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Book details

The princess

and other stories

by Антон Павлович Чехов

Published 1999246 pagesISBN 978-0-1928-3788-2

Dr. Michael Ivanovich's pent-up fury with the unwelcome philanthropy of Princess Vera finds a long-awaited vent when he encounters her one evening in the garden of a monastery she has honoured with a visit. Throwing caution and class protocol to the winds, he accuses her of monstrous interference in others' lives, to nobody's good but her own . . . A doctor himself, Chekhov was acutely observant of Russian society in all its aspects of sickness, both physical and moral. The question for him as a writer was whether to moralize - to attempt to reform - or to entertain. It was a question which is implicitly answered by the stories themselves. They offer no easy answers, but they pinpoint the anguish, tedium, or downright evil of his characters with an irony that makes them both poignant and truthful.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.

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Full BookenDeX details

What the reading experience may hold

A fuller profile for choosing with more confidence—not just another copy of the preview.

Themes to notice

Fiction

Use these as starting points rather than limits; the most memorable books often stretch beyond their catalog labels.

Content notes

No specific content concerns can be confirmed from the available English catalog information. Consult a publisher or reader-supplied guide when detailed warnings matter.

These notes are inferred from available catalog information and may not be complete. Check a publisher or reader-supplied guide if you need comprehensive warnings.

Reading experience

Balanced tone · Steady pace

A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.

Who it may suit

A good fit if…

Readers who want a thoughtful experience and enjoy noticing the connections beneath a book’s surface story.

At a glance

This book's DNA

A visual estimate based on this edition's categories, description, and length. Select a star to explore the signals.

ToneBalanced
LuminousDark

This signal is descriptive, not a rating. It helps compare the kind of reading experience this edition may offer.

No plot details

Spoiler-Free Emotional Arc

A broad estimate of the book’s emotional rhythm, shown without story events or outcomes.

Spoiler-free
12345
PeakRelative emotional intensity
The princessАнтон Павлович Чехов
Heightened4.1/5

This visualization is an interpretive estimate based on catalog description, categories, tone, pace, and content signals. It does not describe specific scenes.

Before you choose

A quick reading snapshot

Edition facts and catalog signals to help you decide whether this book fits what you want to read next.

Reading lengthA shorter read246 pages in this edition
Publication eraModernFirst published or edition dated 1999
Primary categoryFictionExplore similar books below
ISBN-13
978-0-1928-3788-2
Language
English
Edition record
OL6805626M
BookenDeX editorial lens

A more thoughtful way into this book

This guide uses the edition details and category signals above to help you choose deliberately. It does not replace the author's work or a full review.

Good to know

A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.

Begin with its place in Fiction, then notice where the book resists that label.

Try this reading approach

Read for connection, not completion.

Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.

Three questions to carry with you

  1. What does the central character want, and what do they misunderstand about that desire?
  2. Which detail or relationship changes how you interpret the story?
  3. What feeling or question does the book leave with you after the plot moves on?

Editorial framework by Wesley Bryan, BookenDeX Founder and Editor.