Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
What is one of the best literary descriptions of schizophrenia? You guessed it, the award goes to "The Diary of a Madman"! (Source)
When Gogol's first self-published poem got bad reviews, he burned all the copies and stole money from his mother to escape to the US. He only made it as far as Germany. (Source)
Gogol was so important to later Russian writers that Dostoevsky is supposed to have said "We have all come out of Gogol's 'Overcoat'." We're glad he didn't say "We have all come out of Gogol's 'Nose'." (Source)
Gogol's original family name was Ianovskii, but his grandfather took the name "Gogol" to claim noble ancestry. Does that remind you of Poprishchin? (Source)
Lu Xun wrote China's first modern short story in 1918 and called it "A Madman's Diary," props to Gogol. (Source)