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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

83. The Nose

The Nose
Nikolai Gogol
1836
Around 40 pages












All right, so that was sort of weird.  Don't get me wrong, the premise was relatable: a man's nose falls off, develops of life its own, and then safely returns to his face.  I mean, we have all been there.  I just frankly do not understand what the point of that story was and I really don't understand why Gogol wrote it.

I have read some theories that Gogol is comparing the removal of the nose to castration and that without a man's, um, nose he will always be unsuccessful and insecure in his life.  Well, perhaps, but didn't we already know that?

My opinion is that it is just an absurd fairy tale for kids and an early example of magic realism.  Sorry, Gogol, if you had another point, I completely missed it.

RATING: ***--

Interesting Facts:

Second shortest book on The List.

UP NEXT: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.  Dear lord, it is happening.  We have reached the Dickens streak in The Book. NOOOOOOO!!!!!

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