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monazaneefer's review
1.0
It's not one-star because it's poor, it's one-star because I don't get the hype. I guess it's not my kind of read. It does feel like Russian literature in a gist but I don't get why it's so iconic. Or maybe I prefer reading about Russian literature than actually reading Russian literature.
However, when reading the first 2 pages, I realised that every paragraph furthered your understanding of the character which was pretty cool but once I switched to an audio narration, I lost track of that so there's that.
heremorzsoloo's review
1.0
I get that this was written really long age but omg this is the definition og go girl give us nothing.
Poor man probably never had a happy day in his life and boom! more suffering. I would understand that if it had a point, and im sure there is one really really deep down but i cant see it. Or I'm just stupid.
And it was pretty short and still, I coudnt read it in one sitting :(. If your dying to read something from Gogol just read the nose, and go from there.
Poor man probably never had a happy day in his life and boom! more suffering. I would understand that if it had a point, and im sure there is one really really deep down but i cant see it. Or I'm just stupid.
And it was pretty short and still, I coudnt read it in one sitting :(. If your dying to read something from Gogol just read the nose, and go from there.
staplerscissors's review
4.0
Everyone deserves happiness, even the lowly civil servant. And if you don't help the underdog, the underdog is gonna rise up and grab you by the collar.
janus21's review
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
artemiszthegutter's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
nelo7's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
cherryobscura's review
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
wintrovia's review
4.0
This is a story about a lowly government official that saves up for a new coat. Once he gets the new coat he suffers a couple of unfortunate events which have a knock on effect on his health.
It sounds pretty dull doesn’t it? It’s not. Or at least the richness of the writing seems to be able celebrate the ordinariness of the characters and the everyday nature of the story. The vivid descriptions of historic St. Petersberg are oddly satisfying and make this very short book a pleasure to read.
There were two things that really struck me about the difference between the time of the novel’s setting and the present time. Firstly, it takes the main character many months to scrape together the money for a cheap new coat. It’s quite possible to buy one for the equivalent of a few hours work even in a poorly paid job, whereas it took the protagonist many month’s wages. Secondly his job was to copy out letters, which is has been replaced several times over by technological advances.
I’ve not read anything by Gogol before this book but I can see comparisons in his work with Dostoevsky, Chekhov and, to a lesser extent, Tolstoy. It’s not exactly hilarious but there were quite a few observations or asides which made me smile, and I think that a dark humour runs through the story.
It’s hard to give such a short story five stars because there’s not a great deal that happens but it was an enjoyable read and I’m glad I read it.
It sounds pretty dull doesn’t it? It’s not. Or at least the richness of the writing seems to be able celebrate the ordinariness of the characters and the everyday nature of the story. The vivid descriptions of historic St. Petersberg are oddly satisfying and make this very short book a pleasure to read.
There were two things that really struck me about the difference between the time of the novel’s setting and the present time. Firstly, it takes the main character many months to scrape together the money for a cheap new coat. It’s quite possible to buy one for the equivalent of a few hours work even in a poorly paid job, whereas it took the protagonist many month’s wages. Secondly his job was to copy out letters, which is has been replaced several times over by technological advances.
I’ve not read anything by Gogol before this book but I can see comparisons in his work with Dostoevsky, Chekhov and, to a lesser extent, Tolstoy. It’s not exactly hilarious but there were quite a few observations or asides which made me smile, and I think that a dark humour runs through the story.
It’s hard to give such a short story five stars because there’s not a great deal that happens but it was an enjoyable read and I’m glad I read it.
selia_'s review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0