Overcoat

Nikolai Gogol

янв. 1964 г. · Newcomb Livraria Press

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This is a new translation from the original Russian manuscript of Gogol's famous novel The Overcoat. This edition contains an Afterword by the Translator, a timeline of Gogol's life and works and an Index of Gogol's individual works. Often regarded as Gogol's masterpiece, this tale narrates the life of a downtrodden clerk and his quest for a new overcoat, touching upon societal injustices and the supernatural. In 19th-century St. Petersburg, Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin, a diligent but mocked government clerk, is forced to replace his worn-out overcoat. After painstakingly saving money and collaborating with his tailor, Petrovich, he purchases a new coat, which unexpectedly earns him admiration at his office. However, after a party in its honor, he's robbed of the coat and receives no aid from the authorities. Seeking assistance from an influential general, Akaky is instead belittled and rebuffed, leading to his swift decline in health and eventual death. Posthumously, Akaky's spirit haunts the city, snatching overcoats, until he confronts and terrifies the remorseful general by stealing his overcoat. After achieving this revenge, Akaky's ghost disappears, but another apparition resembling one of the thieves emerges elsewhere in the city.

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A Russian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer, Gogol was a personal friedn of Dostoevsky, Turgenev and Tolstoy. He is considered the father of modern Russian realism. His works, including "Dead Souls" and "The Overcoat," are renowned for their satirical depiction of Russian society and bureaucracy. Gogol's blend of realism, grotesque, and absurdism had a profound influence on Russian and world literature.