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Russian Library
The Nose and Other Stories
Nikolai Gogol's novel Dead Souls and play The Government Inspector revolutionized Russian literature and continue to entertain generations of readers around the world. Yet Gogol's peculiar genius comes through most powerfully in his short stories. By turns--or at once--funny, terrifying, and profound, the tales collected in The Nose and Other Stories are among the greatest achievements of world literature.
These stories showcase Gogol's vivid, haunting imagination: an encounter with evil in a darkened church, a downtrodden clerk who dreams only of a new overcoat, a nose that falls off a face and reappears around town on its own, outranking its former owner. Written between 1831 and 1842, they span the colorful setting of rural Ukraine to the unforgiving urban landscape of St. Petersburg to the ancient labyrinth of Rome. Yet they share Gogol's characteristic obsessions--city crowds, bureaucratic hierarchy and irrationality, the devil in disguise--and a constant undercurrent of the absurd. Susanne Fusso's translations pay careful attention to the strangeness and wonder of Gogol's style, preserving the inimitable humor and oddity of his language. The Nose and Other Stories reveals why Russian writers from Dostoevsky to Nabokov have returned to Gogol as the cornerstone of their unparalleled literary tradition.
Includes:
The Lost Letter
Viy
The Portrait
Nevsky Avenue
Diary of a Madman
The Carriage
The Nose
Rome
The Overcoat
These stories showcase Gogol's vivid, haunting imagination: an encounter with evil in a darkened church, a downtrodden clerk who dreams only of a new overcoat, a nose that falls off a face and reappears around town on its own, outranking its former owner. Written between 1831 and 1842, they span the colorful setting of rural Ukraine to the unforgiving urban landscape of St. Petersburg to the ancient labyrinth of Rome. Yet they share Gogol's characteristic obsessions--city crowds, bureaucratic hierarchy and irrationality, the devil in disguise--and a constant undercurrent of the absurd. Susanne Fusso's translations pay careful attention to the strangeness and wonder of Gogol's style, preserving the inimitable humor and oddity of his language. The Nose and Other Stories reveals why Russian writers from Dostoevsky to Nabokov have returned to Gogol as the cornerstone of their unparalleled literary tradition.
Includes:
The Lost Letter
Viy
The Portrait
Nevsky Avenue
Diary of a Madman
The Carriage
The Nose
Rome
The Overcoat
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2020
47 people are currently reading
223 people want to read
About the author
Nikolai Gogol
2,025 books5,702 followersPeople 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 .
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 .
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
July 4, 2022
The apocryphal "We all came out of Gogol's Overcoat" is commonly attributed to Dostoyevsky and, whether true or not, one can see from his stories how much Gogol must have influenced a great many writers. Nabokov was probably the most outspoken fan, naming Gogol “the greatest artist that Russia has yet produced.”
Born in Ukraine, Gogol's early works directly reflected the Ukrainian tradition as in his early stories, but he is probably best known for his novel Dead Souls, play The Government Inspector, and later stories (The Overcoat etc.) which he wrote after he had moved to St. Petersburg in Russia. This selection of his stories highlights this later period, mostly from his so-called St. Petersburg cycle while the remaining two stories take place in Ukraine ("The Lost Letter" and "Viy"), "The Carriage" somewhere in the south of Russia, and one in his later city of residence, "Rome". Of all his St. Petersburg stories, for me "The Overcoat" takes pride of place, and then "Diary of a Madman", "Nevsky Avenue", and "The Nose", in that order.
Thanks to an excellent translation by Susanne Fusso, a specialist in Dostoyevsky and Gogol, I have completely fallen under the spell of the "Gogolian" story-writing. If one prefers plots in stories, Gogol is not the right choice. It is his humor, playfulness with words, allegories, the blurring line between surreal and real, and satiric bite primarily aimed at the status-driven world that enchants the reader and makes each story memorable. Behind his hilarious parodies there is always a somber critical eye on society and his main characters make us both laugh and feel sad. Although writing in the early 19th century, his literary devices are also surprisingly modern, ranging from an untrustworthy narrator to surreal turns that surpass many contemporary practitioners of "magic realism."
Just to sample a couple of short quotes that show both elements in Gogol's writing.
A serious one:
Born in Ukraine, Gogol's early works directly reflected the Ukrainian tradition as in his early stories, but he is probably best known for his novel Dead Souls, play The Government Inspector, and later stories (The Overcoat etc.) which he wrote after he had moved to St. Petersburg in Russia. This selection of his stories highlights this later period, mostly from his so-called St. Petersburg cycle while the remaining two stories take place in Ukraine ("The Lost Letter" and "Viy"), "The Carriage" somewhere in the south of Russia, and one in his later city of residence, "Rome". Of all his St. Petersburg stories, for me "The Overcoat" takes pride of place, and then "Diary of a Madman", "Nevsky Avenue", and "The Nose", in that order.
Thanks to an excellent translation by Susanne Fusso, a specialist in Dostoyevsky and Gogol, I have completely fallen under the spell of the "Gogolian" story-writing. If one prefers plots in stories, Gogol is not the right choice. It is his humor, playfulness with words, allegories, the blurring line between surreal and real, and satiric bite primarily aimed at the status-driven world that enchants the reader and makes each story memorable. Behind his hilarious parodies there is always a somber critical eye on society and his main characters make us both laugh and feel sad. Although writing in the early 19th century, his literary devices are also surprisingly modern, ranging from an untrustworthy narrator to surreal turns that surpass many contemporary practitioners of "magic realism."
Just to sample a couple of short quotes that show both elements in Gogol's writing.
A serious one:
My God, what is our life! An eternal discord between dreams and substance! (from "Nevsky Avenue")and his unexpected humorous twists as if taken from the best pages of surrealist writings:
I also read in the newspapers about two cows who came into a shop and asked for a pound of tea. (from "Diary of a Madman")And I can't resist quoting this extended one too:
What exactly the post of the significant personage was and in what it consisted is still unknown to this day. The reader must know that a certain significant personage had only recently been made a significant personage, and before that he had been an insignificant personage. By the way, even now his position is not considered significant in comparison to other, even more significant positions. But there will always be a circle of people for whom something that other people consider insignificant is significant. (from "The Overcoat")If translation is difficult in poetry, it is even more so and paramount for Gogol. If we don't choose his translator wisely, we would miss the full splendor of "Gogolian" language and story-writing. I think this collection did an admirable service to this literary giant and the most remarkable wordsman.
