Lady with the Pet Dog

Lady with the Dog by Anton Chekhov is one of my favorite short stories and reading it again was a delight. Checkov, a master of short stories has been recognized for his incomparable gift on numerous occasions. Reading a modern version of Lady with the Pet Dog by Carol Oates was rather disappointing to me. Her version failed to reveal the romance and appeal portrayed by Checkov. His story takes place in late 1800’s in still Imperial Russia, the lovers meet on a sea-shore of the black see in Yalta. The setting chosen by Oates, Nantucket doesn’t evoke the same mood or create the proper atmosphere which was captured by Checkov. Carol Oates is a very important writer and this story is very well written but in my view it doesn’t compare to Chekhov’s.