Gogol caught in Tug of Love

Born in present-day Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire, Gogol later lived in St. Petersburg and wrote in Russian; yet his first published works, the short-story collections "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka" (1831-32) and "Mirgorod" (1835), were steeped in the culture, folklore and language of the Ukrainian countryside. His later writings, notably the 1842 epic masterpiece "Dead Souls," shifted to Russian settings and sometimes evidenced his growing Russian nationalism. A much-quoted passage in "Dead Souls" compares Russia to a speeding troika driven by a mysterious force: "Everything on earth flies past, and other nations and states glance warily as they step aside and give her the right of way."