translated and annotated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
I was reading my way slowly through this book when I decided to ask my book club to read a few of the stories as an incentive for me to finish it up. We discussed The Nose and The Overcoat together. At the last minute, I encouraged them to also read The Portrait, though no one else had time to finish it.
This book contains both the Ukrainian Tales and the Petersburg Tales. In general, I found the Ukrainian Tales fantastical and disturbing. The Petersburg Tales were more realistic, but only in comparison to the Ukrainian Tales.
The translation of Pevear and Volokhonsky seems poetic and mystical, which I hope is what Gogol intended.
Katerina fell silent, looking down into the slumbering water; and the wind sent ripples over the water, and the whole Dnieper silvered like a wolf's fur in the night.There are innumerable humorous scenes, some of which are likely even better in the original Russian. One of my favorites is the description of a britzka (a kind of open carriage) in Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt.
I consider it my duty to warn readers that this was the same britzka in which Adam drove about...It is totally unknown how it was saved from the flood...In any case, some five people of small stature could fit into the britzka, or three of the aunt's size.We all had different translations at the book club. The introductions and biographies gave incredibly varying descriptions of Gogol and his life. If you are interested in Gogol, you may have to read a large number of sources before you can feel like you've reached a reasonably accurate biography.
I have always loved The Nose. It seems like nonsense from beginning to end, but it doesn't take long before you start asking yourself if there's something under the surface full of real meaning. No answers here, but I recommend it.
The Portrait is my favorite of all the stories. As I read, I asked myself a variety of questions about the relationship between an artist and his or her works and their impact on the world. Fascinating, with plenty of weirdness to throw everything into confusion.
Amusing Side Note
I read this enjoyable article in The New Yorker about the notorious difficulty of Russian translations. There's a lovely reference to a Kansas newspaper.
The Pevear-Volokhonsky translation of “The Brothers Karamazov” won almost uniformly positive reviews and the pen prize for translation. “In the Wichita Eagle, we got an amazing full-page review with the headline ‘ “KARAMAZOV” STILL LEADS CREATIVE WAY,’ ” Pevear said as we broke for lunch one day. “The only problem is that they used a photograph of Tolstoy.”And that about covers Russian literature outside universities in Kansas. (I'm giving universities the benefit of the doubt here.)
I have received nothing in exchange for this honest post. Links to Amazon are affiliate links. I read a copy Kansas Dad received as a gift.
