Gogol in Ukraine: A Very Long Read About the Writer With Two Heads

Nikolai Gogol’s contribution to literary canon is indisputable with The Overcoat, a symbol of Russia’s fiction, or Dead Souls, the symbol of its rather boring and unsexy slavery. Not many know, though, that the symbol of all things Russian, Gogol was, in fact, a migrant. From Ukraine.

Born just 200 km from my hometown, the most mysterious writer of his time has, quite interestingly, a mysteriously difficult dialogue with his former home. Why is that, you’ll ask? Well, let’s see.

Chapter 1. This is Kind of a Funny Story? No.

Gogol was born in the region of Poltava, Ukraine, and, like many ambitious trendy but provincial youngsters, travelled to Petersburg in search for money, fame and (as you can see by his serious tie) respect. As many of his contemporaries, he started…