Paddle to the Amazon: The Ultimate 12,000-Mile Canoe Adventure

Book Description

It was crazy. It was unthinkable. It was the adventure of a lifetime.

When Don and Dana Starkell left Winnipeg in a tiny three-seater canoe, they had no idea of the dangers that lay ahead. Two years and 12,180 miles later, father and son had each paddled nearly twenty million strokes, slept on beaches, in jungles and fields, dined on tapir, shark, and heaps of roasted ants.

They encountered piranhas, wild pigs, and hungry alligators. They were arrested, shot at, taken for spies and drug smugglers, and set upon by pirates. They had lived through terrifying hurricanes, food poisoning, and near starvation. And at the same time they had set a record for a thrilling, unforgettable voyage of discovery and old-fashioned adventure.

"Courageous . . . Exciting and always immediate." -- The New York Times Book Review

From the Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews:

My Favorite Midlife Crisis Adventure.......2007-06-13

What a great read. The author, fresh from a devastating divorce, started planning this epic father-and-sons canoe journey from Canada to Brazil. After some years of cooling off and preparation, amid the usual hail of well-deserved dire warnings such adventures generate, he actually pulled it off.

From the cover blurb, I assumed I'd be reading another insipid, feel-good father-son story, and I was prepared to dislike it. Boy, was I wrong. Most of the text is pulled directly from Don's actual journals written during the trip, words he appears to have kept for himself and only later decided to share with the world.

The tale is heart-wrenchingly frank about everything from the constant physical and emotional challenges to Don's personal doubts to occasional and agonizing strife with his sons. Rather than distracting, it richens his descriptions of the journey itself--filled with colorful notes about the terrain, animals, plants, and (especially) bugs along the way--and helps point the harsh light of reality on the adventure. Particularly delicious are his observations on the ever-changing nature of local human behavior along the 12,000 miles. Also, Don's references to tales of the long-ago explorers who visited parts of the journey's route have given me a wealth of new books to put on my reading list.

By no means would I call this a feel-good book, though I finished it feeling inspired and delighted--and yes, good. Though an easy read, the book did no hand-holding through any of the journey's rough spots; the story is regularly gruesome, occasionally hair-raising, now and again embarrassing, but through it all jaw-dropping. This is as real as it gets.

Like adventure? Read this.

Awesome ride!.......2007-06-12

I felt like I went to the Amazon with these guys without the bugs, dirt, starvation, and near death experiences. I enjoyed every page, the good and the bad. I think most people have the dream to do something like Don Starkell but few of us actually do it. It's been about a month since I read the book and I'm still thinking about all they went through. He doesn't sugarcoat details, he just tells it like it was. I'm glad you went Don, and took your sons with you, but more than that, I'm glad you wrote a book a about it!

Still a great read.......2006-06-18

I read this about 8 yrs ago,found it in a used book store.I still think about it.A wonderful fish-eye view of a long journey with good and hard memories.The dynamics between father and sons juxtaposed with vibrant scenery make this a book you wont want to put down.Bravo!

My book is worn out.......2006-02-23

This is a great book. It is also an easy read. I have had many friends & co-workers curse me for lending them "this stupid book I can't put down" ...and then they ask if they can lend it to another friend. Pages are falling out in the middle becuase it is so well used.

Read and re-read.......2006-02-07

What a great adventure. It is the only book that I have read four times. If you like adventure, this is for you.

Average customer rating:

The best adventure I have ever read
Father and Sons Adventure, Danger, True Grit
Excellent novel, with a great flow of events!
Was there ever a movie made from their adventure? Excellent
An amazing tale you won't forget.

Paddle to the Amazon
Don Starkell
Manufacturer: Prima Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1559580240

Customer Reviews:

The best adventure I have ever read.......1999-08-17

It is hard to believe this actually happened, but with the detailed composition of Don Starkell and his son's journey, the reality is true - and frightening. More of a test of human endurance than "Alive", this book is a must read for anyone who ever wondered how strong a will can be. Don't miss the opportunity to learn about the riverways and cultures that inhabit them, from Winnipeg, Canada to the Amazon River. A must read.

