Undoubtedly, the name of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol is familiar to everyone from school. He has written many literary works relating to a wide variety of genres. Many will consider him a comedian, making fun of his reality, say, in The Examiner or Dead Souls, but most researchers of his work agree that Gogol's personal library at one time included quite a lot of works on occultism, on the basis of which he wrote many of his masterpieces (some, however, did not finish).
A little bit about biography and literary preferences
As you know, Nikolai Gogol was named after St. Nicholas of Myra. His mother vowed before the icon that the newborn son would grow God-fearing. However, as the story says, this was not destined to take place.
Nowadays, the work of the great prose writer is mainly associated with the works of Viy, Konotop Witch, Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, etc. As the names show, this is pure mysticism and the horrors that Stephen King became famous for much later.
However, Gogol is reckoned among such classics, say, as Edgar Alan Poe. Not surprising. Although this has not been proven, it seems that the Gogol library in the early periods included some works related to occultism, otherwise where would all these works come from? The history, at least the official one, is silent about this.
What was Gogol's personal library
By the way, at least some critics believe that the book Necronomicon, written, as is commonly believed, by a mad author who sold his soul to the devil with his own blood, is mentioned only in the works of Howard Lovecraft about 1919–1920, that is, a hundred years after life Gogol, apparently (although this is not recognized as the official religion), the book itself is about two thousand years old.
Well, judge for yourself, couldn’t Gogol take the plots of his “horror films,” as they say, from the ceiling? Smoke, as you know, without fire. Perhaps Gogol’s library, located at his home, contained a considerable amount of works precisely on occultism. Unfortunately, today it is impossible to fully reproduce everything that the future classic read.
Museum-Library “Gogol’s House” in the present
Despite the fact that contemporaries of Gogol were such people as Pushkin and Zhukovsky, he is, as it were, aloof from them, although he is considered a classic of Russian literature.
But the memory of the great writer is immortalized. The Gogol library is now located in the very building where the prose writer settled in 1832. Having become famous after the publication of “Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka”, he received such eminent guests as Count and Countess Tolstoy, and a lower rank - Davydov, Lermontov, Turgenev, Chaadaev, Ogarev, Vyazemsky, Aivazovsky, etc.
Now in the house it is recreated exactly the situation that was during the life of Gogol. Despite the hanging portraits of the writer (which, incidentally, are absolutely not striking), you can see the very atmosphere in which the genius lived and worked.
The very same library. N.V. Gogol, located in Moscow on Nikitsky Boulevard, 7a, is considered one of the most visited places among young people and philologists.
The people of the library received the unspoken nickname “gogolevka” (similar to how apartments in houses built under Khrushchev were called Khrushchev).
Today it is believed that her students attendance in completely different areas of study is at least 80% of the total number of museums in Moscow.
Working hours
Gogol's library is open daily. From Monday to Friday you can come here from 12.00 to 21.00, but on Thursday the closing time is 22.00. Saturday and Sunday - it seems like a weekend, but nonetheless, the library is open for visitors from 12.00 to 18.00. So everyone who wants to visit this unique place should think about their schedule in advance.
Instead of an afterword
It is worth noting that the current “Googolevka” has an interesting structure. In the right half of the house is an exposition of Gogol the writer, and the left - Gogol reading his own works. Such contrasting helped not only to create the image of one of the greatest writers, but also to preserve his creative heritage.
Of course, every visitor expects to see a mystic writer here. We must immediately disappoint all visitors: you will not find anything like this here. In the best case, the library will offer you to get acquainted with the biography and literary work of the great writer, but nothing more. In the end, you can walk through the rooms where Nikolai Vasilyevich’s foot went. By the way, the estate-museum of Gogol is in Ukraine. This is the village of Gogolevskoe, st. October, 2. Poltava is considered almost the birthplace of all the characters of the writer.
But mysticism, invested in the works of a prose writer, everyone should perceive in their own way. And if you take Bulgakov with his “Master and Margarita”, is there a direct connection with the Gogol heroes?