I’ve been delaying this review for almost 8 months, now, mostly because I didn’t quite know what to say about this book.
I’ve always wanted a collection of stories by Gogol to call my own, ever since I read The Overcoat off a book I borrowed from a dear friend. I counted myself lucky, therefore, when I found a great collection while scouring through Kino in KLCC early this year. You can see a copy of this over at Amazon, here.
There are fourteen short stories in all, segregated into ‘Ukrainian tales’ and ‘Petersburg tales’, and they’ve been a fun, funny read. Frustrating, though, for the hard-to-pronounce Russian names. There are also references to things decidedly Russian, but the translators have done an excellent job of annotating these references, and explaining their meaning.
If you’ve read any Dostoevsky, there isn’t his signature, manic railing against everything, appeal to redemption, etc. Gogol’s style is nevertheless cynical, biting and his narrators keep displaying a false sense of surprise which I found funny in parts - especially in his Petersburg tales. Definitely worth a read. :)
Besides the “canonical” lit-fare, you should check out “Viy” and “The Terrible Vengeance”.