Diario de un loco

by Nikolai Gogol, Jorge Segovia (translator), Violetta Beck (translator)

El Diario de un loco –extraído del libro Relatos de Petersburgo– como en los mejores textos de Gógol, es un discurso improvisado, alimentado por la euforia del lenguaje, penetrado de ambivalencia y obsesionado por la proximidad de un sentido convencional, “realista”. Si el loco de Gógol es indudablemente víctima de la burocracia y la prensa petersburguesas, es porque representa la quintaesencia del funcionario y el lector ideal de filisteos periodistas como Bulgarin y Senkovski. El personaje se rebela, no contra la jerarquía, sino contra el lugar subalterno que ocupa en ella, y finalmente no puede encontrar un blanco más eficaz que su propio yo. Es por lo que suscita una simpatía real, aunque equívoca: real en razón de su desdicha tan humana, pero equívoca a causa de la banalidad de sus aspiraciones. Y es ahí donde reside la profunda originalidad de este relato. Esa misteriosa aptitud para conferir una dignidad artística a fenómenos triviales y despojados de sentido es la marca de las obras de la madurez de Gógol, y la clave de su rol mayor en la historia de la literatura rusa.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Russia, Short Stories, Russian Literature, Literature, 19th Century

41 pages, ebook

First published January 1, 1835

About the author

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 .

Reviews

[Zain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humorous, But Sad!

I don’t remember this story being so sad, but maybe it’s just that my brain is different.

How dare the titular councilor in this story think he is someone important and special.

He will pay for that.

Five fantastic stars. ✨✨✨✨✨

[Helga · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

In the form of diary entries, this bizarre short story is about a disillusioned government clerk and his muddled thoughts and delusions.
His detachment from reality becomes more pronounced as his incoherent entries continue and his mind plunges into darkness.

[Flo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deluge of thoughts came down on him. Thoughts without sense of purpose or direction that caused a little stir and numerous inquisitive looks.
Conversations with a dog. Delusions of grandeur; persecutions that might have never existed. Envy that mumbles incoherent things, day in day out: silence is a privilege reserved for others, an idyllic state he has been forbidden from finding again; illegible theory in a dusty old notebook. Words accumulate in the corners of a dim lighted room where guilty smiles are born and left behind, hastily.
His deepest desire was to have more – royalty calls. A rift between worlds leaves him on Spanish shores. One can hear the screams from here.
The sound of a steady drip silences all laughter. Drops of cold water floating in the air that turn into sleet upon touching the skin. Attempts to wrap them up in a deathly hush for it seems impossible to bring back an already elusive sanity.

He is talking again. His subjects will not be pleased. His face, ashen with fear.

So much rain under this blood red sky.



Mar 15, 16
* Also on my blog.

[Mark Porton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This re-read of The Diary of a Madman, was as enjoyable as my first reading.

Our hapless, and hopeless, protagonist, a guy called Poprishchin, is a lowly public servant, working in a typically, unproductive, over bureaucratic and pointless office in 1800s Russia.

He spends his days, sharpening the pens for the Director. Something that annoys the Head of Department due to jealousy. Gogol depicts departmental jealousies and rivalries beautifully. As a 35-year public servant (department of health-retired) veteran – believe me, he nails it. The way everyone fawns all over the Director is hilarious. Reminds me of when we used to receive visits from Dignitaries at various hospitals I worked in. Really.

The ‘fun’ here is made all the more real is the first-person account of Poprishchin’s descent into abject madness. We get to see this from the inside out. What a treat.

Okay (deep breath)…….poprishchin is obsessed with the director’s daughter in fact he hangs out outside their home one night to catch a glimpse of her but before seeing her he caught a conversation yes a conversation between the directors dog and a passing dog he eventually finds the letters the dogs have been sending each other so poprishchin can see what the directors daughter has been saying about him this is the first real glimpse of the deteriorating state of his mind needless to say the dogs write mainly about food which is hardly surprising is it at the same time spain yes spain has a vacant throne and poprishchin believes he is the monarch and refers to himself as ferdinand viii yes Ferdinand viii he even makes himself some royal clothes out of bits and pieces of material mad right his diary entries are titled by the day of entry for example october third however later entries have titles like eighty sixth martober between night and day & madrid thirtieth & februarius & january in the same year falling after february mad right…….aaarrrrgggghhh



Sad and hilarious to be sure.

