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    The Overcoat
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    The Overcoat
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    The Overcoat
    Ebook44 pages54 minutes

    The Overcoat

    By Nikolai Gogol

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    From the Father of the Golden Age of Russian Literature, Nicolai Gogol’s The Overcoat is one of the greatest short stories of all time. This satire on Russia’s 19th century bureaucracy is amusing, pointed and has influenced many renowned Russian writers.

    Civil servant, Akakiy Akakievitch, is underpaid and underappreciated. The harsh winter months are fast approaching and Akakievitch knows all too well that his overcoat won’t survive another repair. He scrimps and saves to the best of his ability until he finally has the funds to purchase a new coat. With the arrival of the garment, we see Akakievitch emerging from his shell. He is gradually more outgoing and is given a new lease of life. But in the cruel world of 19th century Russia, this newfound happiness cannot last long.

    When Akakievitch is assaulted on his way home, the two thugs steal his new overcoat. His coworkers, the police and even a government official refuse to assist Akakievitch. As the days grow shorter and the nights colder, Akakievitch falls deathly ill…

    Originally published in 1842, The Overcoat is a short story with great impact. Its themes of social commentary, the human condition and a touch of the supernatural are combined with Gogol’s biting wit and innovative writing.

    Complete with a specially commissioned author biography, Read & Co. Books is proud to have republished this new edition of The Overcoat. A must-have addition to the bookshelves of classic Russian literature lovers, this short story is not one to be missed.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateDec 12, 2014
    ISBN9781473397064
    Unavailable
    The Overcoat
    Author

    Nikolai Gogol

    Nikolai Gogol was a Russian novelist and playwright born in what is now considered part of the modern Ukraine. By the time he was 15, Gogol worked as an amateur writer for both Russian and Ukrainian scripts, and then turned his attention and talent to prose. His short-story collections were immediately successful and his first novel, The Government Inspector, was well-received. Gogol went on to publish numerous acclaimed works, including Dead Souls, The Portrait, Marriage, and a revision of Taras Bulba. He died in 1852 while working on the second part of Dead Souls.

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    Reviews for The Overcoat

    4/5

    266 ratings8 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Zeer leuke novelle.Kleine ambtenaar Basjmatsjkin leidt een zielig bestaan als titulairraad, zijn hoogste genot is zijn kopieerwerk. Hij wil zijn mantel laten verstellen, maar de kleermaker praat hem een nieuwe aan; dat kost hem maanden sparen, maar uiteindelijk lukt het. Met zijn nieuwe mantel wordt hij overal gefêteerd, maar op de terugweg wordt hij overvallen en is hij de mantel kwijt. Tocht langs de politie en ambtenarij (invloedrijk persoon) levert alleen maar hoon op. Hij wordt ziek en sterft. Maar hij blijft voortleven als spook, oa overval op het invloedrijke personnage
    • 4/5
      It probably deserves more than a 4, but I've never really comprehended the literary magnitude of Russian literature. It's very morose and fatalistic. Perhaps that is what makes it "great". Anyway, I read it as a follow-up to reading Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri. I will need to ponder the relationship between this story and the novel, since it was featured prominently.
    • 4/5
      This story is a story of poverty, and a description of what one coat can mean to a poor man. How it can change him and disrupt his calm undisturbed existence. Sometimes I wonder - did Russia really see so much poverty and apathy as its writers indicate?
    • 5/5
      How can a story written in the 1840's read like a modern tale?Gogol captured the inner life of a civil servant , meager in his lifestyle, happy to be employed in the simple task of copying documents in his beautiful script.yet when his bare thread coat gives way to the cold Russian winters he is forced into an almost existential crisis: how does he sacrifice to purchase a new coat? How do his coworkers respond to his predicament?can a simple addition to his wardrobe change his perspective and those of others?these basic questions are all answered and illuminated as is the tragic ending to this timeless tale.
    • 5/5
      Quite funny and sad. No surprise since the two often go together.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      In true Gogol style, another humorous and somewhat absurd look at the life of a common worker in the bureaucracy of 19th century Russia. This short novel starts a bit slowly but quickly becomes entertaining and absorbing.I would have rated the work even higher but for the inexplicably odd ending which is not only unnecessary but also diminishes the power of Gogol's insights.
    • 5/5
      I first read this about a hundred years ago. Someone gave a smart little leather bound copy and yesterday was an opportunity to place it in my jacket. I enjoyed such while my wife was inside at a hair appointment.

      The story regards the plight of a clerk, an Everyman, a copyist by trade and largely oblivious to the world around him. He has no grasp of social mechanics and lives modestly without vice or hobby. It is to his horror that he discovers that his overcoat is disintegrating. He goes to a tailor, who is himself an amazing literary construction. Our clerk must economize and saves for a new coat. Upon completion it is a sartorial marvel and suddenly our Everyman has an unexpected status from his peers, but not the skills to navigate such. He attends a party and loses himself in champagne. What follows is simple street crime. Gogol then displays the absence of recourse or justice in the contemporary bureaucracy. Matters go a bit supernatural and the reader can only marvel at the deft skill displayed.
    • 5/5
      Gogol is a master of the short story and "The Overcoat" is widely seen to be one his masterpieces. There is a merger of humor and humanity. It's pre-Modernist so the moralistic ending with the bad guys getting their due, but Gogol makes an unsympathetic weakling character into someone of importance because of his humanity - radical in an age of serfs and princes. Some things are lost in translation, it helped me to read the "Interpretation" section first at Wikipedia which explained the significance of the name Akaky Akakievich. It would be hard to image a better narration then the performance by Bob Neufeld at Librivox.