The Nose

by Nikolai Gogol, Claud Field (Editor)

Overview

This is the story of a nose. No, really -- it's the story of a nose that leaves the face of an official in St. Petersburg (the Russian St. Petersburg, the one in Florida wasn't even a proper village when Gogol was alive). The nose leaves this man's face and wanders off to have a life of its own. It does strange stuff, too, What's to expect? Seriously, it's a nose.

Nikolai Gogol. You've got to love him.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607785552
Publisher:	MobileReference
Publication date:	01/01/2010
Series:	Mobi Classics
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	169 KB

About the Author

Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852) was a Russian short story writer, playwright and novelist born in the Ukrainian Cossack town of Sorochyntsi. Often referred to as the Father of the Golden Age of Russian Literature, Gogol was the author of the first great Russian novel, Dead Souls, 1842. He was one of the first writers to use the grotesque in his work, and the famous trope can be seen in his well-known short story, The Overcoat, 1842.

Editorial Reviews

Gogol's satirical short story of an ambitious nose that asserts its independence receives another picture-book adaptation (see Gogol ). Cowan casts Gogol's petty bureaucrat as the Deputy Inspector of Reindeer who awakes one morning to find his nose riding about town as the Grand and Glorious Governor of Games. Her simplified text retains the essence of Gogol's absurdist plot twists and deadpan delivery while removing all direct references to the original setting. It is in Hawkes' paintings that allusions to Gogol's nineteenth-century Russia appear through architecture and costume. The tale's absurdist tone is reflected in Hawkes' exaggerated perspectives: walls bulge, furniture curves, and buildings bow out from the street as if reflected in a fun-house mirror. The text is bordered in gilded frames embellished with flying noses, miniatures of the Deputy Inspector, and even, in tribute to the Nose's new identity, marbles, chess pieces, and dice. Cowan and Hawkes succeed in sculpturing the tale's humor for a younger audience, though the subtle irony may be appreciated more fully by older readers.

Linda Callaghan

One of the more unusual picture books of the season, this takes as its text Gogol's short story "The Nose." When a barber finds a nose in his morning bread, he surreptitiously throws it into the river. Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a civil servant named Kovaliov awakens to find his face noseless. Spotting his nose (dressed as a fine officer) stepping out of a carriage and marching into a cathedral, Kovaliov accosts it and invites it to return to his face. The nose refuses, saying, ""Nonsense". . . . I am an independent individual." Later, a police officer returns the nose (now normal-sized and relatively inanimate) to its owner, but Kovaliov can't make it stick on his face. Finally, he awakens one morning to find the nose back where it belongs. "Because absurd things happen--not often, perhaps, but believe me they "do" happen." Spirin's artwork suits the tale well, combining handsome architectural drawings of old Russian streets and harbors with hazy, romantic scenes from the story. His intricately detailed, matter-of-fact presentation of absurdity makes it all the more believable. Although it would be a disturbing addition to preschool picture-book shelves, this might find an audience in schools where teachers use short, illustrated books with older students. It might also bolster a Russian or literature curriculum.

Carolyn Phelan