Nikolai Gogol has 5 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 10 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4★ across 2 ratings. The most-rated is Dead Souls.
Dead Souls
Summary
Gogol's great Russian classic is the Pickwick Papers of Russian literature. It takes a sharp but humorous look at life in all its strata but especially the devious complexities in Russia, with its landowners and serfs. We are introduced to Chichikov, a businessman who, in order to trick the tax authorities, buys up dead 'souls', or serfs, whose names still appear on the government census. Despite being a dealer in phantom crimes and paper ghosts, he is the most beguiling of Gogol's characters. Gogol's obsession with attempting to display 'the untold riches of the Russian soul' eventually led him to madness, religious mania, and death. Dismissed by him as merely 'a pale introduction to the great epic poem which is taking shape in my mind', Dead Souls is the culmination of Gogol's genius. Translator: Constance Garnett. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
Public Domain (P)2017 Naxos AudioBooks
The Eve of Ivan Kupala
Summary
Another strange and frightening tale by Nikolai Gogol with roots in Ukrainian lore. When a poor peasant falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy farmer, a dark power interferes, promising him the fulfillment of his wishes but neglecting to mention the terrible price.
Public Domain (P)2019 TSK Group LLC
The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories
Summary
The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories is a bizarre and colorful collection containing the finest short 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 reclusive man whose only ambition is to replace his old, threadbare coat, Gogol gives us a unique 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. Translator: Constance Garnett.
©2018 Public Domain (P)2018 Naxos AudioBooks
The Inspector General
Summary
Nikolai Gogol's The Inspector General, known also as The Government Inspector, was first published in 1836. It was based on an anecdote first recounted to Gogol by Pushkin. Laurence Olivier plays the irresponsible gambler Ivan Alexandrovic Khlestakov in this satire on the greed, corruption and stupidity of Imperial Russia. "Theatre Royal" is a series of radio dramas first broadcast by the BBC in 1953 and in the USA soon after. Starring many of Britain's finest actors, it was the only radio series in which Lord Olivier took a major role.
©2010 Divine Art Ltd (P)2010 Divine Art Ltd
The Nose
Summary
Gogol's phantasmagorical tale about a man whose nose decides to abscond and begin living a life of its own is one of the earliest and most celebrated examples of absurdist literature. Apart from its recondite humor, it is remarkable for Gogol's skill in characterization and his ability to paint a picture of contemporary life in Russia in a few verbal brushstrokes.
Public Domain (P)2016 The Online Stage