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Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works " The Nose", " Viy", "The Overcoat", and " Nevsky Prospekt". These stories, and others such as " Diary of a Madman", have also been noted for their proto-surrealist qualities. According to Viktor Shklovsky, Gogol used the technique of defamiliarization when a writer presents common things in an unfamiliar or strange way so that the reader can gain new perspectives and see the world differently. His early works, such as '' Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka'', were influenced by his Ukrainian upbringing, Ukrainian culture and folklore. His later writing satirised political corruption in contemporary Russia (''The Government Inspector'', '' Dead Souls''), although Gogol also enjoyed the patronage of Tsar Nicholas I who liked his work. The novel '' Taras Bulba'' (1835), the play ''Marriage'' (1842) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viy (story)
"Viy" (, ; pronounced in English language, English), also translated as "The Viy", is a horror novella by the writer Nikolai Gogol, first published in volume 2 of his collection of tales entitled ''Mirgorod (Gogol), Mirgorod'' (1835). Despite an author's note alluding to folklore, the title character is generally conceded to be wholly Gogol's invention. Plot summary Students at Bratsky Monastery in Kiev break for summer vacation. The impoverished students must find food and lodging along their journey home. Three students, the kleptomaniac theologian Khalyava, the merry-making philosopher Khoma Brut, and the younger rhetorician Tiberiy Gorobets, find wheat fields suggesting a nearby village. They leave the high road and walk extra distance before reaching a farm with two cottages, as night draws near. An old woman begrudgingly lodges the three travelers separately. At night, the woman calls on Khoma and begins grabbing at him. This is no amorous embrace; the flashy-eyed wom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Portrait (short Story)
"The Portrait" () is a short story by Russian author Nikolai Gogol, originally published in the short story collection '' Arabesques'' in 1835. The story shares themes with some of his earlier works such as " St. John's Eve" and " Viy". Plot summary "The Portrait" is the story of a young and penniless artist, Tchartkoff, who stumbles upon a terrifyingly lifelike portrait in an art shop and is compelled to buy it. The painting is magical and offers him a dilemma — to struggle to make his own way in the world on the basis of his own talents or to accept the assistance of the magic painting to guaranteed riches and fame. He chooses to become rich and famous, but when he comes upon a portrait from another artist which is "pure, faultless, beautiful as a bride" he comes to realize that he has made the wrong choice. Eventually, he falls ill and dies from a fever. Part I The first part of the story takes place in nineteenth-century Saint Petersburg, Russia and follows a penniless yet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Overcoat
"The Overcoat" (, translit. Shinyél’; sometimes translated as "The Cloak" or "The Mantle") is a short story by Nikolai Gogol, published in 1842. The story has had a great influence on Russian literature. Eugène-Melchior de Vogüé, discussing Russian realist writers, said: "We all came out from under Gogol's Overcoat" (a quote often misattributed to Dostoevsky). Writing in 1941, Vladimir Nabokov described "The Overcoat" as "The greatest Russian short story ever written". Plot The story narrates the life and death of titular councillor Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin (Russian: Акакий Акакиевич Башмачкин), an impoverished government clerk and copyist in the Russian capital of St. Petersburg. Although Akaky is dedicated to his job, he is little recognized in his department for his hard work. Instead, the younger clerks tease him and attempt to distract him whenever they can. His threadbare overcoat is often the butt of their jokes. Akaky decide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Nose (Gogol Short Story)
"The Nose" () is an 1836 satirical short story by Nikolai Gogol written during his time living in St. Petersburg. During this time, Gogol's works were primarily focused on the grotesque and absurd, with a romantic twist. Written between 1835 and 1836, "The Nose" tells the story of a St. Petersburg official whose nose leaves his face and develops a life of its own. The story was originally published in '' The Contemporary'', a literary journal owned by Alexander Pushkin. The use of a nose as the main source of conflict could have been due to Gogol's own experience with an oddly shaped nose, which was often the subject of self-deprecating jokes in letters. The use of iconic landmarks in the story, as well as its sheer absurdity, has made "The Nose" an important part of St. Petersburg's literary tradition. "The Nose" is divided into three parts and tells the story of Collegiate Assessor ("Major") Kovalyov, who wakes up one morning without his nose. He later finds out that his nose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dead Souls
''Dead Souls'' ( , pre-reform spelling: ) is a novel by Nikolai Gogol, first published in 1842, and widely regarded as an exemplar of 19th-century Russian literature. The novel chronicles the travels and adventures of Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov and the people whom he encounters. These people typify the Russian middle aristocracy of the time. Gogol himself saw his work as an "epic poem in prose", and within the book characterised it as a "poem in prose". Gogol intended the novel to be the first part of a three-volume work, but burned the manuscript of the second part shortly before his death. Modern editions of ''Dead Souls'' include what survives from Part Two, as reconstructed by editors from Gogol's notebooks. Although the novel ends in mid-sentence (like Sterne's ''Sentimental Journey''), it is regarded by some as complete in the extant form. Characterization The original title, as shown on the illustration (cover page), was "The Wanderings of Chichikov, or Dead Souls. ''Po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nikolai Gogol Bibliography
This is a list of the works by Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852), followed by a list of adaptations of his works: __NOTOC__ Drama * '' Decoration of Vladimir of the Third Class'', unfinished comedy (1832).Golub (1998, 432). * ''Marriage'', comedy (1835, published and premiered 1842). * '' The Gamblers'', comedy (1836, published 1842, premiered 1843). * ''The Government Inspector'', also translated as ''The Inspector General'' (1836). * '' Leaving the Theater'', (''After the Staging of a New Comedy'') (1836) Essays * ''Woman'', essay (1830) * ''Preface'', to first volume of ''Evenings on a Farm'' (1831) * ''Preface'', to second volume of ''Evenings on a Farm'' (1832) * '' Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends'', collection of letters and essays (1847). * '' Meditations on the Divine Liturgy'' ** English Translation: ''Meditations on the Divine Liturgy: of the Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church''. Gogol, N. Holy Trinity Publications, 2014. Fiction * '' Even ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Carriage