Father and Sons Adventure, Danger, True Grit.......1998-07-25

I read this book three times over the years. This book is a must read, especially for father's and son's. Interaction between siblings, the love and pride the father holds for his sons, and vise versa. The challenge of the test was crucial in this book. The endurance unbelievable. The goal was focused. The strangers they met along the journey showed compassion and in their way contributed to the long journey with pride. Respect for father, respect for sons was observed. In away it was seasoned with mystery of what was around the next bend. Danger lurked in their midst. The dynamics of family was strong. I am lending my hardcover to a retired college professor, who is planning a much shorter journey by canoe with his two sons. During my reads of this work I felt the adventure with indepth observation of the different actions taken by the father and sons, during times of tension and fear of the unknown.. This book is exciting because it is REAL, about ordinary! REAL people in the REAL world without fabrication of a myth. A page turner, with definite purpose. Should be a mandatory read for all young men and fathers, as well as mothers. It is certainly an honor to read a real book with substance. I'm proud of the author to bring this work to the forefront for the reading public.

Excellent novel, with a great flow of events!.......1998-04-27

"Paddle to the Amazon" is a brilliant novel which should be read not only by canoeing enthusiasts, but by anyone who appreciates a book of quality, and adventure. Don and Dana Starkell have my greatest respect, and I look forward to reading his next book.

Was there ever a movie made from their adventure? Excellent.......1998-03-20

I've read the book, (I THINK) three times, and since that time I have read many other books about canoeists and their adventures. I would have to say that It is by far the Best book I have ever read on ANY subject! After reading this book, I have gained a new sense of adventure in the outdoors. I would say that "Paddle To The Amazon" was my major inspiration to buy my own canoe, (which now is my favorite hobby.) I've often longed to go on an adventure such as theirs, and admire that they, like I, had the same longings, but ACTUALLY followed through! Don from his writings has earned alot of respect from this guy(Me), and I only wish I knew how to contact him so that I could forward that message to him! He was (or is?) a strong man both mentally and phisically, I'm sure he is a man of many great stories, a man of great adventure!

An amazing tale you won't forget........1996-09-09

A true story not likely to be repeated by anyone. I'll never go canoeing again without thinking of this book.

Average customer rating:

Awful and embarrassing.
Entertaining light travelogue
Not Worth the Time
It's good for a funny line here and there....
Entertaining vignettes from around the world

Up the Amazon Without a Paddle
Doug Lansky
Manufacturer: Meadowbrook
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Essays & Travelogues | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

Reference | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0671316575

Book Description

Doug Lansky searches the planet for adventures and reports them with a wry wit. CNN has described him as "having the world's most interesting job." Read about Lansky's experiences:

fending off hippos with a canoe paddle on the Zambezi River

test driving Ferraris in Italy

surviving the world's largest tomato fight in Spain

swimming with dolphins off the coast of New Zealand

blowgun hunting with the Jaguar Indians in the Amazon

riding an ostrich in South Africa

lassoing reindeer above the Arctic Circle

wrestling an alligator in Florida

playing ice golf in Finland

Customer Reviews:

Awful and embarrassing........2004-02-06

There's a limit of 1000 words on these reviews, and I'm going to use all of them. If you're in a rush, here's the summary:

"Up the Amazon Without a Paddle" is a horrible book. Don't buy it.

If you're not in a rush, sit back and let me explain why.

Doug Lansky is an unfunny, one-note writer. In almost every paragraph, he employs a single, childish device to trick you into thinking his adventures are amusing: EXAGGERATION. Lansky's exaggeration comes so thick and fast that you a) immediately stop trusting anything he says, and b) realize how desperate he is to mine laughs out of experiences that were clearly not particularly interesting or funny at the time.

He usually exaggerates with the help of a forced and trite comparison, preferably unflattering:

"As I boarded the Trans-Manchurian in Beijing for my six-day train ride to Moscow, I was greeted by a motherly Russian train attendant who had enough facial hair to knit a pair of leg warmers."

And it only goes downhill from there. Hardly a paragraph passes without some kind of exaggeration, negative caricature, and/or mean-spirited sarcasm. If you're looking for a book where a young American traveler insults the appearance, clothing, language, eating habits, and personal hygiene of most everyone he encounters, this one's for you.

