And the Earth Will Sit on the Moon: Essential Stories

by Nikolai Gogol, Oliver Ready (Translator)

Iconic short stories from the Russian master of satire, in a strikingly modern translation

"The most morally complete baffled, outraged, reverent, mock-didactic, mocking, all at once. He honours life by feeling no one way about it." — George Saunders

No writer has captured the absurdity of the human condition as acutely as Nikolai Gogol. In a lively new translation by Oliver Ready, this collection contains his great classic stories - "The Overcoat", "The Nose" and "Diary of a Madman" — alongside lesser known gems depicting life in the Russian and Ukrainian countryside. Together, they reveal Gogol's marvelously skewed perspective, moving between the urban and the rural with painfully sharp humour and scorching satire.

Strikingly modern in his depictions of society's shambolic structures, Gogol plunders the depths of bureaucratic and domestic banalities to unearth moments of dark comedy and outrageous corruption. Defying categorisation, the stories in this collection range from the surreal to the satirical to the grotesque, united in their exquisite psychological acuteness and tender insights into the bizarre irrationalities of the human soul.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Russian Literature, Russia, Literature, Short Story Collection

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 5, 2019

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

[Adina]

DNF

I read The Nose, browsed though the Overcoat and The Diary of a Madman and decided it is not for me. I don't like the writing style and have no interest in all the rankings of Russian nobility, at least not in these stories.

[Jason Furman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book only strengthens my view that the Pushkin Press's "Essential Stories" series is, well, essential. The volumes are beautiful, relatively short (~200 pages), outstanding new translations by some of the best translators working today, and well selected selections. I previously reviewed Anton Chekhov's The Beauties: Essential Stories, Franz Kafka's The Unhappiness of Being a Single Man: Essential Stories, and Leo Tolstoy's Lives and Deaths. This one has five of Gogol's best stories. His three Petersburg choices were obvious ("The Nose", "The Overcoat", and "Diary of a Madman") but the other two were a little less known and set in the provinces ("Old-world Landowners" and "The Carriage"). A great place to start on Gogol but every one of his stories is excellent (except "Taras Bulba," which is arguably a novella) so would not stop here.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful, absurd, Russian lit. Nobody like Gogol.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection. The physical book itself was a physical pleasure to read. The paper and cover felt perfect in my hand and the joy of reading from it made the process of reading the text that much more enjoyable. I have not read any of the classical Russian authors so this has been a start of things to come. I greatly enjoyed these short stories and would recommend this collection to just about anyone. It seems truly a tragedy that Gogol destroyed some of his works and died so young.

[Nicki Markus · Rating 4 out of 5]

And the Earth Will Sit on the Moon was a delightful collection of some of Gogol's best known short stories. Some I liked more than others, as will always be the case in an anthology of this nature, but all had something interesting to offer. If you have read and enjoyed Gogol's longer-form works, you should definitely also check out these short stories. Or, if you are new to his writing, the short stories are a good place to start to get a feel for his style. I am giving this book 4.5 stars.

I received this book as a free eBook ARC via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

[Christian Etwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hysterisk! Tankevekkende! For det meste..

Uansett her har du novellene rangert:

1. The Overcoat
2. Diary of a Madman
3. The Nose
4. Old-World Landowners
5. The Carriage

[Dree · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first time reading Gogol (finally!).

Stories included: The Nose; Diary of a Madman; The Overcoat; Old-World Landowners; The Carriage

I have heard that The Nose does not feel like a nearly-200-year-old story (1836), and I have to agree. It is absurd, and I really don't know if even Poe was writing anything quite so absurd. Diary of a Madman and The Overcoat are also urban stories--both focus on the lives of small-time workers in government positions. I believe these are new translations, so the English is modern in usage.

Old-World Landowners and The Carriage both focus on rural areas, and again both are really about the varying statuses within Russian culture. Landowners, serfs, Generals, small-time officers, etc.

I think Old-World Landowners was my favorite here. It illustrates the richness of the land while also showing the incompetence of the landowners, the theft of the employees, and the rough lives of the serfs (though they are well fed).

The Nose is a little too absurd for me, but it is supposed to be satire--is it really about the government position the man the nose belongs in being left behind by an important ally? His inability to do his job without his right-hand man (or, his nose) there to support him? About each position actually being a group who gets things done and..sniffs things out? I don't know enough about Russian government of the time to give an educated guess.

