Ward No. 6

Anton Chekhov · 1860–1904 · Russia

Originally Palata No. 6 (Russian)

Why it matters

A complacent asylum doctor strikes up a dangerous philosophical friendship with one of his own patients, and finds his professional distance eroding fast. Chekhov's darkest novella: indifference to suffering repaid in kind, a parable of Russian passivity.

At a glance

Clear prose carrying dense philosophical dialogue between doctor and patient.