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Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka is a collection of short stories by Nikolai Gogol, written from 1831-1832. This was Gogol's groundbreaking work, though not his first, and formed the core of his style, especially his sense of the macabre. It was this collection that proved he was a new power in Russian literature with unqiue innovation and a carefully arranged mingling of the horrifying and the humorous. Alexander Pushkin had a heavy influence on the writing of the collection, which features references to "Little Russia" (Ukraine), where Gogol spent the early years of his life. The stories are heavily laced with Ukrainian folklore and cultural references, offering a unique perspective into life in the country during Gogol's time period. The work with structure found in this collection became characteristic of Gogol's writing later on, found in works such as Dead Souls. Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka is separate into two volumes of four stories each. The first volume contains The Fair at Sorochintsï, St. John's Eve, May Night or the Drowned Maiden, and The Lost Letter: A Tale Told by the Sexton of the N...Church. The second volume contains Christmas Eve, A Terrible Vengeance, Ivan Fedorovic Sponka and his Aunt, and A Bewitched Place. Each of the segments were based off of Ukrainian folklore and feature comedic elements and a binding narrator, Rudy Panko, who is dictating the stories to the reader. A few other characters are mentioned in terms of the stories they provide, but regardless these segments are still told through the beekeeper Rudy. Evenings gained Gogol the fame that would lead him to a proimnent placement in the Russian literary circle, as well as opening the doors for future works. Most recently, a video game was created for PC that follows the short stories and is a point-and-click adventure game in the vein of Maniac Mansion.
External links
"Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka"