I was fortunate to read the stories first, such a delightful counterpoint to Dostoevsky and Tolstoy! Some of the Ukraine stories, like “Viy”, are amazing fabulist tales and so strange. The Petersburg stories and Dead Souls seem to be grounded more in satire.

The best by Gogol is the Evenings on a farm near Dikanka. Gogol was a genius. But god bless Pushkin he shared his ideas with Gogol. That is why we have some brilliant stuff under Gogols pen. Slavic literature is magic. I recommend to read Sholohov’s And Quite Flows The Don. Gigantic masterpiece, too.

This makes me want to bust out my Vintage Classics edition of Gogol’s short stories and take an afternoon to binge the collection. His stories are great! Still sad I’ve never clicked with “Dead Souls.”

What a fantastic cover! I haven’t read Gogol yet but he’s on this year’s list. His ambition outran his interest: great descriptor.

Evenings on a farm near Dikanka is very Ukrainian. Also Taras Bulba happens in my home town! So he is Ukrainian - Russian writer to me!

Still no Fathers and Sons. No Chekov. And the we can finally get to Resurrection...

If only you did this for the Polish authors!!!!

Stop teasing and get to it! Have not read Gogol for a long time. You have again peaked my interest in the wonderful Russians..