Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol

Collected here are Gogol's finest tales - from the demon-haunted 'St John's Eve' to the strange surrealism of 'The Nose', from the heart-rending trials of the copyist in 'The Overcoat' to those of the delusional clerk in 'The Diary of a Madman' - allowing readers to experience anew the unmistakable genius of a writer who paved the way for Dostoevsky and Kafka. To this superb new translation - the first in twenty-five years and destined to become the definitive edition of Gogol's short fiction - Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky bring the same clarity and fidelity to the original that they brought to their brilliant translation of Dostoevsky's works and to War and Peace.

One of the most influential short stories ever written, Nikolai Gogol's ''The Overcoat'' first appeared in 1842 as part of a four-volume publication of its author's Collected Works. The story is considered not only an early masterpiece of Russian Naturalism-a movement that would dominate the country's literature for generations-but a progenitor of the modern short story form itself. "We all came out from under Gogol's 'Overcoat'" is a remark that has been variously attributed to Dostoevsky and Turgenev. That either or both might have said it is an indication of the far-reaching significance of Gogol's work. Gogol's writings have been seen as a bridge between the genres of romanticism and realism in Russian literature. Progressive critics of his day praised Gogol for grounding his prose fictions in the everyday lives of ordinary people, and they claimed him as a pioneer of a new "naturalist" aesthetic. Yet, Gogol viewed his work in a more conservative light, and his writing seems to incorporate as much fantasy and folklore as realistic detail. "The Overcoat," which was written sporadically over several years during a self-imposed exile in Geneva and Rome, is a particularly dazzling amalgam of these seemingly disparate tendencies in Gogol's writing. The story begins by taking its readers through the mundane and alienating world of a bureaucratic office in St. Petersburg where an awkward, impoverished clerk must scrimp and save in order to afford a badly needed new winter coat. As the story progresses, we enter a fairy-tale world of supernatural revenge, where the clerk's corpse is seen wandering city streets ripping coats off the backs of passersby. Gogol's story is both comic and horrific-at once a scathing social satire, moralistic fable, and psychological study. List of Contents: Introduction to Nikolai GogolBook 1: The OvercoatBook 2: Taras BulbaBook 3: St. John's EveBook 4: The NoseBook 5: The Mysterious PortraitBook 6: The Calash

Hailed by Nabokov as "the greatest artist that Russia has yet produced," Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852) left his mark as a playwright, novelist, and writer of short stories. Gogol's works remain popular with both writers and readers, who prize his originality, imaginative gifts, and sheer exuberance. This collection offers an excellent introduction to the author's works. Opening a door to his bizarre world of broad comedy, fantasy, and social commentary, the title story portrays a petty official's mental disintegration as he struggles for the attention of the woman he loves. Set during the repressive rule of Nicholas I, it satirizes the bureaucratic excesses of the era. Additional tales include "The Nevski Prospect," a portrayal of the feverish pace of St. Petersburg street life, and "The Portrait," a gripping depiction of a soul's perdition.

A stranger arrives in a Russian backwater community with a bizarre proposition for the local landowners: cash for their "dead souls," the serfs who have died in their service. Gogol's comic masterpiece offers a vast and satirical painting of 19th-century Russia. A work of great symbolism, it continues to inspire 21st-century authors and readers.

Eric Bentley brings to the attention of Gogol's still growing American public not only a new version of Inspector, but three other dramatic works: The Marriage, Gamblers and A Madman's Diary the last-named being Bentley's dramatization of a famous Gogol story. In a critical preface, Bentley finds all four works to be a Gogolian treatment of love - or the lack of love - and by the same token, thoroughly original works of dramatic art. Also includes a piece on Gamblers by the eminent Polish critic Jan Kott.

Gogol's most remarkable exercise in the genre of the absurd.

Revizor is the great comic masterpiece of nineteenth- century Russian theatre. Its central role, that of Khlestakov - the opportunistic yarn-spinner who is mistaken by provincial officials for a government inspector from St. Petersburg - has attracted performances from such western comic actors as Danny Kaye, Tony Hancock and Rick Mayall, as well as mainstays of the Russian theatre. This sweeping satire of Russian bureaucratic life directs its message, conveyed in apocalyptic undertones, at audiences from all backgrounds.

Originally published in 1835, this is one of two works by Gogol dealing with the "little man" (the other is "The Overcoat"). Of over 150 examples of this genre, these two stories are often considered the most complex, both linguistically and psychologically. Poprischin is not at the bottom of the social ladder; he is a middle-aged, grade nine civil servant, with at least ten minions under him. Nevertheless he is painfully aware of the social gap between himself and his Director and, even more so, between himself and Sophie, the Director's daughter. Poprischin's frustrated love for Sophie drives him into madness, the stages of which are catalogued in diary form. These stages include imagined conversations between dogs and hallucinations set in a Spanish madhouse. This edition is based on the latest critical edition of the text to be published in Russia and follows the 1835 version of the text.

The theatrical genius of Nikolay Gogol has gone largely unappreciated by English-speaking audiences because pedantically literal translations have left his plays virtually unperformable. These fresh translations restore the vitality of Gogol's language and humor, finally allowing his dramatic art to speak directly to Western readers, directors, actors, and theater-goers. This volume contains The Government Inspector and Marriage - Gogol's greatest full-length plays, comedic cornerstones of the Russian theatrical repertoire - and a one-act satire, The Gamblers. Also included are writings on theater from Gogol's notebooks and correspondences

The Overcoat which is generally acknowledged as the finest of Gogol'smemorable Saint Petersburg stories, is a tale of the absurd andmisplaced obsessions.

These translations of Gogol's plays restore the vitality of Gogol's language and humour, finally allowing his dramatic art to speak directly to Western readers, directors, actors and theatre-goers. This volume contains ""The Government Inspector"" and ""Marriage"" - Gogol's greatest full-length plays - and a one-act satire, ""The Gamblers"". Also included are writings on theatre from Gogol's notebooks and correspondences, as well as an appendix and extensive introduction.

"The Constance Garnett translation has been revised throughout by the editor."