Club Chekhov - All Subtext, No Action

Another amazing caricature by Chekhov. This time, the empathy dial is turned up to 11 and we get to see the results. The Darling is a woman whose rapturous devotion and need for meaning from relationships has a stroke of familiarity to all of us. Professor Alex Burry and Lev Lesokhin discuss this wonderful tale about a woman who does so much, yet means so little.

This is a story of a young woman who gives herself entirely to her love interests. Olenka Plemyannikova loves with her whole being, sacrificing herself entirely to the person she is with - whether it's a husband, a lover or a child. Her level of empathy is insanely high, making her a caricature of codependence that many of us should be able to see, at least slightly, in ourselves. This character s...

A well known caricature by Chekhov of a transactional marriage, where the young bride finds her inner power and takes control of the marriage to her wealthy, older husband. Alex and Lev pull this story apart bone by bone to discover its magic and mysteries. It feels like a real Cinderella story - but then, who is the prince? Dial into this discussion to find out!

A somewhat humorous tale of transformation and intrinsic human value coming to the fore. Anna, an 18-year-old girl marries an older man for his status and money, out of love for her father. Her late mother showed her the art of elegance and trained her to act like a lady. When her new husband takes her to her first ball, she has her Cinderella moment and suddenly transforms with far-reaching benef...

In this episode, Lev Lesokhin and Professor Alexander Burry dive into Anton Chekhov’s most famous love story — The Lady with the Dog. This is a heartwarming story of hidden romance that sprouts unexpectedly for both protagonists. It was written just as Chekhov himself was finding himself finally headed towards marriage and, uniquely for his time, one based on love. Our hosts discuss everything fro...

Possibly Chekhov's most famous short story. Probably his best love story. It starts as a casual encounter in a seaside resort. It flourishes a couple weeks and seems to be extinguished. But the relationship blossoms quietly as the two people are apart, living their separate lives. It's a story about the nature of love, emotional attachment, the rigid structures of everyday life that get in the way...

In this episode, Lev Lesokhin and Alexander Burry conclude the discussion of Anton Chekhov’s “Little Trilogy”— The Man in a Case , Gooseberries , and About Love —and what makes them feel so relevant to our times. They talk about the trilogy’s shared setup. Same characters, same setting -- just people telling each other stories. They zero in on that unmistakable "cringe" factor: Belikov’s suffocati...

In this episode, Lev Lesokhin and Alexander Burry dive into Anton Chekhov’s “Little Trilogy”— The Man in a Case , Gooseberries , and About Love —and what makes them feel so relevant to our times. They talk about the trilogy’s shared setup. Same characters, same setting -- just people telling each other stories. They zero in on that unmistakable "cringe" factor: Belikov’s suffocating rigidity, and...

Why is it so hard to say the words that matter before it’s too late? In the final installment of our Chekhov trilogy, host Lev Lesokhin explores "About Love" (1898). This is the story of Alehin and Anna Alexeyevna, two people who spend years in a state of quiet, agonizing mutual attraction, only to confess their love at the moment of permanent separation. This story puts on full display the "Chekh...

What is the price of a personal paradise? Join host Lev Lesokhin for the second installment of our Chekhov trilogy as we explore "Gooseberries" (1898). In this episode, we follow the story of a man obsessed with buying a country estate, partly to grow his own gooseberries, and the brother who watches this "success" with a mixture of pity and disgust. This story explores the notion of happiness and...

The Man in a Shell – 19th-Century Cringe Description: Is it possible to live your entire life in a "case"? Join our reading host Lev Lesokhin, NYC tech executive and bilingual Chekhov enthusiast, as we dive into the first installment of Anton Chekhov’s famous 1898 trilogy. This is followed by Gooseberries and then About Love. In this episode, we learn of the neuroses of Belikov, a man so terrified...

In this episode, we explore the life and legacy of Anton Chekhov—a writer whose quiet revolution in storytelling continues to shape how we understand modern life. The first such discussion between Alex Burry, a lit professor at Ohio State University and Lev Lesokhin, a tech exec and lifelong reader of Chekhov. Born into a lower-middle-class family—the grandson of a serf who bought his freedom and...

Club Chekhov is a collaborative reading and conversation series hosted by literary scholar Alexander Burry and technologist-reader Lev Lesokhin. Together, they journey through the complete works of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, pairing close reading with lively discussion that bridges academic insight with contemporary curiosity. Rather than treating Chekhov as a distant monument of “great literature,”...