“The Nose” by Nikolai Gogol

by kattomic

“The Nose” by Nikolai Gogol

12.27.12

Story 361a/366

This story came up again and again in my search for short stories online. I’d read a lot of Chekov but the only thing I’d ever read of Gogol’s was his satirical Dead Souls, which was one of the works that eventually got him exiled from Russia and which I didn’t really get. This story, one of his most famous, is truly bizarre, opening with a man cutting open a bread roll and fing a nose. My favorite part of the story (which grew a bit tedious for me) was the repeated refrain, “And what happened after that is unknown to all men,” I fear Gogol’s work eludes me. You can read the story here. Let me know what you think.

See you tomorrow!