Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (surname at birth Yanovsky, since 1821 - Gogol-Yanovsky; March 20, 1809, Sorochintsy, Poltava province - February 21, 1852, Moscow) - Russian prose writer, playwright, poet, critic, publicist, recognized as one of the classics Russian literature. He came from an old noble family Gogol-Yanovsky.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is one of the most original Russian writers, his fame went far beyond the Russian cultural space. His books are interesting throughout his life, each time he manages to find new facets in them, almost new content. His life was not full of external events. All of her was in hard work, in an in-depth internal analysis of her actions and thoughts. The work of the writer was for Gogol inextricably merged with the social, educational role of art, became for him a creative feat. Having revealed to the world "all of Rus'", first of all, its funny, sad, dramatic sides - but not only these, but also heroic ones - prophetically speaking about its wonderful future, Gogol created books that were a genuine discovery in artistic culture, had a great influence on the development of Russian literature and art in general. Gogol's books actively exist in the spiritual life of our time. Artistic word of Gogol is perceived today as prophetic. Gogol is not just a writer, but a man of exceptional, tragic fate, a thinker and a prophet who stood on the threshold of a true unraveling of the historical destinies of Russia, whose fate in one way or another reflected the fate of literature and social thought of that time. Gogol is the beginning of a new era in the artistic consciousness of Russia in the 19th century.

N.V. Gogol, the great Russian writer, created his own artistic world, in which several generations of Russian readers have been living. None of the Russian classics had as many common characters as Gogol. Gogol's Gorodnichiy, Khlestakov and Chichikov, Taras Bulba and Akaky Akakiyevich - all these characters, by the creative imagination of a brilliant prose writer, are perceived by us as historical or really existing personalities.

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol was born on March 20 (April 1), 1809 in the town of Velikie Sorochintsy, Mirgorodsky district, Poltava province (Ukraine).

Gogol's father, Vasily Afanasyevich Yanovsky-Gogol, served at the Little Russian Post Office, from where he retired with the rank of collegiate assessor. He served as a secretary to a distant relative, a former minister, a county representative of the nobility, D.P. Troshchinsky. Vasily Afanasyevich loved art, he wrote poems and comedies in Ukrainian.

Gogol's mother, Maria Ivanovna, nee Kosyarovskaya, was, according to legend, the first beauty in the Poltava region. She came from a family of landowners. She married Yanovsky-Gogol at the age of 14, gave birth to six children.

According to legend (information not confirmed), the second part of the surname - Gogol - was added to his (Yanovsky) grandfather of Nikolai Vasilyevich. This was done to prove the origin of the family from Colonel Ostap Gogol, who became famous in Ukraine in the 17th century.

The Gogol family was very religious, which undoubtedly left its mark on the worldview of the future writer. The mother paid special attention to the spiritual education of children.

1818 - 1819 - Nikolai Gogol, together with his brother Ivan, studied at the Poltava district school.

1820 - 1821 - Gogol takes lessons from the Poltava teacher Gabriel Sorochinsky.

1821 - 1828 - studying at the gymnasium of higher sciences in Nizhyn.

The Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences was a kind of analogue of the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum; children of provincial nobles studied here. At the gymnasium, Gogol studied music, painting, and participated in theatrical productions. By this time, the first literary experiments of Nikolai Vasilyevich, who at first worked with different genres, belonged: he wrote tragedies, elegies, stories. At the same time, the first satire that was not preserved was written “Something about Nizhyn, or the law is not written for fools.” When it came time to choose a specialty, Nikolai Gogol chose jurisprudence - he wanted to "suppress injustice." 1828 - 1829 - in December 1828 Gogol went to St. Petersburg. He failed to get a job. An attempt to make money with literary work ended unsuccessfully: only two works were published, the poem "Italy" and "idyll in pictures" "Hanz Kühelgarten". The latter, published under the pseudonym "V. Alov” caused condescending ridicule from critics. Gogol burns the unsold edition of the book and, disappointed, leaves for Germany (July 1829).

The end of 1829 - Nikolai Vasilyevich returns to St. Petersburg. This time, the job search was successful, and Gogol managed to get a job as a scribe in the Department of State Economy and Public Buildings of the Ministry of the Interior. The service was monotonous and boring, the only outlets were classes in painting and literature. Another positive moment from the “state service” is that it provided the writer with the richest material for future works. 1830 - Gogol's story "Basavryuk" was first published in the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski. Later, the story was revised by the author, after which it was called "Evening on the eve of Ivan Kupala." The same year, December - in the anthology "Northern Flowers" (published by Delvig), a chapter from Gogol's historical novel "Hetman" appears. The first work that came out with the real name of the author was the story "Woman". After the first publications, Nikolai Vasilievich was accepted into the circle of St. Petersburg writers. He becomes close to Delvig, Pushkin, Zhukovsky. Lives in Pavlovsk, among other things, carries out assignments for the publication of Pushkin's Tales of Belkin. Critics claim that it was Alexander Sergeevich who gave Gogol the ideas for such works as The Inspector General and Dead Souls. During this period, Gogol earns private lessons, and soon becomes a history teacher at the Patriot Institute.

1831 - 1832 - "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka" were written and published. It was this work that brought Gogol real popularity. 1832 - Gogol arrives in Moscow as a well-known writer. Works on his first comedy "Vladimir of the 3rd degree", but does not finish it. 1834 - Nikolai Vasilyevich seeks to work at the department of general history at the newly opened Kiev University, but all attempts end in failure. The writer was accepted as an adjunct professor at the Department of World History at St. Petersburg University. Studying the history of his native Ukraine, Gogol develops the idea of ​​the work "Taras Bulba". Secretly from everyone, he writes stories for the collections "Mirgorod" and "Arabesques". The same year - in the book "Housewarming" published "The Tale of how Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich." 1835 - Gogol leaves the university to devote himself entirely to literature. In the same year, he completes and publishes the collections "Mirgorod" (including "Old World Landowners", "Viy", "Taras Bulba", etc.), "Arabesques". In addition, in 1835 the "Inspector General" was launched. In the same year, 1835, work began on the first volume of the poem Dead Souls. The idea, as already mentioned above, was submitted by Pushkin. He also became the first to whom Gogol read several chapters. Alexander Sergeevich approved of the writer, but at the same time the poem upset him. January 1836 - at the evening at Zhukovsky's, in the presence of Pushkin, Gogol reads The Government Inspector. April 19, 1836 - premiere of The Government Inspector at the Alexandrinsky Theatre. May 25, 1836 - premiere of The Government Inspector at the Maly Theatre. The first reviews of the comedy were negative. Unfortunately, Nikolai Vasilyevich read exactly them; after that, he no longer had the desire to open others.

The writer is going abroad. The same year - Gogol lives first in Switzerland, then in Paris. All this time he continues to work on Dead Souls. 1837 - Gogol arrives in Rome. 1839 - 1840 - Gogol spends several months in Russia. In Moscow and St. Petersburg he reads 6 chapters of Dead Souls. May 1840 - M.Yu. Lermontov, who reads his new poem "Mtsyri" to the guests. A few days later Gogol leaves for Rome. On the way, he stops in Rome to complete the long-begun drama "For the Shaved Mustache" - an etude from the history of Zaporozhye. However, the manuscript was burned. It was in Vienna that Gogol was first overtaken by a severe nervous disease. 1840 - 1841 - work on the first volume of "Dead Souls" was completed in Rome. October 1841 - Gogol comes to Russia to publish Dead Souls. He is assisted by V.G. Belinsky. The censorship passed the poem, but on the condition that the Tale of Captain Kopeikin should be withdrawn for the book edition and the title changed.

May 1842 - the book "The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls" was published. The beginning of 1843 - "The Works of Nikolai Gogol" was published in four volumes. The second half of the 1840s - Nikolai Vasilyevich is experiencing a spiritual crisis. It got to the point that the writer doubted the meaning and effectiveness of fiction and was ready to renounce his works. The end of June 1845 - Gogol burns the manuscript of the second volume of the poem Dead Souls. The reason was the state of mind of the writer, to put it modern language, prolonged depression. Later, Nikolai Vasilyevich explained his act in the work “Four Letters to Different Persons About “Dead Souls” - Selected Places”: in the second volume, “paths and roads” to the ideal were not indicated enough. 1847 - Gogol publishes Selected passages from correspondence with friends. Belinsky is extremely dissatisfied with this circumstance, especially the religious and mystical ideas of the writer, sounding in "Correspondence ...".

April 1848 - Gogol visits the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, after which he finally returns to Russia. Lives in Odessa, St. Petersburg and Moscow, all this time working on the second volume of Dead Souls. The writer's health is deteriorating. With regard to spiritual moods, mysticism and religion continue to occupy his thoughts. Spring 1850 - Gogol makes a marriage proposal to A. M. Vielgorskaya, but is refused. 1852 - Nikolai Vasilievich regularly meets and talks with Archpriest Matvey Konstantinovsky, a fanatic and mystic. Night of February 11-12, 1852 - Gogol burns the now white manuscript of the second volume of Dead Souls. There is a version that Konstantinovsky persuaded the writer to do this. February 21, 1852 - Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol dies in Moscow. Initially buried in the cemetery of St. Danilov Monastery. In 1931 Gogol's ashes were buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

The writer, whose life and work is covered with mystical details, is considered one of the most prominent persons in the school of Russian literary realism. However, Gogol's works combine the features of satire, romanticism and national folklore, which makes them attractive to a reading audience of all ages. The author's life fell on the first half of the 19th century, when social unrest began to take actual form, and freedom of speech, albeit somewhat veiled due to censorship, ceased to seem a categorically dangerous and anti-state phenomenon.