If you want to experience a sixty-page journey into insanity, with some very clever writing by a grand master of taking the piss – this one is for you.

That’s enough from me, I had better get back to knitting my new socks out of mango yoghurt, then I’ll slurp down a bowl of cushion soup for lunch. Lucky me!!!!

5 Stars

[Mutasim Billah · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Man is such a wondrous being that it is never possible to count up all his merits at once. The more you study him, the more new particulars appear, and their descriptions would be endless.”

As the name suggests, this particular iconic story of Nikolai Gogol's chronicles a man's descent into madness.



Poprishchin. Painting by Ilya Repin (1882)

Aksenty Ivanovich Poprishchin is a minor civil servant, who appears to be under constant ridicule from his peers and his superiors. He appears to have a very high opinion of himself and thinks of others as lowly beings compared to him. Porishchin's desire to achieve dignity makes him delusional and alienates him from society bit by bit. The story is told in the form of diary entries that become increasingly chaotic, so much so that the dates of the entries stop making sense. To make matters even more interesting, our protagonist appears to be infatuated with his boss's daughter, driving him further into a spiral of lunacy, as he suspects her of having an affair while listening to dogs "converse" among themselves. Sofi, the lady in question, remains oblivious of his emotions.

By the end of the story, our central character appears to have completely lost it. His diary entry is of an impossible date, he believes himself to be royalty and his sense of disillusionment peaks as he appears to be mistreated in an asylum of some sort. The story really makes the reader feel at one with the thriving imagination of our madman, with very detailed accounts of his emotions and his world-view. The changes in tone and the absurdist elements really keep you hooked and in a daze throughout the experience.

[Mohsin Maqbool · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gogol's anti-hero


The Madman tries to make sense of the world with one eye. Maybe the lesser seen the better.

THE more I read Russian authors, the more I seem to be enamoured by them. I read Nikolai Vesilievich Gogol's "The Overcoat" last year and loved it. Today I read "Diary of a Madman" and loved it as much. Here I should also mention that Gogol was a Russian-language writer of Ukrainian origin.


Geoffrey Rush on stage as the anti-hero Madman.

Is it really a madman who is writing his diary or is it a genius who is doing so? Is it theatre of the absurd like Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot"? What is certain is that it is innovation at its best just like Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities". Besides, it is so humorous that I was laughing throughout while reading it. Sample the following extract to experience the feeling:
'“No, Fidel, you are wrong,” I heard Meggy say quite distinctly. “I was—bow—wow!—I was—bow! wow! wow!—very ill.”
What an extraordinary dog! I was, to tell the truth, quite amazed to hear it talk human language. But when I considered the matter well, I ceased to be astonished. In fact, such things have already happened in the world. It is said that in England a fish put its head out of water and said a word or two in such an extraordinary language that learned men have been puzzling over them for three years, and have not succeeded in interpreting them yet. I also read in the paper of two cows who entered a shop and asked for a pound of tea.
Meanwhile what Meggy went on to say seemed to me still more remarkable. She added, “I wrote to you lately, Fidel; perhaps Polkan did not bring you the letter.”
Now I am willing to forfeit a whole month's salary if I ever heard of dogs writing before. This has certainly astonished me.
For some little time past I hear and see things which no other man has heard and seen.'
While this scribe gets to read things he has never heard or experienced before. And he enjoys it every bit.


A film poster of "Diary of a Madman" (1963).

