Diary of a Madman, The Government Inspector and other stories Nikoai Gogol Book
by Nikoai Gogol

Book Comments & Discussion

UnknownAug 2009

Gogle was a seminal writer in Russian literature and his Government Inspector play, written around 1838 and concerning corruption in local goevernment in Russia is still one of the best Russian plays ever written. Diary of a Madman is a very funny but deeply touching portrayal of a civil servant's slide into insanity described through the pages of his increasingly tragic diary until he eventually believes he is the king of Spain and when they cart him off to the asylum, he believes he is being taken to the court to meet the foreign ambassadors. The Overcoat concerns another down trodden civil servant who wants to acquire some staus and respect from his colleagues, saves up to buy a beautiful overcoat and describes through trap door humour, the events that transpire form his new acquisition.

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Storyline

Author, dramatist and satirist, Nikolay Gogol deeply influenced later Russian literature with his powerful depictions of a society dominated by petty beaurocracy and base corruption. This volume includes both his most admired short fiction and his most famous drama. A biting and frequently hilarious political satire, "The Government Inspector" has been popular since its first performance and was regarded by Nabokov as the greatest Russian play every written. The stories gathered here, meanwhile, range from comic to tragic and describe the isolated lives of low-ranking clerks, lunatics and swindlers. They include "Diary of a Madman," an amusing but disturbing exploration of insanity; Nevsky Prospect, a depiction of an artist besotted with a prostitute; and "The Overcoat," a moving consideration of poverty that powerfully influenced Dostoevsky and later Russian literature.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.