So, we present to your attention Gogol's most famous works worth reading.

1. Dead souls

Gogol decided to create a poem and present it in the form of a three-volume prose (in fact) work. The fate of only the first book, which was published in 1842, was relatively successful. Work on the second volume was almost completed, but the creator chose not to publish the results of his labors (according to the common version, the pages were burned). The process of writing the third volume stopped at the stage of creating outlines, separate notes, where ideas were only partially formulated.

The plot of "Dead Souls" was formed with the deft presentation of A. S. Pushkin. There is an assumption that the poet reluctantly parted with the ideas he intended to work on himself. During the period of southern exile, the disgraced poet heard a curious story about a Transnistrian village, where, according to official data, people do not die at all for several years. Later it turned out that the documents of the dead were handed over to fugitive serfs.

Chichikov, a petty official, travels around Russia under the guise of a wealthy landowner. Skillfully rubbing himself into people's trust, the adventurer buys peasants for next to nothing, who died long ago, but are considered alive according to the documents kept by their owners. Landlords, different in nature and priorities, fearlessly open the doors of their houses to the swindler.

2. Evenings on a farm near Dikanka

In 1829-32, Gogol wrote a series of stories that appeared on the pages of popular publications when the author turned 22. Gogol adopted ideas for sketches and pictures of peasant life from his mother's letters. The writer asked his mother to describe to him ancient customs, beliefs and superstitions that filled the Ukrainian land. The mother complied with the request, and Gogol received valuable material, which he reworked into a masterpiece of folklore literature. The book consists of two parts, each - 4 stories.

Foma Grigoryevich was once a brave Cossack, a warrior who managed to pay his debt native land. Now, in his old age, the Cossack became a minister of the church. In his "piggy bank" there are many stories about witches, mermaids, evil spirits that invade people's lives on certain days, on big spiritual holidays and not only.

3. Viy

Closes the top three most famous works of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol "Viy". The short story, structurally divided into three parts, appeared in the collection Mirgorod, published in 1835. In his personal notes, the author indicates that the main character belongs to Ukrainian folklore. However, there are prerequisites to believe that the hero was completely invented by the writer, the infernal demon is a collective image.

Viy is mentioned as the betrothed of a witch in the fairy tale "Ivan Bykovich", as well as in the tales of Kasyan the Merciless, both characters had similarities in external description: the hero's eyebrows, eyelids and eyelashes fell so low that they had to be raised with outside help and even, according to some folklore sources, using an iron fork.

A student from a church school goes on vacation. On the way, he asks a woman for an overnight stay, who later turns out to be a witch, only prayers manage to get rid of her spell. Frightened by what he saw, Homa decides to immediately leave the cursed place and return to the seminary. However, in Kyiv, an order comes to send the student back to the ill-fated village: there, for three nights, it is necessary to conduct a funeral ceremony for a young girl.

4. Taras Bulba

The first edition of Taras Bulba dates from 1835. Before writing one of his most famous works, Gogol studied many historical sources. There are two versions as to who the real prototype of the protagonist was. According to one, the image is written off from the Cossack chieftain with the surname Makukha. The valiant leader took the life of his own son Nazar, accusing him of treason when he went over to the side of the Poles during the Khmelnitsky uprising. The second version tells that Gogol was inspired by a folk song about Sava Chal, who was executed on the orders of his own father due to the betrayal of popular interests.

The colonel of the Cossack army meets his two sons, who arrived at their home after completing their studies in Kyiv. The father does not give young men time to be with their mother and goes with them to the Zaporizhzhya Sich, considering the combat military situation the best school of life for young people from the village. There, the fates of the brothers diverge, the youngest, Andriy, chooses the path against his father, obeying the call of a loving heart.

5. The night before Christmas

This work opens the second part of Gogol's famous book, dedicated to mystical events on a Ukrainian farm. The story was published in 1832. Gogol's birthplace is considered to be a place near Poltava. Memories of life in his native settlement, impressions, stories heard in childhood, the author embodied in the story. Distinctive feature- demonic female images. In such a heat, Gogol preferred to portray women as evil, but not deprived of natural expressive beauty.

