Preview
  • The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol (Vintage Classics)

  • By: Nikolai Gogol
  • Narrated by: Peter Batchelor
  • Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars (2 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol (Vintage Classics)

By: Nikolai Gogol
Narrated by: Peter Batchelor
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $41.54

Buy for $41.54

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Using, or rather mimicking, traditional forms of storytelling, Gogol created stories that are complete within themselves and only tangentially connected to a meaning or moral. His work belongs to the school of invention, where each twist and turn of the narrative is a surprise unfettered by obligation to an overarching theme.

Selected from Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, Mirgorod, and Petersburg Tales and arranged in order of composition, the 13 stories in The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol encompass the breadth of Gogol's literary achievement. From the demon-haunted “St. John's Eve” to the heartrending humiliations and trials of a titular councilor in “The Overcoat”, Gogol's knack for turning literary conventions on their heads, combined with his overt joy in the art of storytelling, shines through in each of the tales.

This translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky is as vigorous and darkly funny as the original Russian. It allows the listener to experience anew the unmistakable genius of a writer who paved the way for Dostoevsky and Kafka. This audio edition is expressively narrated by Peter Batchelor.

©1998 Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont.

©1998 Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (P)2024 Echo Point Books & Media, LLC
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol (Vintage Classics)

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 2.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Gogol's Brilliant, but the recording is messy

Gogol is a master of storytelling and he's here in all his variety and glory, from provincial sketches to laugh out loud mad men. I actually liked the narrator, but I'm pretty sure that portions of the text (especially Russian names) were cut out and patched up with new recordings. Men's voices change a lot from day to day, hour to hour (women's less so.... I used to work in documentary film) so it's really hard to get the inserted audio to flow with what's already there. The result is some janky audio, made worse by occasional volume issues. If you can ignore this the characters actually have pretty charming voices (IMHO) and regardless the content is worth the cost. Highly recommend!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent writer terrible narrator

Gogol is wonderfully creative and unique. His tales are the type that stick with you. The narrator, however, is not doing the book a favor. The voice he uses for women is screechy and very obnoxious. His voices for characters take over the story and unfortunately ruin the performance.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!