[SueLucie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had long been aware of Nikolai Gogol’s reputation as a master of short storytelling, but not come across any of his work, so I was delighted to be able to read this newly translated selection offered by Pushkin Press. Very much of their time and place, the translator’s foreword was invaluable to making some sense of them though I don’t think my understanding went very deep. I enjoyed the final two, less celebrated, stories, full of nostalgia for Gogol’s childhood home of rural Ukraine better than the first three, set in the bureaucratic world of St Petersburg’s government service, though these left quite an impression and I’ll not soon forget them. A great opportunity to read an ARC via NetGalley, many thanks to the publisher.

[tsukibookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my very first time reading Gogol and I'm very excited with his works. I enjoyed all the stories in this book and I would like to read some more of his works in the future. His storytelling is quite interesting and I like the slight comic and irony in it. The only challenge that I found when I was reading this book is obviously, — as everyone would agree — the characters names. I only read a few of Russian Classics so I'm not that familiar with the names yet. Regardless, I think Gogol's way of telling his stories fit me well and I enjoyed all my time reading his works.

Here's the review for each stories.

The Nose: This is one of the most popular story from Gogol, I've seen many translated versions of it. For me personally, this story is quite bizzare, weird, and somewhat funny with of course, hidden meaning. The story is about a nose that suddenly disappear from its owner's face and started to wandered all over town. The owner even called the authority for that. The story both start and ended in an abrupt way and I really enjoyed it. ⭐4.25

Diary of a Madman: This one also is one of the most popular. I enjoyed reading this and very much like it. This story is about a person slowly descended to madness. Like the title said, this story is "taken" from that person's diary. It begins very normal, how he explained his daily life, but the more you reach the end, you can see how his mind slowly begin to change. You can see a bit of madness right from the start and it makes you actually questioning the whole narrative. ⭐4.75

The Overcoat: Among all the stories, I think I was most excited to read this one. And this story is pretty interesting. It's about someone who gets new overcoat after working so hard to pay for it and suddenly the coat was stolen. At first, the story seemed pretty normal to me, and unlike the other two stories above, it occured to me that this is pretty "usual." But then there was a turn right before the end and it made the story became more interesting. ⭐4

Old-World Landowners: I think among all the stories in this book, this one is the most ordinary, calm, and somewhat beautiful. I haven't been familiar with this one so I was pretty excited to read it. The story is basically about a couple who lived harmoniously and ordinarily. It was narrated by one of the guest that visited their house. The couple, to me, seemed perfect. The house, their daily lives, their personalities, all seemed so perfect. The way the narrator described the nature around it feels so warm and soothing. At least that's how I imagined it. This story didn't have any big unexpected bizzare twist and I think it served as a cooldown for all the euphoria from the previous stories. ⭐4.5

The Carriage: This one also didn't have any bizzare occurence in it. It was pretty simple and I can sense the disappoinment from the characters toward the end. I liked the way it made me feel like — even lowkey anticipating — that there will be something grandous happened, some unexpected twist that turn the story into something else. It somehow made me wait for the story to change course into a totally different way in the most unexpected momeny, but, there isn't any, so I was pretty much related to the characters' disappointment at the end. This is the story about a man who went to a party and invited everyone to see his new carriage only to find disappointment. ⭐4

Thank you Edelweiss and Pushkin Press for the digital review copy.

The book is now available, go check it out.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5
Overall, a very good collection by an amazing writer. I do think that the last two stories (“The Old World Landowners” & “The Carriage”) didn’t quite make sense to pair with the previous three stories, but it nonetheless was a good read. I think Gogol’s magical realism/more phenomenal works should’ve been the crux of this collection since the last two just fell short in the greater scheme of the project. They were good stories but didn’t pack as much of a punch in comparison, which is probably why I didn’t like them as much.

Because I have been marking each story as individual books, my book total will be a bit redundant when I log this as a whole. Oh well.

[Arden · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent collection. several truly first-rate stories, deftly translated by oliver ready to sit comfortably in english while giving the reader some idea of the original cadence. the nose and the overcoat are new favourites; most of these made me laugh out loud. the last story is perhaps not quite up to the standard of the first four but by that point in this brief collection you are so affably situated that you will deal with gogol's twists and turns for twenty pages (putting the shortest story at the end is also a good way to organize a collection). very much enjoyed, would recommend.

[Jane Fudger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection includes three of Gogol's famous short stories - "The Nose", "The Overcoat" and "The Diary of a Mdman". All the short stories are depicting life in around the Russian/Ukrainian countryside.The stories are both profound and grotesque revealing the bizarre irrationalities of the human thought and soul. The tales remind me of Mikhail Bulgarov who writes in the same vein.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've come to really appreciate Gogol's stories, particularly his satiric critique of St Petersburg society and the absurdity of its civil-servant ranks. Anyone who has worked in the corporate world can appreciate the humor in these tales.