Another of Lansky's key exaggeration tactics, utilized in almost all 60 essays, is the old "cheap shot at a celebrity" trick:

"I jumped on [the alligator's] back and placed both my hands firmly in the 'safety position' on his neck, which was about twice the width of Roseanne Barr's neck."

Only a gifted comic could take a story about alligator wrestling and masterfully turn it into a cheap shot at an overweight celebrity. Bravo.

"[The Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland] has more lumps than Robert Redford's face, bunkers the size of the Gobi Desert, and other "small" bunkers deep enough to conceal the bodies of numerous golfers who refused to stop swinging away at their ball. The rough is thicker than Don King's hair, and there's usually enough wind to blow the makeup off Tammy Faye Bakker's face."

Some might call this funny. I call it desperate and grasping. And embarrassing. Good travel humor isn't something you impose on your subject with exaggeration and phony comparisons. Good travel humor comes from observing genuinely interesting and amusing things that are inherent in your subject, and rendering them in a way that not only communicates this humor, but also gives your reader a rich and authentic portrait of what you actually experienced. That's not what you find in this book. You find the above. Half the time Lansky goes for the cheap laugh, and the other half he goes for the nonexistent laugh.

Now let's see how Doug generates additional "humor" by flaunting his ignorance and laughing condescendingly at other people's poverty. This is where Lansky's writing goes from bad to downright ugly. Writing about a bus trip in Guatemala, Lansky has this to say:

"All of the windows [of the bus] were jammed shut, probably with thirty-year-old chewing gum left by junior-high baby-boomers in Nebraska before the bus was sold to the Guatemalans."

These sorts of 'wacky' observations display Lansky's essential malevolence. Isn't it funny that Guatemala is so poor they're using ramshackle, decades-old school buses America threw away, and they're such filthy people that they (apparently) haven't cleaned the bus once since they bought it? No, actually, it's not funny at all. And it's even less funny when you're not completely ignorant, and you know that in 1954, when those Nebraskan baby boomers were just being born, the CIA sponsored the overthrow of Guatemala's democratically-elected president and replaced him with dictator Castillo Armas, kicking off 40 years of brutal repression that put a lot more emphasis on liquidating hundreds of thousands of Guatemalans than maintaining a state-of-the-art bus fleet for Doug Lansky to ride around in. A good travel writer might have thrown in a paragraph or two about recent Guatemalan history (you know, context and all), but Lansky isn't here to educate us. No, his schtick is just having a cheap laugh at dirt-poor Guatemala.

The closest he gets to historical background and commentary on Guatemala:

"I liked the idea of being isolated in a third-world country, nothing to do but speak Spanish... and avoid death squads."

Yes, mass murder is hilarious when it isn't your people being killed. I can't wait to read about Doug's zany visit to Auschwitz. Whoops, his last name is Lansky. Bet it'll be a while before we see that one. Let's just stick to giggling at the slaughter of those dirty Latin Americans, shall we?

I'm sorry folks, but the oft-repeated charge that Doug Lansky is an "ugly American" sticks. I'll bet that most of those who say "lighten up, it's all in good fun" are American, and therefore unaware of how it feels to be on the receiving end of the smug American superiority complex. It's not funny to be laughed at. And that's what Lansky does.

Just so you know, I'm not a humorless or overly political person. I am in fact a professional comedian who loves travel literature. I wrote this review, my first, because Lansky's book was awful enough to shake my out of my complacency. Where writers like Tim Cahill entertain and enlighten, Lansky just insults. His flippant and callous ignorance does nothing but perpetuate the harmful mentality that the rest of the world is a playground for rich American kids to frolic in, make fun of, and feel superior to. And I hope this review, and more importantly, the bits of his book that I've quoted here, will convince you to give this one a miss.

Entertaining light travelogue.......2004-01-03

My mom gave me this book as a Christmas gift, thinking it a fitting present after my travels in Europe. It's definitely an entertaining read -- Lansky has a clever, irreverant, Dave Barry-ish wit, and, more importantly, a knack for keeping it short and zingy. You can read through each of his stories in a few minutes and most inspire chuckles, along with occasional snorts.

