Николай Гоголь
Список книг автора Николай ГогольThe Inspector-General (The Government Inspector)
Based upon a personal anecdote recounted to Gogol by the great Russian poet Pushkin, «The Inspector-General», also known as «The Government Inspector», is a satirical play first published in 1836. It is a comedy of errors that unstintingly portrays human greed and stupidity. The plot centers around the officials of a small provincial town in Russia, who have been informed that a dreaded inspector is soon to arrive. They mistakenly assume that the inspector is Khlestakov, an irresponsible, feckless young clerk returning home from St. Petersburg. The servility and bribery displayed by the officials betrays their fear that their misdeeds will be uncovered. This play, with its complete dearth of sympathetic characters, brilliantly constructed plot, and artful language, creates a perfect comic tension that unapologetically reveals the profound corruption of power in Tsarist Russia. First staged amidst strong objection, «The Inspector-General» has become one of the greatest of Russian comedies.
Taras Bulba
"Taras Bulba" is the story of its title character, Taras Bulba, an old Ukrainian Cossack and his two sons, Andriy and Ostap, who journey to Zaporizhian Sich located in Ukraine to fight Polish nobles with fellow Cossacks. A romanticized historical novel, «Taras Bulba» is a story of great adventure and battle.
The Gamblers and Marriage
Nikolai Vasilievitch Gogol, the Molière of Russia, was born in the sunny Ukraine in March, 1809, and died in Moscow forty-three years later. The author of Russia's famous national comedy, «The Inspector-General,» Gogol was the first dramatist of his country to write plays on the Western European model, even as his friend Pushkin was the first Russian poet to introduce the Western strain into the literature of his people. In the comedy «Marriage,» which Gogol began in 1832 as «The Wooers» and completed only in 1842 in its final form, the author attacked in his inimitable manner the modern problem of escape from marriage. By unexcelled, mirth-provoking characterization, and with delightful irony, Gogol satirized the fear of marriage inherent in the soul of the average man. «The Gamblers» is a masterpiece of dramatic suspense, and has been hailed in Europe as a model for plot development. With a few strokes, Gogol drew this set of characters whose purpose in life is so similar, yet whose manners are so individual. When «The Gamblers» was first produced in Berlin, it made a striking impression on the audience whose mystification was complete to the very end.
Dead Souls
"Dead Souls" is the story of Chichikov, a young middle-class gentleman who comes to a small town with a dubious plan to improve his wealth and position in life. He begins by spending beyond his means on the premise that he can impress the local officials and gain standing and connections in the community that will give him the capacity to live easily into the future. At the heart of his plan is the idea of acquiring «dead souls» or more explicitly serfs of landowners who have died since the last census. Since the taxes of landowners are based upon the number of serfs that they employ, Chichikov believes that the landowners will be all too happy to part with these «dead souls». A satirical gem, Gogol's «Dead Souls» exemplifies his particular gift of exhibiting the true failings of humanity in all their absurdity.
The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Gogol, an early 19th century Ukrainian-born Russian novelist, humorist, and dramatist, created some of the most important works of world literature and is considered the father of modern Russian realism. Gogol satirized the corrupt bureaucracy of the Russian Empire through the scrupulous and scathing realism of his writing, which would ultimately lead to his exile. Among some of his finest works are his short stories. Together in this collection are collected some of the best of these stories, they include the following: Old Fashioned Farmers, How the Two Ivans Quarrelled, The Nose, The Overcoat (The Cloak), St. John's Eve, The Night of Christmas Eve, The Mantle, The Diary of a Madman, The Viy, The Mysterious Portrait, The Fair of Sorotchinetz, An Evening in May, Mid-Summer Evening, and The Carriage (The Calash).