[a]

really good

[Celine Anfinsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Veldig relaterende

[Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a groundless absurdity to Gogol's stories, but they always intrigue me and motivate me to read till the end. What a weird guy!

[Bernie Gourley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection contains five short stories by the esteemed 19th century Russian writer, Nikolai Gogol. (According to marketing materials, the finalized edition may have a sixth story located in the book’s second half.) For a small collection, it’s a diverse set of stories including surrealism, speculative fiction, and grim and gritty realism. That said, there is a theme that runs throughout, and it’s the social humiliation and envy of being in the middling territory of a hierarchical / aristocratic society.

The first three stories, which are among Gogol’s best known, are set in Saint Petersburg, and feature low-level bureaucrats. In other words, the bottom tier of the upper crust – not peasants, but poor relative to what they were expected to maintain and lacking status compared to almost everyone around them. Whatever else is going on throughout these stories, these characters are striving to save face -- and the odds of doing so are against them.

“The Nose” is a story in which a barber finds a human nose in a loaf of bread he’s eating for breakfast. [Lest this seem gross beyond measure, the story is completely surreal / dream-like and there is no gore.] The barber recognizes the nose as one belonging to a civil servant who is one of his regular customers. The barber panics and pitches the nose in the river, trying to get rid of the evidence. The story picks up with the civil servant who lost the nose, and his attempts to discern its whereabouts.

“Diary of a Madman” is – as the name suggests – a chronicle of a man who descends into madness. Gogol does an artful job with pacing. He begins by establishing a lead character that one might find quirky, but not particularly insane. Then we see the character as he registers a conversation between two dogs in the street. As the story continues, at first the only anomaly is the man’s belief that dogs communicate in words (spoken and written) and that he can uniquely understand them. Then, when the man begins to believe he is the King of Spain, his madness becomes complete and all-encompassing. It’s interesting to see how Gogol communicates this madness, down to the change of sensible diary headings (i.e. the date) to bizarre substitutes.

“The Overcoat” is a story about a poor civil servant whose coat is falling to shreds, so – though he can’t afford it – he invests in a new one. While the story is mostly realistic, it does take turns into speculative territory near the end. However, the themes of envy, obsession, and the glee of apparent upward mobility (even if it’s for something as superficial as a new coat) provide the story’s tension.

The book takes a little turn at this point. The first three stories were set in Saint Petersburg, but the latter stories are set out in rural villages.

“Old World Landowners” is about a cute old couple who owns the lands encompassing a village and surrounding territory. It is Gogol’s take on a myth from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” but instilled with a grimmer, more Russian, sentiment. The couple are not only adorable, but are essentially the glue that binds the community.

“The Carriage” is about a gentleman from a small and boring village. At times, a military unit takes up residence in this village, and – when they do – they instill life in an otherwise bleak small town. The gentleman comes to visit the General and his officers -- desiring to impress them. He is most proud of a Viennese carriage that he recently acquired. He invites them to lunch the next day, but all does not go as planned and the man is faced with utter humiliation.

I enjoyed this collection immensely. Despite the nineteenth century prose, the stories are readable and engaging. While the stakes are more often saving versus losing face (as opposed to life-and-death) Gogol does a great job of building the feelings of humiliation and woe – even for readers from a very different form of society. The stories may feature uniquely aristocratic Russian circumstance, but they still work because they deal in universal human emotional experiences.

I’d highly recommend the book for readers of fiction.

[Alex Drogin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gogol’s stories are quaint and unending and feel like the pinnacle of a descriptive style of writing that I once flocked to. This collection is quite easy to consume and submerges you in the great landscapes that Gogol knew. The book will make you laugh when you, inexplicably, forget that the tragic and comedic events described happen to his characters and not to you.

[Theediscerning]

I took the chance of a weekend's reading to tackle not one but two books claiming to be the best of Gogol's short stories – this and a rival volume (ISBN 9780231190695). This was the seemingly least self-assured, seeing as it contained only five works – for a 'best of'? Even from an author with a reasonably short career, that fact alone didn't sound too convincing. But the thing is, with this author a little goes a long way, as I quickly discovered. Never afraid to use fifty words when five would do, he really can lengthen his explorations of the macabre with far too much mundane detail and needless exploration of his settings and characters. Evidence for this comes with 'The Overcoat', which is OK but too wordy, and the sole story here not to be in the other collection, 'Old-World Landowners', which is actually pleasant in its descriptions but narratively does spend an inordinate time just getting to the beginning of the 'plot'.

