The first known work of Gogol. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. What else to see

The writer, whose life and work is covered with mystical details, is considered one of the most prominent persons in the school of Russian literary realism. However, Gogol's works combine the features of satire, romanticism and national folklore, which makes them attractive to a reading audience of all ages. The author's life fell on the first half of the 19th century, when social unrest began to take actual form, and freedom of speech, albeit somewhat veiled due to censorship, ceased to seem a categorically dangerous and anti-state phenomenon.

So, we present to your attention Gogol's most famous works worth reading.

1. Dead souls

Gogol decided to create a poem and present it in the form of a three-volume prose (in fact) work. The fate of only the first book, which was published in 1842, was relatively successful. Work on the second volume was almost completed, but the creator chose not to publish the results of his labors (according to the common version, the pages were burned). The process of writing the third volume stopped at the stage of creating outlines, separate notes, where ideas were only partially formulated.

The plot of "Dead Souls" was formed with the deft presentation of A. S. Pushkin. There is an assumption that the poet reluctantly parted with the ideas he intended to work on himself. During the period of southern exile, the disgraced poet heard a curious story about a Transnistrian village, where, according to official data, people do not die at all for several years. Later it turned out that the documents of the dead were handed over to fugitive serfs.

Chichikov, a petty official, travels around Russia under the guise of a wealthy landowner. Skillfully rubbing himself into people's trust, the adventurer buys peasants for next to nothing, who died long ago, but are considered alive according to the documents kept by their owners. Landlords, different in nature and priorities, fearlessly open the doors of their houses to the swindler.

2. Evenings on a farm near Dikanka

In 1829-32, Gogol wrote a series of stories that appeared on the pages of popular publications when the author turned 22. Gogol adopted ideas for sketches and pictures of peasant life from his mother's letters. The writer asked his mother to describe to him ancient customs, beliefs and superstitions that filled the Ukrainian land. The mother complied with the request, and Gogol received valuable material, which he reworked into a masterpiece of folklore literature. The book consists of two parts, each - 4 stories.

Foma Grigoryevich was once a brave Cossack, a warrior who managed to pay his debt to his native land. Now, in his old age, the Cossack became a minister of the church. In his "piggy bank" there are many stories about witches, mermaids, evil spirits that invade people's lives on certain days, on big spiritual holidays and not only.

3. Viy

Closes the top three most famous works of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol "Viy". The short story, structurally divided into three parts, appeared in the collection Mirgorod, published in 1835. In his personal notes, the author indicates that the main character belongs to Ukrainian folklore. However, there are prerequisites to believe that the hero was completely invented by the writer, the infernal demon is a collective image.

Viy is mentioned as the betrothed of a witch in the fairy tale "Ivan Bykovich", as well as in the tales of Kasyan the Merciless, both characters had similarities in their external description: the hero's eyebrows, eyelids and eyelashes fell so low that they had to be raised with outside help and even, according to some folklore sources, using an iron fork.

A student from a church school goes on vacation. On the way, he asks a woman for an overnight stay, who later turns out to be a witch, only prayers manage to get rid of her spell. Frightened by what he saw, Homa decides to immediately leave the cursed place and return to the seminary. However, in Kyiv, an order comes to send the student back to the ill-fated village: there, for three nights, it is necessary to conduct a funeral ceremony for a young girl.

4. Taras Bulba

The first edition of Taras Bulba dates from 1835. Before writing one of his most famous works, Gogol studied many historical sources. There are two versions as to who the real prototype of the protagonist was. According to one, the image is written off from the Cossack chieftain with the surname Makukha. The valiant leader took the life of his own son Nazar, accusing him of treason when he went over to the side of the Poles during the Khmelnitsky uprising. The second version tells that Gogol was inspired by a folk song about Sava Chal, who was executed on the orders of his own father because of the betrayal of popular interests.

The colonel of the Cossack army meets his two sons, who arrived at their home after completing their studies in Kyiv. The father does not give young men time to be with their mother and goes with them to the Zaporizhzhya Sich, considering the combat military situation the best school of life for young people from the village. There, the fates of the brothers diverge, the youngest, Andriy, chooses the path against his father, obeying the call of a loving heart.