I should also elucidate that "Diary of a Madman" isn't really a story having a beginning or an end. At the start you do get the feeling that it is a story with the dates moving in chronological order. However, soon it becomes a hotchpotch of vignettes with the dates moving from here to there and everywhere.
"November 8th.
I was at the theatre. “The Russian House-Fool” was performed. I laughed heartily. There was also a kind of musical comedy which contained amusing hits at barristers. The language was
very broad; I wonder the censor passed it. In the comedy lines occur which accuse the merchants of cheating; their sons are said to lead immoral lives, and to behave very disrespectfully towards the nobility.
The critics also are criticised; they are said only to be able to find fault, so that authors have to beg the public for protection.
Our modern dramatists certainly write amusing things. I am very fond of the theatre. If I have only a kopeck in my pocket, I always go there. Most of my fellow-officials are uneducated
boors, and never enter a theatre unless one throws free tickets at their head.
One actress sang divinely. I thought also of—but silence!"
If in Pakistan actors performed a musical comedy which contained amusing hits at barristers such a hue and cry would be raised by the lawyer fraternity. In fact, the entire theatre would be razed to the ground and much else destroyed!


A book cover of "Diary of a Madman".

Can a madman really write such beautiful lines? Maybe one who has suffered a lot in life can. Read on.
"I wish I could get a look into the spare-room whose door I so often see open. And a second small room behind the spareroom excites my curiosity. How splendidly it is fitted up; what a quantity of mirrors and choice china it contains! I should also like to cast a glance into those regions where Her Excellency, the daughter, wields the sceptre. I should like to see how all the scent-bottles and boxes are arranged in her boudoir, and the flowers which exhale so delicious a scent that one is half afraid to breathe. And her clothes lying about which are too ethereal to be called clothes—but silence!"
I think silence should now prevail from my side too so that you can read the story yourself to fully enjoy it.


Gogol on a 2009 Russian stamp.

[AiK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Эта повесть из цикла «Петербургских повестей», на мой взгляд, слабее по смыслу и глубине проблематики и развязке конфликта по сравнению с «Шинелью» и «Портретом». Мне меньше понравилось. Так же как и незабвенный Акакий Акакиевич, Поприщин – мелкий чиновник, титулярный советник, «маленький» человек. Но если Акакий Акакиевич – униженный и оскорбленный, смирившийся со своей судьбою, то Поприщин не таков. У него и фамилия «говорящая», он мечтает о поприще, о мнящемся достойном его положении. Он дворянин, и считает, что только это возводит его на особый уровень, он и параноидально подозревает сослуживцев в зависти к себе, и считает, что начальник, доверяя ему очинку гусиных перьев, его как-то выделяет по-особому. Считая себя достойным кавалером, он влюбляется в Софи, дочь начальника. Ему прямо говорят, что он – нуль. И это правда, потому что он ничем выдающимся не отличается, беден, если не нищ, а для людей – это можно сказать, главный критерий человеческого достоинства. Его рассудок постепенно мутнеет, он начинает «слышать» о чем говорят собаки. Собаки у Гоголя – особая тема, вспомним того же Собакевича. Он узнает, что Софии помолвлена с камер-юнкером. Он негодует, что камер-юнкерам и генералам достается все. Также он узнает, что в глазах Софии он смешон, все это вызывает в его душе потрясение и он окончательно сходит с ума и дальнейшая его речь полностью бессвязна и бредова. Свой внутренний конфликт – невозможность соперничать с камер-юнкером и нищенское существование в его больном мозгу разрешается представлением о том, что он становится королем Испании. Это подобно тому, как Акакий Акакиевич отомстил за свое унижение. Но там это происходит идеалистически, в виде призрака, неуспокоенной души, а здесь нет отмщения, здесь страдание, принятое сквозь безумие. Похоже, но акценты и выводы другие.
Да, Гоголь опять ставит перед нами проблему «маленького» человека, его загнанностью в угол и неразрешимость проблемы, как исправить это положение вещей. «Маленький» человек Гоголя не стремится изменить свое положение, он бездеятелен. Он видит несправедливость порядка вещей, но, в этой повести, единственное, что остается «маленькому» человеку – это уйти в мир грез, безумия. И это грустно.

[Loretta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read some reviews prior to reading this short story since I knew nothing about it. Many members said that it was humorous in spots (guess that was with the dog) and sad in others. I felt that it was just incredibly sad. The main character was dealing with mental health issues and they, the establishment, just treated him horribly. I really love the way Nikolai Gogol just draws you into a story. Five big ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️'s!!

[Piyangie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a heart touching short account of a man who is mentally unstable. His delusional mind is so well portrayed as he slowly sunk into complete insanity. Additionally, the author also shows how isolated such a person really is from the rest of the world and then goes onto expose the inhuman and shocking treatment met by those insane in lunatic asylum.

It is very sad little story. And even though Gogol had employed a light tone to tell the story, the underlying gravity is inevitable. As always his simple and unelaborated writing help to read, feel and be connected with the story.

Overall, this is good thought provoking short story by Gogol. I'm impressed with the themes he uses for his work. They are mature and timeless. I may not like his style as much as of Dostoevsky's or Tolstoy's, but his use of simplicity of expression and thematic draws me to his work.

[Carmo · Rating 4 out of 5]

O Diário de um Louco é um pequeno conto triste e melancólico. Apesar das situações caricatas que podem arrancar algumas gargalhadas, é esse humor que serve de veículo à crítica social e desmascara preconceitos.
Adaptado ao teatro inúmeras vezes – inclusive em Portugal -, trata-se do monólogo de um simples funcionário público, vitima da arrogância e do desprezo dos superiores hierárquicos e, principalmente, da filha do seu chefe, por quem nutre uma paixão não correspondida. É a revolta pela forma deprimente como é tratado que o lança em delírios de grandeza e atitudes absurdas. A fuga à realidade onde não encontraria saída para as suas aspirações torna-se a única saída, submergindo cada vez mais numa espiral de loucura que o leva por um caminho sem retorno, de violência e degradação humana.

[Julian Worker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really good and better than The Nose. An apparently normal person slowly descends into madness where he imagines he's the King of Spain. The letters he reads written by a dog show him that the person he was hoping to marry is in fact interested in someone else. The news tips him over the edge and he's never the same again. It's a shame this book isn't longer as the comic potential here is almost endless.

[Paula Abreu Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narra na primeira pessoa e com um bom humor insuperável, o dia a dia de Aksénti Ivánovitch, funcionário público que vive a fantasia esquizofrénica do poder e da riqueza.

Este, personificação da insignificância, possui uma existência pobre e solitária que revela-se no pequeno quarto no qual habita e até na falta de importância no emprego, pateticamente simbolizada pela função que desempenha: afiador das penas de escrever do Director.

O mundo de fantasia que criou para escapar à pequenez da sua vida, aliado à paixão platónica que nutre por Sophie, filha do seu chefe, fazem com que vá gradualmente enlouquecendo. Chega a interceptar conversas e correspondências entre duas cadelas ( Medji e Fidéle ) de forma a saber mais sobre a sua amada ... hilariante o excerto em que ao ler uma das cartas, resmunga da linguagem abominável de uma delas:
" « Tem um apelido muito esquisito. Passa a vida sentado a afiar penas. O cabelo dele parece feno. O papá dá-lhe ordens como a um criado. »
Parece que esta cadela nojenta está a insinuar coisas sobre a minha pessoa. Quem disse que o meu cabelo tem semelhanças com o feno ?
« Sophie não consegue conter o riso de cada vez que olha para ele. »
Mentira, sua cadela maldita ! Que linguagem abjecta ! Pensas que não sei que são intrigas invejosas ? ... "

