I love Gogol!

Having read several Russian authors who came after him I understand now where some of their capacity of the wondrous stems from. In fact as, mentioned in the introduction, Dostoyevsky once said: "We have all come from under The Overcoat."

It is this particular story for me which should have lent its name to the title of this collection. Again, in the introduction, the translator Ronald Wilks acknowledges that The Overcoat is probably one of the best short stories ever written. I can only agree.

There is such playfulness in the simplicity of Gogol's style, weaved into beautiful satire and abstraction.

For anyone with even a passing interest in 19th century Russian literature, start here... ( )

The eponymous story in this collection, justly celebrated and turned into a successful stage piece, acts as a wonderful anchor to the book, with its intriguing description of the gradations between normality and lunacy . It is followed by "The nose", also frequently anthologized, which centers around the proto-Kafkaesque premise of a man's search for his runaway nose. After that the stories become pretty average; they concentrate on trenchant criticism of Russian society and bureaucracy of the day, and as such are reminiscent of the stories his contemporaries in France were producing at this time. They are mildly interesting, but rather academic two centuries later, and perhaps rather more to be appreciated than enjoyed. ( )

A generally good collection of short stories:

Diary of a Madman - hilariously funny at first, but more tragic at the end as the narrator's insanity comes into full force.

The Nose - ridiculous, yet somehow charmingly funny. This is usually reckoned to be his short story masterpiece, but I prefer Diary and Overcoat.

The Overcoat - another funny story, but with a sad and pathetic end

How Ivan Ivanovich quarelled with Ivan Nikiforovich - some amusing dialogue between two friends who fall out, but otherwise rather tiresome and overlong.

Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and his Aunt - mildly amusing but inconsequential ( )

Includes famous stories "The Overcoat" and "The Nose." ( )