In a small Ukrainian village during the reign of Empress Catherine II, strange phenomena occur: at night, a terrifying tandem of the Witch and the Devil rules the ball, who arrange bad weather to interfere with the plans of the villagers. Most of all, the Devil hates Vakula, who just the day before was going to visit Oksana, the daughter of Korniy Chub. The tailed demon tries in every possible way to prevent the girl's stern father from leaving the hut and going to the deacon's kutya, allowing the blacksmith to be alone with Oksana.

6. Nevsky prospect

"Nevsky Prospekt" is a famous work by Gogol, which is part of the "Petersburg Tales", written in the period from 1833 to 1834. The publication took place a year after the completion of the creative work. The idea of ​​the plot arose in 1831, when the first drafts of literary sketches dedicated to the northern capital were made.

The artist Piskarev meets a beautiful lady on the main street of St. Petersburg. The beauty captivates and invites guests. Entering the premises, the young man realizes that he has ended up in a brothel, and his chosen one is a worker here. Offended, embarrassed and confused, the man leaves the hall and rushes to his apartment. Thus, a series of mysterious visions arises that begin to haunt an inexperienced creative nature against the backdrop of a picturesque change of days and nights in the city on the Neva.

7. Auditor

The first publication of Gogol's comedy play "The Inspector General" took place in 1836, the second - in 1842. Gogol attended literary circles, where he met with A. S. Pushkin more than once. Once, being in a creative search, the writer turned to Alexander Sergeevich with a request to tell him an amusing story. Nikolai Vasilyevich promised to embody the plot in a work that would turn out to be “funnier than hell,” in his own words. The poet responded and told an anecdote about a certain citizen Crispin, who, while passing through the provinces, was mistakenly mistaken by local officials for a checking inspector, which earned extraordinary attention and privileges.

A petty employee Khlestakov arrives in the Saratov province with his servant, following from St. Petersburg. A significant loss at cards put the visiting citizen in an extremely difficult financial situation. However, the difficulties were quickly resolved: the governor and his subordinates fearfully awaited the arrival of the auditor from the capital and jointly decided that Khlestakov was the most important, influential person.

8. Overcoat

In the third volume of stories about St. Petersburg published at the end of 1842, there is a work that eventually became a literary declaration on the need to create equality in society among social strata and on the importance of the personal rights of each person. The story has become exemplary in the genre of describing the fate and social role of the "little man". The idea arose when Gogol, being in the company of his comrades, heard a joke about a poor official who had been saving money to buy a gun for a very long time, and when he could afford the purchase, he instantly lost his “trophy”. The story made the audience laugh, and Gogol became sad and dreary. He wrote his own plot and carefully reworked it over the course of three years, gradually reducing the ironic component in favor of a more extensive pathos with hints of sentimentality.

Akaki Akakievich serves as a titular adviser and receives a rather modest salary. One day he notices that his overcoat is leaky, it is necessary to hand it over for repair. The tailor refuses to mend clothes and edifyingly recommends sewing new thing. Having saved up money and cut expenses, the official becomes the owner of a new overcoat, but then a fatal accident occurs.

9. Nose

A satire on the verge of absurdity - this is what Gogol's famous story "The Nose", published in 1836, was. Initially, the writer intended to create a work that would equally ridicule the outdated serfdom, corruption in the ranks of civil servants and the lack of rights of the common people. Ideas had to be conveyed through the internal conflict of the protagonist. However, in the process of trying to publish the finished material, the author encountered a number of difficulties, the work was called trivial and vulgar, after which Gogol rewrote the finale several times.

The petty official Kovalyov wakes up one morning and discovers ... the loss of his nose. In desperation, the collegiate assessor turns to the police and independently sets off in search of him along the way. At the Kazan Cathedral, the Nose suddenly appears, dressed in a uniform and with weapons, but the owner does not manage to return the lost part of the face, which becomes the beginning of a swift fantastic persecution.

10. Portrait

Gogol's famous story "Portrait" with various changes in content was published in 1834 and 1842. It is generally accepted that the plot was inspired by the influence of Western authors, the features of Ernst Hoffmann, Edgar Poe, V. Irving are guessed.

Chartkov is a poor artist who barely has enough money to pay for a room in St. Petersburg. Once a difficult period comes, the young man cannot afford to rent a house in the future. The sad fact was preceded by a spontaneous purchase. Chartkov saw a portrait in an antique shop, which impressed him with the technique of writing, which gives special vivacity to the features of the hero's face. The next night, the artist had a dream that the person depicted in the painting was handing him a bag of gold coins. Waking up, the young man understands: the dream is connected with reality, because he has the same money in his hands.

