Taras Bulba

Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol (1809-1852) is a famous novelist and playwright, a classic of Russian literature.
About his own work, Gogol said: "Only that which I took from reality came out well for me." The writer often referred to myths, legends, and... other folklore sources, which made the real world in his works often intertwine with the fantastic.
The story "Taras Bulba" is part of the cycle "Mirgorod" and tells of the life of the Zaporozhian Cossacks in the first half of the 17th century. Colonel Taras Bulba wants to test his sons in battle and takes them on a military campaign. Belinsky wrote about the main character: "This man had an idea that he lived for and which he lived for... he did not survive it, he died with it... For it, he killed his beloved son with his own hand, for it he died himself." This is a heroic epic about love and betrayal, about duty and honor, valor and cruelty.