Plays and Petersburg Tales Petersburg Tales, Marriage, The Government Inspector (Oxford World's Classics) by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol

by Nikolai Gogol

In these tales Gogol guides us through the elegant streets of St Petersburg, the city erected by force and ingenuity on the marshes of the Neva estuary. Something of the deception and violence of the city's creation seems to lurk beneath its harmonious facade, however, and it confounds its inhabitants with false dreams and absurd visions - `nothing is what it seems!' warns Gogol. St Petersburg is also the setting for Marriage, Gogol's satire on courtship and cowardice. Finally, for The Government Inspector, indisputably Russia's greatest comedy, we move to the provinces although even here St Petersburg's preoccupation with status and appearances makes its presence felt.

Genres: Plays, Russian Literature, Classics, Russia, Short Stories, Fiction, Drama

Paperback

First published January 1, 1832

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 .

Reviews

[Fionnuala]

I have never set foot in Saint Petersburg.
I've never walked the long avenue called Nevsky Prospect or visited Senate Square or stood on the embankment gazing across the Neva to Vasilievsky Island.

But I see those places in my mind's eye just as if I had been there.
I know that the sky line of Vasilievsky Island is marked by the spire of the Peter and Paul fortress.
I know that there's a huge bronze statue on Senate Square, and that there's a Scissors shop on Nevsky Prospect.

Well, perhaps there's no longer a Scissors shop on Nevsky Prospect.

You see, the city that exists in my mind is not the city of today.
My Petersburg is the city of Pushkin's Bronze Horseman, leaping from his plinth on Senate Square and racing through the nearby streets.
It's the city of Gogol's Piskaryov, haunted by a girl he spies near the Scissors shop on Nevsky Prospect.
It's the city of Nabokov's giant pencils and of Tolstoy's drunken bears tumbling into the Neva.
It's the city of Dostoyevsky's axe murderer, of Gogol's razor-wielding barber, of Bely's scissors-happy assassin.

It's the city where a Nose can parade in uniform, where a ghost steals people's overcoats, where people have names like Pancake, Dustbin, Sloshkin and Rottenov.
A city where dogs not only talk to each other but write letters too. A city where January comes after February and where April has 43 days and Marchember have 86.

My Petersburg is an utterly phantasmagoric place. I love it!

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

You’re not going to find a better short story writer. Cheever? Never heard of him. The plays are great too. Even if you somehow don’t immediately love them, you’ll know why everyone came out of his coat.

[محمد ذهني · Rating 2 out of 5]

قرأت من قبل عدة أعمال لجوجول مثل المفتش العام ورواية قصيرة ساخرة لا أذكر اسمها. الذي جعلني أشتري هذا الكتاب أنه طباعة دار رادوغا وأنه يحتوي بجانب مسرحية المفتش الكبير رواية المعطف والتي سعت عنها كثيراً.
مبدأياً جوجول هو أحد رواد الرواية القصيرة التي أبدع فيها تشيكوف بعد ذلك. ورغم بدائية رواياته إلا أنها كعادة الروس تحمل وسط طياتها معنى ما يتسرب إليك خلال القراءة دون مجهود وكأن جلدك يمتصه.
المشكلة ليست في رواية المعطف ولكن في رواية قصيرة أخرى اسمها " الصورة" هذه الرواية لها نفس قيمة المسخ لكافكا. لأنها أقدم رواية تتحدث عن روح ما تسكن الجماد. فهنا روح مرابي يظن الناس أنه شيطان لما لماله من لعنة على كل من يستدين به. ويرسم له أحد الرسامين صورة تحوي جزءاً من روحه، ولا يراها شخص إلا ويقع اسير عيني صاحب الصورة . فتصير الصورة لعنة على كل من يقتنيها ولا ينجح أحد في تحطيمها لأنها تجد دائما من يسعى لامتلاكها.
هذه الفكرة تمثلت بعد ذلك في كثير من الأعمال الشهيرة مثل صورة دوريان جراي و سيد الخواتم . تماماً مثلما صار مسخ كافكا هو أصل أي انمساخ يأتي بعده فتلك الرواية هي أصل أي عمل يتحدث عن تلك الروح التي تسكن شيئاً ما.

[Nels Mattson · Rating 5 out of 5]

i only read the two plays out of this book. the first play, marriage, was cute and fun. it was nothing special in other words.

the second play, however, was amazing. it was somehow hilarious, simple, dark and beautiful all at the same time. evidently, the translator read nabokov's biography of gogol. in the endnotes he quotes nabokov and he doesn't fall into any of the traps nabokov says previous translators fell into.

the guthrie is doing a production of the government inspector soon and i'm planning on going if anyone is interested in joining me.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gogol's stories present a world that is just far too strange to make any sense of it (but you don't need necessarily need to, and I, for one, prefer it that way). The hilariously absurd characters and descriptions make for a laugh-out-loud read that will make you begin to wonder about the very world we ourselves know to be reality. Reading Gogol is pure pleasure, but at the same time so thought-provoking in terms of its underlying statements about perception and how much it relates to one's overall sense of existence in the world.

[PearlDoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a Quirky little Treasure I got for a Dollar at the Thrift Store!

Mr. Gogal's Dialouge pops with Witty Suprises. Ones that Feel Sharp and Affectionate at the Same time. Scenes slide from Ordinary everyday life into Delightfully Surreal Sketches of Time, Family, Love, and more. You never know what Delightful Oddity comes next here! And I doubt you ever will.

These Plays and Tales are Compact, sometimes Dark, and all together Entertaining! This was a Charming Read.

[Jade Twiby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phantasmagoric whilst also maintaining a great degree of hilarity. The plays were good too, but the Government Inspector by far outshines Marriage.

Ranking my enjoyment:
The Nose (10/10)
The Overcoat (9/10)
The Portrait (9/10)
Diary of a Madman (8/10)
Nevsky Prospect (8/10)
The Government Inspector (7/10)
Marriage (5/10)
The Carriage (5/10)

[Kasper · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best intro to Gogol possible. All of his greatest short stories are included here (The Overcoat, The Nose, etc.) as well as his play The Government Inspector (among others), which I consider to be the greatest play ever written in Russian.

[Eleni Mastronardi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witty and strange, very original

[anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gogol said Petersburg is a swamp but it’s MY pretty swamp

[Rashad Raoufi]

the overcoat is as great as its credited to be but the others are a brilliant collection too, gogol is a scathingly on form stairist and his humour surpass all! had me laughing out loud quite unexpectedly,a great work indeed.

[Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these unusual, entertaining and surreal stories. Brilliant writer with an even more brilliant imagination. I particularly liked the Overcoat. Recommended to anyone who likes the bizarre!

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked the story about the artists-- the first half anyway. That was sublime. "The Nose" and "The Overcoat" were pretty good, but not excellent (as per my opinion). Then again, it could have been the translation I was reading, which is the this same version. Overall, it was still quite good.

[Alok Vardya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Russian Nikolai Gogol writes a classic set of short stories/plays set in 1800's St. Petersburg. His style is reminiscent of the great American short story writer O. Henry, full of wit, humor and sharp turns.

[Susana Rosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

It´s a great book...Gogol has a fantastic sense of humor...

[Moll · Rating 3 out of 5]

RUSS 223: Cursed Questions: 19th Century Russian Literature

[Diana Coza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gogol's witty, absurd and ironic style turned these stories greater than they actually are. The second story "The Nose" is simply hilarious.

[Dalila D'Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slavophilism - Russia