If you're looking for a "serious" travel book, this isn't it. Lansky's "slacker abroad" schtick is unabashedly about making fun of himself, the places he visits, and the people he meets, and not a source of useful cultural insight or travel tips. Some readers might be offended that he appears to be out for a good time at the expense of really learning about the cultures he travels among, but if you read between the lines, you'll find that the author seems to reflect (momentarily, anyway) on how pampered tourists and partying hostel-hoppers have altered the cultures of so many places in the world that their economies now revolve around showing visitors what they expect to find rather than a continuation of the unadulterated society that once existed. The wry, jaded epilogue about Disney's Epcot Center, which comments on this unfortunate reality, might be the truest piece in the book. As a newly minted international traveler, I can tell you that it's not easy to escape America and its more blandifying influences.

But, this is not the place for a sermon. Bottom line -- funny book. Read it on the airplane.

Not Worth the Time.......2002-10-20

Doug Lansky is the typical Ugly American traveller. This collection of short pieces does nothing but demonstrate his lack of respect for the countries he visits and their rich cultures. He mentions his foreign-born girlfrind, Signe, who must be completely blind to Doug's ethnocentric views on non-Americans and locales around the globe. Seems no destination is good enough (read American enough)for Lansky, as he passes judgment on everyone from Laplanders to Catholic pilgrims, Spanish Bullfight fans to Australian sheepherders. As one lucky enough to travel the world for a living, I would think Lansky would have gained an appreciation for foreign cultures, not the seeming disdain that is apparent in this book. Instead of embracing foreign cultures he always seems to seek out (and find) other Americans with whom he can belittle age old traditions and ways of life in the countries he visits. If you are interested in good travel writing with a humorous touch, read anything by Bill Bryson or Tim Cahill, but please stay away from Doug "Ugly American Frat Boy" Lansky.

It's good for a funny line here and there...........2002-06-05

Basically...he drops a few funny lines, but doesn't really write about his travels in any depth. If you are actually interested in the travels themselves...don't read this book. If you want a few laughs....from a skimpy and slightly dull book, read it. It's not horrible. I just expected more.

Entertaining vignettes from around the world.......2002-03-07

Lansky finds the right balance between autobiography and travelogue.

Nothing is more boring than Aunt Gertrude's slide show of her trip to Italy and France. What makes travel accounts interesting are often the personal details included in the accounts. From Theroux to Bryson, this has always seemed true. Sometimes, a single incident can illuminate the setting and Lansky's stories do just that.

His comic view of travels makes this light reading perfect for travel or a few minutes between clients at work.

Average customer rating:
The Online Business Setup, Cheap Marketing, Amazon Sales for Customized Dragon Boat Paddles Businesses
J Bowman J Orr
Manufacturer: LTBR, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000U5T9IO

Average customer rating:
The Online Business Setup, Cheap Marketing, Amazon Sales for Ping Pong Paddles Businesses
J Bowman J Orr
Manufacturer: LTBR, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000U65RZC

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The Online Business Setup, Cheap Marketing, Amazon Sales for Training Paddles Businesses
J Bowman J Orr
Manufacturer: LTBR, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000U5QHIO

Average customer rating:
The Online Business Setup, Killer Headlines, Amazon Sales for Customized Dragon Boat Paddles Businesses
J Bowman J Orr
Manufacturer: LTBR, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000W7NF58

Average customer rating:
The Online Business Setup, Killer Headlines, Amazon Sales for Paddles Businesses
J Bowman J Orr
Manufacturer: LTBR, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000W7JLWO

Average customer rating:
The Online Business Setup, Killer Headlines, Amazon Sales for Ping Pong Paddles Businesses
J Bowman J Orr
Manufacturer: LTBR, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000W7SSQY

Average customer rating:
The Online Business Setup, Killer Headlines, Amazon Sales for Swimming Training Paddles Businesses
J Bowman J Orr
Manufacturer: LTBR, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000W7QDPW

Customer Reviews:

2-dimensional book showing buildings on streets in London.......1999-10-29

This book was published in 1992, and needs to be up-dated as it is a wonderful format. The information is dated, and many of the retail places mentioned may not be in existance after 8 years. I would love to see a year 2000 version!

