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Diary of a Madman, The Government Inspector, & Selected Stories

By Nikolay Gogol
Penguin Classics
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Diary of a Madman, The Government Inspector, & Selected Stories by Nikolay Gogol is a collection of satirical tales that explore the absurdities of 19th-century Russian society. The stories blend comedic and grotesque elements to critique bureaucracy and social hierarchy. Through vivid characters and imaginative plots, Gogol deftly examines themes of identity, power, and madness, ensuring a thought-provoking read with moments of dark humour.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

These works by Nikolay Gogol offer a captivating blend of satire, humour, and insight into human folly and the bureaucratic absurdities of 19th-century Russia. You might enjoy these stories if you appreciate darkly comedic narratives, rich character studies, and a glimpse into historical and cultural contexts that resonate with universal themes of madness and societal critiques.

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Includes a selection of short fiction and famous dramas. This book includes stories ranging from comic to tragic and describes the isolated lives of low-ranking clerks, lunatics and swindlers.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Author, dramatist, and satirist, Nikolay Gogol (1809-1852) deeply influenced later Russian literature with his powerful depictions of a society dominated by petty bureaucracy and base corruption. This volume includes both his most admired short fiction and his most famous drama.

A biting and frequently hilarious political satire, The Government Inspector has been popular since its first performance and was regarded by Nabokov as the greatest Russian play ever written. The stories gathered here, meanwhile, range from comic to tragic and describe the isolated lives of low-ranking clerks, lunatics, and swindlers.

They include Diary of a Madman, an amusing but disturbing exploration of insanity; Nevsky Prospect, a depiction of an artist besotted with a prostitute; and The Overcoat, a moving consideration of poverty that powerfully influenced Dostoevsky and later Russian literature.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780140449075

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 01 December 2005

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Contributors:

  • Translated by Ronald Wilks
  • Introduction by Robert Maguire

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 21.0mm

Width: 129.0mm

Height: 197.0mm

Weight: 273g

Pages: 368

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Nikolay Gogol Penguin Black Classics Penguin Books Penguin Classics Penguin Classics: General Fiction

About the Author

Gogol, Nikolay Vasilyevich (1809-52), Russian writer, whose plays, short stories, and novels rank among the great masterpieces of 19th-century Russian realist literature. Ronald Wilks has translated many Russian works of literature including, for Penguin, those of Gorky, Sologub, Tolstoy, and Pushkin, and most recently, three volumes of Chekhov's stories and his short novel, The Shooting Party. Robert A Maguire is Professor and Head of Department at Columbia University. He is the author of several books about Russian literature and the prize-winning translator of Petersburg by Andrei Bely (Indiana UP, 1979) and most recently, for Penguin, of Gogol's Dead Souls.

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