Nikolai Gogol, 1809-1852
Biographical note
Ukrainian-born Russian writer. Although his early works, such as Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, were heavily influenced by his Ukrainian upbringing and identity, he wrote in Russian and his works belong to the tradition of Russian literature; often called the "father of modern Russian realism" he was one of the first Russian authors to criticize his country's way of life. The novels Taras Bul'ba (1835; 1842 [revised edition]) and Dead Souls [1842], the play The Inspector-General (1836, 1842), and the short stories Diary of a Madman, The Nose and The Overcoat [1842] are among his best known works. With their scrupulous and scathing realism, ethical criticism as well as philosophical depth, they remain some of the most important works of world literature.
Works
Novels
Plays
Short stories
- Ode to Italy [1829]
- Hanz Küchelgarten [1829]
- Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka (Volume I, 1831, short story collection) :
- Preface (collection opening)
- The Fair at Sorochintsï
- St John's Eve
- A May Night ; or the Drowned Maiden
- The Lost Letter: A Tale Told by the Sexton of the N...Church
- Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka (Volume II, 1832, short story collection) :
- Preface (collection opening, Volume II)
- Christmas Eve
- A Terrible Vengeance
- Ivan Fedorovic Sponka and his Aunt
- A Bewitched Place
- Mirgorod (1835, short story collection) :
- Arabesques (1835, short story collection) :
- The Portrait
- A Chapter from an Historical Novel (fragment)
- Nevsky Prospect
- The Prisoner (fragment)
- Memoirs of a Madman (Diary of a Madman)
- The Nose [1836]
- The Calash (The Carriage) [1836]
- Rome (1842, fragment)
- The Cloak (The Overcoat) [1842]
- The Mysterious Portrait [1842]
- Zhenitba (or Zhenit'ba – The Marriage [1842]
Essays
- Woman [1830]
- Leaving the Theater (1842, essay)
