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The overcoat and other short stories
103 pages
A tragicomic descent into the absurdities of society, where a lost nose or a ruined coat can entirely unravel a life.
What it feels like
Reading this collection feels like wandering through a surreal, snow-dusted St. Petersburg where the mundane and the impossible constantly collide. The pace is steady, guided by a narrator who loves a winding digression as much as a sharp satirical jab. You are immersed in a world of petty bureaucrats, absurd social ladders, and crushing poverty, yet the atmosphere is surprisingly buoyant, buoyed by a wry, tragicomic tone. The stories pivot seamlessly from laugh-out-loud absurdity to profound, lingering melancholy, leaving you with a haunting sense of existential dread. It is a perfect match for readers who delight in dark humor, surrealism, and the quiet tragedies of ordinary people crushed by indifferent systems.
- Mood
- surreal
- melancholic
- wintry
- claustrophobic
- Tone
- satirical
- absurd
- tragicomic
- wry
- digressive
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- crushing bureaucracy · social alienation · absurdity of existence · petty grievances · loss of identity
- The writing
- Digressive and richly textured, blending colloquial storytelling with biting satirical observation.
- The arc
- Begins with sharp, absurd comedy and slowly descends into a haunting, existential melancholy.
- Who it's for
- Lovers of dark humor and surrealism who enjoy watching the mundane unravel into the bizarre.
Content notes
- poverty
- bullying
- death
About the book
Four works by great 19th-century Russian author: "The Nose," a savage satire of Russia's incompetent bureaucrats and its snobbish and complacent upper classes; "Old-Fashioned Farmers," a pleasant depiction of an elderly couple living in rustic seclusion; "The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarrelled with Ivan Nikiforovich," one of Gogol's most famous comic stories; and "The Overcoat," widely considered a masterpiece of form.
Description from Open Library.
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