I disliked 'Diary of a Madman' – unsympathetic and unfunny as it is in exploring insanity (the volume at hand takes its name from a line in this piece). 'The Carriage' has some welcome wit, in small doses, with the puff-puffing puffed-up people talking shop over their pipes, and the pretty wife needing to spend longer at her toilette BECAUSE she looked pretty – but it remains merely a comedy of societal manners. No, for me by far the best here is 'The Nose' – a forefather of all that might be called Kafkaesque or even Theatre of the Absurd, even if the translator's comment along the lines of 'you must be a fool if you didn't think this phallic' made, well, a fool of me.

All told I'm again given the quandary of slating a wonderful restaurant for my choice of dishes – this book presents the pieces very well; I actually preferred the introduction on these pages to the rival one. But I find it hard to give a star rating or similar verdict for a book, however wonderfully produced and welcome it was, when I found so little pleasure in it. For my appreciation of the works themselves it would mathematically be one and a half stars out of five, with the full star for 'The Nose' and the half for the 'Old-World Landowners'. But the publisher and translator should not be sullied for their great work, when it was Gogol's verbosity I took against.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 4.0 of 5

Nikolai Gogol.

Like many, I suppose, I first encountered the work of Nikolai Googol while in college. I found his stories "The Nose" and "The Overcoat" entertaining, original, with some biting social commentary ... exactly the sort of writing a university student might really get into.

This collection includes Gogol's arguably three most famous short stories ("The Nose," "Diary of a Madman," and "The Overcoat") as well as two other, lesser-known works. The collection is billed as 'Essential Stories.' Other than the first three stories (which can be found just about anywhere), I don't know how 'essential' this collection is. It is, however, nice to have these stories collected and in hand for quick and easy reading.

I find that these stories, like any true classic, stand the test of time. Not only are they a great look at manners, customs, and social conventions of some 150+ years ago, the human emotions and aspects of the stories are still relevant today.

Although the main character in "The Nose" is a St. Petersburg official, and the central figure in "The Carriage" is a Russian cavalry officer, I think one could still say that the protagonists in Gogol's stories here represent a working-class everyman. And not just the everyman of the 1800's. Concerns about appearances; concerns about living within ones means; concerns about others ... these are still thoughts that concern people today.

I really liked this collection. If anything, I'd prefer a more comprehensive collection of Gogol's work, but for what this is, the stories, the translations, all are worth reading.

This collection contains the following:

Translator's Introduction
Note on Ranks
"The Nose"
"Diary of a Madman"
"The Overcoat"
"Old-World Landowners"
"The Carriage"
Translator's Acknowledgements
Notes
Looking for a good book? And the Earth Will Sit on the Moon, a collection of short stories by Nikolai Gogol (translated by Oliver Ready) shows why these works are classics and still worth reading.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review

[Translator Monkey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just fine. A pedestrian collection of material we've all read before, with (for me) the exception of the humorous, albeit abruptly ending "The Carriage". Very nicely translated by Oliver Ready, with nice translator notes at the end of the book.

My copy was a digital ARC (thank you, Pushkin Press and Edelweiss!) and I know I'm not supposed to talk about the experience with the material itself, but I must say it was entertaining at times to tackle the text when every instance of "ff" and "ffi" were oddly missing. It was several pages of reading about this or that "ocer" performing any of a number of acts before realizing it was "officer". This was not too distracting, but the absence of a way to access the footnotes while reading was a challenge; it would have made a far better experience to have been able to select a footnote, read it, then dash back to the text in question.

All that aside, this was a pleasant enough read. One knows what one is in for with Gogol, especially when the path is so well-trodden and familiar.

Three and a half stars.