Bird's eye, 2-D perspectives on every London location.......1998-07-22

Here's a wonderful pocket reference for touring London. (Up Close books are available for other cities, too.) From any spot in the city, the book gives you a bird's eye, fully two-dimensional, street-by-street, building-by-building, park-by-park, intersection-by-intersection view of where you are, what's around you, and what's on the next street or the next block. Use it in conjunction with a conventional street map; it's like being there before you get there. And best of all, with increasing distance away from your point of view on the pages, the 2-D line drawings don't get smaller, perspective-wise. We've used the Up Close books in Paris and Rome: enormously helpful and fun.

Customer Reviews:

FANGY-PANTS!!!.......2007-05-22

WHAT? THEY BROKE UP, SHE GETS ALL 3 GUYS?? LOL, WOW, SHE GETS AROUND, LOL, OK, FANG IS SOOO CUTE, AND EMILY IS SOOO FUNNY. OK, READ THIS BOOK, GET IT WHERE EVER, JUST READ IT!!

Not for young teens.......2007-01-09

I bought this book for my 12 year daughter and I had no idea that is was full of adult situations such as condoms, viagra etc. Not appropriate for 12 year olds. I gave the book away. I had also ordered other books by the same author and I didn't bother to look at them. They are at Goodwill now too. I was sadly disappointed!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome Back Emily.......2004-09-04

Emily couldn't be happier. Her best friend, Dru, from Seattle, is heading out to England for a short vacation, and Emily has finally decided that Fang is the perfect guy for her, hence, she plans on getting her claws into him. And soon. She just knows that her last month in England will be absolutely perfect, and filled with shopping and clubbing. But her plans go completely awry, when Fang returns from New Zealand with a new girlfriend named Audrey, in tow. Suddenly, her dream job at the museum sounds like a total nightmare, and even the re-creation of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS, Helm's Deep Battle Scene (featuring fake blood, swords, and water balloons) goes badly. And even holding seances to contact the ghost who is still haunting her underwear drawer can't cheer her up. As Emily prepares herself for the move back to Seattle, she finally realizes just what leaving England entails...deserting Fang forever.

In this fourth installment in the Emily series, we are finally lucky enough to meet Dru in person, and she's just as fun as I'd hoped. Emily, as always, is her usual crazy self, filling her days with strange mishaps, and plenty of whining, which will please even the pickiest readers. Female readers will find the plot of THE TAMING OF THE DRU absolutely perfect, as we all experience a time of unhappiness when we are forced to move from a place that we call home. Especially if we are leaving a guy who we truly like. Overall this was a wonderful new book in the series, and I am only too happy to know that there will be a fifth Emily book released in June 2005.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Another winner!.......2004-09-04

This book came in the mail yesterday and I stayed up quite late to finish it. I had to see if and how Emily would finally get her man (Fang, of course!) I knew early in the first book that Fang was the sweetest guy she'd ever have the good fortune to meet, and I'm glad Emily finally figured that out, too. I liked that even though Devon wanted to date Emily, he was honest and told her how Fang felt about her. She sometimes needs help seeing what everyone else sees. I think every girl needs friends like Devon and Fang. It's a shame that Devon isn't in England for this whole book, but at least his presence is felt via his steady, supportive e-mails. Holly and Dru are also around offering advice and unconditional friendship. Fang is as great as he always was, and if Emily ever decides she doesn't want him anymore, I'll take him!
After having just finished some adult books while waiting for this book to be released, I forgot how funny and typical teenager-like Emily is. I love how she thinks she's so grown up and even likes to counsel her shyer friend Hope about men. But we the readers see Emily make silly, impulsive decisions that get her into trouble time after time. This book has Emily working in a less-than-ideal museum job, and the destruction that follows in her wake is amusing, as always. I think she's done some maturing since she arrived in England, and I can't wait to see how she turns out. I'm so glad to hear Katie Maxwell has decided to write a fifth book for this series. I want to see how Emily gets through her senior year and I hope she stays close with all her English friends. Fans of this series won't be disappointed!

