''The Shooting Party'' (russian: Драма на охоте, translit=Drama na okhote;

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''Drama During a Hunt'') is an 1884

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

. It is his longest narrative work, and only full-length novel. Framed as a

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

given to a publisher, it tells the story of an estate forester's daughter in a provincial Russian village, who is stabbed to death in the woods during a hunting party, and the efforts to uncover her killer.

Plot

As the narrator informs, "The Shooting Party" is the name of a manuscript that an unknown author begs a

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

publisher to read and publish. The narrator agrees at least to read it, and the author says that he will return in three months for the verdict. Within this manuscript—which makes up the bulk of the book—the narrator is the local magistrate in a rural area. His friend and drinking partner, Count Alexei, lives on a nearby estate with his hard-working bailiff, Urbenin, and Nikolai Efimych, a retailer who has gone insane. Nikolai's daughter Olga also lives on the estate, and is in the midst of a

love triangle A love triangle or eternal triangle is a scenario or circumstance, usually depicted as a rivalry, in which two people are pursuing or involved in a romantic relationship with one person, or in which one person in a romantic relationship with so ...

with the magistrate and Urbenin. After marrying Urbenin, Olga has an illicit affair with Count Alexei, yet still proclaims her love of the magistrate. During a

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

party in the woods near the estate, Olga wanders off by herself and disappears; she is later found stabbed to death. The initial suspicion falls on Urbenin, who appears with blood on his hands after finding her body. A one-eyed peasant comes forward who may be able to implicate a different killer, but he is murdered in jail before making the profession. The manuscript concludes with Urbenin's conviction of Olga's murder, and he is sent to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

for a sentence of nineteen years at hard labor. A

postscript PostScript (PS) is a page description language in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing realm. It is a dynamically typed, concatenative programming language. It was created at Adobe Systems by John Warnock, Charles Geschke, Doug Br ...

written by the publisher identifies the real killer as the unknown author of the manuscript.

Publication history

''The Shooting Party'' was originally published in Russia in serial form in a total of thirty-two segments. It was later published in its entirety in an

translation (completed by A.E. Chamot) by London publisher

Stanley Paul Stanley Paul are a firm of publishers founded in London in 1906. The original firm published mainly "cheap editions of thrillers and romances, and some light non-fiction" and traded until 1927 when it went in liquidation. In 1928 the imprint was r ...

in 1926. In 2004, the novel was republished by

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

's Literature Arts & Medicine Database notes: "''The Shooting Party'' is neither a great novel nor a great mystery story. However, its merits go far beyond the usual attribution of juvenilia by a great writer. First, the story itself is ingenious. In its innovative structure, the book prefigures

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

's most famous novel, ''

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd ''The Murder of Roger Ackroyd'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in June 1926 in the United Kingdom by William Collins, Sons and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company. It is the third no ...

'' written 45 years later. Christie's novel caused a sensation with its narrator-as-murderer plot device." British crime writer

Julian Symons Julian Gustave Symons (originally Gustave Julian Symons) (pronounced ''SIMM-ons''; 30 May 1912 – 19 November 1994) was a British crime writer and poet. He also wrote social and military history, biography and studies of literature. He was bor ...

proclaimed the novel a "landmark in the history of the crime story."

Adaptations

*A 1944 film, '' Summer Storm'', was directed by Douglas Sirk. *A 1970 TV play by *A 1978 film, ''

A Hunting Accident ''A Hunting Accident'' (russian: Мой ласковый и нежный зверь, Moy laskovyy i nezhnyy zver, My Affectionate and Tender Beast) is a 1978 Soviet romantic drama directed by Emil Loteanu. It was entered into the 1978 Cannes Film ...

'', was directed by

Emil Loteanu Emil Vladimirovich Loteanu (6 November 1936 – 18 April 2003) was a Romanian-Soviet film director born in what is now Moldova. He moved to Moscow in his early life. His best known films are ''Lăutarii'', ''Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven'', '' A H ...

References

External links

*
The Shooting Party
' at Penguin-Random House {{DEFAULTSORT:Shooting Party Works by Anton Chekhov 1884 Russian novels Russian novels adapted into films Russian mystery novels Novels set in 19th-century Russia Novels set in Moscow Stanley Paul books