Gogol tried careers in acting and poetry before embarking on his writing career, which began after he returned from a trip to Germany. He published Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka (1831-32), which was both critically acclaimed and immensely popular. This was followed by two collections of short stories, Mirgorod and Arabesques (1835). He produced a play in 1836 entitled The Government Inspector (also known as The Inspector-General), which was criticized by the tsarist government and led to his travelling to Rome. While in Rome, he wrote his best work and considered a masterpiece by many, Dead Souls, which was never completed. |
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