Walking in the Shadows. Book 5

7 hrs. 15 min.

Language Russian

Author Mark Avrelius

Narrator Vadim Krivosheyev

Gogol is one of the few writers who, in his endless travels, visited three sacred capitals—Moscow, Rome, and Jerusalem—experiencing these “pilgrimages” with special intensity and depth. Of the three cities, his favorite, undoubtedly, is Rome: there Gogol spent four and a half years, completed the first part of “Dead Souls,” and created and revised numerous works.

It is known that at first Gogol intended to write an entire “Roman” novel titled “Annunciata.” However, in 1841 he changes the title to “Madonna dei fiori,” and a year later the novella “Rome” is published.

The change of title showed that the theme had shifted and the center of gravity of the narrative moved—this was no longer a story about a woman but about the city. Gogol used place names in the titles of his works even before; for example, in “Mirgorod” (1835) and “Nevsky Prospect” (1835). “Rome” completes that line.

And if we agree that a work of art is always a picture of the world, imago mundi, then Gogol’s novella will be not only an exploration of the Roman genius loci rendered in the form of a literary work, but also an ideal imago Urbis.

1. Walking in the Shadows (narrated by Andrey Vud) 2. Walking in the Shadows. Book 2 (narrated by Vadim Krivosheyev) 3. Walking in the Shadows. Book 3 (narrated by Vadim Krivosheyev) 4. Walking in the Shadows. Book 4 (narrated by Vadim Krivosheyev) 5. Walking in the Shadows. Book 5 6. Walking in the Shadows. Book 6 (narrated by Vadim Krivosheyev) 7. Walking in the Shadows. Book 7 (narrated by Vadim Krivosheyev) 8. Walking in the Shadows. Book 8 (narrated by Vadim Krivosheyev) 9. Walking in the Shadow. Book 9 (narrated by Vadim Krivosheyev)