Amazon Prime Free Trial
FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button and confirm your Prime free trial.
Amazon Prime members enjoy:- Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
- Unlimited FREE Prime delivery
- Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
- A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
- Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
Important: Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Audible sample
Follow the author
OK
The Nose Hardcover – June 1, 2011
Purchase options and add-ons
This is the story of a nose. No, really -- it's the story of a nose that leaves the face of an official in St. Petersburg (the Russian St. Petersburg, the one in Florida wasn't even a proper village when Gogol was alive). The nose leaves this man's face and wanders off to have a life of its own.
It does strange stuff, too, What's to expect?
Seriously, it's a nose.
In A History of Russian Literature, the critic D.S. Mirsky writes: "The Nose is a piece of sheer play, almost sheer nonsense. In it more than anywhere else Gogol displays his extraordinary magic power of making great comic art out of nothing."
Nikolai Gogol. You've got to love him
- Reading age9 - 12 years
- Print length41 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Grade levelPreschool - 2
- Dimensions6.5 x 0.5 x 9.5 inches
- PublisherAegypan
- Publication dateJune 1, 2011
- ISBN-101463897359
- ISBN-13978-1463897352
The chilling story of the abduction of two teenagers, their escape, and the dark secrets that, years later, bring them back to the scene of the crime. | Learn more
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Aegypan (June 1, 2011)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 41 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1463897359
- ISBN-13 : 978-1463897352
- Reading age : 9 - 12 years
- Grade level : Preschool - 2
- Item Weight : 8.3 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.5 x 0.5 x 9.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,547,882 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7,183 in Humorous Fantasy (Books)
- #68,762 in Classic Literature & Fiction
- #133,152 in Literary Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read book recommendations and more.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonTop reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2025Great. Thank you
- Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2017“The Nose” was written by Nikolai Gogol and was published in 1836. It is a satirical short story about a St. Petersburg official whose nose leaves his face and creates a life of his own. “The Nose” can be purchased from amazon for $13.26. Its ISBN-13 number is 9781532963100. This was a very interesting short story. It is a chronological story written in 3rd person point of view. After I finished reading it, I was curious of what point(s) Gogol was trying to get across to readers. My first thought was that it portrayed the importance of social class. But, then I questioned whether Gogol wanted to emphasize the importance of a person’s nose, and that life without it is humiliating. When Kovalyov (the main character) gets his nose back, he has a new breed of confidence and walks about town with the upmost confidence. So, this made me believe that if you losing something can make you cherish it and appreciating it a lot more. I believe the theme of the story is the effects of of losing a piece of your identity. The thesis is that, in Gogol’s time, appearance was valued more than one’s identity. Throughout the story, the nose changes appearances. In the beginning, it is a normal sized nose hiding in a piece of bread. Next, it is disguised as a high-ranking city official and then a doctor. Then, from Kovalyov’s point of view, he is with or without a nose in the story and he is worse off when he does not have it. His main goal is to clime the social ladder, but without the nose he cannot do it. Therefore, appearance and identity are commonly misjudged. Gogol used Narration to portray this thesis. The title of the story interested me right off the bat. I believe Gogol was accurate in trying to get across his point. The only part that made me think was how no one questioned a nose walking about town. Was it just part of daily life? It seemed that no one surprised or scared by this. I believe his main goal was to have the reader connect with the main character. I believe he wanted the reader to know what it feels like to lose something that you need to succeed. It then shows a bit of irony when the nose is more successful than Kovalyov in the matter of one day. Nikolai Gogol has been known to have an “impressionist” vision of reality and people. He saw the world romantically metamorphosed, which means he viewed it as ever changing. Many critics have had mixed reviews on his works, some even called “The Nose” nonsense. But not nonsense in a bad way, it is meant to commend Gogol for being able to make a great piece of work out such an idea. I agree that the story is nonsense, but there are a lot of underlying meanings within it. I believe he wrote this story to emphasize the obsession of social rank that Peter the Great introduced. During this time, common folk were able to move up the social ladder by serving the state. This then gave way to large bureaucracies, which is where many of Gogol’s characters work in his stories. To summarize “To Nose” it is split up into three parts, or chapters. It follows the life of a collegiate assessor, Kovalyov, who wakes up without his nose. He then has come to find out that his nose has been roaming around St. Petersburg living a life of its own. The nose is even dressed in a higher social rank than our main character. His nose is pretending to be a human being. Kovalyov chases the nose all around the city. He then results in consulting with the police and even goes to the paper to report it missing. When all else fails, he returns home depressed. But, then police officer knocks on his door, with the nose in his possession. Kovalyov is ecstatic, but is then upset when the nose does not re-attach to his face. He then writes a letter to the women who wants him to marry his daughter, and accuses her of stealing his nose and causing him this pain. He believes she did this because of his lack of loyalty in her daughter. But, her reply reveals that she is innocent. Then one morning the nose magically reappears on his face. There is no solution or answer about how it got there. Kovalyov wakes up then returns to his normal life with a huge boost of confidence. I believe Gogol intentionally ended the story without a clear answer of how the nose returned. I think he wanted the reader to form their own opinion and questions. This creates a special relationship between the reader and the author. The theme of the story is losing a piece of your identity. I believe Gogol wanted to emphasize that simply losing a piece of yourself can cause chaos in your life. The experience of losing his nose caused Kovalyuv to feel embarrassed, ashamed, nervous, worried and helpless. He realized without a piece of his nose, he could not move up in social status, marry a beautiful woman, or even simply walk around town.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2017The Nose is a short story written by Nikolai Gogol. Written somewhere between 1835 and 1836.
