Nikolai Gogol: Cutting your nose to spite the faceless bureaucracy

"For how could the nose, which had been on his face but yesterday, and able then neither to drive nor to walk independently, now be going about in uniform?"

We take a break from reading novels and take a quick nose dive into Gogol's famous 1830s short story, talking absurdity, bureaucracy, and Russian wives.

Status and bureaucracies: The most straight forward reading is a satire 19th century Russian bureaucracies and status seeking. Benny outlines outlines the table of ranks and the boys consider the pros and cons.

Inconsistencies and the absurd: Rich is frustrated with the lack of internal inconsistency and doesn't buy George Saunders defence of the story as self-aware of its limitations.

Gogol's nose: Perhaps the story can be understood via a more personal lens. Benny points out Gogol's insecurities about his own noise which may be reflected in Major Kovalyov’s obsession with his appearance.

CHAPTERS

• (00:00:00) Chitter chatter
• (00:07:14) Quick summary of The Nose
• (00:11:05) Is this story even good?
• (00:16:00) Absurdism and surrealism
• (00:21:20) George Saunders defends The Nose
• (00:24:32) The Table of Ranks
• (00:29:18) Gogol's nose
• (00:36:15) Listener feedback

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NEXT ON THE READING LIST:

• The Odyssey - Homer (Emily Wilson translation)
• White Noise - Don DeLillo