The unsurpassed talent of the literature of the nineteenth century in Russia was N.V. Gogol. From 1829 until his death he wrote books. His works are unusual, because in them the fantastic is intertwined with reality, which he showed without embellishment, without concealment. His heroes are this generalized people who belonged to certain strata of modern Russian society. His works also give a generalized life of Russian cities, those customs that were instituted at that time.

The author and his works

Nikolai Gogol was put on a par with such famous authors as A. Pushkin and M. Lermontov, when we are talking about the creation of a new literary direction. Gogol described the everyday life of his people and his heroes so accurately, in such detail that many of his works belong to realism. Describing in detail those features that were inherent in landowners and officials, the writer not only generalizes and shows a person of a certain social system, but also creates a new literary image of a “business” person or a rogue. The work of Nikolai Gogol formed the basis for the creation in well-known literary circles of the "natural school", which included many outstanding writers: Turgenev, Dostoevsky and others.

But N. Gogol's depiction of people, and nature, and social reality is not an accurate depiction of it, but nevertheless it undergoes a concrete rethinking by the writer and the embodiment of his artistic ideas. It is worth recalling the author's statement when he talks about his work "The Inspector General":

“I decided to put together everything bad in Russia ... all the injustices ... and laugh at everything at once.”

The cities that the author describes: Dikanka, Petersburg and Mirgorod are generalized images of Russia and Little Russia. He tried to show not only the national features of these geographical objects, but also the features characteristic of the whole earth in general. For example, Mirgorod is not just the name of a city located in the Poltava province, but it is an image-symbol of a world city. In Gogol's stories, he combined different aspects of human life: the ideal family life, military operations, the fight against unclean forces and boring everyday life.

The best Gogol works

Researchers of Gogol's creativity claim that Nikolai Gogol managed to create 68 works in his life. But, of course, he had much more in mind. When calculating literary critics, the second volume of the poem "Dead Souls", which was destroyed by the writer himself, was not taken into account. To date, the following works are considered the most famous and best:

★ Dead Souls.
★ "Inspector".
★ "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka".
★ Viy.
★ "The Tale of how Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich."
★ Taras Bulba.
★ "Nose".
★ "Overcoat".
★ "Notes of a madman".

These works make it possible to more vividly present Gogol's work and understand its style and artistic features. Many literary critics argue that Gogol's most striking work is his comedy The Inspector General. It is presented by the author in five acts. Gogol wrote his play Weather from the autumn of 1835 to January 1836. Main character of this work is a petty and crafty official who, arriving in a small provincial town, took advantage of the fact that he was mistaken for an inspector. Khlestakov, who is returning to Petersburg, drove into the city that he came across on the way and began to take bribes and gifts, living free of charge with the mayor and eating from him.

The whole bureaucratic world of the town tried to serve him in everything. And only when the rogue and rogue Khlestakov leaves the city, the whole truth is revealed. And here is Gogol's silent scene, as the real inspector arrives and the reader must understand and think about what will happen now. It is known that the first theatrical production, which took place in St. Petersburg, was not successful, but all subsequent ones, including those outside the country, were a huge success. In his diary entries, the author of The Government Inspector says that the idea of ​​writing this comedy was given to him by the disgraced poet Pushkin.

The poem "Dead Souls" is considered to be Gogol's work of genius. This book, deep in content, was conceived by the author as a work consisting of three parts. But only the first volume was published. This happened in 1842. But if the third volume was never written, then the second volume was created and burned. The plot of this work was also suggested to the author by A. Pushkin. The basis of the plot is the adventures of Chichikov, who had the lowest official rank - a collegiate collector. He planned to buy lists of dead peasants, whose death had not yet been registered, in the city of N far from the capital. He needed this to improve his position in society and get a loan. He gets acquainted with representatives of the local nobility, visiting their estates.

But Chichikov's deal ended in failure, as he is arrested and with difficulty he manages to avoid trial. But in Gogol's poem, some landowners attract attention, who become bright and colorful in Russian literature:

➥ Manilov, sugary, useless, empty dreamer.
➥ Box, petty and greedy.
➥ Sobakevich, an inhabitant who is only interested in material goods.
➥ Plushkin, greedy, suspicious.

The souls of these heroes are dead and empty. Many theatrical performances were made based on this work. The most serious Gogol's work is called his story "Taras Bulba". In it, the author shows how staunchly and courageously the Ukrainian people fought against the Turks and Tatars. The main scenes in Gogol's story are dedicated to battles, they are grandiose and historical. But the personalities of the Zaporozhye Cossacks are hyperbolic. They are like heroes from epics. To write this story, Gogol studied many historical and folk sources.

