The Overcoat

"The Overcoat" (, translit. Shinyél’; sometimes translated as "The Cloak") is a short story by Nikolai Gogol, published in 1842. The story has had a great influence on Russian literature. Eugène-Melchior de Vogüé, discussing Russian realist writers, said: "We all came out from under Gogol's Overcoat" (a quote often misattributed to Dostoevsky). Writing in 1941, Vladimir Nabokov described "The Overcoat" as "The greatest Russian short story ever written".
The story narrates the life and death of titular councillor Akaky Akakievich Bashmachkin... meer