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The 2018 Reading Challenge - #45 - A Book with a Fruit or a Vegetable in the Title

Good afternoon :)
Are you having a nice week so far?
Its book time again and today its for - A Book with a Fruit or a Vegetable in the Title.
That´s a fun category isn´t it :)

The Cherry Orchard
by Anton Chekhov




The Cherry Orchard (Russian: Вишнёвый сад, translit. Vishnyovyi sad) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov.
Written in 1903, it was first published by Znaniye (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via A.F. Marks Publishers.
It opened at the Moscow Art Theatre on 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Konstantin Stanislavski.
Chekhov described the play as a comedy, with some elements of farce, though Stanislavski treated it as a tragedy. Since its first production, directors have contended with its dual nature. It is often identified as one of the three or four outstanding plays by Chekhov, along with The Seagull, Three Sisters, and Uncle Vanya.
The play concerns an aristocratic Russian landowner who returns to her family estate (which includes a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it is auctioned to pay the mortgage. Unresponsive to offers to save the estate, she allows its sale to the son of a former serf; the family leaves to the sound of the cherry orchard being cut down.
The story presents themes of cultural futility – both the futile attempts of the aristocracy to maintain its status and of the bourgeoisie to find meaning in its newfound materialism. It dramatises the socio-economic forces in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, including the rise of the middle class after the abolition of serfdom in the mid-19th century and the decline of the power of the aristocracy.
Widely regarded as a classic of 20th-century theatre, the play has been translated and adapted into many languages and produced around the world. Major theatre directors have staged it, including Charles Laughton, Peter Brook, Andrei Șerban, Jean-Louis Barrault, Tyrone Guthrie, Katie Mitchell, Mehmet Ergen and Giorgio Strehler.
It has influenced many other playwrights, including Eugene O'Neill, George Bernard Shaw, David Mamet, and Arthur Miller. ¹



Again a little summary from goodreads:

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"In Chekhov's tragi-comedy - perhaps his most popular play - the Gayev family is torn by powerful forces, forces rooted deep in history and in the society around them. Their estate is hopelessly in debt: urged to cut down their beautiful cherry orchard and sell the land for holiday cottages, they struggle to act decisively. Tom Murphy's fine vernacular version allows us to re-imagine the events of the play in the last days of Anglo-Irish colonialism. It gives this great play vivid new life within our own history and social consciousness."
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I´ll give it a 7 out of 10
The one thing about the Russian authors and their book is...too many characters and I find it so hard sometimes to keep them all and their names in mind and to not mix them up all the time and to not always have to check who is talking at the moment ;) Do you know what I mean?
I love Russian authors and their work and I will always keep on reading the classics from Anna Karenina to War and Peace but oh my those names haha ;)
Otherwise I liked the story/play of the Cherry Orchard. Its not at the top of my new favourite books now but I do not regret reading it ^^ I might re-read it in german someday - I have the feeling its a lot easier to read it in your own language :)


For a little more inspiration and some alternatives ^^

Which book did you choose for this category?
Did you read The Cherry Orchard? 

With lots of love
♥♥♥
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