April 3, 2020
I have to start by saying that though Gogol’s writing is quite intriguing, his stories are never easy to read. The short story collection of the famous Russian-Ukrainian author are full of incomprehensible natural phenomena and mystery that gives a chill to the bone.He upsets the balance of nature with a ripple effect, not leaving the world as we know it behind for a magical reality but decorates it with strange disorders. The supernatural feels too realistic and natural.
I have to congratulate the translator here, as well. Gogol is known as one of the most untranslatable Russian authors of all times. The stories tend to lose some meaning and aura and the deep dark reflections of the author’s soul is not easily translated despite the bridges carefully built by brilliant translators. But here we have a meticulous work of a team of professionals.
My personal favorite here in this collection was The Portrait, which told the story of a lifelike painting in two sections, from different perspectives with two unique narrations. It was quite refreshing to read again the author’s most sensational and famous stories The Nose and Overcoat, too. As surreal and grotesque as ever, The Nose tells the story of a man waking up one morning, realizing that he has lost his nose. Is it a satirical criticism of over-analyzing and giving sub-meanings to literature that the author never intended? Who knows what the author thought, we can only speculate. The Overcoat is a sad story of a poverty-stricken officer named Akaky who works his life off to buy a new overcoat.
(I received an ARC from Columbia University Press on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)
I have to congratulate the translator here, as well. Gogol is known as one of the most untranslatable Russian authors of all times. The stories tend to lose some meaning and aura and the deep dark reflections of the author’s soul is not easily translated despite the bridges carefully built by brilliant translators. But here we have a meticulous work of a team of professionals.
My personal favorite here in this collection was The Portrait, which told the story of a lifelike painting in two sections, from different perspectives with two unique narrations. It was quite refreshing to read again the author’s most sensational and famous stories The Nose and Overcoat, too. As surreal and grotesque as ever, The Nose tells the story of a man waking up one morning, realizing that he has lost his nose. Is it a satirical criticism of over-analyzing and giving sub-meanings to literature that the author never intended? Who knows what the author thought, we can only speculate. The Overcoat is a sad story of a poverty-stricken officer named Akaky who works his life off to buy a new overcoat.
(I received an ARC from Columbia University Press on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)
September 9, 2020
I hadn't read any Gogol before this, but I had seen a student staging of "The Inspector General" and I knew the Nose by reputation as the story of a nose that leaves its face tries to escape St. Petersburg dressed as a Noble. So I was expecting some funny, cutting satire. On the whole, that's not what I got, but I'm not left disappointed.
These stories are a selection from across Gogol's career, and although the range from folktales and ghost stories, to morality plays, to satire, to paeans to Rome, they all share a preoccupation with Christian spirituality, a strong sense of morality (and the ways the Russian society didn't live up to those morals), a sense of fairness, a wry narrator who easily slips into ornamented description, and a sense of the ways that little actions can have huge impacts on others' lives.
Not every story in this collection was interesting; I often have a hard time with 19th century writing because it seems so flowery and baroque, but on the whole I really enjoyed it. Well worth reading if you're interested in Russia or the development of the short story. And the title story, while not as focused on the nose as I thought, was still wonderful, absurd, and delightful.
**Thanks to the editor, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a free review in exchange for an honest review.
These stories are a selection from across Gogol's career, and although the range from folktales and ghost stories, to morality plays, to satire, to paeans to Rome, they all share a preoccupation with Christian spirituality, a strong sense of morality (and the ways the Russian society didn't live up to those morals), a sense of fairness, a wry narrator who easily slips into ornamented description, and a sense of the ways that little actions can have huge impacts on others' lives.
Not every story in this collection was interesting; I often have a hard time with 19th century writing because it seems so flowery and baroque, but on the whole I really enjoyed it. Well worth reading if you're interested in Russia or the development of the short story. And the title story, while not as focused on the nose as I thought, was still wonderful, absurd, and delightful.
**Thanks to the editor, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with a free review in exchange for an honest review.
March 10, 2020
A collection of classic stories, many of them of a fantastical nature, all of them with a farcical and fatalistic bent.
The nine stories here collected have been newly translated from the Russian, and include some of Nikolai Gogol's most famous stories (Diary Of A Madman, The Overcoat and the titular The Nose). Gogol wrote these stories between 1831 and 1842, which I feel is immediately noticeable in the pacing (much like older films, older literature 'moves' slower, which isn't necessarily a good or a bad thing, more an observation).
Gogol tends to start a story from a great distance - he'll describe in great detail a scene, or a location, all the kinds of people, their thoughts and worries. Then he'll zoom in on one or more particular characters and the actual story begins. This is not the end of his eye for details, it just becomes wonderfully focused.
The overall effect on the stories is that they become quite tongue-in-cheek, farcical almost. There is also a general feeling of laissez-faire, a constant melancholy sense of "what can you do?" (or "..and so it goes", as Kurt Vonnegut would say). The world is chaotic, you have little control over your circumstances, and the rest is controlled by obnoxious little career men.
Now and then Gogol's eye for details became overwhelming for me, as if he couldn't make a choice who he was interested in, so he described everyone and everything.
It is important to note this edition is strengthened with a set of very informative footnotes by the translator, Susanne Fusso. It gives insight into her translating choices, and provides background and context to the stories.
The collection is a wonderful witty look at old world Russia through one man's eyes. Recommended.
Individual stories scored:
The Lost Letter - 3 stars
Viy - 3.5 stars
The Portrait (1835 version) - 4 stars
Nevsky Avenue - 4 stars
Diary Of A Madman - 3.5 stars
The Carriage - 3 stars
The Nose - 5 stars
Rome (A Fragment) - 3.5 stars
The Overcoat - 5 stars
(Kindly received an ARC from Columbia University Press through Netgalley)
The nine stories here collected have been newly translated from the Russian, and include some of Nikolai Gogol's most famous stories (Diary Of A Madman, The Overcoat and the titular The Nose). Gogol wrote these stories between 1831 and 1842, which I feel is immediately noticeable in the pacing (much like older films, older literature 'moves' slower, which isn't necessarily a good or a bad thing, more an observation).
Gogol tends to start a story from a great distance - he'll describe in great detail a scene, or a location, all the kinds of people, their thoughts and worries. Then he'll zoom in on one or more particular characters and the actual story begins. This is not the end of his eye for details, it just becomes wonderfully focused.
The overall effect on the stories is that they become quite tongue-in-cheek, farcical almost. There is also a general feeling of laissez-faire, a constant melancholy sense of "what can you do?" (or "..and so it goes", as Kurt Vonnegut would say). The world is chaotic, you have little control over your circumstances, and the rest is controlled by obnoxious little career men.
