Premium Only Content

Classics of Russian Literature | Russian Grotesque - Overcoats to Dead Souls (Lecture 9)
Lecture 9: Gogol’ was a tremendously restless person. Right after his success as a playwright, he set off for Western Europe, where his memories of rural Russia, filtered through his half-crazy imagination, produced an unforgettable series of grotesque and comic characters under the deceptive title of Dead Souls. Despite its morbid-sounding title, the novel gives a fascinating picture of a Russian plut (“rogue”), Chichikov. The very sibilant repetition in the name tells a great deal. In his rickety yet mighty troika, Chichikov slithers his way through the Russian provincial gentry, with a wondrously crooked plan, more than worthy of any world-class shyster. Later, Gogol’ tried to bring his rogue to virtue, with a lack of success that was clearly predictable: Paradise was not for this inveterate denizen of hell. Gogol’ did manage to irritate mightily his erstwhile friends and readers. A short time after receiving a missive from the great critic Belinsky, a letter that would have torn the hide off a hog, Gogol’ died with leeches hanging from his magnificent nose.
Suggested Reading:
Nikolai Gogol’, Dead Souls (a novel called a “poem”), with commentary at the end of the Norton edition.
Francis B. Randall, Vissarion Belinsky.
-
14:25
The Great Courses
30 days agoThe Rise And Fall Of The Roman Republic | The Importance of Rome (Lecture 1)
223 -
1:41:00
Darkhorse Podcast
5 hours agoIf Only We’d Known: The 265th Evolutionary Lens with Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying
55.3K23 -
LIVE
Conspiracy Pilled
3 days agoThe Vaccine Conversation (S5 - Ep17)
181 watching -
LIVE
Tundra Tactical
1 hour agoUSA vs Canada HOCKEY Fight: The Real PRIDE Fighting.
105 watching -
LIVE
LFA TV
23 hours agoWhy Exposing Waste and Fraud Terrifies the Beltway | TRUMPET DAILY 2.19.25 7PM
56 watching -
LIVE
Glenn Greenwald
48 minutes agoRumble & Truth Social Sue Brazil’s Chief Censor Moraes in US Court; DC Establishment Melts Down Over Trump's Ukraine Policy | SYSTEM UPDATE #409
697 watching -
1:01:13
Candace Show Podcast
3 hours agoBlake Lively's BOMBSHELL Legal Filing | Candace Ep 149
64.3K55 -
1:11:22
Vigilant News Network
6 hours agoElon Musk Shuts Down RFK Jr. Critics With One Powerful Statement | The Daily Dose
37.6K8 -
LIVE
Dad Dojo Podcast
18 hours agoEP20: The Super Bowl and Solving The Economy
95 watching -
4:49
Tactical Advisor
3 days agoBest Small Handgun Optics | CH PWS Shot Show 2025
5.94K1