ChattelAnton Chekhov2h 41m$1 · $0.00
The Steppe: The Story of a JourneyAnton Chekhov5h 29m$1 · $0.00
The Collected Works of Anton Chekhov: Plays, Novellas, Short Stories, Autobiographical Writings & Reminiscences (Annotated)Anton Chekhov173h 25m$2 · $0.00
The Greatest Novellas & Short Stories of Anton ChekhovAnton Chekhov130h 53m$2 · $0.00
Anton Chekhov: Letters, Diary, Reminiscences & BiographyAnton Chekhov17h 36m$2 · $0.00
The Collected Novellas & Short Stories of Anton Chekhov (200+ Titles in Multiple Translations)Anton Chekhov130h 53m$2 · $0.00
Greatest Works of Anton ChekhovAnton Chekhov39h 37m$1 · $0.00
PlaysAnton Chekhov16h 18m$1 · $0.00
The Shooting PartyAnton Chekhov9h 44m$1 · $0.00
C. S. LewisC. S. Lewis38h 55m$30
The Jeeves and Wooster Stories: The Complete Collection (33 Books)P. G. Wodehouse21h 57m$15 · $0.00
The Gulag Archipelago Volume 3Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn21h 56m$46 · $0.00
Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate CollectionArthur Conan Doyle59h 49m$5 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Novels, Short Stories and Autobiographical WritingsFyodor Dostoyevsky270h 59m$2 · $0.00
The Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America (Annotated)Howard Irving Chapelle, Tappan Adney13h 10m$2 · $0.00
Charles Dickens: Complete Works (Annotated)Charles Dickens819h 4m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Novels of Jane Austen & Brontë Sisters (Annotated)Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë203h 52m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works: Charlotte, Emily, Anne, Patrick & Branwell BrontëCharlotte Brontë, Anne Brontë, Emily Brontë138h 12m$1 · $0.00
The Complete Works of William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare108h 44m$1.80 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde (Annotated)Oscar Wilde126h 19m$2 · $0.00
L. M. Montgomery – Premium Collection: Novels, Short Stories, Poetry & MemoirsLucy Maud Montgomery155h 1m$2 · $0.00
The Complete Works of the Brontë Family Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë140h 13m$2 · $0.00
MARK TWAIN: 12 Novels, 195 Short Stories, Autobiography, 10 Travel Books, 160+ Essays & Speeches (Illustrated)Mark Twain415h 9m5.0 (2)$2 · $0.00
This Side of Paradise - The Original 1920 Edition (Annotated)F. Scott Fitzgerald11h 30m$2 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m$18 · $0.00
All NovelsGeorge Orwell53h 48m$10 · $0.00
The Complete Works of TolstoyLeo Tolstoy412h 44m$1 · $0.00
The Complete Works of Louisa May Alcott (Annotated)Louisa May Alcott226h 24m$2 · $0.00
Sherlock Holmes series - completeArthur Conan54h 8m$3.50 · $0.00
Under His ProtectionB. Love5h 7m$15
Heart of IronC. M. Alongi15h 24m$30
Ethic IIAshley Antoinette9h 1m$20
RiversnowTess Thompson8h 11m$20
Supreme ClienteleAshley & JaQuavis8h 58m$20
Body Refinement in a Beast Tamer’s World, Book 1Seth Ring14h 7m$27
EmberJeffrey Wilson, Brian Andrews13h 58m$23
The Complete Works of Jane Austen (Unabridged)Jane Austen88h 8m5.0 (1)$1 · $0.00
Desperate MeasuresBrenda Jackson8h 59m5.0 (1)$28 · $0.00
Searching For ThanksgivingS.E. Smith4h 24m$20
Naughty 4Brenda Hampton7h 30m$17
The Dance with Me TrilogyShelley Shepard Gray21h 44m$35
Anne Shirley (Complete 14 Book Collection)Lucy Maud Montgomery125h 28m$2 · $0.00
The DopemanJaQuavis Coleman5h 25m$20
Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate CollectionArthur Conan Doyle59h 49m$5 · $0.00
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.3 (18)$29 · $0.00
Grand Opening 2Carl Weber9h 16m$20
Sons of Valor II: Violence of ActionBrian Andrews, Jeffrey Wilson12h 34m$23
Malevolent MagicMildred Abbott7h 13m$17
Bikes, Toys, and Hot BoyzGenesis Woods, Shantaé13h 9m$23
You may also like
The German Lieutenant, and Other StoriesAugust Strindberg4h 36m$2 · $0.00
SontagBenjamin Moser22h 4m$46 · $0.00
To-morrowJoseph Conrad1h 8m$2.30
Vincent van GoghVictoria Charles2h 4m$13 · $0.00
After AnneLogan Steiner10h 45m$29 · $0.00
GigoloEdna Ferber7h 18m$17
This Particular HappinessJackie Shannon Hollis7h 27m$20 · $0.00
Dorothy DandridgeDonald Bogle26h 42m$53 · $0.00
Dawn O'Hara: The Girl Who LaughedEdna Ferber7h 35m$17
Edward HopperGerry Souter4h 40m$16 · $0.00
The House with the Mezzanine and Other StoriesAnton Pavlovich Chekhov6h 44m$2.30
Vincent van Gogh by Vincent van Gogh - Volume 1Victoria Charles4h 39m$18 · $0.00
Story Of A Long Distance Marriage, TheSiddesh Inamdar4h 28m$8
Find His Way HomeNell Iris2h 24m$3 · $0.00
Things I Should Have Told My DaughterPearl Cleage11h 10m$20 · $0.00
The Sex Lives of African WomenNana Darkoa Sekyiamah10h 12m$20 · $0.00
Fortune Favors the BraveKiri Westby9h 6m$20
A Vicarage ReunionKate Hewitt7h 3m$17
George Sand: Some Aspects of Her Life and WritingsRené Doumic3h 45m$2 · $0.00
Beethoven's Letters 1790-1826, Volume 1Ludwig van Beethoven6h 31m$2.30