Now and then Gogol's eye for details became overwhelming for me, as if he couldn't make a choice who he was interested in, so he described everyone and everything.
It is important to note this edition is strengthened with a set of very informative footnotes by the translator, Susanne Fusso. It gives insight into her translating choices, and provides background and context to the stories.
The collection is a wonderful witty look at old world Russia through one man's eyes. Recommended.
Individual stories scored:
The Lost Letter - 3 stars
Viy - 3.5 stars
The Portrait (1835 version) - 4 stars
Nevsky Avenue - 4 stars
Diary Of A Madman - 3.5 stars
The Carriage - 3 stars
The Nose - 5 stars
Rome (A Fragment) - 3.5 stars
The Overcoat - 5 stars
(Kindly received an ARC from Columbia University Press through Netgalley)
June 1, 2020
The Nose and Other Stories is a collection of nine short stories by the famous Nikolai Gogol, translated into English by Susanne Fusso. Ever since I read The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, I wanted to read the sheer brilliance that is Gogol. This edition contains The Nose, The Overcoat, and several other funny and haunting stories.
The writing style is subtle and intriguing. While the horror aspect doesn't induce fear as much as one would expect, one must remember that these stories were written a long time ago, and thus deserve to be cut some slack. The writing is definitely difficult to follow at times, but that aspect doesn't hinder the joy of reading the text in any manner whatsoever. He is funny, and more often than not, there is also a hint of supernatural in his stories.
Of all the stories in this edition, I really enjoyed reading The Portrait, The Overcoat, and Rome. The Nose is overrated in my opinion.
Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.
Verdict: A must read.
The writing style is subtle and intriguing. While the horror aspect doesn't induce fear as much as one would expect, one must remember that these stories were written a long time ago, and thus deserve to be cut some slack. The writing is definitely difficult to follow at times, but that aspect doesn't hinder the joy of reading the text in any manner whatsoever. He is funny, and more often than not, there is also a hint of supernatural in his stories.
Of all the stories in this edition, I really enjoyed reading The Portrait, The Overcoat, and Rome. The Nose is overrated in my opinion.
Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.
Verdict: A must read.
October 24, 2021
The Nose- ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
The Overcoat- ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Diary of a Madman- ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
The Overcoat- ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Diary of a Madman- ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
February 14, 2021
Five stars for the translation itself. Fusso loves Gogol for being goofy and magical, and that comes through in her writing.
In every Gogol story, civil servants are selfish idiots, military officers are selfish idiots, and rural folk are kind idiots. Gogol loves St. Petersburg. He hates fussiness. Gogol loves demons. He hates horniness. When the supernatural happens, only the main character asks questions. By mixing and matching the same few themes across his oeuvre, Gogol transports the reader to the same 19th century Russian X-Files universe in every story.
Except for the “The Lost Letter”. That one sucks. Why did you make it first Fusso!? Seriously!
In every Gogol story, civil servants are selfish idiots, military officers are selfish idiots, and rural folk are kind idiots. Gogol loves St. Petersburg. He hates fussiness. Gogol loves demons. He hates horniness. When the supernatural happens, only the main character asks questions. By mixing and matching the same few themes across his oeuvre, Gogol transports the reader to the same 19th century Russian X-Files universe in every story.
Except for the “The Lost Letter”. That one sucks. Why did you make it first Fusso!? Seriously!
February 5, 2025
Update:2025 re-read
“a carriage drew up to the entrance; the doors opened; a gentleman in uniform jumped out, slightly stooping, and ran up the stairs. Imagine the horror and at the same time the amazement of Kovalyov when he recognized that it was his own nose!”
I was really happy to see this, “The Nose,” one of my favorite stories, included in George Saunders A Swim in the Pond in the Rain in which he does a thorough walk through of how each story is constructed from a writers’s point of view:
“The narration in “The Nose,” it turns out, is a particular Russian form of unreliable first-person narration called skaz. Imagine an actor telling a story in character. And the character is…not right…sharply characterized by his substandard speech’… little idea of how to develop an argument…though he wishes to be considered informed and observant…cannot distinguish the trivial from the important.’
“So this isn’t graceless writing; this is a great writer writing a graceless writer writing. (And not only that: it’s a great writer writing a graceless writer writing about a world in which a severed nose winds up in a loaf of bread.)
“The skaz tradition (…Twain…Minnie Oearl…Borat…) challenges the notion that a disinterested, objective third-person-omniscient narrator exists anywhere in the real world…Every story is narrated by someone, and since everyone has a viewpoint, every story is misnarrated (is narrated subjectively).
Since all narration is misnarration, Gogol says, let us misnarrate joyfully.
It’s like a prose version of the theory of relativity: no fixed objective “correct” viewpoint exists; an unbalanced narrator describes, in an unbalanced voice, the doings of a cast of unbalanced characters.
“To read Gogol in English is one thing; to read him in Russian is, apparently, quite another. He’s funnier in Russian; there are aural jokes and assonances and puns that can’t be rendered in English.
And Saunders also discusses “The Overcoat” and how Akakii Akakievich’s name, “the ‘ka-ka’ sound having the same associations in Russian as in English…sounds to the Russian ear, especially after this shit-related buildup…like ‘Shit O’Shitvich.” (See notes, especially Fusso, on same under separate entry for “The Overcoat.”)
“The Germany in Klemperer’s book [I Will Bear Witness ] has something in common with Gogol’s printing office. In both, something troubling (a missing nose, a hateful political agenda) is met with polite, well-intended civility—a civility that wants things to go on as usual.
Writing about Gregor von Rezzori’s classic Memoirs of an Anti-Semite, Deborah Eisenberg pointed out the great harm that can be done by a handful of evil people, as long as they have the ‘passive assistance of many, many other people who glance out the windows of their secure homes and see a cloudless sky.’
“How can what is happening to Kovalyov really matter to him [the clerk], when it happened to…not-him?”
[i note that Saunders book was published in 2021]
“In a Gogol story, when something impossible happens, either (1) no one notices, or (2) they notice but misunderstand it and then proceed to miscommunicate about it. This includes the narrator, who keeps falling to comment on the oddnesses we notice, and misinterpreting things and providing explanations we don’t buy, and failing to provide reasonable methods by which the things he is narrating could have occurred. [Saunders goes on for almost a page listing improbabilities in the story]
“Gogol is sometimes referred to as an absurdist, his work meant to communicate that we live in a world without meaning. But to me, Gogol is a supreme realist, looking past the way things seem to how they really are.
