Gogol Nikolay Vasilievich(1809-1852) - Russian prose writer, playwright, poet, critic, publicist, recognized as one of the classics of Russian literature.
Gogol's tales are varied both in their motives and in the events described in them. Take at least the most famous ones: “”, “”, “”, “”, “”, “”, “”, “” - each has its own heroes, its own miracles and its own events.

Fairy tales Gogol Nikolai Vasilievich
“Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”

Evenings on a farm near Dikanka

One of the most mystical and unusual writers of Russia in its entire history was, undoubtedly, Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol- how elegant, simple and, at the same time, fantastic and amazingly beautiful Fairy tales Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka” by Gogol, his stories, short stories, plays and comedies...

And indeed, it is hardly possible to find another author who could write with unsurpassed accuracy and skill not only about everyday things (like the life of a Ukrainian village), but also describe mystical phenomena and phenomena (like evil spirits, flights to St. Petersburg on the devil, stealing the moon, etc.).

Tales of Gogol- some of his best works, in which all the author’s love for Little Russia, for the Ukrainian people and traditions, for the life of ordinary peasants, their beliefs, holidays, and customs was revealed. Almost all of Nikolai Vasilyevich’s works devoted to this topic were included in the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” They were written by the author over three years, and were published in 1831 (the first volume of Gogol's fairy tales) and 1832 (the second volume).

A kind of “geographical center” of Gogol’s fairy tales collected in “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”, as can be seen from the name itself, became the same Dikanka from Nikolai Vasilyevich’s childhood - the place of his birth and life. Another remarkable fact is that all the works from the collection are connected by the so-called “framing plot”, since according to the author’s idea, these tales and legends were allegedly collected and written down by the Ukrainian beekeeper Rudy Panko from the words of his Cossack grandfather Foma Grigorievich.

Gogol's tales are varied both in their motives and in the events described in them. Take at least the most famous ones: “”, “”, “”, “”, “”, “”, “”, “” - each has its own heroes, its own miracles and its own events. But all these fairy tales are united by one thing - they depict in all their glory the glorious, kind, hardworking and honest Ukrainian people with their beliefs, traditions and even legends. After all, beautiful girls and brave, pure-hearted boys in the work are opposed by mystical, semi-pagan otherworldly forces. However, goodness still wins in these fairy tales, justice triumphs, and evil spirits leave with nothing. So the author contrasts spirituality, light and grace of the human soul with the darkness of the other world.

Gogol's fairy tales are still loved in all corners of both Russia and Ukraine. They are studied in school, children and adults read them. And the reason for this is not only the sensational mysticism of these works, but also sparkling humor, charismatic characters, and a talented depiction of the life of the Ukrainian village.

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

10 Sorochinskaya Fair

“Sorochinskaya Fair” opens the list of works written by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol and is part of the collection “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”. The actions in the story take place in the homeland of the prose writer. The plot centers on 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 doesn’t mind, but the stepmother refuses to give her stepdaughter to him because he didn’t please her. Then Gritsko turns to the gypsy for help, who makes a plan on how to still win the favor of his stepmother and arrange a wedding.

9 Portrait

“Portrait” is a work included in the “Petersburg Tales” cycle. The main character of the story is a young man Chartkov, who is engaged in art. He is incredibly poor, he doesn’t even have money to pay for rented housing. Despite this, the artist uses his last money to buy a portrait depicting an old man. He attracts the young man because the eyes in the portrait seem to be alive. The young man begins to be haunted at night by strange dreams, as if an old man is coming out of a frame with a bag full of money. In a dream, Chartkov manages to snatch one package with 1000 chervonets. The next morning, the young man wakes up and discovers that this money is actually there. 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.

8 Nevsky Prospekt

“Nevsky Prospekt” is included in the book “Petersburg Tales”. Nikolai Vasilyevich begins the story with an enthusiastic description of Nevsky Prospect, which he considers one of the best places in St. Petersburg. It is here that any thoughtful observer can gain many impressions. The main characters of the work are Pirogov and Piskarev, who meet in this place while courting beautiful ladies. Gogol tells two stories of these, at first glance, completely different young people, whose hopes were not justified. The author draws an analogy between these heroes and leads the reader to the idea that despite all their individuality, there is something that unites these men.

7 Overcoat

“The Overcoat” is 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.” At the center of the plot of the book is a titular adviser living in poverty named Akakiy Akakievich Bashmachkin. He was very responsible about his official duties, despite the fact that it was insignificant. Young officials also made jokes about this about Bashmachkin. Soon Akaki notices that his old overcoat has become unusable and takes it to a tailor to have it patched. But he refuses to do this, saying that he needs to sew a new one. Bashmachkin begins to save, 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 from 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 catches a cold and dies.

