Why does /lit/ never speak about Gogol? Is he not patrician?
dostoy and tolstoy are the only russians people read and even then war and le peace is the only of tolstoys.
All other russians do not exist, i repeat they don't exist.
le dead souls doesn't count considering it's just as memed as infinite jest on here.
I read that one thing with the nose and that was pretty cool I guess
>>8237672
He's patrician. The Nose is one of the greatest short stories ever written.
he is among the top 50 authors that get talked about
He is patrician. That's why we don't talk about him.
>>8237672
it doesn't make sense for a foreigner to read dead souls, there's nothing to extract from it for them, even though the novel's themes are quite universal
>>8237903
>there's nothing to extract from it for them
>even though the novel's themes are quite universal
>there's nothing
>even though
Gogol is huge, and desu we discuss him quite enough. He is my third favorite Russian author after Dosto and Tolstoy.
>>8237903
You can definitely enjoy it as a foreigner, but to truly understand its brilliance you have to be Russian. It's Russia - surface and subconscious - simply written into a book.
>>8237681
I've read Pushkin, Turgenev, Gogol, Chekov etc
>>8237672
He's good, but Chekhov is better
>>8239438
It's not that, spend 5 years at Russia and you can fully appreciate it as well. It's a cultural thing, like you have to be British to understand a stand up show about British culture.
>>8239516
slav_squatting_drinking_vodka_while_sucking_an_orthodox_priests_dick_while_he_blesses_putins_political_murder_squad.png
how is this something to appreciate?
russia seems shit af
>>8239403
Chekov is a horrendous writer
Gogol is a more interesting read
>>8239516
I've read one book by Dostoyevski and I feel I got a pretty good idea about the Russian mentality. Is that good to go then, reading Gogol it is?
>>8239596
>I've read one book by Dostoyevski and I feel I got a pretty good idea about the Russian mentality.
You haven't. Dostoevsky was crazy and so are his characters, all of them. That's not to say he isn't a great writer. Gogol was somewhat crazy too, though.
>>8237672
The Portrait is pretty good.
I've drawn angry faces and mustaches on my copies of oblomov and fathers and sons and have them face one another on my bookshelf
>>8239871
we're gonna need a pic of this
I've read 'The Overcoat'
>>8237681
>No Anna Karenina
Get out.
>>8239970
>Wanna fuck?
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. No, I do not.
>>8237903
The characters are hilarious and realistic. Even if they are meant to represent typical Russian figures, they are universal. Who doesn't know a rather stupid older lady like korobochka or a weasely cheat like nozdryov?
The book is about Russian mentality and character of that time, but don't we see those same mentalities and character everywhere at all times?
>>8239974
>Anna Karenina
A poorly translated melodrama, with an abundance of detail which he thrives on. Whew lad.
>>8239984
kys
>>8237672
>imply /lit/ reads books
His short stories are great (so is dead souls, but the stories are better imo).
Start with Dead Souls or some short stories first?
>>8240158
Doesn't matter. Maybe try some short stories to see if you like his style/the translator.
>>8239557
>chekhov is a horrendous writer
/lit/ going against the grain as usual
>>8240183
Where does one start with Chekov?
I've watched The Duel but found itboring
>>8240158
I loved his shorts, but Dead Souls was quite dull and uninteresting in comparison. Maybe just me.
>>8240211
idk, was very funny for me
>>8240247
I cannot seem to comprehend written humor.
I failed to find MaM amusing.
>>8240266
It's a lot dryer than other humor. There are few straight up jokes or punchlines. But the ways characters behave and the things they say when trying to be serious can be hilarious. You have to be in tune to this humor or it can easily go over your head (there are no laugh tracks to tell you when to laugh).
>>8240284
I get that things are humorous, I just cannot seem to find them actually funny.
Even The Nose left me without any keks.
I heard that when reading Gogol in english you really want to get this one author's version, anyone got an idea who this one would be? I have the penguin DS lel
>>8239596
Read Gogol anyways, your familiarity with Russian culture/mentality isn't that important.
>>8239980
Actually Gogol said many times it's more of a trip into his soul rather than to the subconscious of Russian society, so it makes sense for it to be quite universal.
>>8240158
>>8240011
His short stories are much better than Dead Souls, Gogol's peak as a writer is Petersburg Tales. Dead Souls presents very clearly, and in a very big scale of work, Gogol's ridiculous talent as a writer - but his deteriorating mental state shows and the work as a whole is full of problems. Chichikov's story is the framework Gogol delivers his analysis, his ideas, his poetry - and it's completely stuck, random, unpolished - making Part 1 of Dead Souls feel like a very profound collection of anecdotes. Part 2 is where he really lost it - feels like a poor man's Tolstoy with all the pathetic preaching. You should read Dead Souls after the stories, when you already have an idea of Gogol's power as a writer and you want to go on a long trip in his unfinished, twisted world, meet him in some of his highest and some of his lowest moments.
>>8239557
You're a horrendous poster
>>8240430
Guerney