Nikolai Gogol wrote this book to entertain the masses using satire and events that could never possibly happen. It was written from a 3rd person view. As previously stated it is a fictional and absurd short story about an official whose nose falls off and goes on an adventure. The intended audience of The Nose would be young teens. Using an informal writing style Gogol uses words that teens would know and not many they would need to look up, though there are a few examples of word I didn’t personally know. I enjoyed the story while I read it.
Theme: A nose who runs off on its own adventure and the officer who must deal with it.
Thesis: There is no thesis because it’s a simple short story
Gogol tells his story starting first at the end of the story and then goes back to tell the whole story much like The Death of Ivan Ilyich.
Nikolai Gogol is known for his stories of surrealism. He has written many plays and short stories such as The Overcoat and the play Marriage.
The Nose contains four “chapters” none of which are named. The book has 38 pages but the pages are laid out with wide margins and larger font.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2022It is Always fun to read Gogol short stories. This translation could use a little updating and revision, very jolted style.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2017The Nose is a short story by Nikolai Gogol; a dramatist, playwright, short story writer, and novelist. He was born on March 31st 1810 in Russia and died on March 1852 in Russia at age 42. He died from starvation. The Nose (short story) was written during the time he spent in St. Petersburg. It states during this time of his life his worked specifically focused on surrealism with a romantic twist, it was published in 1836 and is valued at about $4.00. It doesn’t really state the purpose of him writing the book, but he later finds out that his nose has developed a life of its own, and has even surpassed the Collegiate Assessor in social rank and the story is told in first person. It seemed like the author was trying to send subliminal messages to the reader. It was nothing specific, but it seemed like the author was using the nose a metaphor throughout the book. The genre of the book was “short story.” Which means it has theme, but is shorter and less elaborated than a full novel. The book demographics was basically for anyone who was interest. Not specifically to a certain age group. I would believe that if the author wanted the audience to think critically and really analyze the short story then it would be for an older crowed. The author’s style was more informal to me. The writing style was fluidity, much clarity and originality because they are many short stories, but there is nothing similar to the nose. The theme and the point of the story was that the author was making fun of society and how people are so obsessed with social status and popularity. I enjoyed reading the book, I am a fan of short stories so I do recommend the book for anyone to read. Title: The Nose; General Subject Matter: Short story; Theme/Thesis: making fun of society; because the author was embarrassed of his large nose in real life. Most critics says that the story has no specific reasoning.
- Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2015Loved the writing and the humor. I thought the translating was sensitively done and with great literary authenticity and throroughly enjoyable!
- Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2018This is an absurd tale in which a minor Russian civil servant is missing his nose, which has taken on a life of its own. I guess the theme of the story is the disastrous effects of changes to appearance to an individual`s public life. Without his nose, the man`s life is derailed and his sole goal is locating the nose as soon as possible. There are a lot more convincing pieces of literature exploring this theme.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2017nice product
Top reviews from other countries
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in the Netherlands on August 2, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars So great
So unrealistic and hilarious yet it's so easy to put yourself in the same shoes as any main characters in the every short story in this novel.
I must read every publishment from the author.
- Martin ReddingtonReviewed in Germany on October 30, 2021
1.0 out of 5 stars Dreadful translation
This is a lovely short story, but the translation is abysmally clumsy. Just Google “The Nose PDF“ and you will find a far better free translation.
- SeemitaReviewed in India on November 16, 2017
4.0 out of 5 stars A Russian Tequilla Shot!
A whimsical work which also doubles up as a satire on the Russian administration of the 1830s. For those unfamiliar with Gogol's sharp and witty tongue, this shall be a good place to begin acquaintance. Read!
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 1, 2016
5.0 out of 5 stars A very interesting story from one of the greatest Slavic writers of all time - who was also ...
A very interesting story from one of the greatest Slavic writers of all time - who was also renowned for his humour. There are two separate stories in the book, 'The Nose' and 'The Carriage'. The first tells about a man whose nose leaves him and ends up riding in a carriage around St. Petersburg dressed as though he works for a government department. It is a reminder to all of us not to be boastful. The Carriage has a similar theme running through it, reminding us that we should never make promises that we can't keep.
- RedHeadReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 30, 2020
4.0 out of 5 stars Fun.
A funny and strange read, enjoyable. Read into it what you will!