6 May Night, or the Drowned Woman

“May Night, or the Drowned Woman” is a story by Gogol, included in the book “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”. The work is based on legends about restless souls who died innocently. The main character, a young lady who can no longer tolerate 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 peace to her deceased stepdaughter. She also turns into a mermaid. The first one has no choice but 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 woman, and in return she makes his personal life happy.

5 The evening before Ivan Kupala

“The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” is a story by 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”. The plot centers on Petrusya, whose fate is deeply unhappy. In this story, Gogol wants to convey to the reader that man himself is the architect 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

“The Night Before Christmas” is one of Nikolai Vasilyevich’s best works, included in the book “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.” The main character, 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 impossible task. The young man must get for her the slippers that the queen wears. Vakula understands that such a task is beyond his strength and is going to go to hell for help. By coincidence, evil spirits are at his fingertips. Together with the devil, he flies straight to the queen in St. Petersburg, where he asks the ruler for slippers for his bride. Meanwhile, there is a rumor in the village that Vakula committed suicide. Oksana will punish herself for this. But the young man returns healthy and unharmed with the promised gift.

3 Taras Bulba

“Taras Bulba” is one of the most famous books by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. The story has been filmed several times and gained enormous popularity. The work is entirely based on historical materials, as well as parables of the Zaporozhye Cossacks. The main character of the story is Taras Bulba, who is an example of what a true Cossack should be. The book revolves around him and his two sons.

2 Notes of a Madman

“Notes of a Madman” is included in the collection “Petersburg Tales”. Gogol places Poprishchin, who is the author of the notes, at the center of the story. The main character is a minor official dissatisfied with his position and the fact that everyone pushes him around. He is obsessed with the idea that he must find his field, and keeps a diary in which he describes his entire life, as well as expresses his existing thoughts. The main character gradually goes crazy, which is reflected in his notes.

1 Dead Souls

“Dead Souls” is the main creation of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol’s entire life. The book describes Mr. Chichikov’s journey across Russia with the goal of buying up “dead souls.” While reading the novel, the reader will get to know many characters, each of whom has their 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 in them. Their only goal in life is profit.

Years of life: from 03/20/1809 to 02/21/1852

Outstanding Russian writer, playwright, poet, critic, publicist. The works are included in the classics of domestic and world literature. Gogol's works had and still have a huge influence on writers and readers.

Childhood and youth

Born in the town of Velikie Sorochintsy, Mirgorod district, Poltava province, in the family of a landowner. The writer's father, V. A. Gogol-Yanovsky (1777-1825), served at the Little Russian Post Office, in 1805 he retired with the rank of collegiate assessor and married M. I. Kosyarovskaya (1791-1868), according to legend, the first beauty in the Poltava region. The family had six children: in addition to Nikolai, son Ivan (died in 1819), daughters Marya (1811-1844), Anna (1821-1893), Lisa (1823-1864) and Olga (1825-1907). Gogol spent his childhood years on the estate of his parents Vasilyevka (another name is Yanovshchina). As a child, Gogol wrote poetry. The mother showed great concern for the religious education of her son, and it is her influence that is attributed to the religious and mystical orientation of the writer’s worldview. In 1818-19, Gogol, together with his brother Ivan, studied at the Poltava district school, and then, in 1820-1821, took private lessons. In May 1821 he entered the gymnasium of higher sciences in Nizhyn. Here he is engaged in painting, participates in performances - as a decorative artist and as an actor. He also tries himself in various literary genres (writes elegiac poems, tragedies, historical poems, stories). At the same time he writes the satire “Something about Nezhin, or the law is not written for fools” (not preserved). However, he does not think about a literary career; all his aspirations are connected with “public service”; he dreams of a legal career.

The beginning of a literary career, rapprochement with A.S. Pushkin.