“The nose (or the Nose) does well in its (or his? Does this Nose have a penis?) brief time wandering the world—better than Kovalyov had done. It has got, in one morning, things that we imagine Kovalyov must crave: a promotion, panache, authority, a carriage with a driver. It’s happier and freer than he is, more proactive and dashing. (Like the hero in a romance novel, it’s apprehended as it is ‘about to board a stagecoach and leave for Riga.’) [and, as Saunders asked earlier, how did it acquire a passport “made out a long time ago…”][is the nose a doppelgänger?]
Original 2022 notes:
An excellent collection of Gogol’s stories and wonderfully translated by Susanne Fusso. I don’t speak or read Russian but Fusso’s translation just sounds pleasing to the ear (I’d read a different translation of The Nose which, well, just seemed clunky.). She seems to transmit the essence of Gogol’s humor. And she includes footnotes to explain word choices and how a Russian reader would understand word choices- shades of meaning ( or how a word might sound to them, and sound similar to another word with a different meaning, but something they would get)
[I wish now that I had taken notes on Fusso’s explanations of the humor, may need to go back and find her translation again; see, though, notes under “The Overcoat”]
I’d seen references to The Greatcoat so it’d been on my list, then bumped up with reading Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and reading Nabokov’s lecture on that story in which he discusses reality versus fantasy and uses The Greatcoat (which he refers to as The Carrick) as an example. (More notes under this specific title)
The Nose is hilariously funny. And scathingly sarcastic regarding social climbers And really, who would recognize someone else’s nose in their bread?
Viy is a great horror story told in a folkloric form, rivaling Poe or Hawthorn
The Portrait while an acerbic commentary on art and money didn’t grab me the way The Nose or Viy had.
Nevsky Avenue was…meh, but was fun in the opening when Gogol was poking fun at the dandies and social climbers who would parade around. But it did have that Golgolian twist.
Diary of A Madman was excellent!
The Carriage was meh, but did have its Gogolian twist of humor at the end.
“a carriage drew up to the entrance; the doors opened; a gentleman in uniform jumped out, slightly stooping, and ran up the stairs. Imagine the horror and at the same time the amazement of Kovalyov when he recognized that it was his own nose!”
I was really happy to see this, “The Nose,” one of my favorite stories, included in George Saunders A Swim in the Pond in the Rain in which he does a thorough walk through of how each story is constructed from a writers’s point of view:
“The narration in “The Nose,” it turns out, is a particular Russian form of unreliable first-person narration called skaz. Imagine an actor telling a story in character. And the character is…not right…sharply characterized by his substandard speech’… little idea of how to develop an argument…though he wishes to be considered informed and observant…cannot distinguish the trivial from the important.’
“So this isn’t graceless writing; this is a great writer writing a graceless writer writing. (And not only that: it’s a great writer writing a graceless writer writing about a world in which a severed nose winds up in a loaf of bread.)
“The skaz tradition (…Twain…Minnie Oearl…Borat…) challenges the notion that a disinterested, objective third-person-omniscient narrator exists anywhere in the real world…Every story is narrated by someone, and since everyone has a viewpoint, every story is misnarrated (is narrated subjectively).
Since all narration is misnarration, Gogol says, let us misnarrate joyfully.
It’s like a prose version of the theory of relativity: no fixed objective “correct” viewpoint exists; an unbalanced narrator describes, in an unbalanced voice, the doings of a cast of unbalanced characters.
“To read Gogol in English is one thing; to read him in Russian is, apparently, quite another. He’s funnier in Russian; there are aural jokes and assonances and puns that can’t be rendered in English.
And Saunders also discusses “The Overcoat” and how Akakii Akakievich’s name, “the ‘ka-ka’ sound having the same associations in Russian as in English…sounds to the Russian ear, especially after this shit-related buildup…like ‘Shit O’Shitvich.” (See notes, especially Fusso, on same under separate entry for “The Overcoat.”)
“The Germany in Klemperer’s book [I Will Bear Witness ] has something in common with Gogol’s printing office. In both, something troubling (a missing nose, a hateful political agenda) is met with polite, well-intended civility—a civility that wants things to go on as usual.
Writing about Gregor von Rezzori’s classic Memoirs of an Anti-Semite, Deborah Eisenberg pointed out the great harm that can be done by a handful of evil people, as long as they have the ‘passive assistance of many, many other people who glance out the windows of their secure homes and see a cloudless sky.’
“How can what is happening to Kovalyov really matter to him [the clerk], when it happened to…not-him?”
[i note that Saunders book was published in 2021]
“In a Gogol story, when something impossible happens, either (1) no one notices, or (2) they notice but misunderstand it and then proceed to miscommunicate about it. This includes the narrator, who keeps falling to comment on the oddnesses we notice, and misinterpreting things and providing explanations we don’t buy, and failing to provide reasonable methods by which the things he is narrating could have occurred. [Saunders goes on for almost a page listing improbabilities in the story]
“Gogol is sometimes referred to as an absurdist, his work meant to communicate that we live in a world without meaning. But to me, Gogol is a supreme realist, looking past the way things seem to how they really are.
“The nose (or the Nose) does well in its (or his? Does this Nose have a penis?) brief time wandering the world—better than Kovalyov had done. It has got, in one morning, things that we imagine Kovalyov must crave: a promotion, panache, authority, a carriage with a driver. It’s happier and freer than he is, more proactive and dashing. (Like the hero in a romance novel, it’s apprehended as it is ‘about to board a stagecoach and leave for Riga.’) [and, as Saunders asked earlier, how did it acquire a passport “made out a long time ago…”][is the nose a doppelgänger?]
Original 2022 notes:
An excellent collection of Gogol’s stories and wonderfully translated by Susanne Fusso. I don’t speak or read Russian but Fusso’s translation just sounds pleasing to the ear (I’d read a different translation of The Nose which, well, just seemed clunky.). She seems to transmit the essence of Gogol’s humor. And she includes footnotes to explain word choices and how a Russian reader would understand word choices- shades of meaning ( or how a word might sound to them, and sound similar to another word with a different meaning, but something they would get)
[I wish now that I had taken notes on Fusso’s explanations of the humor, may need to go back and find her translation again; see, though, notes under “The Overcoat”]
I’d seen references to The Greatcoat so it’d been on my list, then bumped up with reading Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and reading Nabokov’s lecture on that story in which he discusses reality versus fantasy and uses The Greatcoat (which he refers to as The Carrick) as an example. (More notes under this specific title)
The Nose is hilariously funny. And scathingly sarcastic regarding social climbers And really, who would recognize someone else’s nose in their bread?
Viy is a great horror story told in a folkloric form, rivaling Poe or Hawthorn
The Portrait while an acerbic commentary on art and money didn’t grab me the way The Nose or Viy had.