Book Description

How dispersal affects the geographic ranges of species is a controversial issue. This book describes the colorful and ecologically important snail genus Conus, and provides what is probably the best and most extensive data set of life parameters available for any tropical invertebrate taxon.
The conclusions drawn are likely to apply to many coral-reef invertebrates, and are of considerable significance for marine biogeographers, comparative biologists, ecologists, and all those interested in the study of biodiversity.

Book Description

Food Colloids: Interactions, Microstructure and Processing describes the principles and practice underlying the formulation of food emulsions, dispersions, gels, and foams. Emphasis is on understanding how the functional properties of biopolymers and surfactants determine the texture and shelf-life of multiphase food materials. This book provides essential new findings by experts in the field on specific topics including: the interfacial rheological properties of proteins; the use of microscopy and image analysis to probe structure and phase transitions; the control of colloidal stability during thermal and mechanical processing; the interactions of proteins with polysaccharides and emulsifiers; the incorporation of neutraceuticals into food colloids; and the consumer perception of taste and texture. Food Colloids: Interactions, Microstructure and Processing provides a link between current research on the fundamental physical chemistry of colloidal systems and the requirements of the food technologist to use modern colloid science in new product formulation. It is suitable for postgraduates and researchers, both in industry and academia.

Book Description

Coping with numbers is not an easy task. Some managers panic just at the mere thought of it, while others think that Statistics and Operational Research are too theoretical to be relevant to the day-to-day needs of their organizations.

David Targett solves both these problems by tackling them together. The key idea of Coping With Numbers is not to plod through the curriculum of an academic subject, but to analyze and respond to the real needs of managers, businessmen and students. Targett believes that some aspects of Statistics and Operational Research are more relevant than others - so these are the ones on which he concentrates. He demonstrates how managers could understand and use numbers if they had the confidence and the know-how to treat numbers as they do words - as tools. Coping with Numbers provides the know-how and builds the confidence.

The book describes the newest non-technical methods for analyzing data - especially those long tables of figures which strike fear into the number-shy manager's heart - an area all too often neglected today, but vital in this computer age. It discusses the best techniques of Statistics and Operational Research - never previously handled in one book - and shows how they can aid the manager. It includes many revealing real life case studies, and throughout the emphasis is on the practical - an approach which recognizes that some people will want to use the techniques themselves, while others need to know how to supervise those who work for and with them. And, based on his highly successful lecture courses at the London Business School, David Targett's comprehensive and relatively non-technical book is also ideal, given its innovative format and presentation, for self-tuition.

Book Description

first publication of Williams' stage adaptation

Customer Reviews:

revolve aroun Constantine's new playan stagedonuncles estate.......1998-11-15

Exceptional play fitted with perfectly great performers. I saw it first hand here in Des Moines, IA. It was sad, funny, inspiring, dangling, ramantic and beautiful.

Anton Tchekhov's Notebooks, Recollections of Tchekhov, Reminiscences of Leotolstoi

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Anton Tchekhov's Notebooks, Recollections of Tchekhov, Reminiscences of Leotolstoi
S. S. Koteliansky , Maksim Gorky , and Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Manufacturer: Puckerbrush Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Russian | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0913006602

The Personal Papers of Anton Chekhov: His Notebook Diary and Letters on Writing

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The Personal Papers of Anton Chekhov: His Notebook Diary and Letters on Writing
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Manufacturer: University Press of the Pacific
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Essays | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

European | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 141020250X

Book Description

The present volume makes available the inimitable Notebook of Anton Chekhov as well as those passages from Chekhov's correspondence that reveal his innermost beliefs as a writer and a man. His lively opinions on the theatre, on stories and novels, on literary figures like Zola, Tolstoy and Gorky, the clinical detachment of Chekhov the physician always tempered by the tender concern and involvement of the artist with his people and his times, make this a lasting and universal testament.

