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The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich
This story is Nikolai Gogol’s classic tragicomedy about two formerly inseparable Ukrainian neighbors who descend into an absurd, decades-long legal feud. It stands as a timeless literary masterpiece of the tragi-absurd, ridiculing the ridiculousness of human vanity and petty litigation. This story has chapters featured on this site, containing a total of words.
The Viy
The “Viy” is a monstrous creation of popular fancy. It is the name which the inhabitants of Little Russia give to the king of the gnomes, whose eyelashes reach to the ground. The following story is a specimen of such folk-lore. I have made no alterations, but reproduce it in the same simple form in which I heard it. — Author’s Note. This story…
The Old Fashioned Farmers
Mirgorod. This 1835 collection of short stories was originally intended to be a sequel to Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka. The four tales are similarly based on Ukrainian folklore and feature characters generally believed to be portrayals of people Gogol knew while living in Ukraine, including his grandparents. Though grouped together, the stories are entirely separate from each other in terms of narrative.…Taras Bulba
This historical novella tells the story of the old Cossack Taras Bulba, and his two sons, Andriy and Ostap, who after their studies at Kiev Academy return home. The father and his sons decide to set out on an epic journey to Zaporizhian Sich located in Southern Ukraine, where they join other Cossacks and go to war against Poland. The main character Taras is…
New Reviews
Nobody writes like Andrei Platonov
Reading Platonov provides a pure joy and light all the more unexpected when you look at what is happening in the text.
Classic Russian Short stories. What more can u ask for?
If not familiar with them, then this book is a good way to start.
New Articles
Gogol’s Innovation
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s innovation in literature lies in his ability to create multilayered works that combined elements of realism, romanticism, satire, and mysticism. Before Gogol, many of the movements and artistic techniques he introduced or perfected were absent from Russian literature. Key aspects of his innovation include: Grotesque as a means of depicting reality Gogol was the first Russian writer to embrace the grotesque…
How to Write So that the Reader Believes You
Sometimes you read a book or a story and believe the author. It’s written so clearly, it touches your soul, you understand—it really happened that way, and the characters are so real before your eyes. Why does this work for some authors and not for others? You might say: I need to write in the realism genre, maybe then everything I describe will feel…
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