Nevsky Avenue was…meh, but was fun in the opening when Gogol was poking fun at the dandies and social climbers who would parade around. But it did have that Golgolian twist.
Diary of A Madman was excellent!
The Carriage was meh, but did have its Gogolian twist of humor at the end.
October 7, 2020
The Nose and Other Stories by Nikolai Gogol and Translated by Susanne Fusso is a Columbia University Press publication. Gogol was a Russian dramatist of Ukrainian origin. Although Gogol was considered by his contemporaries to be one of the preeminent figures of the natural school of Russian literary realism, this collection is an example of the more surreal and grotesque. Fusso is a specialist in nineteenth-century Russian prose, especially Gogol and Dostoevsky. She is the author of Designing Dead Souls: An Anatomy of Disorder in Gogol and Discovering Sexuality in Dostoevsky.
A hellish trip for a messenger, a man’s nose that has a life of its own, a man slipping into madness, hidden stories of a well-described street, and a story of a man and his overcoat round out the stories in the collection. The title story, which starts out shockingly as a barber finds a nose in his morning bread, has a humorous side as its owner goes in search of the missing appendage. The rank conscious owner is in an awkward position as the nose not only outranks him but dismisses him. Gogol’s other stories capture real issues in Russian society and twist them violently. Class, greed, sex, and status are all covered in different stories. There is a strange humor in many of the stories unlike “The Nose,” “The Diary of a Mad Man” is a descent into madness, a grave plot topic, but the character’s delusions are quite humorous. Other stories like “The Carriage” seem to touch the absurd.
Gogol is a master of short stories. He delivers excellent detail with minimal use of words, and this survives in the superb translation. His darker side runs the full range from horror to humorous to a combination of both. Fusso’s translation captures nineteenth-century Russian life as well as the setting while faithfully rendering it into English. Her translation captures all of Gogol’s magic.
A hellish trip for a messenger, a man’s nose that has a life of its own, a man slipping into madness, hidden stories of a well-described street, and a story of a man and his overcoat round out the stories in the collection. The title story, which starts out shockingly as a barber finds a nose in his morning bread, has a humorous side as its owner goes in search of the missing appendage. The rank conscious owner is in an awkward position as the nose not only outranks him but dismisses him. Gogol’s other stories capture real issues in Russian society and twist them violently. Class, greed, sex, and status are all covered in different stories. There is a strange humor in many of the stories unlike “The Nose,” “The Diary of a Mad Man” is a descent into madness, a grave plot topic, but the character’s delusions are quite humorous. Other stories like “The Carriage” seem to touch the absurd.
Gogol is a master of short stories. He delivers excellent detail with minimal use of words, and this survives in the superb translation. His darker side runs the full range from horror to humorous to a combination of both. Fusso’s translation captures nineteenth-century Russian life as well as the setting while faithfully rendering it into English. Her translation captures all of Gogol’s magic.
August 5, 2024
The Lost Letter - 3.5/5
Viy - 5/5
The Portrait - 5/5
Nevsky Avenue - 3/5
Diary of a Madman - 5/5
The Carriage - 4/5
The Nose - 5/5
Rome - 2.5/5
The Overcoat - 5/5
"Man is such a wondrous being that it is never possible to count up all his merits at once."
“I think that it is one of the most refined joys of this world to interchange thoughts, feelings, and impressions." "The low-level clerks who performed this task sometimes made a specialty of sharpening quills to the particular taste of their superiors." "They don’t listen to me, they don’t hear me, they don’t see me."
"Do you really not see that the thing I would have for sniffing is precisely what I don't have? The devil take your snuff!" “Perfect nonsense goes on in the world. Sometimes there is no plausibility at all” “But nothing is lasting in this world. Even joy begins to fade after only one minute."
"What exactly the post of the significant personage was and in what it consisted remained is still unknown to this day. The reader must know that a certain significant personage had only recently been made a significant personage, and before that he had been an insignificant personage. By the way, even now his position is not considered significant in comparison to other, even more significant positions."
Viy - 5/5
The Portrait - 5/5
Nevsky Avenue - 3/5
Diary of a Madman - 5/5
The Carriage - 4/5
The Nose - 5/5
Rome - 2.5/5
The Overcoat - 5/5
"Man is such a wondrous being that it is never possible to count up all his merits at once."
“I think that it is one of the most refined joys of this world to interchange thoughts, feelings, and impressions." "The low-level clerks who performed this task sometimes made a specialty of sharpening quills to the particular taste of their superiors." "They don’t listen to me, they don’t hear me, they don’t see me."
"Do you really not see that the thing I would have for sniffing is precisely what I don't have? The devil take your snuff!" “Perfect nonsense goes on in the world. Sometimes there is no plausibility at all” “But nothing is lasting in this world. Even joy begins to fade after only one minute."
"What exactly the post of the significant personage was and in what it consisted remained is still unknown to this day. The reader must know that a certain significant personage had only recently been made a significant personage, and before that he had been an insignificant personage. By the way, even now his position is not considered significant in comparison to other, even more significant positions."
March 11, 2023
Qué voy a decir de esta colección de cuentos...
Se considera a Poe el creador del cuento moderno... Pero habría que atender mucho a la gran figura de Gogol, que partiendo de una visión muy particular del cuento folklórico, evoluciona, siempre desdee una calidad de partida descomunal, hasta avanzar en la exploración de la extrañeza y lo grotesco, siempre dentro de un ambiente cotidiano, vulgar.
SI los cuentos "ucranianos" rompen moldes, estos últimos cinco cuentos, los peterburgueses, son modelos de la que la literatura contemporánea más rompedora sigue aún fraguando. Por ello, yo siempre equiparo las figuras de Gogol y de Poe, y las sitúo en el mismo alto pódium.
Una cuestión, la misma casa editora tiene dos traducciones completas del ruso de los cuentos. La que editó Tus libros en Anaya, de Isabel Vicente, y la que publicó Alianza Juan López Morillas. Aunque son equiparables, la de Isabel Vicente tiene mayor atractivo para mí.
Se considera a Poe el creador del cuento moderno... Pero habría que atender mucho a la gran figura de Gogol, que partiendo de una visión muy particular del cuento folklórico, evoluciona, siempre desdee una calidad de partida descomunal, hasta avanzar en la exploración de la extrañeza y lo grotesco, siempre dentro de un ambiente cotidiano, vulgar.
SI los cuentos "ucranianos" rompen moldes, estos últimos cinco cuentos, los peterburgueses, son modelos de la que la literatura contemporánea más rompedora sigue aún fraguando. Por ello, yo siempre equiparo las figuras de Gogol y de Poe, y las sitúo en el mismo alto pódium.
