El retrato: Dos versiones: 1835 y 1842

by Nikolai Gogol

Nikolái Vasílievich Gógol publica El retrato en 1835 y años más tarde aparece una segunda versión, en la que, según las palabras del autor, a pesar de mantener intacta la trama, "todo ha sido bordado de nuevo". En efecto, las dos versiones se estructuran sobre el motivo de la venta del alma al diablo, pero revelan cambios en la poética de Gógol y en su posicionamiento respecto de la función del arte y del artista en la sociedad. La presente edición, que reúne por primera vez las dos versiones en castellano, está acompañada de un epílogo que señala las diferencias más significativas entre ambas.

140 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 1, 2025

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 .