The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol

Name: The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol
Rating: 4.333333333333333 (12 reviews)
Author: Nikolai Gogol
ISBN: 9780375706158

by Nikolai Gogol, Richard Pevear, Larissa Volokhonsky

4.3

(12 ratings)

464 pages2 editions1999Knopf Doubleday Publishing GroupISBN 9780375706158

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About this book

Using, or rather mimicking, traditional forms of storytelling Gogol created stories that are complete within themselves and only tangentially connected to a meaning or moral. His work belongs to the school of invention, where each twist and turn of the narrative is a surprise unfettered by obligation to an overarching theme. Selected from Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, Mirgorod, and the Petersburg tales and arranged in order of composition, the thirteen stories in The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogolencompass the breadth of Gogol's literary achievement. From the demon-haunted “St. John's Eve ” to the heartrending humiliations and trials of a titular councilor in “The Overcoat,” Gogol's knack for turning literary conventions on their heads combined with his overt joy in the art of story telling shine through in each of the tales. This translation, by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, is as vigorous and darkly funny as the original Russian. It allows readers to experience anew the unmistakable genius of a writer who paved the way for Dostevsky and Kafka.

Publication Details

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 1999
Pages: 464
ISBN: 9780375706158
Language: en
Editions: 2

About Nikolai Gogol

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (Russian: Николай Васильевич Гоголь; Ukrainian: Микола Васильович Гоголь) (31 March [O.S. 19 March] 1809 – 4 March [O.S. 21 February] 1852) was a Ukrainian-born Russian novelist, humourist, and dramatist He is considered the father of modern Russian realism. His early works, such as Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, were heavily influenced by his Ukrainian upbringing and identity. His more mature writing satirised the corrupt bureaucracy of the Russian Empire, leading to his exile. On his return, he immersed himself in the Orthodox Church. The novels *Taras Bul'ba* (1835; 1842 [revised edition]) and *Dead Souls* (1842), the play *The Inspector-General* (1836, 1842), and the short stories *Diary of a Madman*, *The Nose* and *The Overcoat* (1842) are among his best known works. With their scrupulous and scathing realism, ethical criticism as well as philosophical depth, they remain some of the most important works of world literature.