OMG, I find Gogol such a laborious writer. I could barely force myself through this story, and it is relatively short as Russian writing goes. I'm not sure why he is a trial for me...I read Dostoevsky with relish, loved [b:Doctor Zhivago|130440|Doctor Zhivago|Boris Pasternak|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385508725l/130440._SY75_.jpg|3288400], and Tolstoy goes in my favorite authors of all time list, so it is not his being Russian. His [b:Dead Souls|28381|Dead Souls|Nikolai Gogol|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387201057l/28381._SY75_.jpg|1001298] is one of only a handful of books I have ever DNF'd. I admit I am becoming less patient as I age; less time to waste, I suppose.

The story is absurd, and is meant to be. The nose takes on a life of its own. I'm convinced there are undertones in this story that would have been obviously satirical to his own people and time, and I think that is what fails here for me--it is a tale meant to be read contemporarily and it loses its edge out of its time. ( )

“Yes, the inspector gave it Kovalev between the eyes.” (where there is no nose.) ( )

fantastic, hilarious, one of the best short stories i have read. ( )

A fun tromp through Russian satire. Noses seem to have minds of their own! ( )

"Yet, even considering these things; even conceding this, that, and the other (for where are not incongruities found at times?) there may have, after all, been something in the affair. For no matter what folk say to the contrary, such affairs do happen in this world — rarely of course, yet none the less really." ( )