5. The night before Christmas

This work opens the second part of Gogol's famous book, dedicated to mystical events on a Ukrainian farm. The story was published in 1832. Gogol's birthplace is considered to be a place near Poltava. Memories of life in his native settlement, impressions, stories heard in childhood, the author embodied in the story. A distinctive feature is demonic female images. In such a heat, Gogol preferred to portray women as evil, but not deprived of natural expressive beauty.

In a small Ukrainian village during the reign of Empress Catherine II, strange phenomena occur: at night, a terrifying tandem of the Witch and the Devil rules the ball, who arrange bad weather to interfere with the plans of the villagers. Most of all, the Devil hates Vakula, who just the day before was going to visit Oksana, the daughter of Korniy Chub. The tailed demon tries in every possible way to prevent the girl's stern father from leaving the hut and going to the clerk's kutya, allowing the blacksmith to be alone with Oksana.

6. Nevsky prospect

"Nevsky Prospekt" is a famous work by Gogol, which is part of the "Petersburg Tales", written in the period from 1833 to 1834. The publication took place a year after the completion of the creative work. The idea of the plot arose in 1831, when the first drafts of literary sketches dedicated to the northern capital were made.

The artist Piskarev meets a beautiful lady on the main street of St. Petersburg. The beauty captivates and invites guests. Entering the premises, the young man realizes that he has ended up in a brothel, and his chosen one is a worker here. Offended, embarrassed and confused, the man leaves the hall and rushes to his apartment. Thus, a series of mysterious visions arises that begin to haunt an inexperienced creative nature against the backdrop of a picturesque change of days and nights in the city on the Neva.

7. Auditor

The first publication of Gogol's comedy play "The Inspector General" took place in 1836, the second - in 1842. Gogol attended literary circles, where he met with A. S. Pushkin more than once. Once, being in a creative search, the writer turned to Alexander Sergeevich with a request to tell him an amusing story. Nikolai Vasilyevich promised to embody the plot in a work that would turn out to be “funnier than hell,” in his own words. The poet responded and told an anecdote about a certain citizen Crispin, who, while passing through the provinces, was mistaken by local officials for a checking inspector, which earned extraordinary attention and privileges.

A petty employee Khlestakov arrives in the Saratov province with his servant, following from St. Petersburg. A significant loss at cards put the visiting citizen in an extremely difficult financial situation. However, the difficulties were quickly resolved: the governor and his subordinates fearfully awaited the arrival of the auditor from the capital and jointly decided that Khlestakov was the most important, influential person.

8. Overcoat

In the third volume of stories about St. Petersburg published at the end of 1842, there is a work that eventually became a literary declaration on the need to create equality in society among social strata and on the importance of the personal rights of each person. The story has become exemplary in the genre of describing the fate and social role of the "little man". The idea arose when Gogol, being in the company of his comrades, heard a joke about a poor official who had been saving money to buy a gun for a very long time, and when he could afford the purchase, he instantly lost the “trophy”. The story made the audience laugh, and Gogol became sad and dreary. He wrote his own plot and carefully reworked it over the course of three years, gradually reducing the ironic component in favor of a more extensive pathos with hints of sentimentality.

Akaki Akakievich serves as a titular adviser and receives a rather modest salary. One day he notices that his overcoat is leaky, it is necessary to hand it over for repair. The tailor refuses to mend the clothes and strongly recommends sewing a new item. Having saved up money and cut expenses, the official becomes the owner of a new overcoat, but then a fatal accident occurs.

9. Nose

A satire on the verge of absurdity - this is what Gogol's famous story "The Nose", published in 1836, was. Initially, the writer intended to create a work that would equally ridicule the outdated serfdom, corruption in the ranks of civil servants and the lack of rights of the common people. Ideas had to be conveyed through the internal conflict of the protagonist. However, in the process of trying to publish the finished material, the author encountered a number of difficulties, the work was called trivial and vulgar, after which Gogol rewrote the finale several times.

The petty official Kovalyov wakes up one morning and discovers ... the loss of his nose. In desperation, the collegiate assessor turns to the police and independently sets off in search of him along the way. At the Kazan Cathedral, the Nose suddenly appears, dressed in a uniform and with weapons, but the owner does not manage to return the lost part of the face, which becomes the beginning of a swift fantastic pursuit.

10. Portrait

Gogol's famous story "Portrait" with various changes in content was published in 1834 and 1842. It is generally accepted that the plot was inspired by the influence of Western authors, the features of Ernst Hoffmann, Edgar Poe, V. Irving are guessed.

Chartkov is a poor artist who barely has enough money to pay for a room in St. Petersburg. Once a difficult period comes, the young man cannot afford to rent a house in the future. The sad fact was preceded by a spontaneous purchase. Chartkov saw a portrait in an antique shop, which impressed him with the technique of writing, which gives special vivacity to the features of the hero's face. The next night, the artist had a dream that the person depicted in the painting was handing him a bag of gold coins. Waking up, the young man understands: the dream is connected with reality, because he has the same money in his hands.

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (surname at birth Yanovsky, since 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 Gogol-Yanovsky.

Great Russian writer.
Born in the town of Velikie Sorochintsy, Mirgorod district, Poltava province, in the family of a landowner. Gogol spent his childhood on the estate of his parents Vasilievka (another name is Yanovshchina). The cultural center of the region was Kibintsy, the estate of D. P. Troshchinsky, their distant relative, Gogol's father acted as his secretary. In Kibintsy there was a large library, there was a home theater for which Gogol's father wrote comedies, being also his actor and conductor.
In May 1821 he entered the gymnasium of higher sciences in Nizhyn. Here he is engaged in painting, participates in performances. He also tries himself in various literary genres (writes elegiac poems, tragedies, a historical poem, a story). At the same time, he wrote the satire “Something about Nizhyn, or the law is not written for fools” (not preserved). However, he dreams of a legal career.
After graduating 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 tests: at the beginning of 1829, the poem “Italy” appears, prints “Hanz Kühelgarten” (under the pseudonym “V. Alov”).
At the end of 1829, he managed to find a job in the Department of State Economy and Public Buildings of the Ministry of the Interior. During this period, “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, “The Nose”, “Taras Bulba” are published.
In the autumn of 1835, he set about writing The Inspector General, the plot of which was prompted by Pushkin; the work progressed so successfully that the premiere of the play took place in the spring of 1836 on the stage of the Alexandria Theatre.
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 takes up the continuation of Dead Souls. The plot was also prompted by Pushkin.
In November 1836, Gogol met A. Mickiewicz in Paris. In Rome, he receives shocking news of the death of Pushkin. In May 1842, "The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls" was published. The three-year period (1842-1845) that followed after 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 working after some time.
In April 1848, after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Gogol finally returns to Russia, where he spends most of his time in Moscow, visits St. Petersburg, and also in his native places - in Little Russia. In the spring of 1850, Gogol makes the first and last attempt to arrange his family life - he proposes to A.M. Vielgorskaya, but is refused.
On January 1, 1852, Gogol informs Arnoldi that the second volume is "completely finished." But in the last days of the month, signs of a new crisis appeared, the impetus for which was the death of E. M. Khomyakova, the sister of N. M. Yazykov, a person spiritually close to Gogol.
On February 7, Gogol confesses and takes communion, and on the night of February 11-12, he burns the white manuscript of the second volume (only five chapters have been preserved in incomplete form). On the morning of February 21, Gogol died in his last apartment in Talyzin's house in Moscow. The funeral of the writer took place with a huge gathering of people at the cemetery of the St. Danilov Monastery, and in 1931 Gogol's remains were reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol is the literary talent of Russia in the 19th century. The first work - the poem "Italy" - was published in 1829. He was engaged in writing almost until the last days of his life.

His creations are very original, here mysticism is closely intertwined with reality. The writer's calling card was sketches of the "naturalness" of ordinary life, a reflection of the bare Russian reality without embellishment and smoothing. For the first time, he created social types, endowing his heroes with common features of people of a certain social stratum, and surprisingly accurately summarized everything characteristic of Russian cities, creating a single image of a province and a big city. Each character of Gogol is not some well-known personality, but a collective image that embodies the characters and customs of a whole generation or social stratum.

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 Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarreled with Ivan Nikiforovich"
"Nose",
"Overcoat",
"Diary of a Madman",
"Selected places from correspondence with friends."

The list is far from complete, but these works are able to represent the author's work as much as possible.

Perhaps the most famous work of the writer is the play-comedy "The Government Inspector" in 5 acts. The author began work on it in the autumn of 1835, and just six months later - in January 1836 - he finished writing. The main character is a petty St. Petersburg official Khlestakov, whom everyone took for an important inspector. The sly bureaucrat quickly realized what was happening, and began to take advantage of the state of affairs with might and main, accepting bribes, gifts and eating for free at secular dinners. Everyone fawned over him, trying to appease and please.

