Memoirs of a Madman

‘Memoirs of a Madman’ is a fascinating short following Poprishchin, a minor civil servant, as he descends into insanity. Unique in Gogol's collection, it is the only story he wrote completely from the first person in the form of a number of diary entries. Constantly ridiculed by friends and repressed by the government of Tsarist Russia, he confides all in his journal, documenting his slow decline into insanity. As the only account we have is Poprishchin's, we have no idea if the continually fantastical events happening before us are real or simply figments of his imagination. It is a fascinating novel, equally humorous as it is farcical, from talking dogs to tea-thirsty cows—if you liked Leonardo DiCaprio's ‘Shutter Island’, you'll love this short.