…quaint? ( )

This is my first time reading Gogol (finally!).

Stories included: The Nose; Diary of a Madman; The Overcoat; Old-World Landowners; The Carriage

I have heard that The Nose does not feel like a nearly-200-year-old story (1836), and I have to agree. It is absurd, and I really don't know if even Poe was writing anything quite so absurd. Diary of a Madman and The Overcoat are also urban stories--both focus on the lives of small-time workers in government positions. I believe these are new translations, so the English is modern in usage.

Old-World Landowners and The Carriage both focus on rural areas, and again both are really about the varying statuses within Russian culture. Landowners, serfs, Generals, small-time officers, etc.

I think Old-World Landowners was my favorite here. It illustrates the richness of the land while also showing the incompetence of the landowners, the theft of the employees, and the rough lives of the serfs (though they are well fed).

The Nose is a little too absurd for me, but it is supposed to be satire--is it really about the government position the man the nose belongs in being left behind by an important ally? His inability to do his job without his right-hand man (or, his nose) there to support him? About each position actually being a group who gets things done and..sniffs things out? I don't know enough about Russian government of the time to give an educated guess. ( )