„Svi smo mi izašli iz gogoljevskog Šinjela.“ Fjodor Dostojevski Dostojevski je time mislio na pisce svog vremena i neizmeran uticaj Gogolja na sve njih. Ovo malo izdanje „Gogolja za ljubitelje“ počinje pričom Ivan Fjodorovič Šponjka i njegova tetka (1831), biserom rane Gogoljeve faze i pravim uvodom u roman Mrtve duše, nastavlja se u istom duhu pripovetkom Kočije (1835), da bi kulminiralo čudesnim delima iz petrogradskog opusa Nos (1832), Nevski prospekt (1835) i Šinjel (1941).
Gogolj je pre svega poznat po svojoj drami Revizor (1835), možda najboljoj komediji koja je ikad napisana, i po velikom romanu Mrtve duše (1842).
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.