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A Glimmer of Insight into the Master of the Short Story
A Glimmer of Insight Into the Master of the Short Story

Notebook of Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Manufacturer: Ecco Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Eastern European | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Russian | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0880011459

Customer Reviews:

A Glimmer of Insight into the Master of the Short Story.......2002-04-16

In 1984, The Ecco Press published a handsome thirteen-volume edition of The Tales of Chekhov that contained the respected, if somewhat dated, English translations of Constance Garnett. The original thirteen volumes were subsequently supplemented by two additional volumes, "The Unknown Chekhov: Stories and Other Writings," translated by Avrahm Yarmolinsky (a volume which is still in print under the auspices of another publisher) and the book I review here, "Notebook of Anton Chekhov," translated by S. S. Koteliansky and Leonard Woolf.

Chekhov's stories are, of course, classic examples of the genre. In writing those stories, he was known (not surprisingly) to draw on numerous incidents from his everyday life. As Vladimir Nabokov relates in his "Lectures on Russian Literature," interpolating and quoting from an article on Chekhov:

Chekhov regularly recorded seemingly mundane daily incidents in notebooks and diaries and later referred to them in writing his stories. It is from this material that Koteliansky and Woolf have drawn in compiling the short (146 pages) collection of materials titled "Notebook of Anton Chekhov." While hardly an exhaustive collection of these materials, it is a useful little volume that illustrates some of Chekhov's writing habits.

The diary excerpts are a mere twelve pages from Chekhov's 1896 diary. The notebook excerpts are 130 pages from the notebooks written between 1894 and 1896. As the translators note in their short introduction to this collection, "[the] volume consists of notes, themes and sketches for works which Anton Chekhov intended to write, and are characteristic of the methods of his artistic production. If he used any material, he used to strike it out in the note-book."

A Glimmer of Insight Into the Master of the Short Story.......2002-01-02

" 'Do you know how I write my short stories?' [Chekhov] said to Korolenko, the radical journalist and short story writer, when the latter had just made his acquaintance. 'Here's how!' 'He glanced at his table,' Korolenko tells us, 'took up the first object that met his eye--it happened to be an ash tray--placed it before me and said: "If you want it you'll have a story to-morrow. It will be called 'The Ash Tray.' " ' And it seemed to Korolenko then and there that a magical transformation of that ash tray was taking place: 'Certain indefinite situations, adventures which had not yet found concrete form, were already beginning to crystallize about the ash tray.' "

Chekhov regularly recorded seemingly mundane daily incidents in notebooks and diaries and later referred to them in writing his stories. It is from this material that Koteliansky and Woolf have drawn in compiling the short (146 pages) collection of materials titled "Notebook of Anton Chekhov." While hardly an exhaustive collection of these materials, it is a useful little volume that illustrates some of Chekhov's writing habits.

While unfortunately out of print, "Notebook of Anton Chekhov" is a fascinating companion to Chekhov's stories, a little glimmer of insight into how Chekhov created the remarkably drawn pictures of nineteenth century Russian life that still enchant readers today.

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Anton Chekhov's Notebooks
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov
Manufacturer: Dodo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

A Life in Letters (Penguin Classics)

The Portable Chekhov (Viking Portable Library)

Anton Chekhov's Short Stories (Norton Critical Edition)

The Complete Short Novels

ASIN: 1406507989

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Note-book (Notebook) of Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov , S.S. Koteliansky , and Leonard Woolf
Manufacturer: Folcroft Library Editions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0841422060

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The Notebooks of Anton Chekhov Reminiscences of Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov , and Maksim Gorky
Manufacturer: University Press of the Pacific
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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A Life in Letters (Penguin Classics)

ASIN: 1410202895

Book Description

From the translator's note when this book was originally published in 1921: "The contents of this volume have not previously been translated into English. The first section consists of Tchekhov's Note-books, in which, from 1892 to 1904, he jotted down thoughts, quotations, etc., which were the raw materials of his writings. The second section - Themes, Thoughts, Notes, and Fragments - was found among his papers, written on sheets in a special cover with that title. It contains material somewhat more elaborated than that in the Note-books. It was his habit, if he used any of this material, to strike it out in the Note-books. Both the Note-books and the Themes were first published in Russia in a volume of Tchekhov's literary remains in 1914. We have added some reminiscences of Tchekhov by Gorky, which appeared in Russia in 1906, but which have not been translated into English."

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