After graduating from high school in 1828, Gogol went to St. Petersburg. Experiencing financial difficulties, unsuccessfully fussing about a place, Gogol made his first literary attempts: at the beginning of 1829 the poem “Italy” appeared, and in the spring of the same year, under the pseudonym “V. Alov”, Gogol published the “idyll in pictures” “Ganz Küchelgarten”. The poem evoked very negative reviews from critics, which increased the difficult mood of Gogol, who throughout his life experienced criticism of his works very painfully. In July 1829, he burned unsold copies of the book and suddenly made a short trip abroad. Gogol explained his step as an escape from a love feeling that unexpectedly took possession of him. At the end of 1829, he managed to decide to serve in the department of state economy and public buildings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (first as a scribe, then as an assistant to the chief clerk). His stay in the offices caused Gogol deep disappointment in the “public service,” but it provided him with rich material for future works. By this time, Gogol was devoting more and more time to literary work. Following the first story “Bisavryuk, or the Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” (1830), Gogol published a number of works of art and articles. The story "Woman" (1831) was the first work signed with the author's real name. Gogol meets P. A. Pletnev. Until the end of his life, Pushkin remained an indisputable authority for Gogol, both artistic and moral. By the summer of 1831, his relations with Pushkin's circle became quite close. Gogol’s financial position is strengthened thanks to his teaching work: he gives private lessons in the houses of P.I. Balabin, N.M. Longinov, A.V. Vasilchikov, and from March 1831 became a history teacher at the Patriotic Institute.

The most fruitful period of life

During this period, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” (1831-1832) was published. They aroused almost universal admiration and made Gogol famous. 1833, the year for Gogol, was one of the most intense, full of painful searches for a further path. Gogol writes his first comedy, “Vladimir of the 3rd Degree,” however, experiencing creative difficulties and foreseeing censorship complications, he stops working. During this period, he was seized by a serious desire to study history - Ukrainian and world. Gogol is trying to occupy the department of general history at the newly opened Kiev University, but to no avail. In June 1834, however, he was appointed an associate professor in the department of general history at St. Petersburg University, but after conducting several classes he left this job. At the same time, in deep secret, he wrote the stories that made up his two subsequent collections - “Mirgorod” and “Arabesques”. Their harbinger was “The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich” (first published in the book “Housewarming” in 1834). The publication of “Arabesque” (1835) and “Mirgorod” (1835) confirmed Gogol’s reputation as an outstanding writer. The work on the works that later formed the cycle “Petersburg Tales” also dates back to the early thirties. In the fall of 1835, Gogol began writing “The Inspector General,” the plot of which (as Gogol himself claimed) was suggested by Pushkin; the work progressed so successfully that on January 18, 1836, he read the comedy at an evening with Zhukovsky, and in the same year the play was staged. Along with the resounding success, the comedy also caused a number of critical reviews, the authors of which accused Gogol of slandering Russia. The controversy that flared up had an adverse effect on the writer’s state of mind. In June 1836, Gogol left St. Petersburg for Germany and the writer’s almost 12-year period of stay abroad began. Gogol begins to write Dead Souls. The plot was also suggested by Pushkin (this is known from the words of Gogol). In February 1837, in the midst of work on Dead Souls, Gogol received the shocking news of Pushkin's death. In a fit of “inexpressible melancholy” and bitterness, Gogol feels the “present work” as the poet’s “sacred testament.” At the beginning of March 1837 he came to Rome for the first time, which later became one of the writer’s favorite cities. In September 1839, Gogol arrived in Moscow and began reading chapters of Dead Souls, which evoked an enthusiastic reaction. In 1940, Gogol left Russia again and at the end of the summer of 1840 in Vienna, he suddenly suffered one of the first attacks of a severe nervous illness. In October he comes to Moscow and reads the last 5 chapters of “Dead Souls” in the Aksakovs’ house. However, in Moscow, censorship did not allow the novel to be published, and in January 1842 the writer forwarded the manuscript to the St. Petersburg Censorship Committee, where the book was approved, but with a change in title and without “The Tale of Captain Kopeikin.” In May, “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls” was published. And again Gogol’s work caused a flurry of the most controversial responses. Against the background of general admiration, sharp accusations of caricature, farce, and slander are heard. All this controversy took place in the absence of Gogol, who went abroad in June 1842, where the writer was working on the 2nd volume of Dead Souls. Writing is extremely difficult, with long stops.

Last years of life. Creative and spiritual crisis of the writer.

