Customer Reviews

The Diary of a Madman, The Government Inspector, and Selected Stories (Penguin Classics)

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Do you buy this Penguin Classics translation by Ronald Wilks or the Vintage Classics version translated by Pevear and Volokhonsky, currently the best translators of 19th century Russian novels? No contest. The other has 14 stories versus 8 here. Buy the other book if you must buy only one.

I bought both and have no regrets. The present book has two good features: it has a better introduction by Robert Maguire plus it has the play, The Government Inspector. And according to Nabokov, and it is hard to argue with him, that play is the best Russian play ever written. This is a 1972 translation, revised in 2005.

So, it has only 8 stories, but the book does contain an impressive introduction by Maguire, professor from Columbia University, international scholar, now passed away. The present book contains 7 stories translated by Wilks, the introduction by Maguire, plus the play. None of the stories are much over 50 pages and some are shorter. They are good examples of the writings and the literary techniques of Gogol. He is an extremely complex writer and one must read the analysis to appreciate the subtle features and nuances in his writings.

Two stories are from "the Ukrainian Tales" and five from the "Petersburg Tales," and as pointed out by Maguire, that is an editorial division only of Gogol's works, not a division created by Gogol. The former stories from the Ukraine include his use of witches and the devil.

Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852, Ukraine-Russia) is one the best known Russian writers. His masterpiece is Dead Souls. It is a charming and a highly entertaining novel about a man touring Russian farms by horse and buggy in the early 19th century. In addition, Gogol has approximately 19 well known short stories plus non-fiction writings. He was a friend of Pushkin and he published some of his works in a magazine by Pushkin, The Contemporary. He spent 12 of his last 16 years living in western Europe where he wrote Dead Souls (a must read if you claim to be literate).

Ukrainian Tales.

There are two in his group.
"a world of proud, boastful Cossacks, of black-brown beauties, of witches, devils, magic spells and enchantments..."
The stories are as follows:
Ivan Fyodorovich Sponka and His Aunt, and
The Story of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich.

Petersburg Tales.

These are similar to the stories covered in the Vintage translation and are among his best known works. They are set in Petersburg, and are as follows:
Nevsky Prospect, The Diary of a Madman, The Nose, The Carriage, and The Overcoat.
Also included is the play, The Government Inspector, which is set in a rural area.

"The Nose" -- which tells with an utterly straight face the improbable tale of a man who wakes up one day to find his nose missing, only to then later spot it running around town wearing the uniform of a government official -- is probably the single funniest work of serious literature ever written. When I was at university 20 years ago, a fellow literature student and three of her male admirers (myself counted among them) started a weekly "story night" in which each member of the circle would bring in something to read to the others. I'll always remember the night I brought in "The Nose" and read it aloud, and everyone was rolling with laughter. Gogol has the added distinction of being a major influence on 20th century comedy, including the films of Luis Bunuel and Woody Allen. A must-read.

Penguin has published a selection of short stories and the play "The Government Inspector" by Nikolay Gogol (1809-52) one of the premiere Russian authors of the nineteenth century and all time.
The collection includes:
Ivan Fyodorvich Shponka and His Aunt-This delightful gem tells the tale of Ivan who is a retired Russian Army officer. He spends his days with his masculine and domineering aunt on a large estate in the Ukraine. Shponka is shy failing to court a fetching beauty on a nearby estate. Gogol is a word artist who is able to paint the scene of a rural Russia where peasants and landowners go about their humdrum lives. The story reminds me of a tale which could have been written by Anton Chekhov.
How Ivan Ivanonich quarrelled with Ivan Nikiforovich-This is the bittersweet, sometimes humorous, tale of two old friends who are estate owners. They quarrel over Ivanonich's eagerness to be given a beautiful rifle owned by Nikiforovich. Their dispute ends up in a law court where a rebellious pig eats court documents! The story is narrated by an invented character. A memorable and excellent piece of short fiction!
Nevsky Prospect-Located in St. Petersburg this tale deals with a man who is a dreamer. It is surreal in parts and is evocative of life in mid nineteenth century St. Petersburg dubbed "The Paris of the North." One of Gogol's greatest short stories;often anthologized.
The Nose-An asburdist tale in which a Nose leaves the face of a minor government official only to return to his face as the story concludes. It is a satire on Russian government and the human desire to win fame and prestige by holding office. A precursor to Kafka in its absurdist and disorienting story.
The Overcoat-The tragic tale of a little clerk who is very poor. He finally saves up his money, purchases a beautiful and warm coat only to have it stolen one frigid St. Petersburg night. His boss is later tormented by the ghost of the thief who purloined the coat. This is one of the best short stories in all of world literature. Vladamir Nabokov is the critic to read on this tale.
The Carriage-This story concerns a landowner who falls asleep in his carriage despite the visit to his estate of several high officials. A humorous tale poking fun at the government.
The Government Inspector is a play in which the mayor and high officials in a small provincial Russian village mistakenly suppose a visiting wastrel is a high governmental official. All of the hypocrisy, greed and self-seeking resident in the human being are on display in this brilliant play.
The Penguin edition contains an excellent introduction to Gogol by Dr. Robert Maguire. Gogol is a delight to read; his insights into humanity are on target. May he and his carriage travel across the vast reaches of Russia forever!

I found this collection to be a nice sample of Gogol's work with a helpful introduction and endnotes.

I have long struggled to understand the Russian mentality (i.e. why their government is so corrupt and hurts the people so much) and I find Gogol's works to be helpful insight into the "thinking" of ordinary Russians.

And, yes, he does this with humor.

John Christmas, author of "Democracy Society"

The DIARY OF A MAD MAN is an insightful story by Gogol that is full of humor, sadness, tragedy and hope. The literary style is first class and fully exposes the inner turmoil of a man with a conflict in his soul. House of the Dead, Union Moujiks, Poor Folks, explore that depth of human suffering that leads to depravity for individuals or groups of people.

Finally, a book for sale, easily bought which has Gogol's great play, The Government Inspector! Mainly through the success of this play was Gogol known during his lifetime and he was in Russia to enjoy the praises sung in his name. Pushkin, one of Gogol's greatest supporters and one of his dearest friends was still around also.

The Diary of a Madman is, without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest short story ever written. This work, probably the finest Gogol ever wrote speaks to me and you can really feel Gogol's pain of rejection and alienation (like Kafka) through the sometimes scary entries in the diary of Poprishchen, which translates into "pimple" in Russian, the Madman's name.

Gogol's humor is just perfect. It is almost sadistic the way he tells of his characters downfalls and destruction. The Overcoat, Gogol's most famous short story is just about some guy who gets an overcoat, something the man treasures not because it looks nice, but because it helps him survive. When it is stolen, he dies. I love that humor. Gogol cared about the little guy, but, he wasn't afraid to tell of the miserable demise of his "little guys."

I will definatley be buying this one. There may be Dostoevsky but Gogol is the one more close to my kind of humor. Kafka called Dostoevsky his blood brother and Gogol must surely be mine.