Selected Tales

by Nikolai Gogol, Kate Holland (Introduction), Michael R. Katz (Translator)

In a new translation by Michael R. Katz (acclaimed translator of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment), exclusively available through the Norton Library, Selected Tales presents a collection of Nikolai Gogol’s most regarded short "Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Auntie," "Nevsky Prospect," "Notes of a Madman," "The Nose," "The Carriage," "The Portrait," and "The Overcoat.” A thorough introduction by Kate Holland (University of Toronto) situates the stories in the historical and literary contexts of imperial St. Petersburg, inviting a new generation of readers to appreciate Gogol’s transformative vision and incisive social criticism. This purchase offers access to the digital ebook only.

224 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 15, 2023

About the author

People consider that Russian writer Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (Николай Васильевич Гоголь) founded realism in Russian literature. His works include The Overcoat (1842) and Dead Souls (1842).

Ukrainian birth, heritage, and upbringing of Gogol influenced many of his written works among the most beloved in the tradition of Russian-language literature. Most critics see Gogol as the first Russian realist. His biting satire, comic realism, and descriptions of Russian provincials and petty bureaucrats influenced later Russian masters Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Turgenev, and especially Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Gogol wittily said many later Russian maxims.

Gogol first used the techniques of surrealism and the grotesque in his works The Nose , Viy , The Overcoat , and Nevsky Prospekt . Ukrainian upbringing, culture, and folklore influenced his early works, such as Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka .
His later writing satirized political corruption in the Russian empire in Dead Souls .