First published 2017
Akaky Akakievich labors as a lowly copying clerk in a government office, earning barely enough to survive in St. Petersburg's harsh winter. His threadbare overcoat provides no protection against the bitter cold, and his colleagues mock his shabby appearance and stammering speech. When Akaky finally saves enough money for a new coat, it transforms his life briefly before thieves steal it on a dark street. His desperate appeals to officials for help meet only indifference and bureaucratic cruelty. The collection includes Pushkin's "The Queen of Spades," which follows traditional romantic conventions, but Gogol's "The Cloak" breaks new ground. Where Pushkin's tale could belong to any literature, Gogol creates something distinctly Russian through his deep compassion for the powerless and dispossessed. His story captures the suffering of ordinary people crushed by an indifferent system, establishing the foundation for the realistic fiction that would flourish in later Russian masters.
Genres: fiction, 20th-century, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, underdog
Setting: Russia, Saint Petersburg
Period: 19th Century
256 pages · Hardcover · Ancient Wisdom Publications