Una cuestión, la misma casa editora tiene dos traducciones completas del ruso de los cuentos. La que editó Tus libros en Anaya, de Isabel Vicente, y la que publicó Alianza Juan López Morillas. Aunque son equiparables, la de Isabel Vicente tiene mayor atractivo para mí.
March 2, 2020
I adored Gogol's Dead Souls when I read it a few years ago, but I'd never gotten around to picking up any of his other works, so of course I requested this short story collection straightaway when I saw it on NetGalley. Overall, it was an enjoyable read. I appreciated Gogol's clever blend of reality with the fantastical, particularly in the earlier tales, and all the stories were imaginative and memorable in their own way. The translation reads smoothly, without any jarring, and the collection provided me with two nights' pleasant, easy reading. I had great fun with these stories and recommend them to fans of short stories with a hint of magical realism and those who enjoy the Russian classics. 4.5 stars.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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March 29, 2020I 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 9781782275152). This was the more scholarly, at least as where the publishers involved were concerned, and copious notes in the back matter were on hand to get us used to all the folk dance names and everything else from the author's society featuring in these tales. But the problem for me was that all that actually featured. Take the second tale here, 'Viy', where three students are on their furlough in the countryside, when one has a magical encounter, which is followed by a most unexpected request. Gogol himself said this was a literal transposing of an actual Ukrainian legend – well that's as may be, but no oral storyteller would ramble on so much about describing this, keeping us informed on that aspect of life and the other. It's literary – and far too so – not literal. Apparently these are comedic – well, the opener, again featuring a cross-over into the netherworlds, seemed to have a kind of sprightliness that might have sounded ribald at one time, but the average browser nowadays would never be expected to actually laugh at anything there, surely?
Much better is 'The Portrait', a couplet of tales about the same demonic painting, but an opus that still shows that while Gogol can write, he can also witter on with longueurs, and try and cram too much of everyday life description into his macabre, or the other way round. The esteemed work 'Nevsky Avenue' is just mundane, and just a stodge in my mind; 'Diary of a Madman' is an unsympathetic and unfunny look at insanity. There are some arch quips to be had with 'The Carriage', 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 this comedy of societal manners didn't do much for me, either. 'The Overcoat', presented new for the author's Collected Stories output, did OK but once more proved he was a fan of fifty words when five would do. 'Rome' did nothing for me except prove why it was seldom included in such translated collections. By far the most interesting was our title story, 'The Nose', which had a lot of ancestral DNA for both the Kafkaesque and the Theatre of the Absurd. No it made no sense at all at times, but it was almost a keeper.
So this collection gave me two stories I would consider to have offered strong memories. The book itself is one where it's daft to consider a star rating, for I always appreciated it – once more these publishers give a sterling presentation to their material. It's just the let-down is the author, his approach and style, and his stories themselves. Could I honestly recommend what I thought a lovely restaurant if I hated the courses I ate? I'm in the same boat here – not wanting to turn people away from ticking this classic author off your checklist, but quite confident the general reader would find a lot of the experience disagreeable.
Much better is 'The Portrait', a couplet of tales about the same demonic painting, but an opus that still shows that while Gogol can write, he can also witter on with longueurs, and try and cram too much of everyday life description into his macabre, or the other way round. The esteemed work 'Nevsky Avenue' is just mundane, and just a stodge in my mind; 'Diary of a Madman' is an unsympathetic and unfunny look at insanity. There are some arch quips to be had with 'The Carriage', 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 this comedy of societal manners didn't do much for me, either. 'The Overcoat', presented new for the author's Collected Stories output, did OK but once more proved he was a fan of fifty words when five would do. 'Rome' did nothing for me except prove why it was seldom included in such translated collections. By far the most interesting was our title story, 'The Nose', which had a lot of ancestral DNA for both the Kafkaesque and the Theatre of the Absurd. No it made no sense at all at times, but it was almost a keeper.
So this collection gave me two stories I would consider to have offered strong memories. The book itself is one where it's daft to consider a star rating, for I always appreciated it – once more these publishers give a sterling presentation to their material. It's just the let-down is the author, his approach and style, and his stories themselves. Could I honestly recommend what I thought a lovely restaurant if I hated the courses I ate? I'm in the same boat here – not wanting to turn people away from ticking this classic author off your checklist, but quite confident the general reader would find a lot of the experience disagreeable.
March 17, 2025
I loved the two Ukrainian folk tales and enjoyed somewhat his more famous St. Petersburg works. For me, satire can go from clever to tiring very quickly and these later works don’t have the same energy and charm as the earlier tales. Leaving history context and the ingenuity of the writing aside and looking at the stories solely as a contemporary reader, I thought some should have ended sooner. To me, The Portrait has no need of the second part. And last paragraph of The Overcoat, to me, undoes not only the humanity of it but contradicts the arc where his cursing and raving before death do make it probable that he’s the ghosts. Instead, I think final bleak satire cheapens the actual humanity of the piece that he created - which for me is a shame. It made me think of The Stranger and Bartleby somewhat, but in the end, it was nearly book throwing. Too clever by half. It seem like maybe he realized belated that he wrote a St. Petersburg in the style of folk take (which I liked seeing this come full circle) but then decided to reject what he wrote entirely and force it in another direction. If I care more for The Nose than I did (I didn’t, allegory, satire, innuendo), I might have been annoyed the “it was all a dream” and “Diary of a Madman” impacted me very little.
I did like, at least in this curated collection, his ideas presented briefly in one story are then developed on the next. For my enjoyment though, Om looking forward to reading more of his Ukrainian tales and doubt I’ll reread his more famous works or be inspired to read Dead Souls if its foundation is satire.
Overall, 3.5/5 but 4 because I like his writing, I’m inspired to read more (selectively) and I’m glad I read it.
I did like, at least in this curated collection, his ideas presented briefly in one story are then developed on the next. For my enjoyment though, Om looking forward to reading more of his Ukrainian tales and doubt I’ll reread his more famous works or be inspired to read Dead Souls if its foundation is satire.
Overall, 3.5/5 but 4 because I like his writing, I’m inspired to read more (selectively) and I’m glad I read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 2, 2020
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
This is a compilation of nine short stories by Nikolai Gogol, of which many delve into the genre of magical realism/urban fantasy.
While there were some short stories I found quite endearing and quirky (Diary of a Madman, The Carriage, and The Nose), I largely felt that I'm not a reader who can appreciate Gogol's writing.
