Gogol-Student

The history of the development of literature is a concept much broader than one might assume and much more complicated than a first-year student of philology could imagine. Any selection of the "best books" and "required reading" authors invariably comes with a ruthless culling of pearls of thought from the approved norm and the "gold standard." Many geniuses, both recognized and unrecognized, as well as masterpieces of world literature, are left outside.
The books in the "World Classics Books" series are an attempt to expand the established notion of classical books and the authors deemed essential for an educated person, offering readers works they may not have heard of at all or are only vaguely familiar with. However, the works presented in the series are, in a sense, milestone stages on the complex path of the development of world literature, without which it is difficult to form an understanding of various genres, literary schools, and entire eras in the development of world culture.
The cover features a reproduction of Leonid Osipovich Pasternak's painting "Night Before the Exam," 1895, Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.