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Oh, don’t believe this Nevsky Prospect!

Nevsky Ave., 38, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191186

Всё обман, всё сон, всё не так, как кажется!
St. Petersburg of Nikolai Gogol
Petersburg: Stories of Nevsky Prospect
In the Footsteps of Literary Characters
photo
Jermaine

The most important character for Gogol in Petersburg was Nevsky Prospect, to which the writer dedicated an entire story. And not without reason. This work by Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is part of the cycle "Petersburg Tales." The story "Nevsky Prospect" was written in 1833-1834.

It was first published in the book "Arabesques. Various Works by N. Gogol. Nevsky Prospect" in 1835. The idea dates back to 1831, when Gogol made several unfinished sketches depicting the landscape of Petersburg.

Two sketches have been preserved: "The Terrible Hand. A Story from a Book Called: Moonlight in the Broken Window of the Attic" and "The Lantern Was Dying…". Both sketches, dating from 1831–1833, are associated with the concept of "Nevsky Prospect."

Complex feelings connect Gogol and Nevsky Prospect; he both loves and hates it. The story begins with the words: Nevsky Prospect is the only place in Petersburg where people come not for business, but for idle strolling. In the morning, the prospect fills with working people and serves not as a goal, but only as a means. From noon, nannies, tutors, and governesses of all nationalities appear on the prospect with their charges. There is nothing better than Nevsky Prospect, at least in Petersburg; for it, it means everything.

And at the same time — but the strangest of all are the events that happen on Nevsky Prospect. Oh, do not believe this Nevsky Prospect! I always wrap my cloak tighter when I walk along it and try not to look at the objects I meet. Everything is deception, everything is a dream, everything is not what it seems!

Undoubtedly, Gogol visited many places on Nevsky Prospect multiple times, but there are several well-known addresses closely associated with Gogol’s name:

These are Nevsky Prospect, 38, where from October 30 to November 2, 1839, Gogol stayed as a guest of Pletnev in an apartment located in the Stroganov house; and Nevsky Prospect, 47, where, already a serious writer, Gogol liked to drop by the "Palkin" restaurant. At different times, Leskov, Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Tchaikovsky, Blok, Bryusov, Bely, and other famous people dined here.

photo
Jermaine

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