The Overcoat and Other Stories
Nikolai Gogol, an early 19th century Ukrainian-born Russian novelist, humorist, and dramatist, considered the father of modern Russian realism, created some of the most important works of Russian literature. Gogol satirized the corrupt bureaucracy of the Russian Empire through the scrupulous and scathing realism of his writing, which would ultimately lead to his exile. Among some of his finest works are his short stories. A representative selection of Gogol’s short stories are presented in this volume. The following stories can be found herein: “The Fair of Sorotchinetz”, “St. John’s Eve”, “An Evening in May”, “Old-Fashioned Farmers”, “The Viy”, “The Night of Christmas Eve”, “How the Two Ivans Quarrelled”, “The Mysterious Portrait”, “The Diary of a Madman”, “The Nose”, “The Carriage”, and “The Overcoat”. This edition is includes a biographical afterword.
Dead Souls (Translated by C. J. Hogarth with an Introduction by John Cournos)
First published in 1842, “Dead Souls” is the story of Chichikov, a young middle-class gentleman who comes to a small town in Russia with a dubious plan to improve his wealth and position in life. He begins by spending beyond his means on the premise that he can impress the local officials and gain standing and connections in the community. At the heart of his plan is the idea of acquiring “dead souls” or more explicitly serfs of landowners who have died since the last census. Since the taxes of landowners are based upon the number of serfs that they employ, Chichikov believes that the landowners will be all too happy to part with these “dead souls”. Legend has it that Gogol supposedly produced a third part to the novel which he destroyed shortly before his death. Despite ending in mid-sentence and with portions from the second part which seem to be missing it is generally accepted that the novel is extant. A satirical gem, Gogol’s “Dead Souls” exemplifies his particular gift of exhibiting the true failings of humanity in all their absurdity. This edition is translated by C. J. Hogarth, includes an introduction by John Cournos, and a biographical afterword.
The Inspector
A revelatory new translation of Gogol’s comedy by renowned playwright Richard Nelson and Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky – the foremost contemporary translators of classic Russian literature including the best-selling Oprah’s Book Club selection, Anna Karenina – marks the first of a series of translations of important Russian plays over the next ten years.
The Overcoat and Other Short Stories
Gogol's stories are admired for their skillful mingling of fantasy and reality, quiet good humor and use of mundane details — as Gogol put it — «to extract the extraordinary from the ordinary.» Imaginative and timeless, they remain as fresh and significant today as they were to readers generations ago.This rich selection of four short stories by the great 19th-century Russian author of Dead Souls includes «The Nose,» a savage satire of incompetent bureaucrats and the snobbery and complacency of the Russian upper classes; «Old-Fashioned Farmers,» a sketch depicting an elderly couple who live a happy but simple life in rustic seclusion; «The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarrelled with Ivan Nikiforovich,» and of Gogol's most famous comic stories; and «The Overcoat,» an exceptionally moving tale — considered a masterpiece of the form — about a poor and much-ridiculed St. Petersburg official. Includes a selection from the Common Core State Standards Initiative: «The Nose.»
Dead Souls
A stranger arrives in a Russian backwater community with a bizarre proposition for the local landowners: cash for their «dead souls,» the serfs who have died in their service and for whom they must continue to pay taxes until the next census. The landowner receives a payment and a relief of his tax burden, and the stranger receives — what? Gogol's comic masterpiece offers the answer in a vast and satirical painting of the Russian panorama, as it traces the path and encounters of its mysterious protagonist, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, in pursuit of his dubious scheme.The plot of Dead Souls is reputed to have been inspired by an actual episode related to the author by his friend, the poet Pushkin. Although intended as a three-part novel, only the first part and a few fragments of a draft of the second part exist; Gogol completed and destroyed the second part, and died in the course of his ascetic preparations for writing the third. Some readers consider his novel a realistic portrait of nineteenth-century Russia; others regard it as a work of great symbolism, proclaiming the trickster Chichikov an accurate image of commercial travelers the world over, whose success rests less upon their actual wares than on their grasp of human nature and powers of persuasion. Among the greatest nineteenth-century Russian novels, Dead Souls continues to inspire twenty-first century authors and readers.