I noticed that Gogol enjoys giving us much context and character background when crafting out his stories, even going so far as to expand on his side characters in some of them. His writing is also extremely descriptive; he carefully crafts out a specific scene he has in mind that he wants readers to envision. While some may enjoy being completely immersed in the sights and sounds of old Russia (which I did like and appreciate sometimes), the writing itself felt a little dry to me and I found myself spacing out at times, especially while I was reading Rome (A Fragment). That one's definitely my least favourite of them all.
In short, I'd think Gogol's writing is generally a 'hit-or-miss' type. If you're someone who loves descriptive writing and blends of magical realism with a sprinkle of some darker gothic elements, then I'd highly recommend you check this out! If you're more like me: someone who prefers less rambliness and more straightforwardness, then it's probably better if you zoom in on some of his works in particular instead of reading all of them (I'd rec The Nose; it's kind of ridiculous, which is why I like it!).
Thank you to Columbia University Press and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!
This is a compilation of nine short stories by Nikolai Gogol, of which many delve into the genre of magical realism/urban fantasy.
While there were some short stories I found quite endearing and quirky (Diary of a Madman, The Carriage, and The Nose), I largely felt that I'm not a reader who can appreciate Gogol's writing.
I noticed that Gogol enjoys giving us much context and character background when crafting out his stories, even going so far as to expand on his side characters in some of them. His writing is also extremely descriptive; he carefully crafts out a specific scene he has in mind that he wants readers to envision. While some may enjoy being completely immersed in the sights and sounds of old Russia (which I did like and appreciate sometimes), the writing itself felt a little dry to me and I found myself spacing out at times, especially while I was reading Rome (A Fragment). That one's definitely my least favourite of them all.
In short, I'd think Gogol's writing is generally a 'hit-or-miss' type. If you're someone who loves descriptive writing and blends of magical realism with a sprinkle of some darker gothic elements, then I'd highly recommend you check this out! If you're more like me: someone who prefers less rambliness and more straightforwardness, then it's probably better if you zoom in on some of his works in particular instead of reading all of them (I'd rec The Nose; it's kind of ridiculous, which is why I like it!).
Thank you to Columbia University Press and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!
September 17, 2020
Disclosure: I'm a Russian lit major, so my perspective is no doubt far more warped than most readers.'
Gogol is my least favorite of the classic Russian authors. I can appreciate his singular imagination and his eye for detail, but I just don't enjoy reading him as much as other authors. I had to read "The Nose" and "The Overcoat" in the original for more than one class (he is a favorite of cruel Russian instructors), and have even tried teaching Dead Souls, despite my lukewarm feelings.
So I was intrigued to read this collection, which features a wide sample of Gogol's work from different times in his career: "The Lost Letter," "Viy," "The Portrait" (1835), "Nevsky Avenue," "Diary of a Madman," "The Carriage," "The Nose," "Rome," and "The Overcoat." My first impression is that Susanne Fusso's translation is excellent. Unlike many translators, who have trouble accepting that some Russian words simply have no English equivalent and insert something truly bizarre (Pevear and Volokhonsky, I"m looking at you), Fusso acknowledges when a word is untranslatable. In fact, her notes are what make this edition worth buying, especially for the reader unfamiliar with Gogol's world. The edition is scholarly enough to use for a college classroom, but accessible to the casual reader as well. As to whether those readers will enjoy Gogol, well, that's a matter of taste, I suppose.
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.
Gogol is my least favorite of the classic Russian authors. I can appreciate his singular imagination and his eye for detail, but I just don't enjoy reading him as much as other authors. I had to read "The Nose" and "The Overcoat" in the original for more than one class (he is a favorite of cruel Russian instructors), and have even tried teaching Dead Souls, despite my lukewarm feelings.
So I was intrigued to read this collection, which features a wide sample of Gogol's work from different times in his career: "The Lost Letter," "Viy," "The Portrait" (1835), "Nevsky Avenue," "Diary of a Madman," "The Carriage," "The Nose," "Rome," and "The Overcoat." My first impression is that Susanne Fusso's translation is excellent. Unlike many translators, who have trouble accepting that some Russian words simply have no English equivalent and insert something truly bizarre (Pevear and Volokhonsky, I"m looking at you), Fusso acknowledges when a word is untranslatable. In fact, her notes are what make this edition worth buying, especially for the reader unfamiliar with Gogol's world. The edition is scholarly enough to use for a college classroom, but accessible to the casual reader as well. As to whether those readers will enjoy Gogol, well, that's a matter of taste, I suppose.
Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.
March 21, 2020
Nikolai Gogol's The Nose and Other Stories, translated by Susanne Fusso, provides readers with short stories that probe the depths of Gogol's imagination, offering tales that combine the profound and the entertaining.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Comprised of nine imaginative stories, the collection moves at varying paces through a variety of broad scenarios that narrow their focus and address similar basic topics surrounding bureaucratic systems and crowds in cities; some of the stories, such as The Nose or Diary of a Madman, were far more interesting and quickly paced than others within these pages. In general, the writing is incredibly descriptive, perhaps overly so at times that drags down the momentum, as it takes time and effort to flesh out the minutely detailed backgrounds of characters, which typically isn't necessary for understanding the overall plot of the stories offered. The stories that incorporated a larger dose of magical realism were immensely more entertaining and I found them to be easier to connect with and read. My favorite of the bunch, by far, was the titular The Nose as it offered an absurd premise and effortlessly maintained my interest throughout. I was frustrated by the use of end notes as my personal preference is for footnotes, especially for asides that provide greater context for a concept presented - I'm far less likely to flip to the end (particularly in a digital file) than I am to look at the bottom of a page.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Comprised of nine imaginative stories, the collection moves at varying paces through a variety of broad scenarios that narrow their focus and address similar basic topics surrounding bureaucratic systems and crowds in cities; some of the stories, such as The Nose or Diary of a Madman, were far more interesting and quickly paced than others within these pages. In general, the writing is incredibly descriptive, perhaps overly so at times that drags down the momentum, as it takes time and effort to flesh out the minutely detailed backgrounds of characters, which typically isn't necessary for understanding the overall plot of the stories offered. The stories that incorporated a larger dose of magical realism were immensely more entertaining and I found them to be easier to connect with and read. My favorite of the bunch, by far, was the titular The Nose as it offered an absurd premise and effortlessly maintained my interest throughout. I was frustrated by the use of end notes as my personal preference is for footnotes, especially for asides that provide greater context for a concept presented - I'm far less likely to flip to the end (particularly in a digital file) than I am to look at the bottom of a page.
