flo's Reviews > The Overcoat

My first contact with Gogol, and certainly not my last.
This little book tells the story of Akakiy Akakievitch, a certain official in a certain department where nobody showed him any sign of respect, being mocked by his coworkers. I believe that must be one of the worst things that may happen to a human being: realising that high school did not end (it doesn't bring back good memories to many people). The bullying, the bad jokes, the embarrassing moments that make you gently ask the ground to eat you alive, the psychological and emotional harm, all of that now at your workplace? You have to love the irony.

The Overcoat is, well, a story about an overcoat. It seems to have more importance than Akakiy himself, the responsible guy with the unfortunate name. That's another thing: mothers, what are you thinking about when you give your children ridiculous names? Please, spare them a lot of trouble, save yourselves a lot of money in psychologists and start naming your kids properly. I don't know why they don't change their own name into some fruit, weird magicians, comic superheroes, cars, cardinal points or anything else they seem to love. Especially you, celebrity people who don't know I exist and won't read this in your entire life.
Rant officially over. (If you search for "Akakiy Akakievitch", you'll understand. I had to do that because I wanted to know why the author spent several lines explaining how he got his name and, of course, I don't speak Russian.)

As I was saying, this book is about (view spoiler)[a man who was constantly humiliated at work and his ruined overcoat, which he wanted to repair because of the cold, cold winter and the bad, bad jokes. So he decided to buy a new one, and after living under a tight budget, he managed to do so. And suddenly, he became a respectable man. That laughable poor devil who always endured those hideous jokes and never replied to anyone was now an important member in his department; of society, even. His brand new overcoat gave him confidence, some self-esteem. People organised a party in his honour—to be fair, in the overcoat's honour but still, it was a big deal. (hide spoiler)] And then something happened...

I loved this short story; it contains some beautiful and heartfelt lines...

...and many a time afterwards, in the course of his life, shuddered at seeing how much inhumanity there is in man, how much savage coarseness is concealed beneath delicate, refined worldliness, and even, O God! in that man whom the world acknowledges as honorable and noble.

...that reflect society, then and now. Everything seems to change but the most significant things don't change that much. That's one of the reasons I love literature. Books written hundreds of years ago talking about situations, attitudes, emotions, ways of thinking that we still see, experience and feel nowadays. The responses of the general population towards routine, overbearing bureaucracy, discrimination, injustice, exploitation or alienation haven't changed so much throughout history. Not all writers have what it takes to explore these universal emotions and write something you can immediately relate to. But Gogol seems to be one of them. He had that keen eye meant to observe individuals and humanity as a whole and could write about it so vividly (I could totally see my previous boss in some passages).

Gogol's influence on Russian literature is unquestionable. Dostoyevsky, Bulgakov, even Kafka, so my favourite authors are all connected here.
The Overcoat is a short story that speaks volumes. Do not miss it.



Sep 7, 2013
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