Chekhov: The Duel and Other Classic Tales

The Duel by Anton Chekhov, is a classic exploration of the human mind told through the eyes of different people striving for the same thing: to forget the days they lost and make the best of the days they still have.

Published in 1891, this morality tale pits a scientist, a government worker, his mistress, a deacon, and a physician against one another in a verbal battle of wits and ethics that explodes into a violent contest: a duel to the death.

When Laevsky, a lazy youth who works for the...