A review by jemsizzleton
The Overcoat by Nikolai Gogol

5.0

How have I missed Gogol all this time? This story feels like a sturdy little classic and does one of my favorite things, which I also aspire to do, and that is take a playful approach to an otherwise dark premise. It had some totally darling feels to it, which is a weird way to describe a story, but I am doing it and mean it as a compliment. I picked this up because of it being referenced so many times in The Namesake. This isn’t really a book, so I will pick up the book of stories in November where I see a potential Russian-lit month being kicked off by this story. Characters have a sweet Nabokov-meets-Dickens-y vibe that I liked. I also thought of “Bartleby the Scrivener” toward the beginning, though that took a turn another way and while that could be someone’s term-paper, that is the end of that comparison for me as I haven’t read that in at least a decade (maybe it is time!).There are moments of humor that border on being slapstick, and judge me if you want, those were my faves! This is a pretty flaky review, but i was practically happy dancing while reading it . Plot and theme stuff is pretty simple and played straightforward, and also totally works. Any story where a ghost sneezes snuff is right up my alley.