Gogol's works list for children. What is the most famous work of Gogol

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol - great Russian writer, author immortal works"The Inspector General", "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka", "Taras Bulba", "Viy", " Dead Souls" and many others.

Nikolai Gogol was born on March 20, 1809 in the town of Velikiye Sorochintsy, Mirgorod district, Poltava province, into the family of a poor landowner. My childhood was spent on my parents’ estate Vasilievka, near the village of Dikanka, the land of legends, beliefs, historical legends. His father, Vasily Afanasyevich, a passionate admirer of art, a theater lover, and the author of poetry and witty comedies, played a certain role in the upbringing of the future writer.

After home education Gogol spent two years at the Poltava district school, then entered the Nizhyn Gymnasium of Higher Sciences. Here he learns to play the violin, takes up painting, takes part in plays, playing comic roles.

After graduating from high school in 1828, the writer went to St. Petersburg with the hope of starting extensive activities. But the first literary attempts were unsuccessful.

In 1830, Gogol’s first story “Basavryuk” appeared in the journal “Otechestvennye zapiski”, which was later revised into the story “The Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala”. In December, Delvig's almanac "Northern Flowers" published a chapter from historical novel"Hetman". Gogol becomes close to Delvig, Zhukovsky, Pushkin, whose friendship was great importance for development public views and the literary talent of young Gogol. Pushkin introduced him into his circle, where Krylov, Vyazemsky, Odoevsky, the artist Bryullov were, and gave him plots for “The Inspector General” and “ Dead souls".

Gogol's literary fame was brought to him by "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" (1831 - 32), the stories "Sorochinskaya Fair", "May Night", etc. In 1833 he came to the decision to devote himself to scientific and pedagogical work and in 1834 he was appointed associate professor in the department general history at St. Petersburg University. The study of works on the history of Ukraine formed the basis of the plan for "Taras Bulba". In 1835 he left the university and devoted himself entirely to literary creativity. In the same year, collections of stories "Mirgorod" were published, which included "Old World Landowners", "Taras Bulba", "Viy", etc., and "Arabesques" (on themes of St. Petersburg life). “The Inspector General” was written in 1835 and already staged in Moscow in 1836 with the participation of Shchepkin.

February 11, 1852, while in serious state of mind, the writer burned the manuscript of the second volume of the poem “Dead Souls”. On the morning of February 21, Gogol died in his apartment on Nikitsky Boulevard.

Gogol was buried in the cemetery of the Danilov Monastery in Moscow. After the revolution, Gogol's remains were moved to the Novodevichy cemetery.

Those fifteen years that the writer devoted to writing showed the world a genius of the highest standard. Distinctive feature- this is versatility and creative evolution. Poetics, associative perception, metaphor, grotesque, intonation diversity, alternation of the comic with the pathetic. Stories, plays, even poems.

Housewarming (1826)

There, as a high school student, Kolya wrote a poem for the school handwritten magazine, the title of which is considered to be “Housewarming.” But it is known for sure that in its final form with the author’s autograph it was called “Bad Weather.”

The young poet, already at the age of seventeen, had doubts about the correctness of the title of his poem. The author will carry these doubts about the correctly chosen style, the correctly inserted cue, and even the word, throughout his entire work, mercilessly dealing with texts that, in his opinion, failed.

The young man seemed to prophesy to himself:

Whether it's light or dark - it's all the same,
When there is bad weather in this heart!

In addition to the poem “Housewarming”, Gogol wrote four more poems and the poem “Hanz Küchelgarten”.

Hanz Küchelgarten (1827-1829)

At this time, Gogol was hiding behind the pseudonym A. Alov. The writer bought all unsold copies and destroyed them. Now Nikolai decided to write about what he knows well - about beautiful Ukraine.

Evenings on a farm near Dikanka (1829-1832)

The book aroused keen interest among readers. A historical excursion around Little Russia, depicting pictures of Ukrainian life, sparkling with gaiety and subtle humor, made a great impression.

It would be completely logical if the narrator used Ukrainian language for your creations. But in Russian, Gogol seemed to erase the line between Little Russia and Great Russia. Ukrainian folklore motives, where the main language is Russian, generously sprinkled in Ukrainian words, made the entire collection of “Evenings” absolutely exquisite, absolutely unlike anything that existed at that time.

The young writer began his work not with clean slate. Even in Nizhyn, he kept a notebook, which he himself called “All sorts of things.” It was a notebook with four hundred and ninety sheets, in which the high school student wrote down everything that seemed interesting to him: historical and geographical information, statements famous writers, proverbs and sayings, legends, songs, customs, own thoughts and writings.

The young man did not stop there. He writes letters to his mother and sisters, and asks them to send him various information on the topic: “the life of the Little Russian people.” He wants to know everything. So it began big job over the book.

“Evenings” had the subtitle: “Stories published by the beekeeper Rudy Panko.” This fictional character. It was needed to give credibility to the stories. The author seems to go into the shadows, passing forward the image of a simple, good-natured, cheerful beekeeper, allowing him to laugh and joke at his fellow villagers. Thus, through the stories of a simple peasant, the flavor of Ukrainian life is conveyed. This character seems to wink at the reader, slyly reserving the right to fiction, but passing it off as the honest truth. And all this with a special upbeat intonation.

The differences between fantasy and the writer's stories are that in fairy tales they act magical characters, and Gogol’s are religious. Everything here is imbued with faith in God and the devil’s power.

The action of all the stories included in the collection is associated with one of the time chronological layers: antiquity, recent legendary times Catherine the Great and modernity.

The first readers of “Evenings” were printing workers who, when they saw Gogol visiting them, began to chuckle and assured that his “stuff” was very funny. "So! - thought the writer. “Cherni liked me.”

First book

And it became clear to everyone around - this is Talent! All famous critics unanimously expressed their delight. The writer makes acquaintances in literary circles. He is published by Baron Anton Antonovich Delvig, finds out the opinion of the already recognized critic Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky at that time. Having become friends with Zhukovsky, Nikolai finds himself in the literary and aristocratic circle.

A year has passed and the second part of the collection has been released. The simplicity, diversity, diversity of the nationality spilled out into stories: “The Night Before Christmas,” “ Terrible revenge", "Ivan Fedorovich Shponka and his aunt", "Enchanted Place".

The festive, colorful side also has another side - night, dark, sinful, otherworldly. Truth coexists with lies, irony with seriousness. There was a place and love stories, and unsolved mysteries.

Even at the dawn of cinema, Gogol’s works began to attract directors. At the beginning of the 20th century, the film adaptations of “The Night Before Christmas”, “Terrible Vengeance”, “Viy” were received by the public with “Hurray”, despite the fact that the poetics and imagery of the plot that the narrator so diligently put in disappeared on the screen in silent films in every phrase.

Films based on Gogol's "Evenings" were released later, but "Viy", in fact, is the first Soviet film horror.

Arabesques (1835)

Stories and literary texts included in this collection are little known to the general reader. Here Gogol reasoned about Russian literature, looked for its place in history, and outlined tasks for it. He talked about art, about Pushkin as a great national poet, about folk art.

Mirgorod (1835)

This period marked the peak of Gogol’s fame, and all his works included in the collection “Mirgorod” only confirmed the author’s genius.

For the editors, the collection was divided into two books, two stories in each.

Taras Bulba

Indeed: war, murder, revenge, betrayal. In this story there was also a place for love, so strong that the hero is ready to give everything for: comrades, father, homeland, life.

The narrator has created such a plot that it is impossible to clearly evaluate the actions of the main characters. Taras Bulba, so eager for war, eventually loses two sons and dies himself. The betrayal of Andriy, who fell in love with a beautiful Polish girl and was ready to do anything for the sake of this fatal passion.

Old world landowners

The simple life of old landowners who cannot live without each other, because they are one whole in this life - this is what the narrator tried to convey to the reader.

But the public, having understood the story in their own way, nevertheless expressed approval.

Contemporaries of Nikolai Vasilyevich were surprised to meet the Old Slavic pagan character. In folk Ukrainian fairy tales this character does not exist; Gogol “brought” him from the depths of history. And the character took root, frightening the reader with his dangerous gaze.

The story has a colossal semantic load. All the main action takes place in the church, where there is a struggle between good and evil, faith and unbelief.

The ending is sad. The evil spirits won, the main character died. Here's something to think about. Man did not have enough faith to be saved.

The story of how Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich

This is the final work of the collection “Mirgorod”, in which all the passions are ironic.

Human nature in the person of two landowners, who, out of nothing to do, started a long-term lawsuit, is shown from all sides, exposing them worst traits. Elite secular society shown in the most unsightly pictures: stupidity, stupidity, stupidity.

And the ending: “It’s boring in this world, gentlemen!” - food for deep philosophical reasoning.

Notes of a Madman (1835)

This story of madness, in Gogol's style, had no analogues. Here Nikolai Vasilyevich added wit and originality good portion pity.

The hero did not suffer in vain. In this strange grotesque, many saw both the poetry of words and the philosophy of thought.

Nevsky Prospekt (1835)

What happens on Nevsky Prospekt. And the narrator, as if making Nevsky Prospekt the main character, shows his life using the example of two characters, completely randomly snatched from the crowd.

The Inspector General (1835)

It is believed that the idea of ​​this play was born in Pushkin’s head, but the elaboration of the plot and the creation of the characters’ characters are all the merit of Gogol. Behind the farce and naturalism lies a philosophical subtext, because behind the impostor there is a punishment for the officials of the county town.

It was not possible to get the play staged right away. It was up to the emperor himself to convince him that the play was not dangerous, that it was simply a mockery of bad provincial officials.

Comedy The Morning of a Business Man (1836)

But on various reasons, including due to censorship, will take place great work it was not fate. There is too much “salt, anger, laughter” in the comedy. Even the initial title “Morning of an Official” was replaced by the censor with “Morning business man».

The remaining manuscripts of the failed great work were revised and used by Gogol in other works.

Litigation (1836)

Excerpt (1839-1840)

Nikolai Vasilyevich included this passage in “Dramatic passages and individual scenes” in his publication in 1842.

Lakeyskaya (1839-1840)

Nose (1841-1842)

True, there was some censorship, which cut out entire pieces of text. But the image of an empty, ambitious man striving for status and admiration for higher ranks was a success.

Dead Souls (1835-1841)

In 1842, the first volume, strictly edited by censorship, was published. But the semantic load remained. The reader could see everything: temptation, evil, dynamic beginning. And recognize the devil in the one who buys souls - in Chichikov. And all the landowners are a whole gallery of different types, each of which personifies some property of human character.

The book received a decent rating. Its translation into other languages ​​began already in 1844, and very soon it could be read in German, Czech, English, and Polish. During the author's lifetime, the book was translated into ten languages.

The ideas for the third volume remained ideas. The writer collected materials for this volume, but did not have time to use them.

Theater crossing after the presentation of a new comedy (1836-1841)

The writer spent his entire life searching for genuine feelings, analyzing spiritual qualities, and putting a certain philosophy into his creations.

Essentially, “Theatrical Travel” is a play about a play. And the conclusion suggests itself. The number of jesters that society needs is disproportionate various kinds acquisitiveness and the desire for profit. “There are many opinions, but no one understood the main thing,” the author complains.

Overcoat (1839-1841)

It is believed that this story was born from an anecdote. Mixing compassion with irritation, Akaki Akakievich suddenly came out. And sad funny story about the little insignificant person suddenly turned out to be interesting.

And after laughing at Gogol’s character, the time comes to think about whether there is a biblical meaning to this story. After all, the soul wants to love only what is beautiful, but people are so imperfect. But Christ calls everyone to be kind and meek. In Greek, “one who does no evil” is Akakios. So we get Akaki Akakievich, a soft and vulnerable image.

“The Overcoat” was understood in different ways, but fell in love. She found her place in cinema. The film “The Overcoat,” released in 1926 and enthusiastically received by the public, was banned by censorship in 1949. But on the 150th anniversary of the writer’s birth it was removed New film“The Overcoat” directed by Alexei Batalov.

Portrait (1842)

In the second part, Gogol dug even deeper. Explaining that the purpose of art is to serve God. Without insight, the artist simply makes soulless copies, and in this case, the triumph of evil over good is inevitable.

The story was criticized for being too preachy.

Play Marriage (1842)

But Nikolai Vasilyevich made adjustments for another eight years, and when, finally, the play was staged, many did not understand it. Even the actors themselves did not understand what they were playing.

But time put everything in its place. The idea that marriage is a union of two souls, and not a search for an illusory ideal, has been forcing audiences to go to this performance for many years, and directors to stage it on different stages.

Comedy Players (1842)

IN Tsarist Russia subject gambling was in the air. It was touched upon by many writers. Nikolai Vasilyevich also expressed his vision on this matter.

The writer twisted the story so much, flavoring everything with chic turns of phrase, including slang expressions of gamblers, that the comedy turned into a real intricate matrix, where all the heroes pretend to be someone else.

The comedy was an immediate success. It is still relevant today.

Rome (1842)

Selected passages from correspondence with friends (1845)

This work, written in an edifying and preaching style, caused a storm among critics. In all literary circles there were debates and excerpts from this book were read.

The passions were serious. Vissarion Grigorievich Belinsky wrote a critical review in the form open letter. But the letter was banned from publication, and it began to be distributed in manuscript. It is for the distribution of this letter to death penalty Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky was sentenced. True, the “death penalty by shooting” did not happen; the sentence was commuted to punishment in the form of hard labor.

Gogol explained the attacks against the book as his mistake, believing that the chosen edifying tone ruined everything. And those passages that were initially not allowed through by censorship finally ruined the material presented.

All the works of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol are pages of amazing beauty of the Russian word, when reading you are happy and proud that you can speak and think in the same language.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is a literary talent of Russia of the 19th century. The first work, the poem “Italy,” was published in 1829. I was engaged in writing almost until last days life.

His creations are very original; here mysticism is closely intertwined with reality. Business card the writer began to sketch “naturalness” ordinary life, a reflection of naked Russian reality without embellishment or smoothing. He first created social types, giving his heroes general features people of a certain social stratum, surprisingly accurately summarized everything characteristic of Russian cities, creating a single image of the province and big city. Each Gogol character is not a certain famous person, But collective image, embodying the characters and morals of an entire generation or social layer.

Best works

Without taking into account the destroyed 2nd volume of Dead Souls, Gogol’s literary baggage totals 68 works. The most famous of them:

• "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka",
• "Viy"
• “The story of how Ivan Ivanovich quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich”
• "Nose",
• "Overcoat"
• "Diary of a Madman",
• “Selected passages from correspondence with friends.”

The list is far from complete, but these works are able to best represent the author’s work.

Perhaps the most famous work writer - comedy play “The Inspector General” in 5 acts. The author began work on it in the fall of 1835, and just six months later - in January 1836 - he finished writing. Main character- a petty St. Petersburg official Khlestakov, whom everyone took for an important inspector. The nosy official quickly realized what was what, and began to take full advantage of the state of affairs, accepting bribes, gifts and treating himself to social dinners for free. Everyone fawned over him, trying to appease and please him.

When he leaves the city, everyone accidentally becomes aware that Khlestakov is a scoundrel, and then a real auditor comes to the town. Silent scene.

The play has been staged more than once on the stage of theaters, including European ones. And although the first production in St. Petersburg was not successful, all subsequent ones were very warmly received by the public.

In Gogol’s diaries, a mention was found that the idea for “The Inspector General” was given to him by Pushkin, who was one of the first listeners of the play and accepted it with great enthusiasm.

A work of genius. Deep in essence and complete in decoration. One of the most significant works the author, which, according to Gogol’s own notes, was originally conceived as a three-volume work. The first volume was published in 1842. The second one was never published. According to the generally accepted version, based on the testimony of the writer’s servant, “being in a state of physical weakness and mental disorder,” Nikolai Vasilyevich burned the finished manuscript of the second volume. After Gogol's death, handwritten first 5 chapters were found in his drafts. Today they are kept in the personal collection of an American businessman of Russian origin, Timur Abdullaev. All that is known about the third volume is that it was intended as a description of the heroes of the poem who had reformed after “purgatory.”

The plot of the work was also suggested by Pushkin. As a result, a literary masterpiece was born, telling about the adventures of the main character - the collegiate adviser Chichikov, who in the city of N bought “dead souls” from landowners, that is, dead serfs. Why did he need this? He planned to pawn them in the bank in the future and use the loan received to buy some property to improve his future. Events developed in such a way that the scam failed, and Chichikov ended up in the gendarmerie, from where he was hardly rescued by the millionaire Murazov. This concludes the first volume.

The most colorful characters:

• “sweet to the point of cloying” landowner Manilov, a useless person for society, an empty dreamer;
• Korobochka is a landowner known to everyone for her greed and pettiness;
• Sobakevich, all of whose efforts are aimed only at improving everyday life and strengthening material well-being;
• Plyushkin is the most caricatured character. He is extremely stingy, he regrets throwing away even the sole that has come off his boot. Incredibly suspicious, he abandoned not only society, but even his own children, believing that everyone wants to rob him and send him around the world.

These and many other heroes reflect a world of inverted values ​​and lost ideals. Their souls are empty, dead... This view allows us to allegorically interpret the name “Dead Souls”.

The poem has withstood many theatrical productions, film adaptations. Was translated to different languages.

This story is a very serious work. Covers the heroism of the Ukrainian people in the fight against the Turks and Tatars. It is large-scale in content and the events it covers, the images of its heroes are epic, the basis for their creation was epic heroes.

The main scenes of the story are the battles of the Zaporozhye Cossacks with foreign invaders. They are drawn in close-up, with attention to detail. The course of the battle, the actions of individual soldiers, their appearance described in detail, bright strokes.

Every fictional character in the story is hyperbolic. The images do not reflect individual historical figures, but entire social strata of that time.

To write Taras Bulba, Nikolai Vasilyevich studied many historical sources, chronicles, epics, folk songs and legends.

Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka

This two-volume book was published in 1832. Each volume contains 4 stories, the action of which covers the 17th-19th centuries. Gogol very subtly rings the past and the present, weaves together reality and fairy tales, giving his work historical and spiritual unity.

“Evenings...” received very high ratings literary critics– the author’s contemporaries, as well as such masters as Pushkin, Baratynsky. The collection fascinates the reader not only with its fabulous plots, but also with the highly poetic style of the style.

Essentially, “Evenings...” is a fantasy, masterfully crafted folklore. On the pages of the work, witches, sorcerers, mermaids, goblins, devils and other evil spirits settled next to people.

Final chord

Gogol - writer from capital letters. It is difficult to clearly identify the most famous work of this author. It is difficult to convey in words the depth, poetry and meaningfulness of his works. Only by directly familiarizing yourself with each work can you not so much understand as feel Gogol’s living, rich and original talent. The reader is sure to get great pleasure from reading his works.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (birth name Yanovsky, from 1821 - Gogol-Yanovsky; March 20, 1809, Sorochintsy, Poltava province - February 21, 1852, Moscow) - Russian prose writer, playwright, poet, critic, publicist, recognized as one of the classics Russian literature. He came from an old noble family of the Gogol-Yanovskys.

Great Russian writer.
Born in the town of Velikie Sorochintsy, Mirgorod district, Poltava province, in the family of a landowner. Gogol spent his childhood years on his parents' estate Vasilievka (another name is Yanovshchina). Cultural center The region was Kibintsy, the estate of D.P. Troshchinsky, their distant relative, Gogol’s father acted as his secretary. In Kibintsi there was a large library, there was home theater, for which Gogol's father wrote comedies, being also its actor and conductor.
In May 1821 he entered the gymnasium of higher sciences in Nizhyn. Here he paints and takes part in performances. Tries himself in various literary genres(writes elegiac poems, tragedies, historical poem, story). At the same time he writes the satire “Something about Nezhin, or the law is not written for fools” (not preserved). However, he dreams of a legal career.
Having graduated from the gymnasium in 1828, Gogol in December, together with another graduate A.S. Danilevsky travels to St. Petersburg, where he makes his first literary attempts: at the beginning of 1829, the poem “Italy” appears, published by “Hanz Küchelgarten” (under the pseudonym “V. Alov”).
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. During this period, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, “The Nose”, “Taras Bulba” were published.
In the fall of 1835, he began writing “The Inspector General,” the plot of which was suggested by Pushkin; the work progressed so successfully that the play premiered in the spring of 1836 on the stage of the Alexandria Theater.
In June 1836, Gogol left St. Petersburg for Germany (in total, he lived abroad for about 12 years). He spends the end of summer and autumn in Switzerland, where he begins to work on the continuation of Dead Souls. The plot was also suggested by Pushkin.
In November 1836, Gogol met A. Mitskevich in Paris. In Rome he receives shocking news about the death of Pushkin. In May 1842, “The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls” was published. The three years (1842-1845) that followed the writer’s departure abroad was a period of intense and difficult work on the second volume of Dead Souls.
At the beginning of 1845, Gogol showed signs of a mental crisis, and in a state of sharp exacerbation of his illness, he burned the manuscript of the second volume, on which he would continue to work after some time.
In April 1848, after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Gogol finally returned to Russia, where he spent most of his time in Moscow, visiting St. Petersburg, and also in his native places - in Little Russia. In the spring of 1850, Gogol made his first and last attempt to organize his family life- proposes to A.M. Vielgorskaya, but is refused.
On January 1, 1852, Gogol informs Arnoldi that the second volume is “completely finished.” But in last days month, signs of a new crisis were revealed, the impetus for which was the death of E. M. Khomyakova, sister of N. M. Yazykov, a person spiritually close to Gogol.
On February 7, Gogol confesses and receives communion, and on the night of February 11-12, he burns the white manuscript of the second volume (only five chapters have survived in incomplete form). On the morning of February 21, Gogol died in his last apartment in the Talyzin house in Moscow. The writer's funeral took place with a huge crowd of people at the cemetery of the St. Daniel's Monastery, and in 1931 Gogol's remains were reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery.

“To be in the world and not have anything to indicate your existence - it seems terrible to me.” N.V. Gogol.

Genius of classical literature

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is known to the world as a writer, poet, playwright, publicist and critic. A man of remarkable talent and an amazing master of words, he is famous both in Ukraine, where he was born, and in Russia, to which he eventually moved.

Gogol is especially known for his mystical heritage. His stories, written in a unique Ukrainian language, which is not literary in the full sense of the word, convey the depth and beauty of Ukrainian speech, known throughout the world. Viy gave Gogol his greatest popularity. What other works did Gogol write? We will look at the list of works below. These are sensational stories, often mystical, and stories from school curriculum, and little-known works of the author.

List of works by the writer

In total, Gogol wrote more than 30 works. He continued to complete some of them, despite publication. Many of his creations had several variations, including Taras Bulba and Viy. Having published the story, Gogol continued to reflect on it, sometimes adding or changing the ending. Often his stories have several endings. So, next we will consider the most famous works of Gogol. The list is in front of you:

1. "Hanz Küchelgarten" (1827-1829, under the pseudonym A. Alov).
2. “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka” (1831), part 1 (“Sorochinskaya Fair”, “Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala”, “Drowned Man”, “Missing Letter”). Its second part was published a year later. It included following stories: “The Night Before Christmas”, “Terrible Revenge”, “Ivan Fedorovich Shponka and His Aunt”, “Enchanted Place”.
3. "Mirgorod" (1835). Its edition was divided into 2 parts. The first part included the stories “Taras Bulba” and “Old World Landowners”. The second part, completed in 1839-1841, included “Viy” and “The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich.”
4. "The Nose" (1841-1842).
5. "Morning of a business man." It was written, like the comedies “Litigation”, “Excerpt” and “Lackey”, in the period from 1832 to 1841.
6. "Portrait" (1842).
7. “Notes of a Madman” and “Nevsky Prospekt” (1834-1835).
8. "The Inspector General" (1835).
9. The play "Marriage" (1841).
10. "Dead Souls" (1835-1841).
11. Comedies "The Players" and "Theatrical Tour after the Presentation of a New Comedy" (1836-1841).
12. "The Overcoat" (1839-1841).
13. "Rome" (1842).

These are published works that Gogol wrote. The works (list by year, more precisely) indicate that the heyday of the writer’s talent occurred in 1835-1841. Now let’s take a little look at the reviews of the most famous stories Gogol.

"Viy" - Gogol's most mystical creation

The story of “Viy” tells about the recently deceased lady, the centurion’s daughter, who, as the whole village knew, was a witch. The centurion, at the request of his beloved daughter, makes the funeral student Khoma Brut read over her. The witch, who died due to Khoma’s fault, dreams of revenge...

Reviews of the work “Viy” are complete praise for the writer and his talent. It is impossible to discuss the list of Nikolai Gogol’s works without mentioning everyone’s favorite “Viy”. Readers note bright characters, original, unique, with their own characters and habits. All of them are typical Ukrainians, cheerful and optimistic people, rude but kind. It is impossible not to appreciate Gogol's subtle irony and humor.

The writer’s unique style and his ability to play on contrasts are also highlighted. During the day, the peasants walk and have fun, Khoma also drinks so as not to think about the horror of the coming night. With the arrival of evening, a gloomy, mystical silence sets in - and Khoma again enters the circle outlined in chalk...

A very short story keeps you in suspense until the last pages. Below are stills from the 1967 film of the same name.

Satirical comedy "The Nose"

“The Nose” is an amazing story, written in such a satirical form that at first it seems fantastically absurd. According to the plot, Platon Kovalev, a public person prone to narcissism, wakes up in the morning without a nose - his place is empty. In a panic, Kovalev begins to look for his lost nose, because without it you won’t even appear in decent society!

Readers easily saw the prototype of Russian (and not only!) society. Gogol's stories, despite the fact that they were written in the 19th century, do not lose their relevance. Gogol, whose list of works can mostly be divided into mysticism and satire, felt very subtly modern society, which has not changed at all over the past time. Rank and external polish are still held in high esteem, but no one is interested in the inner content of a person. It is Plato’s nose, with an outer shell, but without internal content, that becomes the prototype of a richly dressed man, intelligently thinking, but soulless.

"Taras Bulba"

"Taras Bulba" is a great creation. When describing Gogol's works, the most famous, the list of which is provided above, one cannot fail to mention this story. The plot centers on two brothers, Andrei and Ostap, as well as their father, Taras Bulba himself, a strong, courageous and extremely principled man.

Readers especially highlight small parts stories that the author focused on, which enliven the picture, making those distant times closer and understandable. Writer for a long time studied the details of life of that era so that readers could more vividly and vividly imagine the events taking place. In general, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, whose list of works we are discussing today, always attached special importance to little things.

The charismatic characters also made a lasting impression on readers. Tough, merciless Taras, ready to do anything for the sake of the Motherland, brave and courageous Ostap and romantic, selfless Andrei - they cannot leave readers indifferent. In general, the famous works of Gogol, the list of which we are considering, have interesting feature- a surprising but harmonious contradiction in the characters’ characters.

"Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka"

Another mystical, but at the same time funny and ironic work by Gogol. The blacksmith Vakula is in love with Oksana, who promised to marry him if he gets her slippers like the queen herself. Vakula is in despair... But then, quite by chance, he comes across evil spirits having fun in the village in the company of a witch. It is not surprising that Gogol, whose list of works includes numerous Mystic stories, this story involved a witch and a devil.

This story is interesting not only because of the plot, but also because of the colorful characters, each of whom is unique. They, as if alive, appear before the readers, each in their own image. Gogol admires some with slight irony, he admires Vakula, and teaches Oksana to appreciate and love. Like a caring father, he chuckles good-naturedly at his characters, but it all looks so soft that it only evokes a gentle smile.

The character of the Ukrainians, their language, customs and foundations, so clearly described in the story, could only be described in such detail and lovingly by Gogol. Even making fun of the “Moskalyama” looks cute from the lips of the characters in the story. This is because Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, whose list of works we are discussing today, loved his homeland and spoke of it with love.

"Dead Souls"

Sounds mystical, don’t you agree? However, in fact, Gogol this work did not resort to mysticism and looked much deeper - into human souls. Main character Chichikov seems like a negative character at first glance, but the more the reader gets to know him, the more positive traits notices in him. Gogol makes the reader worry about the fate of his hero, despite his unpleasant actions, which already says a lot.

In this work, the writer, as always, is an excellent psychologist and a true genius of words.

Of course, these are not all the works that Gogol wrote. The list of works is incomplete without the continuation of Dead Souls. It was its author who allegedly burned it before his death. Rumor has it that in the next two volumes Chichikov was supposed to improve and become a decent person. Is it so? Unfortunately, now we will never know for sure.