Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0812971191, Paperback)

The First New Translation in Forty Years

Set sometime between the mid-sixteenth and early-seventeenth century, Gogol’s epic tale recounts both a bloody Cossack revolt against the Poles (led by the bold Taras Bulba of Ukrainian folk mythology) and the trials of Taras Bulba’s two sons.

As Robert Kaplan writes in his Introduction, “[Taras Bulba] has a Kiplingesque gusto . . . that makes it a pleasure to read, but central to its theme is an unredemptive, darkly evil violence that is far beyond anything that Kipling ever touched on. We need more works like Taras Bulba to better understand the emotional wellsprings of the threat we face today in places like the Middle East and Central Asia.” And the critic John Cournos has noted, “A clue to all Russian realism may be found in a Russian critic’s observation about Gogol: ‘Seldom has nature created a man so romantic in bent, yet so masterly in portraying all that is unromantic in life.’ But this statement does not cover the whole ground, for it is easy to see in almost all of Gogol’s work his ‘free Cossack soul’ trying to break through the shell of sordid today like some ancient demon, essentially Dionysian. So that his works, true though they are to our life, are at once a reproach, a protest, and a challenge, ever calling for joy, ancient joy, that is no more with us. And they have all the joy and sadness of the Ukrainian songs he loved so much.”


From the Hardcover edition.

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0679642552, Hardcover)

The First New Translation in Forty Years

Set sometime between the mid-sixteenth and early-seventeenth century, Gogol’s epic tale recounts both a bloody Cossack revolt against the Poles (led by the bold Taras Bulba of Ukrainian folk mythology) and the trials of Taras Bulba’s two sons.

As Robert Kaplan writes in his Introduction, “[Taras Bulba] has a Kiplingesque gusto . . . that makes it a pleasure to read, but central to its theme is an unredemptive, darkly evil violence that is far beyond anything that Kipling ever touched on. We need more works like Taras Bulba to better understand the emotional wellsprings of the threat we face today in places like the Middle East and Central Asia.” And the critic John Cournos has noted, “A clue to all Russian realism may be found in a Russian critic’s observation about Gogol: ‘Seldom has nature created a man so romantic in bent, yet so masterly in portraying all that is unromantic in life.’ But this statement does not cover the whole ground, for it is easy to see in almost all of Gogol’s work his ‘free Cossack soul’ trying to break through the shell of sordid today like some ancient demon, essentially Dionysian. So that his works, true though they are to our life, are at once a reproach, a protest, and a challenge, ever calling for joy, ancient joy, that is no more with us. And they have all the joy and sadness of the Ukrainian songs he loved so much.”

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0979919495, Paperback)

In Gogol's historical short novel, Taras Bulba, he takes us on a journey into the world of the ancient Ukrainian Cossacks. Taras Bulba, an old Cossack, sends his two sons Andriy and Ostap to study at the Kiev Academy. After returning, the three men embark on a journey to Zaporizhian Sich in Ukraine to join other Cossacks to go to war against the Polish nobles. Eugene Hütz is better known as the singer, lyricist and visionary of the internationally acclaimed Gypsy punk rock band Gogol Bordello. Born in Kiev in 1972, Hütz's road to the United States was a long trek through Poland, Hungary, Austria and Italy, an immigrant experience that informs much of his band's material. Descendants of Gypsies called the Serva Roma (a tribe known for its blacksmiths, pottery makers and musicians), his family relocated to Vermont after the Chernobyl meltdown through a Refugee resetelment program. "It's the last place where I wanted to go," Hütz says of the Green Mountain State. "Once I saw Sonic Youth in 1989 in Kiev, all I wanted to do is be in New York." It was in 1998 that Hütz finally moved to New York and formed what would become the eight-piece lineup of Gogol Bordello. The band's name pays homage to the author of Taras Bulba Nikolai Gogol whose writings remain to be a large influence on the band's ethos, particularly, the innovative treatment of tradition and folklore.  Since their formation Gogol Bordello has been described as one of the best live bands of our time and been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine and Time Magazine to name a few. NPR described their last album as "the best rock album of the decade. Period." Gogol Bordello have created a new level of musical and lyrical intensity in their continuing cultural crusade to build a bridge between Gypsy music, rock 'n roll, reggae and other brands of rebel music.