At the beginning of 1845, Gogol showed signs of a new mental crisis. A period of treatment and moving from one resort to another begins. At the end of June or beginning of July 1845, in a state of sharp exacerbation of the disease, Gogol burns the manuscript of the 2nd volume. Subsequently, Gogol explained this step by the fact that the book did not show the “paths and roads” to the ideal clearly enough. An improvement in Gogol’s physical condition began only in the fall of 1845; he began work anew on the second volume of the book, however, experiencing increasing difficulties, gets distracted by other things. In 1847, “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends” was published in St. Petersburg. The release of Selected Places brought a real critical storm upon its author. Moreover, Gogol also received critical reviews from his friends, V.G. was especially harsh. Belinsky. Gogol takes criticism very seriously, tries to justify himself, and his spiritual crisis deepens. In 1848 Gogol returned to Russia and lived in Moscow. In 1849-1850 he reads individual chapters of the 2nd volume of Dead Souls to his friends. The approval inspires the writer, who now works with renewed energy. In the spring of 1850, Gogol makes his first and last attempt to arrange his family life - he proposes to A. M. Vielgorskaya, but is refused. January 1, 1852 Gogol reports that the 2nd volume is “completely finished.” But in the last days of the month, signs of a new crisis were clearly revealed, the impetus for which was the death of E. M. Khomyakova, a person spiritually close to Gogol. He is tormented by a premonition of imminent death, aggravated by newly intensified doubts about the beneficialness of his writing career and the success of the work being carried out. At the end of January - beginning of February, Gogol meets Father Matvey (Konstantinovsky) who arrived in Moscow; the content of their conversations remained unknown, however, there is an indication that Father Matvey advised to destroy part of the chapters of the poem, motivating this step by the “harmful influence” that they would have. The death of Khomyakova, the conviction of Konstantinovsky and, perhaps, other reasons convinced Gogol to abandon his creativity and begin fasting a week before Lent. On February 5, he saw off Konstantinovsky and since that day he eats almost nothing and stops leaving the house. At 3 a.m. from Monday to Tuesday, February 11-12, 1852, Gogol woke up his servant Semyon, ordered him to open the stove valves and bring a briefcase with manuscripts from the closet. Taking a bunch of notebooks out of it, Gogol put them in the fireplace and burned them (only 5 chapters, relating to various draft editions, were preserved in incomplete form). On February 20, a medical council decided to compulsorily treat Gogol, but the measures taken did not produce results. On the morning of February 21, N.V. Gogol died. The writer’s last words were: “Stairs, quickly, give me the stairs!”

Information about the works:

At the Nizhyn gymnasium, Gogol was not a diligent student, but had an excellent memory, prepared for exams in a few days and moved from class to class; he was very weak in languages ​​and made progress only in drawing and Russian literature.

It was Gogol, in his article “A few words about Pushkin,” who was the first to call Pushkin the greatest Russian national poet.

The morning after the burning of the manuscripts, Gogol told Count Tolstoy that he wanted to burn only some things that had been prepared in advance, but he burned everything under the influence of an evil spirit.

A bronze cross was installed on Gogol’s grave, standing on a black tombstone (“Golgotha”). In 1952, a new monument was erected on the grave instead of Golgotha, but Golgotha, as unnecessary, was for some time in the workshops of the Novodevichy cemetery, where it was discovered by the widow of E. S. Bulgakov. Elena Sergeevna bought the tombstone, after which it was installed over the grave of Mikhail Afanasyevich.

The 1909 film Viy is considered the first Russian “horror film”. Yes, the film has not survived to this day. And the film adaptation of the same Viy in 1967 is the only Soviet “horror film”.

Bibliography

Poems

Hanz Küchelgarten (1827)

attachments to the Auditor are partly of a journalistic nature
unfinished

Journalism

Film adaptations of works, theatrical performances

The number of theatrical productions of Gogol's plays throughout the world cannot be estimated. Only the Inspector General, and only in Moscow and St. Petersburg (Leningrad), was staged more than 20 times. A huge number of feature films have been made based on Gogol’s works. This is not a complete list of domestic film adaptations:
Viy (1909) dir. V. Goncharov, short film
Dead Souls (1909) dir. P. Chardynin, short film
The Night Before Christmas (1913) dir. V. Starevich
Portrait (1915) dir. V. Starevich
Viy (1916) dir. V. Starevich
How Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich (1941) dir. A. Kustov
May Night, or the Drowned Woman (1952) dir. A. Rowe
The Inspector General (1952) dir. V. Petrov
The Overcoat (1959) dir. A. Batalov
Dead Souls (1960) dir. L. Trauberg
Evenings on a farm near Dikanka (1961) dir. A. Rowe
Viy (1967) dir. K. Ershov
Marriage (1977) dir. V. Melnikov
Incognito from St. Petersburg (1977) dir. L. Gaidai, based on the play The Inspector General
The Nose (1977) dir. R. Bykov
Dead Souls (1984) dir. M. Schweitzer, serial
The Inspector General (1996) dir. S. Gazarov
Evenings on a farm near Dikanka (2002) dir. S. Gorov, musical
The Case of “Dead Souls” (2005) dir. P. Lungin, television series
The Witch (2006) dir. O. Fesenko, based on the story by Viy
Russian Game (2007) dir. P. Chukhrai, based on the play Players
Taras Bulba (2009) dir. V. Bortko
Happy Ending (2010) dir. J. Chevazhevsky, modern version based on the story Nose

