The Government Inspector and Other Works

by Nikolai Gogol

Gogol's works constitute one of Russian literature's supreme achievements, yet the nature of their brilliant originality, comic genius, and complex workings is difficult to summarize precisely. The Government Inspector, a perennial favourite on stage and screen, is considered a national institution in Russia, and Gogol's stories present us with one of the most marvellous worlds a writer has ever created. His quirky characters - the lowly official who imagines himself to be the King of Spain, the man committed to chase his nose around St. Petersburg, a whole village paralyzed at the prospect of being visited by an authority from the capital - are immortal. Although Gogol's fiction was commandeered by Russia's progressive critics as the work of an important social commentator, he was in many ways an arch-conservative, and there is a madcap strain in it that makes him a precursor of Kafka and absurdist drama.

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

592 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2014

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

[Mercy]

I bursted out laughing aloud while reading the Government Inspector. A tale of a crookedly managed town somewhere south of Moscow a century or two ago.. the provincial state of mind and demeanor of its townsmen.
Each character and word written with sharp humor (the likes

Another tale immerses your imagination into a dark ominous forest as the backdrop of a romantic story between a warrior kozach and his beloved.

These short stories are no American movie.. the end is not obvious.. and sometimes the the words seize before the whole story is told.

So glad my in-laws recommended I read Gogol’s works.

[Tom Jalio]

perfectly sums up the condition of mankind

A rollercoaster of emotions that will make you laugh at times and break your heart at others. And linger in the mind after you finish reading.

[pooli(tics)]

when the whole lot started reading that letter i felt like i was apart of a family all over again

[Annabelle Wemyss]

The Government Inspector is hilarious. I LOVE GOGOL!!!!!!! Can’t wait to work on this text

[Alessandro Manuel Rustanto Sitompul]

The world of Gogol is sarcastic, magical and fantastic! Asides from Evenings of a farm near dikanka, The Nose & The Goverment Inspector are masterpieces.

[Nick Jones]

He's a fine writer Gogol, always surprising, always different from other 19th century Russians. Funny, bizarre, sometimes surreal. I was surprised how many of these stories featured the Devil in person.

[Lysergius]

The Government Inspector is by far the best tale in this collection.