Diary of a Madman and Other Stories

by Nikolai Gogol Narrated by Nicholas Boulton

Overview

The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories is a bizarre and colorful collection containing the complete Ukrainian and Petersburg stories by the iconic Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. From the witty and Kafkaesque The Nose, where a civil servant wakes up one day to find his nose missing, to the moving and evocative The Overcoat, about a sad and reclusive man whose only ambition is to replace his old, threadbare coat, Gogol gives us a unique and satirical take on the absurd. Gogol's tales of inconsequential civil servants, mixing the everyday with the surreal, foreshadow the work of his later acolytes, Bulgakov and Kafka. None is more cutting than the main story, The Diary of a Madman, where a government clerk descends to insanity, claiming that he can communicate with dogs and that he is next in line to the throne of Spain.

Editorial Reviews

JANUARY 2019 - AudioFile

Nicholas Boulton can narrate an extended dialogue and make it seem indisputably between two people. He does so in this collection of Gogol stories, for which he produces a wide array of voices and characters. He takes full advantage of opportunities to inhabit the characters. In typical British fashion, he uses a skillful range of accents to indicate class differences. In many of the stories, whether realistic, absurdist, or fantastic, Gogol maintains a wry, winking tone (no matter the events of the story) that Boulton conveys by imbuing the reading with a sense of amusement or good cheer. His performance enlivens these stories, familiar (“The Overcoat”) or obscure, and keeps them entertaining. W.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

From the Publisher

The greatest artist that Russia has yet produced.”—Vladimir Nabokov

“Behind his laughter you feel the unseen tears.” —Alexander Pushkin

JANUARY 2019 - AudioFile

Nicholas Boulton can narrate an extended dialogue and make it seem indisputably between two people. He does so in this collection of Gogol stories, for which he produces a wide array of voices and characters. He takes full advantage of opportunities to inhabit the characters. In typical British fashion, he uses a skillful range of accents to indicate class differences. In many of the stories, whether realistic, absurdist, or fantastic, Gogol maintains a wry, winking tone (no matter the events of the story) that Boulton conveys by imbuing the reading with a sense of amusement or good cheer. His performance enlivens these stories, familiar (“The Overcoat”) or obscure, and keeps them entertaining. W.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170136865
Publisher:	Naxos Audiobooks
Publication date:	08/10/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

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