Mystical and fantastic events take place in the magnificent work Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka. This book was published in two volumes, each of which contained four stories. He achieves something unusual in his work: he connects the past and the present, fairy tale and reality, historical and spiritual. In this Gogol work, people and evil spirits live side by side. There has never been such a work in Russian literature.

Creative heritage of Gogol

But in addition to the main and popular works, the famous author left other literary monuments. Let's stop a little and on them. So, the following dramatic works of Nikolai Gogol are widely known:

✔ Marriage.
✔ Players.
✔ Morning of a business person.
✔ Litigation.
✔ Lakey.
✔ Theatrical tour after the presentation of a new comedy.

But especially much was created by the author in journalism, where the author could accurately and definitely express his opinion. Unfortunately, not all readers are familiar with Gogol's journalistic works. But they exist, and many writers refer to them. For a complete understanding of the works of the original writer Gogol, it is worth reading and knowing the following some journalistic works:

♦ Woman.
♦ "Boris Godunov", a poem by Pushkin.
♦ About Kozlov's poetry.
♦ A few words about Pushkin.
♦ On the movement of peoples at the end of the 5th century.

There are also references to those works that relate to non-preserved Gogol literature. From some of them there are large or small fragments:

⇒ Rome.
⇒ Terrible hand.
⇒ What is it?

Particularly noteworthy are works that cannot be determined by genre:

Italy.
"Arabesques".
Gogol in music and cinema.

Stylistic features of the works of N.V. Gogol

He began his literary work as a romantic, but very quickly moved away from it and switched to realism. The writer developed under the influence of Pushkin and his freedom-loving ideas. The originality of Gogol's works lies in the fact that he was the first to give an image of the life of Russian landowners and officials, created the image of a "little man". Gogol is a great satirist who successfully denounced all vices modern society.

The compositions of Gogol's works are also interesting. They are not based on love vicissitudes or family conflicts, but the events of the whole country that are of public importance. Hence such deep images that were typical for all of Russia. Most often, he uses hyperbole in his works to make the image he created more vivid. He also uses hyperbole when describing details: things. Rooms, clothing. The Gogol landscape is necessary for the author in order to give a more accurate description of the characters. The author's speech is different: enthusiastic, colloquial. He also uses vernacular, dialectisms.

The features of text construction can be called:

✚ Using large complex sentences with different types of links.
✚ Lyrical monologues.
✚ Lots of emotional sentences using question and exclamation marks.
✚ A huge number of epithets.
✚ Gogol's humor is also unusual: "laughter through tears."

Critics of Gogol's works

Belinsky noted the simplicity, fiction and nationality of Gogol's works. In his works, the critic believed, next to the comic there is a feeling of despondency and sadness. And this is the result of the fact that Gogol's depiction of life is real. In addition, as Belinsky argued, the author introduces each Gogol character in this way. It's like you've known him for a long time. Nikolai Gogol can interest the reader in the most insignificant details.

The writer understands the insignificance of his characters, so he makes fun of them. Belinsky says that Gogol is both a genius and a versatile person

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol is the literary talent of Russia in the 19th century. The first work - the poem "Italy" - was published in 1829. He has been writing almost last days life.

His creations are very original, here mysticism is closely intertwined with reality. The writer's calling card was sketches of the "naturalness" of ordinary life, a reflection of the bare Russian reality without embellishment and smoothing. He first created social types, endowing his heroes with common features people of a certain social stratum, surprisingly accurately summarized everything characteristic of Russian cities, creating a single image of the province and the big city. Each character of Gogol is not some well-known personality, but a collective image that embodies the characters and customs of a whole generation or social stratum.

Best works

Without taking into account the destroyed 2nd volume of Dead Souls, Gogol's literary baggage totals 68 works. The most famous of them:

• "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka",
• "Viy",
• "The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich"
• "Nose",
• "Overcoat",
• "Diary of a Madman",
• "Selected places from correspondence with friends."

The list is far from complete, but these works are able to represent the author's work as much as possible.

Perhaps the most famous work of the writer is the play-comedy "The Government Inspector" in 5 acts. The author began work on it in the fall of 1835, and just six months later - in January 1836 - he finished writing. The main character is a petty St. Petersburg official Khlestakov, whom everyone took for an important inspector. The sly bureaucrat quickly realized what was happening, and began to take advantage of the state of affairs with might and main, accepting bribes, gifts and eating for free at secular dinners. Everyone fawned over him, trying to appease and please.

When he leaves the city, everyone accidentally becomes aware that Khlestakov is a swindler, and then a real auditor comes to the town. Silent scene.

The play has been staged more than once on the stage of theaters, including European ones. And although the first production in St. Petersburg was not successful, all subsequent ones were very warmly received by the public.