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol-Yanovsky; Russian Empire, Poltava Governorate; 03/20/1809 – 02/21/1852

The great Russian prose writer and playwright Nikolai Gogol earned recognition during his lifetime. But the stories and stories of N. V. Gogol are very popular even now. Many of his works have been filmed, and the name of this writer has become iconic for Russian and world literature. The best proof of this is the author’s high place in our ranking, where N. V. Gogol is in the top twenty.

Biography of N.V. Gogol

Nikolai Gogol-Yanovsky was born in the village of Bolshiye Sorochintsy, Poltava province. Subsequently, he will drop the second part of his surname, although it was under this surname that his great-grandfather lived. My great-grandfather changed his surname after accepting Russian citizenship. There were 11 children in Gogol's family, but only five of them lived to adulthood. Nikolai himself was the third child, but the first to survive. Thanks to this, he best remembered his father, who wrote short plays for home performances and was generally a wonderful storyteller. In part, it was he who instilled in N. V. Gogol his first love for the theater.

At the age of ten, Nikolai was sent to study in Poltava. First, he takes preparatory courses from one of the local teachers, and then enters the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences. Since this educational institution had just been formed, the educational process was not very well organized, perhaps this was the reason for Gogol’s low performance. But at the same time, having created circles of like-minded people, the students engaged in self-education and even organized their own magazine. It was during his self-education that Nikolai Gogol fell in love with creativity, which later played a significant role in his works.

After graduating from high school at the age of nineteen, Nikolai Gogol moved to St. Petersburg. His modest savings are not enough to live in a big city, and he is forced to look for work, either as an actor or as a civil servant, but he does not stay in either of them for long. At the same time, in 1829, N. V. Gogol’s first poem, “Hanz Küchelgarten,” was published. She does not receive recognition, which for a long time instills in the writer distrust in her capabilities. However, the writer does not stop in his endeavors and a year later “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala” was published, which was received more positively.

In 1830, thanks to friends, N. V. Gogol managed to get a job as a teacher, first at the Patriotic Institute, and then at the department of history at St. Petersburg University. This significantly improved the author’s financial affairs and allowed him to plunge headlong into literature. It was during this period that N. V. Gogol’s stories “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka” and “The Night Before Christmas” were published, which are still popular to read today. This brings fame to the author and allows him to become one of the leading writers in Russia at that time. From 1834 to 1842 such famous works by N. V. Gogol as “Taras Bulba”, “The Inspector General”, “Dead Souls” and many others were published.

Since 1836, Gogol has spent a lot of time abroad. His second “homeland” becomes Rome, which the author himself called “a city in spirit.” At the same time, the writer becomes more and more religious and makes a journey to the Holy Sepulcher. But, according to the author himself, when he got caught in the rain in Palestine, he felt the same way as the stations in Russia. Therefore, this trip did not bring N. V. Gogol peace of mind. Upon his return in 1949, he worked hard on the second volume of Dead Souls, but just before his death he destroyed them.

Gogol was buried in the cemetery of the Danilov Monastery, but subsequently the remains were transferred to the Novodevichy cemetery. In 1952, the pedestal of the monument was changed, and “Calvary,” which had previously served as a monument to Gogol, was subsequently acquired by his wife as a monument to her husband. After all, it was N. V. Gogol’s story that Bulgakov considered a model for his work.

Works by N. V. Gogol on the Top books website

In the ratings of our site, N. V. Gogol’s stories are represented quite widely. Many of them are in our ranking and occupy far from the lowest positions there. At the same time, the popularity of N. V. Gogol’s comedies “The Inspector General,” “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka,” and “The Night Before Christmas” is so great that it allowed these and some other works of N. V. Gogol to be included in our rating. At the same time, many of them occupy quite high places in this ranking and have every chance to strengthen their positions.

All books by Gogol N.V.

1. Author's confession
2. Al-Mamun
3. Alfred
4. Annunziata
5. Articles from Arabesques
6. The evening before Ivan Kupala
7. Evenings on a farm near Dikanka
8. A look at the composition of Little Russia
9. Vladimir third degree
10. Hanz Küchelgarten
11. Getman
12. Chablova girls
13. The rain continued...
14. Marriage