I can't say I'm a huge fan of Gogol, his The Nose is seriously one of the most bizarre thing I've ever read but Taras Bulba was absolutely amazing! Those Cossacks are fascinating, brutal, yes, but fascinating. Has anyone else read this short story?
I can't say I'm a huge fan of Gogol, his The Nose is seriously one of the most bizarre thing I've ever read but Taras Bulba was absolutely amazing! Those Cossacks are fascinating, brutal, yes, but fascinating. Has anyone else read this short story?
Yes, I've read "Taras Bulba". There are lot of frazes that came to everyday Russian from the story. You should read "Dead souls"- it's Gogol's best book. "Overcoat" is very highly rated and somebody said that all the russian literature developed from "Overcoat", but I can't say that I really enjoyed it.
I agree, The Overcoat was nothing special, typical Russian characters and a typical story but then again, he was one of the first of the Russian greats, so I suppose you could say that he's the one who established that type of hapless character and that dreary life of a public servant, it only seems unoriginal because I'd read so many Russian novels before I read him.
I have read Dead Souls and I liked it and I was nearing the end, interested in how it all comes to a head and then I get to that part and...there's a note that 2 chapters are missing from the manuscript! And then when you come back, you have no real idea of what happened, you know the general place of the characters now but you can tell that there was some major shifts that you know nothing about. That whole 'missing chapters' thing kind of ruined the experience for me.
the luminous grass of the prairie hides
feet lovely and still as sleeping doves,
porcelain bones strong enough to carry a life,
but weighty and unmovable
As black Dakota hills. ~ Riesa
As far as I remember Gogol burnt part of the second part of "Dead Souls"(like Master in "Master and Margarita"). At school we studied only the first part.
"The inspector general" is also pretty interrsting. I watched a good Russian movie based on this play.
Yes, he did, in a fit of religious fervor. It seems there were a few of those Russian authors who were susceptable to that kind of thing.Originally Posted by Boris239
Another of his short stories that I enjoyed is Diary of a Madman, there were parts of it that reminded me very much of Don Quixote, just that utter and completly delusional mind that is both hilarious and tragic at the same time.
the luminous grass of the prairie hides
feet lovely and still as sleeping doves,
porcelain bones strong enough to carry a life,
but weighty and unmovable
As black Dakota hills. ~ Riesa
Dead Souls is definitely a great book, but with the missing parts 2 and 3 it is not so nice to read, at least for me.I like to have a complete text.
Anyway have a look at the Overcoat with regards on the time when it was written. I think the Petersburg stories by Gogol' all are very interesting. Although the one which is the most absurd is doubtlessly the Nose and there are so many (partly very fascinating) interpretations for it...!
Edited to come back to the thread title.
I've also read Taras Bulba which I thought was interesting and I've read some of his earlier stories, too. I don't know the English titles. One was something like the market of Sorotschinzy.
Do you know the Vij (sp?)? I thought that was great!
Last edited by Inga; 05-29-2006 at 11:54 AM.
Exactly! I was enjoying the book but then it got towards the end, towards the climax and then you read..."The next two chapters are missing".Dead Souls is definitely a great book, but with the missing parts 2 and 3 it is not so nice to read, at least for me.I realize there's nothing you can do when the author burns the book but still...it was very frustrating.
The Nose was just bizarre, I tried really hard to just let go and get into it but I just kept thinking, "It's a nose!" What does a nose that's dressed up in a jacket look like? How does a nose talk? How does a nose walk? Sometimes, my mind can be very closed to things like that, I have no trouble reading and loving books with trolls and elves and dwarves but I can't get over the fact that this guy's nose just up and left one day and started a life of his own.
the luminous grass of the prairie hides
feet lovely and still as sleeping doves,
porcelain bones strong enough to carry a life,
but weighty and unmovable
As black Dakota hills. ~ Riesa
I think that "Dead souls" is reasonably complete even with just the first part. I can't imagine Chichikov suddenly changing, it wouldn't be logical.
I like some of his "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka"- they are fun to read. From Mirgorod, I like "Taras Bulba", but "How Ivan Ivanovich quarelled with Ivan Nikiforovich" was I think completely ridiculous.
I haven't read that one, I'm going to have to do some searching for it. He didn't write any other full length novels other than Dead Souls, did he?
the luminous grass of the prairie hides
feet lovely and still as sleeping doves,
porcelain bones strong enough to carry a life,
but weighty and unmovable
As black Dakota hills. ~ Riesa
Nope he didn't . Only plays and short stories.
Wasn't "The Nose" a reflection of Gogol's castration complex? (Or at least a reflection of his own sexual problems.)
I have no idea. I don't really know all that much about Gogol as a person other than the fact that he burned his novel in a religious fervor, although I do also remember reading that he wasn't overly fond of women.
the luminous grass of the prairie hides
feet lovely and still as sleeping doves,
porcelain bones strong enough to carry a life,
but weighty and unmovable
As black Dakota hills. ~ Riesa
I found Taras Bulba as a superb novel. Also the Inspector is great. If you are an actor and you get the leading role in Inspector - believe me this is the top of the mountain of your career.
Nose, The Cloak and other short stories about St.Petersburg are absolutely unbelievable. These were the first stories that made me laugh till tears. I went ROFL. I read them a thousand times and after all Gogol is my favorite Russian classic writer together with Chekhov and Dostoevsky.
I don't remember the translation into English but I think it was something like "The Cart", I liked it a lot. Has anyone read a story with a similar name?
There is a short story in my Gogol collection called, The Carriage, I would imagine that would be it. It's about a guy who invites everyone over to his house to see his new Calash but he sleeps all day and isn't prepared when people come so he hides out in the Calash...does that sound familiar?
the luminous grass of the prairie hides
feet lovely and still as sleeping doves,
porcelain bones strong enough to carry a life,
but weighty and unmovable
As black Dakota hills. ~ Riesa
hmmm it was Fyodor Dostoevsky who said
"We all come from Gogol's 'Overcoat'"
just wanted to make that clear.
First you have to give up, first you have to *know*... not fear... *know*... that someday you're gonna die.
Memento Mori
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