The Death of a Government Clerk

Written by Anton Chekhov

Narrated by Anastasia Bertollo

The death of a government clerk is a short humoristic story which was published in 1883. In this story the author raises the problem of a "little" man. In the article there are only three persons: a government clerk, a wife of the clerk and a general Brizzhalov. The main hero is a government clerk who is an object to joke. The author isn't interested in other persons. A "little" man in this story is comic and miserable. One evening, a government clerk who is called Ivan Dmitritch Tchervyakov sits in the second row of the stalls and watches the opera glass at the Cloches de Corneville. He is happy, but suddenly he sneezes to the head of the general.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SmartTouch Media
• Release date: Jan 17, 2015
• ISBN: 9781467606059

Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian doctor, short-story writer, and playwright. Born in the port city of Taganrog, Chekhov was the third child of Pavel, a grocer and devout Christian, and Yevgeniya, a natural storyteller. His father, a violent and arrogant man, abused his wife and children and would serve as the inspiration for many of the writer’s most tyrannical and hypocritical characters. Chekhov studied at the Greek School in Taganrog, where he learned Ancient Greek. In 1876, his father’s debts forced the family to relocate to Moscow, where they lived in poverty while Anton remained in Taganrog to settle their finances and finish his studies. During this time, he worked odd jobs while reading extensively and composing his first written works. He joined his family in Moscow in 1879, pursuing a medical degree while writing short stories for entertainment and to support his parents and siblings. In 1876, after finishing his degree and contracting tuberculosis, he began writing for St. Petersburg’s Novoye Vremya, a popular paper which helped him to launch his literary career and gain financial independence. A friend and colleague of Leo Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky, and Ivan Bunin, Chekhov is remembered today for his skillful observations of everyday Russian life, his deeply psychological character studies, and his mastery of language and the rhythms of conversation.