Central Library

“We all came out of Gogol’s ‘Overcoat’,” the most famous apocryphal saying of Russian literature, is sometimes attributed to Dostoyevsky or to Turgenev. The Overcoat is a short story by the Russian author Nikolai Gogol, translated by Samer Samir Karrum and published by the Al-Kamel Publishing House (Cologne: 2017). The story and its author have had great influence on Russian literature. It is the greatest Russian short story ever written. The story narrates the life and death of Akaky, an impoverished government clerk and copyist in the Russian capital. He is dedicated to his job, though little recognized in his department for his hard work. He is abused and bullied in his office for his simplicity, honesty, innocence and passion for work. His threadbare overcoat is often the target of the jokes of the younger clerks. He decides it is necessary to have his overcoat repaired but unfortunately it is irreparable and he cannot afford to buy a new one, so he forces himself to save some money to buy a new one. While he is returning home from the office, two ruffians confront him and take his new overcoat by force, so he dies of despair and sadness. The story is a rebellion cry to demand justice and fairness for the poor and the marginalized by unleashing a terrifying ghost who steals coats of the oppressors. Gogol tries to attack then Russian bureaucracy in particular, and bureaucratic weaknesses of any place of any time in general. The Overcoat is a strong satire against faults of administrative systems and its staff in then Russia.Sarab Abdulsattar Al-ShahiriGovernor’s Services AdvisorNineveh Governorate Office#Share_your_Readings