In Gogol's diaries, a mention was found that the idea of ​​"The Government Inspector" was given to him by Pushkin, who was one of the first listeners of the play and accepted it with great enthusiasm.

Genius work. Deep in essence and complete in artistic design. One of the most significant works of the author, which, according to the notes of Gogol himself, was originally conceived as a three-volume work. The first volume was published in 1842. The second was never published. According to the generally accepted version, based on the testimony of the writer's servant, "being in a state of physical weakness and mental disorder," Nikolai Vasilievich burned the already finished manuscript of the second volume. After Gogol's death, handwritten first 5 chapters were found in his drafts. Today they are kept in the personal collection of Timur Abdullayev, an American businessman of Russian origin. The only thing known about the third volume is that it was conceived as a description of the heroes of the poem who had reformed after the "purgatory".

The plot of the work was also suggested by Pushkin. As a result, a literary masterpiece was born, telling about the adventures of the protagonist, the collegiate adviser Chichikov, who in the city of N bought “dead souls”, that is, dead serfs, from the landowners. Why did he need it? In the future, he planned to mortgage them in a bank and use the loan received to buy some kind of estate for arranging his future. Events developed in such a way that the scam failed, and Chichikov ended up in the gendarmerie, from where he was rescued with difficulty by the millionaire Murazov. This is where the first volume ends.

The most colorful characters:

• "Sweet to the point of cloying" landowner Manilov, a man of no use to society, an empty dreamer;
• Korobochka is a landowner known for all her greed and pettiness;
• Sobakevich, whose all efforts are aimed only at arranging life and strengthening material well-being;
• Plyushkin is the most caricatured character. Extremely stingy, regrets throwing away even the sole that has come off the boot. Incredibly suspicious, he refused not only from society, but even from his own children, believing that everyone wants to rob him and let him go around the world.

These and many other heroes reflect the world of inverted values, lost ideals. Their souls are empty, dead... Such a view allows one to interpret the title "Dead Souls" allegorically.

The poem has withstood many theatrical productions, film adaptations. Has been translated to different languages.

This story is a very serious work. It highlights the heroism of the Ukrainian people in the fight against the Turks and Tatars. It is large-scale in content and events covered by it, the images of its heroes are epic, the epic heroes served as the basis for their creation.

The main scenes of the story are the battles of the Zaporozhye Cossacks with foreign invaders. They are painted close-up, attention is paid to details. The course of the battle, the actions of individual soldiers, their appearance described in detail, with bright strokes.

Every fictional character in the story is hyperbolic. The images reflect not individual historical figures, but entire social strata of that time.

To write "Taras Bulba" Nikolai Vasilyevich studied many historical sources, chronicles, epics, folk songs and legends.

Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka

This two-volume edition was published in 1832. Each volume contains 4 stories, the action of which covers the 17th-19th centuries. Gogol very thinly rings the past and the present, weaves a true story and a fairy tale, giving his work a historical and spiritual unity.

"Evenings ..." received very high marks from literary critics - the author's contemporaries, as well as such masters as Pushkin, Baratynsky. The collection fascinates the reader not only with fabulous plots, but also with high poetic style.

In fact, "Evenings ..." is a fantasy, masterfully crafted folklore. On the pages of the work, witches, sorcerers, mermaids, goblins, devils and other evil spirits settled next to people.

Final chord

Gogol is a writer with a capital letter. It is difficult to single out the most famous work of this author. It is difficult to convey in words the depth, poetry and richness of his works. Only by directly familiarizing yourself with each work, you can not only understand, but feel the lively, rich and original talent of Gogol. The reader will definitely enjoy reading his writings.

19.01.2018 at 17:32 · Johnny · 11 690

Top 10. The best books of Gogol

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is one of the most famous writers 19th century. For my short life he managed to write a large number of outstanding works, many of which are now studied at school. The ten most popular and best books Gogol, a list of which is located below.

10. Sorochinskaya Fair

"Sorochinsky Fair" opens the list of works written by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol and is part of the collection Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka. The action in the story takes place in the homeland of the prose writer. The plot revolves around a young man named Gritsko who falls in love with a beautiful girl named Khavronya. The main character wants to marry her. The girl's father does not mind, but the stepmother refuses to give her stepdaughter for him, because he did not please her. Then Gritsko turns to the gypsy for help, who makes a plan on how to achieve the location of his stepmother and arrange a wedding.

9. Portrait

"Portrait"- a work included in the cycle "Petersburg Tales". The main character of the story is a young man Chartkov, who is engaged in art. He is incredibly poor, he does not even have money to pay for rent. Despite this, the artist buys a portrait with the last money, which depicts an old man. He attracts a young man by the fact that the eyes in the portrait seem to be alive. The young man begins to be haunted at night by strange dreams, as if the old man comes out of the frame with a bag full of money. Chartkov in a dream manages to snatch one bundle with 1000 gold coins. In the morning, the young man wakes up and finds this money in fact. He moves to a prestigious area, rents expensive apartments and becomes a sought-after young artist with a large list of orders. Chartkov does not realize that this portrait is cursed and brings only misfortunes to its owner, which will soon affect this artist as well.

8. Nevsky Prospekt

"Nevsky Avenue" included in the book "Petersburg Tales". Nikolai Vasilyevich begins the story with an enthusiastic description of Nevsky Prospekt, which he considers one of the best places in St. Petersburg. It is here that any thoughtful observer can draw a lot of impressions for himself. The main characters of the work are Pirogov and Piskarev, who meet in this place while whipping beautiful ladies. Gogol tells two stories of these, at first glance, completely different young people, whose hopes did not come true. The author draws an analogy between these characters and reduces the reader to the idea that despite all the individuality, there is something that unites these men.

7. Overcoat

"Overcoat"- a story included in the collected works of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. In the work, the prose writer touches on the theme of the “little man”. In the center of the plot of the book is a titular adviser living in poverty named Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin. He was very responsible for his official work, despite the fact that it was insignificant. On this occasion, jokes were also soaked by young officials in the direction of Bashmachkin. Soon, Akaki notices that his old overcoat has fallen into disrepair and takes it to the tailor to patch it up. But he refuses to do this, saying that he needs to sew a new one. Bashmachkin begins to save money, infringing on himself even in small ways, in order to raise money for a new overcoat. Having collected the required amount, he orders it for himself. The joy of the new thing was short-lived, as soon the adviser was robbed. He has no choice but to wear his old one. Soon the hero falls ill with a cold and dies.

6. May night, or the Drowned Woman

"May Night, or the Drowned Woman"- Gogol's story, included in the book "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka". The work is based on legends about undead souls who died innocently. The main character, a young lady who can no longer endure the bullying of her stepmother, throws herself into the river to drown herself. After death, she turns into a beautiful mermaid. But even there the stepmother does not want to give rest to the deceased stepdaughter. She also turns into a mermaid. The first thing left is to seek help from people. In a dream, she comes to the young man Levko, who is the son of the head. He helps the unfortunate, and in return she happily arranges his personal life.

5. Evening on the eve of Ivan Kupala

"Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala"- The story of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, which, like many of his works, is filled with mysticism and folklore legends about evil spirits. This is the first story that opens a cycle of works combined into the book Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka. In the center of the plot is Petrus, whose fate is deeply unhappy. In this story, Gogol wants to convey to the reader that a person is the blacksmith of his own happiness and in order to achieve his goal, in no case should one turn to Satan for help.

4. The night before Christmas

"Christmas Eve"- one of the best works of Nikolai Vasilyevich, included in the book "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka". The main character, the blacksmith Vakula, is madly in love with the beautiful girl Oksana, who constantly mocks him. The young man wants to marry her, for which she gives him an overwhelming task. The young man must get for her the slippers that the queen wears. Vakula understands that such a task is beyond his power and is going to turn to hell for help. Unclean power, by coincidence, is at his fingertips. Together with the devil, he flies directly to the queen in St. Petersburg, where he asks the ruler for her bride's little laces. Meanwhile, there is a rumor in the village that Vakula has committed suicide. Oksana punishes herself for this. But the young man returns healthy and unharmed with the promised gift.

3. Taras Bulba

"Taras Bulba"- one of the most famous books of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. The story was repeatedly filmed and gained immense popularity. The work is completely based on historical materials, as well as the parables of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks. The main character of the story is Taras Bulba, who is an example of what a true Cossack should be like. The action of the book revolves around him and his two sons.

2. Notes of a madman

"Diary of a Madman" included in the collection "Petersburg Tales". In the center of the story, Gogol puts Poprishchin, who is the author of the notes. The protagonist is a petty official dissatisfied with his position and the fact that everyone pushes him around. He is obsessed with the idea that he must find his own career, and keeps a diary in which he describes his whole life, and also outlines his thoughts. The protagonist is gradually losing his mind, which is displayed in his notes.

1. Dead souls

"Dead Souls"- the main creation of the whole life of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. The book describes Mr. Chichikov's journey across Russia with the aim of buying up "dead souls". While reading the novel, the reader will get to know many characters, each of which has its own individual psychological portrait. The author shows all the ugliness of the souls of the landowners, who in fact are people with dead souls there is nothing human about them. Their only goal in life is profit.

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