When he leaves the city, everyone accidentally becomes aware that Khlestakov is a swindler, 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 of "The Government Inspector" was given to him by Pushkin, who was one of the first listeners of the play and accepted it with great enthusiasm.

Genius work. Deep in essence and complete in artistic design. One of the most significant works of the author, which, according to the notes of Gogol himself, was originally conceived as a three-volume work. The first volume was published in 1842. The second 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 Vasilievich burned the already 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 Timur Abdullayev, an American businessman of Russian origin. The only thing known about the third volume is that it was conceived as a description of the heroes of the poem who had reformed after the "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 protagonist, the collegiate adviser Chichikov, who in the city of N bought up “dead souls”, that is, dead serfs, from the landowners. Why did he need it? In the future, he planned to mortgage them in a bank and use the loan received to buy some kind of estate for arranging his future. Events developed in such a way that the scam failed, and Chichikov ended up in the gendarmerie, from where he was rescued with difficulty by the millionaire Murazov. This is where the first volume ends.

The most colorful characters:

"Sweet to the point of cloying" landowner Manilov, a man of no use to society, an empty dreamer;
Korobochka is a landowner known for all her greed and pettiness;
Sobakevich, whose all efforts are aimed only at arranging life and strengthening material well-being;
Plyushkin is the most caricatured character. Extremely stingy, regrets throwing away even the sole that has come off the boot. Incredibly suspicious, he refused not only from society, but even from his own children, believing that everyone wants to rob him and let him go around the world.

These and many other heroes reflect the world of inverted values, lost ideals. Their souls are empty, dead... Such a view allows one to interpret the title "Dead Souls" allegorically.

The poem has withstood many theatrical productions, film adaptations. Has been translated into different languages.

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

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

Every fictional character in the story is hyperbolic. The images reflect not 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 edition was published in 1832. Each volume contains 4 stories, the action of which covers the 17th-19th centuries. Gogol very thinly rings the past and the present, weaves a true story and a fairy tale, giving his work a historical and spiritual unity.

"Evenings ..." received very high marks from literary critics - the author's contemporaries, as well as such masters as Pushkin, Baratynsky. The collection fascinates the reader not only with fabulous plots, but also with high poetic style.

In fact, "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 is a writer with a capital letter. It is difficult to single out the most famous work of this author. It is difficult to convey in words the depth, poetry and richness of his works. Only by directly familiarizing yourself with each work, you can not only understand, but feel the lively, rich and original talent of Gogol. The reader will definitely enjoy reading his writings.

Gogol's chronological table is a convenient textbook, which briefly and in an accessible form briefly tells about the main dates of the life and work of the famous writer. Such a table is useful for schoolchildren, as it helps to quickly remember the main milestones in the life of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol, his main works. Teachers, on the other hand, can use the chronological table as a summary so as not to make mistakes in the dates when submitting material in the lesson. All works and biography of N.V. Gogol in the table is a wonderful didactic material that will be useful to both teachers and students.

1809 March 20 (April 1)– N.V. Gogol.

1818-1819 - He and his brother Ivan study at the district school of the city of Poltava

1819 - Brother Ivan died.

1820-1821 - The writer lives with the Poltava teacher G. Sorochinsky and diligently studies with him.

1821-1828 - Studying at the Nizhyn gymnasium.

1825 - Gogol's father died (V.A. Gogol-Yanovsky).

1828 - At the end of his studies, Gogol moves to St. Petersburg. The writer is seriously short of funds; works under the pseudonym V. Alov and publishes the work "Hans Kühelgarten".

1829 - He goes to Germany and creates the work "Italy".

1830 - Writes the story "Bisavriuk, or Evening on the Eve of Ivan Kupala."

1830-1831 - Getting closer to V.A. Zhukovsky and A.S. Pushkin, which certainly affects his further literary fate.

1831-1832 - Gogol creates "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka".

1831-1835 - Works as a teacher at the Patriot Institute.

1834-1835 – Gets an adjunct position at St. Petersburg University.

1834 – Member of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature, which was organized by
at Moscow University.

1835 - Gogol publishes two collections of works "Arabesques" and "Mirgorod", which includes the works "Taras Bulba", "Old World Landowners", "Viy", etc.

1835-1842 – Beginning of work on the first volume of Dead Souls.

