Nikolai Gogol, Shinel' [The Overcoat]

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When the third volume of

Sochineniia Nikolaia Gogolia

[

Works of Nikolai Gogol

], dated 1842, was finally published, after a delay caused by the censor, in 1843, it included a new story. Begun in 1839, it was entitled

Shinel’

, (normally translated as

The Overcoat

, but sometimes as

The Greatcoat

or

The Cloak

) and initially attracted little attention. Even the critic Vissarion Belinsky, who had hailed Gogol as the exponent of a new type of literature, only mentions the work

en passant

. Like three stories published in 1835 –

Nevskii Prospekt

[

Nevsky Prospect

],

Zapiski sumasshedshego

[

Notes

(or

Diary

) of

a Madman

], and

Portret

[

The Portrait

], and one,

Nos

[

The Nose

] published in 1836 – it is set in St Petersburg and, indeed, is often published as one of the

Peterburgskie povesti

[

2115 words

Citation: Pursglove, Michael. "Shinel'". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 April 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=23220, accessed 25 November 2024.]

23220 Shinel' 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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