"The Carriage" (or "The Coach" in some translations; ) is an 1836 short story by Nikolai Gogol, one of his shortest works. The story centers on the life of a former cavalry officer and landowner near a small Russian town. After reading the story, Anton Chekhov wrote to Alexei Suvorin, "What an artist he is! His 'Carriage' alone is worth two hundred thousand rubles. Sheer delight, nothing less." Background Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809–1852) was a well-known Russian novelist and short-story writer. He was born and raised in Ukraine and moved to St. Petersburg in 1828. His short story "The Carriage" was published in the first volume of Pushkin's literary journal ''The Contemporary'' in 1836. It is speculated that Gogol wrote the short story to echo Pushkin's '' Tales of Belkin'', as he mimics Pushkin's use of anecdotes, irony, and structure in media res. It is classified as one of his Petersburg tales (along with "Nevsky Prospekt", "The Diary of a Madman", "The Nose", "The Over ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Government Inspector
''The Government Inspector'', also known as ''The Inspector General'' (, literally: "Inspector"), is a satirical play by Russian dramatist and novelist Nikolai Gogol. Originally published in 1836, the play was revised for an 1842 edition. Based upon an anecdote allegedly recounted to Gogol by Pushkin, the play is a comedy of errors, satirizing human greed, stupidity, and the political corruption of contemporary Russia. The dream-like scenes of the play, often mirroring each other, whirl in the endless vertigo of self-deception around the main character, Khlestakov (rendered in some English translations as Hlestakov), who personifies irresponsibility, light-mindedness, and absence of measure. "He is full of meaningless movement and meaningless fermentation incarnate, on a foundation of placidly ambitious inferiority" (D. S. Mirsky). The publication of the play led to a great outcry in the reactionary press. It took the personal intervention of Tsar Nicholas I to have the play ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taras Bulba
''Taras Bulba'' (; ) is a romanticized historical novella set in the first half of the 17th century, written by Nikolai Gogol (1809–1852). It features elderly Zaporozhian Cossack Taras Bulba and his sons Andriy and Ostap. The sons study at the Kiev Academy and then return home, whereupon the three men set out on a journey to the Zaporizhian Sich (the Zaporizhian Cossack headquarters, located in southern Ukraine) where they join other Cossacks and go to war against Poland. The story was initially published in 1835 as part of the ''Mirgorod'' collection of short stories, but a much expanded version appeared in 1842 with some differences in the storyline. The 1842 text was described by the twentieth-century critic as a "paragon of civic virtue and a force of patriotic edification", contrasting it with the rhetoric of the 1835 version with its "distinctly Cossack jingoism". Inspiration The character of Taras Bulba, the main hero of this novel, is a composite of several histo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evenings On A Farm Near Dikanka
''Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka'' () is a collection of short stories by Nikolai Gogol, written in 1829–1832. They appeared in various magazines and were published in book form when Gogol was twenty-two. The collection's frame story takes place in Dykanka, a settlement in central Ukraine. The writer was born in the village of Velyki Sorochyntsi near Poltava, and spent his life in Ukraine up to the age of nineteen. He put his early impressions and memories of childhood into these pictures of peasant life. In a series of letters to his mother, he asked her to write down descriptions of village customs, dress, superstitions, and old stories. These were also used as primary sources. Stories ''Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka'' is separated into two volumes of four stories each: Часть первая [], Part One #Сорочинская ярмарка [], The Fair at Sorochyntsi (short story), Sorochyntsi Fair #Вечер накануне Ивана Купала [], St. Joh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diary Of A Madman (Nikolai Gogol)
"Diary of a Madman" (, ''Zapiski sumasshedshevo'') is a farcical short story by Nikolai Gogol first published in 1835. Along with "The Overcoat" and " The Nose", "Diary of a Madman" is considered to be one of Gogol's greatest short stories. The tale centers on the life of a minor civil servant during the era of Nicholas I. The story shows the descent of the protagonist, Poprishchin, into insanity. "Diary of a Madman", the only one of Gogol's works written in first person, follows diary-entry format. Plot introduction Although nineteenth-century medical authorities noted the accuracy of Gogol's depiction of the course of madness, the text itself (with the exception of the title) never crosses the boundary into objectification. Everything is told exclusively from the point of view of the protagonist, and conclusions about him and what is happening to him can only ever be inferred from the solipsistic and increasingly fantastic narrative of events and thoughts recorded in his diary. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nevsky Prospekt (story)
"Nevsky Prospekt" () is a short story by Nikolai Gogol, written between 1831 and 1834 and published in the collection ''Arabesques'' in 1835. Summary Influenced strongly by the sentimental movement, the protagonist of "Nevsky Prospekt" is a pathetic and insignificant romantic, the narrator is chatty and unreliable (along the lines of ''Tristram Shandy'', the definitive sentimental novel), and realism dominates. The story is organized symmetrically; the narrator describes Nevsky Prospekt in great detail, then the plot splits to follow in turn two acquaintances, each of whom follows a beautiful woman whom he has seen on the street. The first story follows the romantic hero, the second follows his realistic foil. The story closes with the narrator once more speaking generally of Nevsky Prospekt. The introduction describes Nevsky Prospekt, the central avenue of St. Petersburg, and its population at different times of the day. The narrator revels in the delights of the street, b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
