Nikolai Gogol
In brief: A Swim in a Pond in the Rain; The Slow Road to Tehran; Drift – review
George Saunders leads a writing masterclass, Rebecca Lowe goes on a cycling adventure and Caryl Lewis makes a magical English-language fiction debut
Ben East
01, May, 2022 @10:30 AM
‘We Ukrainians know how to turn suffering into strength’: Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hütz on his musical resistance
The raucous Ukraine-born punk frontman has been a tireless cultural ambassador since the Russian invasion. He talks about his benefit single, growing up under Soviet repression, and ‘freedom-fighter’ musicians doing nothing to help
Amy Fleming
28, Apr, 2022 @9:00 AM
Five of the best books about Russia and Ukraine
As Russia wages war, the historian Orlando Figes offers a guide to the literature that illuminates the tensions and the myths of the region
Orlando Figes
06, Mar, 2022 @11:00 AM
Beyond the fog of war: books to help us understand the invasion of Ukraine
From Ukrainian history to Putin’s kleptocracy and Gogol’s stories, author and former Russia correspondent Oliver Bullough chooses the best titles
Oliver Bullough
04, Mar, 2022 @10:46 AM
Elif Shafak: ‘Reading Orlando was like plunging into a cold but beautifully blue sea’
The novelist on her love of Virginia Woolf, being inspired by HG Wells and how Jack Kerouac’s ego puts her off his books
Elif Shafak
05, Nov, 2021 @10:00 AM
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders review – rules for good writing, and more
The spell of words ... a wonderful book in which a Booker prizewinner explains what makes classic short stories work so well
Tessa Hadley
06, Jan, 2021 @7:30 AM
George Saunders: 'These trenches we're in are so deep'
The Booker-winning author on what Russian short stories can teach us, late-life realisations and why he doesn’t like social media
Killian Fox
02, Jan, 2021 @6:00 PM
Revisor review – astonishing take on Gogol demands to be seen again
Choreographer Crystal Pite and theatre-maker Jonathon Young combine their worlds for a riveting piece
Sanjoy Roy
04, Mar, 2020 @12:54 PM
From Kafka to Gogol via Pynchon: top 10 absurd quests in fiction
From seeking how to stop being an ass to finding out where a month has gone missing, these stories are as weird as life
Joanna Kavenna
14, Aug, 2019 @12:00 PM
How Lenin’s love of literature shaped the Russian Revolution
The father of the Soviet Union was also a Latin buff who adored Goethe and liked to compare his enemies to figures in novels
Tariq Ali
25, Mar, 2017 @9:30 AM
Top 10 dogs' stories
Heartbreaking tales of love, devotion, innocence – and philosophy. From Homer to Kafka, these works show humanity intimately observed by its best friend
Jill Ciment
26, Aug, 2015 @10:37 AM
The Gamblers review – Gogol’s conmen transformed into women
Despite a strong ensemble spirit and fluid production, an all-female cast offer no insights into male behaviour, writes Mark Fisher
Mark Fisher
24, Oct, 2014 @10:58 AM
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