[handsfeetlegs · Rating 5 out of 5]

🚨NEW FAVORITE RUSSIAN AUTHOR ALERT🚨 NIKOLAI GOGOL BURSTING ONTO THE SCENE WITH THE MOST ABSURD, SURREAL, FANTASTIC, HILARIOUS, DELIGHTFUL STORIES I'VE ENCOUNTERED IN A WHILE!!!
it's so immediately clear, especially in The Overcoat, how foundational Gogol was for Russian literature; and, maybe it's just because I really love how this Oliver Ready translation read, even his writing style feels SO perfect for the way Russian prose is [translated], something about the wild and chaotic energy of his writing just WORKS.
I am obsessed with this man, and I absolutely need to immediately find a larger collection of his stories, in which I'll also see if it's just my affinity for Oliver Ready's translations (since this is his only Gogol translation) that I love or if Gogol transcends that.
9.5/10, a must read, super short collection that's a perfect introduction to Gogol (as it was mine as well)

[GONZA · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit that as usual, my high expectations led me to a mini disappointment, also because the stories I liked the most are the ones I had already read (the nose and the coat) not that I could not expect it anyway..... But this book is a good way to explore one of the most unknown Russian writer of the 1800.

Devo ammettere che come al solito, le mie alte aspettative mi hanno portato ad una mini delusione, anche perché le storie che mi sono piaciute di piú sono anche quelle che avevo giá letto (il naso ed il cappotto) non che uno non se lo potesse proprio aspettare comunque....Questo libro resta comunque un modo rapido per scoprire uno degli autori russi piú sconosciuti del 1800.

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

[Charlotte Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book collects three of Gogol’s most celebrated novellas and three of his short stories. Although I enjoyed this collection to a certain extent, the two that I had already previously read, ‘The Nose’ and ‘The Overcoat’, were by far my favourite of the stories included. These two were the most engaging as well as the most unexplained which is something that I think Gogol particularly excelled at.

If you are looking to read more translated literature or have never tried Gogol, this is a great place to start. I’ll definitely be reading more Gogol in the future but I vastly prefer his slightly fantastical works over the more realistic.

3 out of 5 stars!

[Maggie Rotter · Rating 5 out of 5]

The publisher Penguin Random House has been offering new editions of classic books in new translations under the Pushkin Press imprint since 1998. And the Earth Will Sit on the Moon is number 86 with 2 more scheduled for publication this year. It contains 3 well known often anthologized stories and 3 less well known ones. The translation is clear and modern without sacrificing Gogol's characteristic unique and humorously skewed perspective on the world. I enjoyed both familiar and new to me stories and happily recommend this volume to anyone motivated to meet or be reacquainted with this author described by Vladimir Nabokov as "the greatest artist that Russia has yet produced" .

[Fafau06 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book of wonderful quirky short stories.

As someone who is not too familiar with classic Russian literature "And The Earth Will Sit On The Moon" is quite a welcoming little introduction though some aspects of the stories are quite a bit jaded and perhaps outdated for the modern readers especially considering that some stories were satires of a long gone era.

Yet Gogol's view of the world is unmatched in how he can portray the absurdity in life in almost too similar of ways to Kafka. If I didn't know any better, I'd say Kafka is Gogol-esque.

People who are interested in the nitty gritty of a classic Russian life might enjoy this book and its collection of stories.

[Mathia Lim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall rating: 3.75⭐

Rating for each story:
The Nose - 3.5⭐
Diary of a Madman - 4⭐
The Overcoat - 4.5⭐
Old-World Landowners - 3.5⭐
The Carriage - 3⭐

This was a delightful collection to get a feel of Gogol's writing. I have recently been reading Dostoevsky's works and loving them a lot. While I found Gogol's short stories a bit lacking in the sense that I wanted more depth and complexities to his writing, I can definitely see how he could've influenced Dostoevsky and other writers.

Nevertheless, this collection made me curious about his novel, Dead Souls and I'm hoping that I can find a copy sometime soon to read it. 💙

[pejowalker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of five short stories that showcase the literary style of the late Nikolai Gogol.
This collection is a great one. The writing overall but especially the vivid descriptions and strong characterization made the stories in the book largely relatable even though they are set in a time and place I've never been. I would recommend that anyone who enjoys reading short stories read this book.



Disclosure:I received a copy of this book from edelweiss. The views expressed are completely my own.

[Raz · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know, I don't think classic Russian literature is for me. I have read a few different authors now and I feel like I'm just missing something that would make me love it. So to be fair, the 2 star review is really more about my inability to get into it than an objective assessment of quality.

I did quite like Diary of a Madman and appreciated how clever it was but not so much the rest of the stories in this collection.

Sorry Nikolai!

[John King · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't really know what to expect when starting this book - I honestly just liked the title - but let me tell you, I am so glad I picked it up! The worlds that the stories pull you into are so bizarre and incredible, and I loved every second of it. Personal favorites for me were The Nose, Diary of a MadMan, and The Carriage.
I cannot even recall to how many people I have recommended this book to! If you are a big, or really any size fan, of surrealism, this is a MUST!