Gogol’s “The Nose” blows other short stories away
Most of us take our noses for granted. We expect that they’ll be there when we wake up, and as long as we take care of them, they won’t let us down. In Nikolai Gogol’s 1835/36 short story “The Nose,” one man discovers that that’s not the case.Major Kovaliov is the main character who wakes up to discover that his nose has disappeared, leaving only a naked patch of skin in its place. The story follows Kovaliov’s quest to track down his nose, and his surprise at finding out that it has become a respected member of society.”The Nose” can be found in the The Complete Tales of Nikolai Gogol, Vol. 2 (University of Chicago Press, 1983) or at various online sites. The fantastical story has been adapted several timesfirst as an opera in 1930, then as a short film in 1963, a radio play in 1995, and another play by Tom Swift in 2008.