À medida que vai passando da sanidade para a loucura, também as datas do seu diário vão-se tornando cada vez mais estranhas. Chega a inventar meses, como Martubro ( junção de Março e Outubro ) ou 43 de Abril do ano 2000, dia em que descobre ser Fernando VIII, rei de Espanha. É aqui que começa o seu fim !
" Ano 2000, Abril, dia 43
Hoje é um dia de grande solenidade. A Espanha tem um rei. Achou-se um rei. Esse rei sou eu. Foi precisamente hoje que fiquei a sabê-lo. Confesso, foi como se o clarão de um relâmpago me iluminasse. Não compreendo como alguma vez pude pensar e imaginar que era um conselheiro titular. Como se me pôde meter na cabeça esta ideia absurda ? Menos mal que ninguém se tenha lembrado de me fechar num manicómio. "

Finalmente conduzido ao manicómio, chega mesmo a delirar que os maus tratos que aí sofre provenham de hábitos nacionais inusitados.
" ... Nisto entrou o chanceler-mor. Ao vê-lo, toda a gente se dispersou. Eu, como rei, fiquei sozinho. E o chanceler, para meu espanto, bateu-me com o pau e enxotou-me para o meu quarto. É esta a grande força dos costumes tradicionais em Espanha ! "

"Diário de um Louco" mais não é que uma metáfora sobre a alienação, cujo texto ao mergulhar profundamente nas causas sociais da loucura, deixa-nos entre o riso e a comoção !

[Jimena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nikolai Gogol nos ofrece un relato corto estructurado como diario en primera persona para desvelarnos la mente de un funcionario público que parece en inicio ordinario pero que se ve prontamente envuelto en un viaje decadente hacia la locura. Viaje que Gogol ejecuta con especial maestría de lo absurdo.

Nuestro protagonista es un empleado esclavizado por la burocracia de un sistema que se burla de él, sus ambiciones y sus esfuerzos. El desgaste de la rutina junto con el hastío y la frustración que devienen de ésta en asociación con su marcada soledad parecen determinantes cruciales para la demencia que se desencadena aislándolo por completo del mundo real y permitiéndole erguir fantasías en las que se considera el rey de España.

Si bien la historia es simple, es la calidad del delirio lo que la hace rica. Gogol crea circunstancias innegablemente imaginativas que son tan graciosas como absurdas pero que no dejan de integrar el recorrido de un hombre que se libra de los sometimientos de una realidad amarga para reinar en su estado de más irremediable locura.

[Gabrielė Bužinskaitė · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Things escalated.

N. Gogol wrote “The Diary of a Madman” in 1835. This story is now known to be arguably the earliest and most detailed depiction of a disorder we now call schizophrenia. The grand psychoanalyst S. Freud himself took great interest in analysing this piece of literature.

The plot revolves around Poprishchin, a lonely man in his forties. Although he has nothing going on with his career, he is status-obsessed. He believes he is destined for great things, and whoever doesn’t reaffirm his belief is jealous and not good enough.

The entries in his diary (and his life) progressively get worse. The notes accurately depict grandiose delusions, paranoia, and fantasies. All what leads Poprishchin to asylum.

“To-day the office-messenger came and summoned me, as I had not been there for three weeks. … I looked at all this rabble of scribblers, and thought, “If you only knew who is sitting among you! Good heavens! what a to-do you would make. Even the chief clerk would bow himself to the earth before me as he does now before the director.”

[Ana Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me pareció un cuento excepcional, me sorprendieron ciertas circunstancias que pasan en la historia, así como, la presente y latente misoginia del personaje principal, y este se vuelve en sus pensamientos y los crea reales o al menos los cree, disfruté cada palabra leída, pero desconozco a que se refiere la última frase del libro.

Si alguien lo sabe, por favor decírmelo.

[Maryam F · Rating 5 out of 5]

خیلی زیبا بود. خیلی تحت تاثیر قرار گرفتم. عجب نابغه ای بوده گوگول.

[Yani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creo que es uno de los mejores cuentos que leí en mi vida. Me dejó una sensación extraña porque el estilo de escritura me resultó más parecido al que se elige en esta época que el que una acostumbra a leer en autores de hace dos siglos.
El argumento está en título: se trata de las memorias de una persona que va camino a la locura. Algunas de sus anotaciones (y situaciones) son hilarantes pero, al mismo tiempo, causan esa compasión que se siente por personajes de esa índole.
El final es genial y crudo, y contribuye bastante a que recomiende este cuento.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

You don’t think of classic authors - and classic Russian authors - as funny. They’re supposed to be sat down, sighing, dour, and long-faced over the fate of Russia, their souls, serfdom or whether or not to sod off to Moscow. Not so with Gogol. His humour is genuine, if whimsical. Almost anything is enough to set him off - clothes, the office, noses.

[Lucy ⁠✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al principio sus pensamientos, a parte de que los perros podían hablar, me parecían muy normales en el sentido que de pronto todo el mundo se pone delulu, con un poco de fantasía en su vida para sobrellevar la rutina. El hecho de querer ser más, preguntarse por qué justamente él tenía que tener esa posición, me parecieron deprimentemente muy humanos. Evidentemente sí estaba loco, es una tristeza que eso probablemente lo causó la soledad y terminó de una manera tan deprimente y sufriendo. Sin embargo, a lo largo de la narración es muy divertida, muy buen relato.

[Vanita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meia hora de diversão e delírio, num pequeno e alucinante conto. São 49 páginas de alienação e loucura, que não podiam ser mais lúcidas. Quando tiverem tempo livre, leiam. Vão gostar.

[Rebe Caraballo ☕ · Rating 4 out of 5]

¡Vaya historia de Nikolai!

Desde mi primer acercamiento al autor (con su novela Noche Buena) el año pasado, he sentido un gusto enorme (de esos que experimentamos al descubrir un gran escritor que hasta poquito tiempo atrás nos era totalmente desconocido), por los escritos que me he leído de él.

Resulta maravilloso, hilarante e interesante la forma en la que somos testigos de cómo nuestro consejero titular decae poco a poco en la locura, y a través de sus pensamientos nos va sumergiendo hasta adentrarnos de lleno en la trama.

La sinopsis reza de la siguiente forma:

El Diario de un loco –extraído del libro Relatos de Petersburgo– como en los mejores textos de Gógol, es un discurso improvisado, alimentado por la euforia del lenguaje, penetrado de ambivalencia y obsesionado por la proximidad de un sentido convencional, “realista”. Si el loco de Gógol es indudablemente víctima de la burocracia y la prensa petersburguesas, es porque representa la quintaesencia del funcionario y el lector ideal de filisteos periodistas como Bulgarin y Senkovski. El personaje se rebela, no contra la jerarquía, sino contra el lugar subalterno que ocupa en ella, y finalmente no puede encontrar un blanco más eficaz que su propio yo. Es por lo que suscita una simpatía real, aunque equívoca: real en razón de su desdicha tan humana, pero equívoca a causa de la banalidad de sus aspiraciones. Y es ahí donde reside la profunda originalidad de este relato. Esa misteriosa aptitud para conferir una dignidad artística a fenómenos triviales y despojados de sentido es la marca de las obras de la madurez de Gógol, y la clave de su rol mayor en la historia de la literatura rusa.

En mi opinión la historia está muy bien lograda.
Abarcar temas profundos con pensamientos intrincados y personajes peculiares e interesantes es algo que Gogól sabe hacer muy bien.

Lectura recomendada a la par que ligera.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of a madman who descends further into his madness. A great deal was made historically whether this story was an authentic characterization of any possible real person's descent into madness. I don't really care how realistic it is.

The story is of a low-level administrative functionary who dreams of being able to win the beautiful director's daughter. He doesn't have a chance because he is rather plain and clearly not firing mentally on all cylinders. As the story progresses his madness becomes more pronounced and he comes to believe he is secretly the King of Spain. This sees him eventually committed to an insane asylum in Russia.

The story's interest, for me, is that it is told entirely from the perspective of the madman protagonist, Axanti Ivanovitch, in such a way that there is never any sort of pronouncement on his sanity. After all, what crazy person perceives their own lack of sanity? The dialog and the exchange of letters between dogs is treated so seriously and plausibly that actual information is imparted to the reader through this imaginary correspondence. Very clever writing techniques are employed here.

[rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

O Diário de um Louco é um relato delirante que nos conta a progressiva loucura e alienação de Aksenty Poprishchin, um modesto funcionário público de São Petersburgo.

Gogol mistura, mais uma vez, o real com o imaginário para mostrar a vida burocrática do funcionário público ao mesmo tempo em que deixa claro o marasmo em que vive esse tipo de funcionário na Rússia do século XIX e o seu triste fim.

Acompanhar dia a dia a saga do protagonista na procura de ascensão social torna a leitura bastante divertida, mesmo com a melancolia presente por detrás de cada comentário humorístico.

Recomendo sem quaisquer reservas.

[Ruben Uribe · Rating 5 out of 5]

puskin writes poetry about women's feet

[fer ★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

no me acordaba que había leído este libro... fue en el colegio y no m acuerdo de todo pero si era brutal🧑🏼‍🦲

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

ovo ce se meni desiti pred kraj trece godine faksa

[Rissa (rissasreading) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 - Sometimes when I read these sorts of stories I feel like I might be a lil crazy because I could understand Fidel's frustrations with the world. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook of this because I think it really showcased the progression of Fidel's narrative into his madness. This is definitely a great representation of mental health issues and also the problems with institutions, especially back in these times, because we read the abuse Fidel faces and how little it does to help him. Very enjoyable.

[Seppe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schammele kantoorjobs en nakende waanzin, een archetypisch duo.

Heerlijk geschreven!

[TAJ ALGADDAFI | تاج القذافي · Rating 4 out of 5]

مرحبا يا اصدقاء💛
قصة "مذكرات مجنون" للكاتب نيقولاي غوغول.
قد تحتوى المراجعة على حرق لأحداث القصة🔥

تتدرج افكار البطل وكأن هناك من يسحب البساط من تحته ببطئ شديد ، لدرجة لا يدرك فيها ما اصبح فيه من جنون..
لطالما كنت افكر هل المجانين يستيقظون في يوما ما ليجدوا أنفسهم مجانين فجأه؟
ربما هذه القصه اجابة لي عن جزء من ما كنت اجهله
عند البداية شدتني حكاية انه يسمع الكلاب تتحدث ، وانه وجد رسائل بين الكلاب، وشعرت ان ما يراه ويسمعه هذا البطل هو حقيقي.. فكيف له ان يتجاهل كل تلك الحقائق،
و لكن عندما بدأ يقول انه ملك اسبانيا .. بدأت اشعر بالغرابة.. لما يفكر في اشياء غريبة وغير منطقية الي هذا الحد؟
الي أن وصلت انهم ادخلوه الي المصحه العقلية و راى المجانين الا انه لم يدرك انهم مجانين او اين هو اصلا.
صاحبنا قد فقد عقلة فعلا وشعرت بالحزن على ما وصل به الي هنا.
وعندما انتهيت من القراءة واغلقت القصه لاقراء العنوان مرة اخرى " يوميات مجنون" صدمت! و انفجرت ضاحكه لانني عندما بدأت في قرائتها ، قراءة اسم "غوغول" و انتابني الحماس للقراءة دون ان اركز ما اسم القصه .

اعتقد عدم معرفتي لاسم القصه قد ساعد كثيرا على اندماجي في الاحداث ، فلو انني علمت من البداية انها مجرد مذكرات مجنون لما شدتني القصه ولو قليلا لقرائتها وقراءة جوابات و رسائل العشق بين كلبتين في الشارع ،

وفي النهاية انا حقا شعرت بالحزن على حياة هؤلاء المرضى كم تبدوا حياتهم بائسة للغاية🥺

[Lu Di Giovanni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me encanta, es una excelente y muy ácida sátira del sistema en el que está inmerso el personaje. Además, Gogol tiene esa capacidad de presentar como graciosas las situaciones más desgraciadas, haciendo que uno incluso se sienta una mala persona por reír de lo que acontece. Es muy entretenido y con fuerte contenido.