1836 - Completed comedy "Inspector"; his first productions begin in the St. Petersburg and Moscow theaters; goes abroad (Germany, France, Switzerland and Rome).

1839 – Return to Moscow; publication of the work "Dead Souls" and the story "The Overcoat".

1848 – Pilgrimage to the Holy Land (Jerusalem).

1851 - Gogol settles in Moscow in the house of his old friend A. Tolstoy.

1931 – The writer was reburied at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

February's most popular materials for your class.

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 being studied at school. The top ten includes the most popular and best books by Gogol, the list of which is located below.

10 Sorochinskaya Fair

"Sorochinsky Fair" opens the list of works written by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol and is part of the collection "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka". The action in the story takes place in the homeland of the prose writer. The plot revolves around 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 does not mind, but the stepmother refuses to give her stepdaughter for him, because he did not please her. Then Gritsko turns to the gypsy for help, who makes a plan on how to achieve the location of his stepmother and arrange a wedding.

9 Portrait

“Portrait” is a work included in the cycle “Petersburg Tales”. The main character of the story is a young man Chartkov, who is engaged in art. He is incredibly poor, he does not even have money to pay for rent. Despite this, the artist buys a portrait with the last money, which depicts an old man. He attracts a young man by the fact that the eyes in the portrait seem to be alive. The young man begins to be haunted at night by strange dreams, as if the old man comes out of the frame with a bag full of money. Chartkov in a dream manages to snatch one bundle with 1000 gold pieces. In the morning, the young man wakes up and finds this money in fact. 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 as well.

8 Nevsky prospect

"Nevsky Prospekt" is included in the book "Petersburg Tales". Nikolai Vasilievich begins the story with an enthusiastic description of Nevsky Prospekt, which he considers one of the best places in St. Petersburg. It is here that any thoughtful observer can draw a lot of impressions for himself. The main characters of the work are Pirogov and Piskarev, who meet in this place while whipping beautiful ladies. Gogol tells two stories of these, at first glance, completely different young people, whose hopes did not come true. The author draws an analogy between these characters and reduces the reader to the idea that despite all the 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”. In the center of the plot of the book is a titular adviser living in poverty named Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin. He was very responsible for his official work, despite the fact that it was insignificant. On this occasion, jokes were also soaked by young officials in the direction of Bashmachkin. Soon Akaki notices that his old overcoat has fallen into disrepair and takes it to the tailor to patch it up. But he refuses to do this, saying that he needs to sew a new one. Bashmachkin begins to save money, 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 of 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 falls ill with 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 undead souls who died innocently. The main character, a young lady who can no longer endure the bullying of her stepmother, rushes into the river to drown herself. After death, she turns into a beautiful mermaid. But even there the stepmother does not want to give rest to the deceased stepdaughter. She also turns into a mermaid. The first thing left is 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, and in return she happily arranges his personal life.

5 Evening on the eve of Ivan Kupala

“Evening on the eve of Ivan Kupala” - The story of 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. In the center of the plot is Petrus, whose fate is deeply unhappy. In this story, Gogol wants to convey to the reader that a person is the blacksmith 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 the best works of Nikolai Vasilyevich, included in the book “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”. The main character, the 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 overwhelming task. The young man must get for her the slippers that the queen wears. Vakula understands that such a task is beyond his power and is going to turn to hell for help. Unclean power, by coincidence, is at his fingertips. Together with the devil, he flies directly to the queen in St. Petersburg, where he asks the ruler for her bride's little laces. Meanwhile, there is a rumor in the village that Vakula has committed suicide. Oksana punishes 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 of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. The story was repeatedly filmed and gained immense popularity. The work is completely based on historical materials, as well as the parables of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks. The main character of the story is Taras Bulba, who is an example of what a true Cossack should be like. The action of 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". In the center of the story, Gogol puts Poprishchin, who is the author of the notes. The protagonist is a petty official dissatisfied with his position and the fact that everyone pushes him around. He is obsessed with the idea that he must find his own career, and keeps a diary in which he describes his whole life, and also outlines his thoughts. The protagonist is gradually losing his mind, which is displayed in his notes.

1 Dead souls

"Dead Souls" is the main creation of the whole life of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. The book describes Mr. Chichikov's journey across Russia with the aim of buying up "dead souls". While reading the novel, the reader will get to know a lot of characters, each of which has its 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.