Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Officially our second read by Nikolai Gogol under short stories, The Overcoat is short at only about 57 pages. If you enjoyed The Night Before Christmas that we read in December, consider checking out this one. If you didn't get to read that, remember this is a mighty short foray into a classic Russian author.

The Overcoat, which is generally acknowledged as the finest of Gogol's memorable Saint Petersburg stories, is a tale of the absurd and misplaced obsessions.

I wouldn't say this was an absurd obsession or a misplaced obsession, but a story of how little people care about their fellow man. I cried.

It was a sad story.

I agree; it is sad. But I still recommend reading it to those who haven’t.

I simply used Goodreads description for the book. The read is short, and I expect to read it myself this month and see firsthand how sad or absurd it is.

It is absurd because the main character's good overcoat is stolen and sad when you see the result. The story is definitely worth reading.

If you like this story, there is a newer book called The Fur Hat by Vladimir Voinovich. It was written in 1998, and it is about a man who is in a writers' group. The group gives out fur hats to its members according to how important they are, and this poor fellow got a hat made out of tomcat. It was really good.

Sounds like a good recommendation, Jazzy. Thank you for mentioning it.

What about this particular writer (Gogol) have some have you liked?

I like The Overcoat & am glad I read it again. I agree it’s very sad - a man working hard at routine tasks for years, with no family & thoughtless colleagues.
I think Gogol is good at observing & writing about the tiny details of people’s behaviour that often go unnoticed. He possibly exaggerates them for effect at times, but it works well.

Is this also called The Cloak?

I believe it is, Kelly. I checked goodreads and it is found under that title too.

Yes, I believe that makes sense. His story “the night before Christmas” is also title “the night of Christmas Eve”. I suppose with the translations titles could be changed differently.

Kelly_Hunsaker_reads wrote: "Is this also called The Cloak?"

I also found the same story called “The Mantle”.

In Russian the titel is шинель, which originally is the kind of overcoat worn by soldiers, different from пальто, which is a regular coat. Maybe this helps to find the appropriate English word.

That’s interesting, Peter - thank you. Some people call military coats “greatcoats”, though I think this may be a more old-fashioned term that isn’t used very often now.

Thanks everyone. It is available on Librivox as The Cloak!

Trisha wrote: "That’s interesting, Peter - thank you. Some people call military coats “greatcoats”."

Thank you, Trisha. I did not know this term, but the pictures that come up in Google are very similar to those for шинель. I am reading the story too, now, and enjoy the small funny scenes like the awful names that came up on the calendar page on Akakyj's day of birth (it was the habit then, to choose one of the day's saints as first name for children) and the fume in Petrovich's kitchen, that was so thick that one could not see even the cockroaches.

What strikes me is how playful Gogol's tone is as he describes this very pathetic story. Almost cartoonish. This is some biting social satire, I think. Like Gogol is condemning not just a particular part of society, but the entire society. Akakii gets kicked by everyone.

Trisha wrote: "That’s interesting, Peter - thank you. Some people call military coats “greatcoats”, though I think this may be a more old-fashioned term that isn’t used very often now."

Oh we still use that term, my former husband had a lovely greatcoat he was very proud of.

I listened to this story last night and really enjoyed it. I particularly enjoyed all the little moments of humor found in this sad story.