Gogol Nikolai
People consider that Russian writer Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (Николай Васильевич Гоголь) founded realism in Russian literature. His works include
The Overcoat
(1842) and
Dead Souls
(1842).
Ukrainian birth, heritage, and upbringing of Gogol influenced many of his written works among the most beloved in the tradition of Russian-language literature. Most critics see Gogol as the first Russian realist. His biting satire, comic realism, and descriptions of Russian provincials and petty bureaucrats influenced later Russian masters Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Turgenev, and especially Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Gogol wittily said many later Russian maxims.
Gogol first used the techniques of surrealism and the grotesque in his works
The Nose
,
Viy
,
The Overcoat
, and
Nevsky Prospekt
. Ukrainian upbringing, culture, and folklore influenced his early works, such as
Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka
.
His later writing satirized political corruption in the Russian empire in
Dead Souls
.
“Rusijo!Rusijo!Vidim te iz svoje čudesne,divne daljine,vidim te: sve je jadno,razbacano i neudobno u tebi;ne vesele niti plaše pogled na tvoja smiona čuda prirode okrunjena smionim čudima umjetnosti,gradovi u kojima se dižu visoki dvorci s mnogobrojnim prozorima urasli u stijene,slikovito drveće i bršljan urastao u kuće,usred vječitog šuma i vodene prašine slapova...Široko je,pusto i ravno sve u tebi;kao točke,kao oznake,neupadljivo strše usred ravnice tvoji niski gradovi;ništa neće čovjeka oduševiti ni očarati mu pogled.Ali koja me to nepojmljiva,tajna sila vuče tebi?Zašto mi se neprekidno odjekuje i razliježe se u ušima tvoja čeznutljiva pjesma što se ori u tebi uzduž i poprijeko,od jednog mora do drugog? Što je unjoj,u toj pjesmi? Što me to u njoj zove,i jeca,i dira samo u srce?Koji me to zvuci bolno miluju,i u dušu mi prodiru,i viju mi se oko srca?Rusijo!Što hoćeš od mene?Kakva se to nedokučiva veza krije među nama?Što me tako gledaš,i zašto je sve u tebi uprlo oči pune nade u mene...Neće li se baš ovdje u tebi roditi beskrajna misao kad tebi samoj nema kraja?Oh,kakva je blisatva,čudesna ta daljina o kojoj svijet ništa ne zna!Rusijo!...”
“Îl zăpăcise pur și simplu mulțimea aceea nespus de pestriță, de parcă diavolul fărâmase lumea bucăți și le adunase apoi la loc, fără niciun sens, fără niciun rost.”
“Nevsky Avenue"Here you come across moustaches so wonderful that neither pen nor brush can do justice to them, moustaches to which the best years of a lifetime have been devoted-the object of long hours of vigil by day and by night; moustaches upon which all the perfumes of Arabia have been lavished, the most exquisite scents and essences, and which have been anointed with the rarest and most precious pomades; moustaches which are wrapped up for the night in the most delicate vellum; moustaches for which their possessors show a most touching affection and which are the envy of all those who behold them. ”