The overcoat pdf download

The day he receives the coat is the happiest day of his life. However, a turn of events leads to the sudden loss of his coat, and shortly thereafter, of his own life. After his death, Akaky returns as a ghost to haunt St. Petersburg for a time, stealing coats, and in particular the coat of a general who had refused to help Akaky.

In the department of — but it is better not to mention the department. There is nothing more irritable than departments, regiments, courts of justice, and, in a word, every branch of public service. Each individual attached to them nowadays thinks all society insulted in his person. Therefore, in order to avoid all unpleasantness, it will be better to describe the department in question only as a certain department.

So, in a certain department there was a certain official — not a very high one, it must be allowed — short of stature, somewhat pock-marked, red-haired, and short-sighted, with a bald forehead, wrinkled cheeks, and a complexion of the kind known as sanguine.

The St. Petersburg climate was responsible for this. As for his official status, he was what is called a perpetual titular councillor, over which, as is well known, some writers make merry, and crack their jokes, obeying the praiseworthy custom of attacking those who cannot bite back.

It is not necessary to say much about this tailor; but, as it is the custom to have the character of each personage in a novel clearly defined, there is no help for it, so here is Petrovitch the tailor. At first he was called only Grigoriy, and was some gentleman's serf; he commenced calling himself Petrovitch from the time when he received his free papers, and further began to drink heavily on all holidays, at first on the great ones, and then on all church festivities without discrimination, wherever a cross stood in the calendar.

As a novel-writer and a dramatist, Gogol appears to me to deserve a minute study, and if the knowledge of Russian were more widely spread, he could not fail to obtain in Europe a reputation equal to that of the best English humorists. A delicate and close observer, quick to detect the absurd, bold in exposing, but inclined to push his fun too far, Gogol is in the first place a very lively satirist.

This is a weapon which is too severe to use against the merely absurd, and on the other hand it is not sharp enough for the punishment of crime; and it is against crime that Gogol too often uses it. His comic vein is always too near the farcical, and his mirth is hardly contagious. If sometimes he makes his reader laugh, he still leaves in his mind a feeling of bitterness and indignation; his satires do not avenge society, they only make it angry.

As a painter of manners, Gogol excels in familiar scenes. He is akin to Teniers and Callot. We feel as though we had seen and lived with his characters, for he shows us their eccentricities, their nervous habits, their slightest gestures. One lisps, another mispronounces his words, and a third hisses because he has lost a front tooth.

Unfortunately Gogol is so absorbed in this minute study of details that he too often forgets to subordinate them to the main action of the story.

It is the story of a sincere young clerk who makes great sacrifices to attain an "overcoat" of untold value and power. Representing the mighty bureaucracy, Akaky dies of a broken heart when his beloved smart coat is stolen. The story takes an interesting turn when he returns for his coat from the buyer. This story symbolizes the reprisal of lower class against the dominance of the ruling class. A prize-winning collection of vivid, accessible stories.

These fresh, contemporary stories can be read purely for the immense pleasure they offer. However, the stories can also be read for the way they explore elements from earlier works: from Maori myth and fairy tale to masterpieces by writers such as Katherine Mansfield, James Joyce and Anton Chekov. As the award-winning author says, those stories 'touched me deeply and I can recall their substance without hesitation'.

Using them for inspiration, she also explores their concerns of dignity, honesty, bravery, weakness and passion. Their stylishness marks a new departure in contemporary short story writing, her weaving of new and vibrant stories on to concepts that began with the great masters of old is high-wire risk taking that succeeds magnificently.

I admire these stories immensely: by turn tender, sly, comic, and always deeply informed about the ways of the human heart. Using, or rather mimicking, traditional forms of storytelling Gogol created stories that are complete within themselves and only tangentially connected to a meaning or moral. His work belongs to the school of invention, where each twist and turn of the narrative is a surprise unfettered by obligation to an overarching theme.

Selected from Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, Mirgorod, and the Petersburg tales and arranged in order of composition, the thirteen stories in The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogolencompass the breadth of Gogol's literary achievement. This translation, by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky, is as vigorous and darkly funny as the original Russian. It allows readers to experience anew the unmistakable genius of a writer who paved the way for Dostevsky and Kafka.

Unlock the more straightforward side of The Overcoat with this concise and insightful summary and analysis! This engaging summary presents an analysis of The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol, a short story about a low-level bureaucrat called Akakii Akakievich, who realises that he needs a new overcoat and whose mundane life is transformed by his newfound obsession with this goal.

This tale also serves as a scathing critique of the poverty, social climbing, incompetent bureaucracy and materialism that was rife in Russian society during the 19th century. Gogol is considered a pioneer of literary realism and more than films have been made that are based on his work. Find out everything you need to know about The Overcoat in a fraction of the time! Available in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you on your reading journey.

The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time. See the very best of literature in a whole new light with BrightSummaries. We do not guarantee that these techniques will work for you. Some of the techniques listed in The Overcoat and Other Short Stories may require a sound knowledge of Hypnosis, users are advised to either leave those sections or must have a basic understanding of the subject before practicing them.

DMCA and Copyright : The book is not hosted on our servers, to remove the file please contact the source url. If you see a Google Drive link instead of source url, means that the file witch you will get after approval is just a summary of original book or the file has been already removed.

Loved each and every part of this book. I will definitely recommend this book to short stories, classics lovers. Your Rating:. Your Comment:. Add a review Your Rating: Your Comment:.