Cossack Tales

Gogol, Nikolai Vasilevich, 1809-1852Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.9

Word count: 406K words
Chapters: 41

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Cossack Tales by Nikolai Vasilevich GogolAuthor: Gogol, Nikolai Vasilevich, 1809-1852,Language: English, Class: PG: Language and Literatures: Slavic (including Russian), Languages and Literature, Release Date: Dec 4, 2018

Editor's review

Gogol's Cossack Tales, with vivid folk coloring and a romantic tone, present the valor, exuberance and absurdity of the Cossack world. The stories combine legend and satire in narrative, with bold scene changes and exaggerated yet vivid characters, making the book an important text for understanding Gogol's early style. For readers familiar with Russian literature it offers a sample of how folk legend enters literary narrative; for those new to Gogol it conveys the fervor of his language and the boldness of his imagination. Read slowly, noting shifts in the narrator's tone and the exaggerations of folk tale, and do not measure them by the realist standards of the modern novel. It suits reading piece by piece, with some experience of foreign literature and reference to Cossack historical background.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Russian literature and Gogol's work
Readers who enjoy folk legend, romance and a romantic tone
Scholars and students studying nineteenth-century Russian literature and national narrative
Mature readers receptive to exaggeration, satire and narratorial intervention

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer realism and coherent, unified plots
Readers who need a Chinese translation and do not wish to read the English original
Beginners with little interest in folk legend and exaggerated narrative

Reading tips

Read the pieces separately, pausing briefly after each to savor the differences in style.
Note the narrator's tone and the exaggeration and satire of the folk tales.
Learn the basic background of Cossack history and folk legend before entering the text.
Do not investigate every cultural allusion; first grasp the overall atmosphere and character images of each story.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Are these stories suitable for readers new to Gogol?

They can serve as an introduction, but be prepared: the stories carry strong folk-legend coloring and exaggerated satire, quite different from the modern novel. Try one or two pieces to get the style before deciding whether to read through; a brief account of Gogol's life and background will make the reading smoother.

Do I need to know Cossack history before reading?

Not systematically. The stories center on characters and legendary plots, with history present as atmosphere. For deeper understanding, supplement before or after reading with basic knowledge of the Cossack people and nineteenth-century Russian society to grasp the valor, group relations and narrative standpoint.

What are the textual features of this edition?

This edition is a free English e-book released by Project Gutenberg, a public-domain work without modern notes, introduction or translator's preface. Readers get the English text itself and must handle cultural allusions and language difficulties on their own; it suits readers able to read English directly and willing to supply background themselves.

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About the author

Gogol, Nikolai Vasilevich, 1809-1852 Author

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809–1852) was a Russian writer, born in what is now Ukraine, known for his fiction and drama. The collection here holds 24 of his works, including the novel Dead Souls, the comedy The Inspector-General, and shorter works such as The Mantle, Viitta, and The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarrelled with Ivan Nikiforovich. His writing often uses satire to portray bureaucratic habits and the fate of ordinary little people, shifting between the grotesque and the realistic. He is regarded as one of the founders of Russian realist literature and has had a lasting influence on later fiction and drama. Some details of his life are limited in public sources, so this note focuses on his themes and style.