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Nikolai Gogol
Last year I went on a quest to read some of the famous Russian writers I’d neglected including Gogol and Turgenev. I realize Gogol was of Ukrainian descent but is generally thought of as a Russian writer. I read Gogol’s Dead Souls, Taras Bulba, and a collection of short stories. Despite the second part being a bit fragmented due to the historical loss of some of the chapters, I found Dead Souls to be highly entertaining – sort of a Canterbury Tales set in Tsarist Russia. His depictions of the greed, vulgarity, and stagnant, complacent dimness of the provincials in the towns he visits was very vivid and intriguing. These themes seem to permeate much Russian writing in the 19th century. I understand that Gogol himself apparently did not intend the characters in the story to be satirical, but it was impossible not to find some of these characters amusing. The protagonist himself is a morally suspect character, yet I was able to connect with him and never despised him. I was less satisfied with Taras Bulba, although I did find the story interesting and it kept my attention throughout. I came to Gogol looking for the political and social satire (even though possibly unintended) and weird proto-surrealist and absurdist stories he developed a reputation for. Taras Bulba seemed to be a much different type of story and more of an epic historical fiction novel. Of his short stories, my favorites included The Overcoat, Diary of a Madman, and Viy.
Anyone else have thoughts on Gogol?
#entertainment
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Last year I went on a quest to read some of the famous Russian writers I’d neglected including Gogol and Turgenev. I realize Gogol was of Ukrainian descent but is generally thought of as a Russian writer. I read Gogol’s Dead Souls, Taras Bulba, and a collection of short stories. Despite the second part being a bit fragmented due to the historical loss of some of the chapters, I found Dead Souls to be highly entertaining – sort of a Canterbury Tales set in Tsarist Russia. His depictions of the greed, vulgarity, and stagnant, complacent dimness of the provincials in the towns he visits was very vivid and intriguing. These themes seem to permeate much Russian writing in the 19th century. I understand that Gogol himself apparently did not intend the characters in the story to be satirical, but it was impossible not to find some of these characters amusing. The protagonist himself is a morally suspect character, yet I was able to connect with him and never despised him. I was less satisfied with Taras Bulba, although I did find the story interesting and it kept my attention throughout. I came to Gogol looking for the political and social satire (even though possibly unintended) and weird proto-surrealist and absurdist stories he developed a reputation for. Taras Bulba seemed to be a much different type of story and more of an epic historical fiction novel. Of his short stories, my favorites included The Overcoat, Diary of a Madman, and Viy.
Anyone else have thoughts on Gogol?
#entertainment
source
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