The Nose

I really like this book

critics have varied opinions and interpretations of this short story. some have alluded to the nose as a metaphor for Kovalev's genitals, interpreting its separation from Kovalev as an emasculation of some sort, etc., etc.

i simply see the story as a writer's exercise into the absurd, the comical, the farcical. Gogol used his powerful imagination to conjure a freakish event that would shock or amuse his readers. considering the period in which it was written and published (1836), i think he delivered… (more)

critics have varied opinions and interpretations of this short story. some have alluded to the nose as a metaphor for Kovalev's genitals, interpreting its separation from Kovalev as an emasculation of some sort, etc., etc.

i simply see the story as a writer's exercise into the absurd, the comical, the farcical. Gogol used his powerful imagination to conjure a freakish event that would shock or amuse his readers. considering the period in which it was written and published (1836), i think he delivered the goods well.

in two instances, Gogol offers no further explanation to what he was discussing, preferring instead to write it off as "What happened after that is unknown to all men." he also employed word play as an embellishment [e.g. Gospodin Nossov (Mr. Nose) - "noss" is Russian for nose; "Gospodin" is equivalent to Mr. in English].

i find nothing symbolic, metaphorical or even metaphysical about the whole thing. for me, it was just a ridiculous, irregular yet creative and surreal piece of fiction and nothing more.