October 1, 2022
This collection of Nikolai Gogol’s stories is divided into two parts, his Ukrainian tales, and his Petersburg tales. The former tales harken back to fables from his Ukrainian (“Little Russia”) childhood and are replete with supernatural folklore and religious symbolism. The best way I can describe the supernatural aspect of these stories is by the term “gothic.” The focus is often on witches and Satanic forces, even the devil himself. The Cossack characters in the story have shaved heads with top knots and colorful balloon trousers. All characters are Orthodox Christians who have been involved in a centuries-long struggle against neighboring Polish Catholics and Muslim Turks and Tartars. They relive terrifying myths and the townspeople are often left “pondering the terrible deed that had happened in olden times.” The Petersburg tales shift focus to life in a more urban setting. Instead of village peasants and Cossacks, these stories often involve the plight of mundane “titular councilors” who strive to survive in rank-conscience Russian society. Yet the fantastical and supernatural still abound in these phantasmal tales. Perhaps the most absurd, yet powerful, of these stories are “The Nose” (a man loses his nose, only to find it walking down the street), “The Portrait” (a morality tale on the temptation of riches), and “The Overcoat.” This last tale was, in my opinion, the most powerful as it reveals humankind's selfishness and baseness. In summary, Gogol’s tales are powerfully strange and humorous stories with a punch.
August 28, 2020
The Nose and Other Stories is a testament to a writer at play and an artist who lets his imagination wander. Through Susanne Fusso’s translation, the absurdity that runs through Gogol’s short stories shines through. There are no jarring moments where Gogol’s odd humor and phrasing get lost in the translation. The collection spans from the bustle of St. Petersburg, ancient Rome, and rural Ukraine, and in each story Gogol walks a blurred line between fantasy and reality. While the stories are easy to read, this collection isn’t necessarily addictive. Several of the themes (e.g. temptation and the dangers of beautiful women) are dated and not particularly timely. But due to the stories’ bizarre plots and fantastical elements, it’s understandable as to why many writers continue to return to Gogol’s imaginative work.
June 29, 2021
I always have a little trouble with the classics, but I'm glad I read this. I loved The Nose and I really enjoyed Diary of a Madman, but the other stories in this collection were I hate to say it a little boring, which amounts for the three-star rating. Gogol is surprisingly funny though! I liked the magical realist elements like the witches in The Lost Letter. I also liked the little asides by the narrator directly to the reader, taking them right out of the story. ("The same man as at the beginning of our story." "I have to admit, not even the narrator of this story was interested to find out.")
I really have to read that George Saunders book analyzing great works of Russian literature, of which The Nose is one of them, to really appreciate Gogol's genius. I think it's fair to say...I did not appreciate Gogol's genius this time around.
I really have to read that George Saunders book analyzing great works of Russian literature, of which The Nose is one of them, to really appreciate Gogol's genius. I think it's fair to say...I did not appreciate Gogol's genius this time around.
March 18, 2022
Gogol is claimed by both Russians and Ukrainians. He was born and raised in what is today Ukraine, but wrote his stories in Russian. It is unclear to me what was his mother tongue. This collection of many of his most famous short stories include ones that take place in rural Ukraine and others in the metropolitan capital of the Romanov Empire, St. Petersburg (aka Petrograd aka Leningrad). Reading this along with Plokhy's history of Russian and Ukrainian nationalism, I speculate that in Gogol's time the distinction between the claimants was not so important, or even meaningful. No matter what, Gogol is an excellent and entertaining writer, with the ability to make even pages of so unpromising a subject as the sartorial choices seen on a Petrograd street fun and enjoyable. A warning: don't expect the plots to make sense, or to even end. That may be the point.
December 31, 2025
Gogol has one foot planted in the world of folktale and mysticism, and the other in the modern urban world of commerce and society. His stories struck me as both timeless and timely--tales of vanity, temptation, desperation, alienation, the cheapening of beauty and art and the triumph of money. Whereas his characters are haunted by the irrationality of the pre-modern world they've only recently left behind, we today witness the return of superstitions thought long dead. I'd rather not be living in Gogolian times, but here we are. Fusso's translation is fantastic. It's funny and bizarre in ways I can only assume are true to the original.
April 14, 2022
5 stars for "The Nose."
4 stars for "The Overcoat" and "Diary of a Madman."
Didn't love the other stories. Haven't read his novel Dead Souls, so I can't comment on that, but I don't see how you could go wrong with these three stories if you want a taste of Gogol.
4 stars for "The Overcoat" and "Diary of a Madman."
Didn't love the other stories. Haven't read his novel Dead Souls, so I can't comment on that, but I don't see how you could go wrong with these three stories if you want a taste of Gogol.
April 17, 2022
I genuinely enjoyed The Nose, The Overcoat, and The Carriage, but I have to admit the others were a bit of a slog. The stories that shined were a mix of the humorous, bizarre, and supernatural. In the others, however, I found the rambling detail about the setting and minor characters to distract me too much from the plot to be enjoyable. The translator did an excellent job with informative footnotes, however.
December 14, 2022
Didn't realize that Gogol did so much magical realism. Unfortunately that's not generally my thing so it took me a bit to connect with some of these stories. Overall impressed though, and definitely loved "The Overcoat." Breakdown of ratings below!
The Lost Letter - 2 stars
Viy - 2.5 stars
The Portrait (1835 version) - 4.5 stars
Nevsky Avenue - 3.5 stars
Diary Of A Madman - 4 stars
The Carriage - 2.5 stars
The Nose - 3 stars
Rome (A Fragment) - 4 stars
The Overcoat - 5 stars
The Lost Letter - 2 stars
Viy - 2.5 stars
The Portrait (1835 version) - 4.5 stars
Nevsky Avenue - 3.5 stars
Diary Of A Madman - 4 stars
The Carriage - 2.5 stars
The Nose - 3 stars
Rome (A Fragment) - 4 stars
The Overcoat - 5 stars
May 23, 2020
Gogol is, like many classic authors, hit or miss with today's readers. This collection of short stories offers a great survey of his skills as a writer and the translator did a wonderful job. Some stories I enjoyed more than others, but overall, a good collection.
Thank you NetGalley and Columbia University Press for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.
Thank you NetGalley and Columbia University Press for the opportunity to read an advance reading copy.
February 23, 2021
A great new translation of a wide swath of Gogol's works, from his rustic and fantastical beginnings to the more cosmopolitan and well-known Petersburg stories. The only downside is the inclusion of Rome (A Fragment), which was a bore to read and required significant willpower to push through.
October 5, 2024
The Nose is a classic. The Portrait is devastating. Rome is enchanting.
July 26, 2025
what just happened to me
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