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Plays and Petersburg Tales
This volume brings together Gogol's Petersburg Tales with his two most famous plays, all of which guide us through the streets of St. Petersburg, the city erected by force and ingenuity on the marshes of the Neva estuary. Something of the deception and violence of the city's creation seems to
lurk beneath its harmonious facade, however, and it confounds its inhabitants with false dreams and absurd visions. This new translation by Christopher English brings out the unique vitality and humor of Russia's finest comic writer.
lurk beneath its harmonious facade, however, and it confounds its inhabitants with false dreams and absurd visions. This new translation by Christopher English brings out the unique vitality and humor of Russia's finest comic writer.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1832
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620 people want to read
About the author
Nikolai Gogol
2,004 books5,676 followersPeople 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 .
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 .
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
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January 14, 2020I have never set foot in Saint Petersburg.
I've never walked the long avenue called Nevsky Prospect or visited Senate Square or stood on the embankment gazing across the Neva to Vasilievsky Island.
But I see those places in my mind's eye just as if I had been there.
I know that the sky line of Vasilievsky Island is marked by the spire of the Peter and Paul fortress.
I know that there's a huge bronze statue on Senate Square, and that there's a Scissors shop on Nevsky Prospect.
Well, perhaps there's no longer a Scissors shop on Nevsky Prospect.
You see, the city that exists in my mind is not the city of today.
My Petersburg is the city of Pushkin's Bronze Horseman, leaping from his plinth on Senate Square and racing through the nearby streets.
It's the city of Gogol's Piskaryov, haunted by a girl he spies near the Scissors shop on Nevsky Prospect.
It's the city of Nabokov's giant pencils and of Tolstoy's drunken bears tumbling into the Neva.
It's the city of Dostoyevsky's axe murderer, of Gogol's razor-wielding barber, of Bely's scissors-happy assassin.
It's the city where a Nose can parade in uniform, where a ghost steals people's overcoats, where people have names like Pancake, Dustbin, Sloshkin and Rottenov.
A city where dogs not only talk to each other but write letters too. A city where January comes after February and where April has 43 days and Marchember have 86.
My Petersburg is an utterly phantasmagoric place. I love it!
I've never walked the long avenue called Nevsky Prospect or visited Senate Square or stood on the embankment gazing across the Neva to Vasilievsky Island.
But I see those places in my mind's eye just as if I had been there.
I know that the sky line of Vasilievsky Island is marked by the spire of the Peter and Paul fortress.
I know that there's a huge bronze statue on Senate Square, and that there's a Scissors shop on Nevsky Prospect.
Well, perhaps there's no longer a Scissors shop on Nevsky Prospect.
You see, the city that exists in my mind is not the city of today.
My Petersburg is the city of Pushkin's Bronze Horseman, leaping from his plinth on Senate Square and racing through the nearby streets.
It's the city of Gogol's Piskaryov, haunted by a girl he spies near the Scissors shop on Nevsky Prospect.
It's the city of Nabokov's giant pencils and of Tolstoy's drunken bears tumbling into the Neva.
It's the city of Dostoyevsky's axe murderer, of Gogol's razor-wielding barber, of Bely's scissors-happy assassin.
It's the city where a Nose can parade in uniform, where a ghost steals people's overcoats, where people have names like Pancake, Dustbin, Sloshkin and Rottenov.
A city where dogs not only talk to each other but write letters too. A city where January comes after February and where April has 43 days and Marchember have 86.
My Petersburg is an utterly phantasmagoric place. I love it!
April 18, 2024
You’re not going to find a better short story writer. Cheever? Never heard of him. The plays are great too. Even if you somehow don’t immediately love them, you’ll know why everyone came out of his coat.
December 29, 2015
قرأت من قبل عدة أعمال لجوجول مثل المفتش العام ورواية قصيرة ساخرة لا أذكر اسمها. الذي جعلني أشتري هذا الكتاب أنه طباعة دار رادوغا وأنه يحتوي بجانب مسرحية المفتش الكبير رواية المعطف والتي سعت عنها كثيراً.
مبدأياً جوجول هو أحد رواد الرواية القصيرة التي أبدع فيها تشيكوف بعد ذلك. ورغم بدائية رواياته إلا أنها كعادة الروس تحمل وسط طياتها معنى ما يتسرب إليك خلال القراءة دون مجهود وكأن جلدك يمتصه.
المشكلة ليست في رواية المعطف ولكن في رواية قصيرة أخرى اسمها " الصورة" هذه الرواية لها نفس قيمة المسخ لكافكا. لأنها أقدم رواية تتحدث عن روح ما تسكن الجماد. فهنا روح مرابي يظن الناس أنه شيطان لما لماله من لعنة على كل من يستدين به. ويرسم له أحد الرسامين صورة تحوي جزءاً من روحه، ولا يراها شخص إلا ويقع اسير عيني صاحب الصورة . فتصير الصورة لعنة على كل من يقتنيها ولا ينجح أحد في تحطيمها لأنها تجد دائما من يسعى لامتلاكها.
هذه الفكرة تمثلت بعد ذلك في كثير من الأعمال الشهيرة مثل صورة دوريان جراي و سيد الخواتم . تماماً مثلما صار مسخ كافكا هو أصل أي انمساخ يأتي بعده فتلك الرواية هي أصل أي عمل يتحدث عن تلك الروح التي تسكن شيئاً ما.
مبدأياً جوجول هو أحد رواد الرواية القصيرة التي أبدع فيها تشيكوف بعد ذلك. ورغم بدائية رواياته إلا أنها كعادة الروس تحمل وسط طياتها معنى ما يتسرب إليك خلال القراءة دون مجهود وكأن جلدك يمتصه.
المشكلة ليست في رواية المعطف ولكن في رواية قصيرة أخرى اسمها " الصورة" هذه الرواية لها نفس قيمة المسخ لكافكا. لأنها أقدم رواية تتحدث عن روح ما تسكن الجماد. فهنا روح مرابي يظن الناس أنه شيطان لما لماله من لعنة على كل من يستدين به. ويرسم له أحد الرسامين صورة تحوي جزءاً من روحه، ولا يراها شخص إلا ويقع اسير عيني صاحب الصورة . فتصير الصورة لعنة على كل من يقتنيها ولا ينجح أحد في تحطيمها لأنها تجد دائما من يسعى لامتلاكها.
هذه الفكرة تمثلت بعد ذلك في كثير من الأعمال الشهيرة مثل صورة دوريان جراي و سيد الخواتم . تماماً مثلما صار مسخ كافكا هو أصل أي انمساخ يأتي بعده فتلك الرواية هي أصل أي عمل يتحدث عن تلك الروح التي تسكن شيئاً ما.
August 30, 2007
i only read the two plays out of this book. the first play, marriage, was cute and fun. it was nothing special in other words.
the second play, however, was amazing. it was somehow hilarious, simple, dark and beautiful all at the same time. evidently, the translator read nabokov's biography of gogol. in the endnotes he quotes nabokov and he doesn't fall into any of the traps nabokov says previous translators fell into.
the guthrie is doing a production of the government inspector soon and i'm planning on going if anyone is interested in joining me.
the second play, however, was amazing. it was somehow hilarious, simple, dark and beautiful all at the same time. evidently, the translator read nabokov's biography of gogol. in the endnotes he quotes nabokov and he doesn't fall into any of the traps nabokov says previous translators fell into.
the guthrie is doing a production of the government inspector soon and i'm planning on going if anyone is interested in joining me.
February 14, 2013
Gogol's stories present a world that is just far too strange to make any sense of it (but you don't need necessarily need to, and I, for one, prefer it that way). The hilariously absurd characters and descriptions make for a laugh-out-loud read that will make you begin to wonder about the very world we ourselves know to be reality. Reading Gogol is pure pleasure, but at the same time so thought-provoking in terms of its underlying statements about perception and how much it relates to one's overall sense of existence in the world.
January 19, 2026
This book is a Quirky little Treasure I got for a Dollar at the Thrift Store!
Mr. Gogal's Dialouge pops with Witty Suprises. Ones that Feel Sharp and Affectionate at the Same time. Scenes slide from Ordinary everyday life into Delightfully Surreal Sketches of Time, Family, Love, and more. You never know what Delightful Oddity comes next here! And I doubt you ever will.
These Plays and Tales are Compact, sometimes Dark, and all together Entertaining! This was a Charming Read.
Mr. Gogal's Dialouge pops with Witty Suprises. Ones that Feel Sharp and Affectionate at the Same time. Scenes slide from Ordinary everyday life into Delightfully Surreal Sketches of Time, Family, Love, and more. You never know what Delightful Oddity comes next here! And I doubt you ever will.
These Plays and Tales are Compact, sometimes Dark, and all together Entertaining! This was a Charming Read.
May 31, 2025
Phantasmagoric whilst also maintaining a great degree of hilarity. The plays were good too, but the Government Inspector by far outshines Marriage.
Ranking my enjoyment:
The Nose (10/10)
The Overcoat (9/10)
The Portrait (9/10)
Diary of a Madman (8/10)
Nevsky Prospect (8/10)
The Government Inspector (7/10)
Marriage (5/10)
The Carriage (5/10)
Ranking my enjoyment:
The Nose (10/10)
The Overcoat (9/10)
The Portrait (9/10)
Diary of a Madman (8/10)
Nevsky Prospect (8/10)
The Government Inspector (7/10)
Marriage (5/10)
The Carriage (5/10)
May 27, 2018
The best intro to Gogol possible. All of his greatest short stories are included here (The Overcoat, The Nose, etc.) as well as his play The Government Inspector (among others), which I consider to be the greatest play ever written in Russian.
March 5, 2019
Witty and strange, very original
September 1, 2023
Gogol said Petersburg is a swamp but it’s MY pretty swamp
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July 30, 2011the overcoat is as great as its credited to be but the others are a brilliant collection too, gogol is a scathingly on form stairist and his humour surpass all! had me laughing out loud quite unexpectedly,a great work indeed.
October 9, 2011
I really enjoyed these unusual, entertaining and surreal stories. Brilliant writer with an even more brilliant imagination. I particularly liked the Overcoat. Recommended to anyone who likes the bizarre!
February 8, 2013
Really liked the story about the artists-- the first half anyway. That was sublime. "The Nose" and "The Overcoat" were pretty good, but not excellent (as per my opinion). Then again, it could have been the translation I was reading, which is the this same version. Overall, it was still quite good.
September 24, 2015
The Russian Nikolai Gogol writes a classic set of short stories/plays set in 1800's St. Petersburg. His style is reminiscent of the great American short story writer O. Henry, full of wit, humor and sharp turns.
April 24, 2008
It´s a great book...Gogol has a fantastic sense of humor...
April 8, 2010
RUSS 223: Cursed Questions: 19th Century Russian Literature
January 6, 2015
Gogol's witty, absurd and ironic style turned these stories greater than they actually are. The second story "The Nose" is simply hilarious.
March 14, 2020
Slavophilism - Russia
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews