Nikolai Gogol Playlist: th-cam.com/video/JuQl7MtZdJk/w-d-xo.html Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/thecodexcantina TABLE OF CONTENTS: 0:00 Introductions 0:37 Publication Info 2:06 Plot Summary 4:41 Analysis 22:04 Wrap up and Ratings
WOW guys, this one gets a 10 from me! I think it's tied with The Queen of Spades for me, for favorite Russian short stories. (What a week! Two new favorite short stories!! Haha) It would be amazing to see a performance of this. Lmk if you ever run into a good one, Una. I think you'll really like E.T.A. Hoffman if you ever get a chance to check out his short stories. He uses a lot of surreal/supernatural elements in his stories and Dostoevsky's whole crowd was enraptured by him before Gogol came around. I have to wonder if Gogol was influenced by Hoffman, as well... I apologize for recommending so many short stories to you 😂 I know you can't read them all, but thankfully you already knew abour several of them! Thank you for interpreting the ending!!! I was so confused! Wonderful job, as always.
Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Space please don’t ever stop recommending stories! This is one of the greatest stories of all time. Really should be more popular
A very complex story. Gogol's description of St. Petersburg is quite significant, too - it is almost like a separate character (not only in this story, but also in Russian literature as a whole). My favorite quote was "the wind, as its way is in St. Petersburg, blew upon him from all points of the compass and from every side street". Having lived in this city, I can confirm that this is very typical 😄 Gogol was definitely a genius, and there are so many layers to this story. Thanks for sharing your point of view!
Nice discussion of this fabulous work, I really liked it. Regarding Akaky Akakievich’s name, you are quite correct. If you remember that a Russian’s middle name (patronymic) is taken from the father (for example, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy means ‘Lev, son of Nikolai, Tolstoy), you can appreciate that a Russian reading his name gets a sense of something like “Poopy, son of poop, the downtrodden”. Indeed, his name even reverberates when he dies in the story. His death is described in two words: ispustil dukh. While this a literary way of saying something like ‘he took his last breath,’ the phrase actually means something closer to ‘let out wind’, which is quite appropriate for somebody called Akaky Akakievich… Incidentally, regarding the table of ranks, it’s important to note, I think, that civil servants would aspire to reach at least level eight (Collegiate Assessor) because this came with hereditary nobility. All the ranks had military equivalents, so civil servants at the upper end of the table would often refer to themselves by their military equivalents, such as ‘general,’ despite not serving in the military because it sounded more impressive. I know that you mentioned that you will be looking at Gogol’s The Nose at some time in the future, and I am looing forward to seeing your take on it (I can’t imagine Kafka ever writing his masterful Metamorphosis without the influence of The Nose). Of Gogol’s Petersburg stories, probably the easiest for a contemporary reader is Diary of a Madman. If you haven’t read it, I would urge you to do so (it’s somewhat shorter than The Overcoat and much, much funnier, but with the pathos that runs throughout the Petersburg tales, a phenomenon the Russians refer to as ‘laughter through tears’). Thanks again for your efforts!
David Sheridan ahahaha. That “let out wind” is hilarious! Thanks for sharing and adding some more info. I think I have Diary scheduled in 2021. We’re doing “The Nose” in November. I’m looking forward to them :)
This one sounds really good. I've never heard it , but the Russian theme of using a blizzard as a symbol representing inescapable fate is suuuper vivid and powerful. *and potentially tragic* I love when you guys are able to point out the literary techniques used to "hide" even more meaning into these texts.
I'm so happy ya'll made this. My Studies in Fiction Prof. posted a link that was to one of those unnatural mechanical voiced videos. It was just awful, and this...this is great.
Boy oh boy . I loved this story ...the light touch humour that never strays into cruelty , breaking the fourth wall with asides , the pathos and the mysterious revenge at the end .
@@TheCodeXCantina not deliberately this year as I'm committed to #invisiblecitiesproject where we're reading translated fiction from three countries a month . So far I've read 3 books from each country, each month .... But I picked Gogol as Ukraine remains in the Euros for now ....and a group of us are in a sort of literary sweepstake via @ReadingwithElvis...well, you did ask ....!
Fantastic analysis of a fantastic story! The puns in Arkaky are killer. I agree with the references on how Russian culture became more materialistic but also continued to exclude an enormous amount of the population, and this story doesn’t even get into the peasants or serfs. Do you think that the various hauntings at the end are Arkaky’s way of “going up the appropriate channels”? The story is a real sine wave: low start, peak on the new cloak, brought low again, and then the haunting! Great work on this. Best, Jack
I hadn't thought about who he haunts and whether that is going up the right channels. I'd have to re-read and look at that again and that's very interesting.
Watch 1959 Russian movie directed by Batalov. It’s amazing and almost reminds me of phantasmagoria that we would later see in Tim Burton and Wes Anderson
watched namesake for one of my favorite classes so far in college, ethics and contemporary issues of immigration, and read it because of the line “we all came from gogol’s overcoat” I’m glad for even a short time, he had fire in his eyes, and got his revenge
Thank you guys for digging into one of my favorite stories of all time. My personal take on this story is simply how tragedy lies behind even something as innocent as getting a new coat.
Yes but we’re on a backlog working through Patreon requests first. Right now you can check out our friend Jack’s video on it: th-cam.com/video/JBxgmN3Miq4/w-d-xo.html
I disagree with your opinion at the end. I don't think you have to know a lot about Russian class system. I think this is the beauty of the story... EVERYONE (except Donald trump and his ilk) can identify with AA just as a person not just because he is of a Lower class in Russia. Every country has poor people and characters like AA
Nikolai Gogol Playlist: th-cam.com/video/JuQl7MtZdJk/w-d-xo.html
Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/thecodexcantina
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
0:00 Introductions
0:37 Publication Info
2:06 Plot Summary
4:41 Analysis
22:04 Wrap up and Ratings
Thanks for watching!
WOW guys, this one gets a 10 from me! I think it's tied with The Queen of Spades for me, for favorite Russian short stories. (What a week! Two new favorite short stories!! Haha) It would be amazing to see a performance of this. Lmk if you ever run into a good one, Una.
I think you'll really like E.T.A. Hoffman if you ever get a chance to check out his short stories. He uses a lot of surreal/supernatural elements in his stories and Dostoevsky's whole crowd was enraptured by him before Gogol came around. I have to wonder if Gogol was influenced by Hoffman, as well...
I apologize for recommending so many short stories to you 😂 I know you can't read them all, but thankfully you already knew abour several of them!
Thank you for interpreting the ending!!! I was so confused!
Wonderful job, as always.
Christy Luis - Dostoevsky in Space please don’t ever stop recommending stories! This is one of the greatest stories of all time. Really should be more popular
A very complex story. Gogol's description of St. Petersburg is quite significant, too - it is almost like a separate character (not only in this story, but also in Russian literature as a whole). My favorite quote was "the wind, as its way is in St. Petersburg, blew upon him from all points of the compass and from every side street". Having lived in this city, I can confirm that this is very typical 😄 Gogol was definitely a genius, and there are so many layers to this story. Thanks for sharing your point of view!
Nice discussion of this fabulous work, I really liked it.
Regarding Akaky Akakievich’s name, you are quite correct. If you remember that a Russian’s middle name (patronymic) is taken from the father (for example, Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy means ‘Lev, son of Nikolai, Tolstoy), you can appreciate that a Russian reading his name gets a sense of something like “Poopy, son of poop, the downtrodden”. Indeed, his name even reverberates when he dies in the story. His death is described in two words: ispustil dukh. While this a literary way of saying something like ‘he took his last breath,’ the phrase actually means something closer to ‘let out wind’, which is quite appropriate for somebody called Akaky Akakievich…
Incidentally, regarding the table of ranks, it’s important to note, I think, that civil servants would aspire to reach at least level eight (Collegiate Assessor) because this came with hereditary nobility. All the ranks had military equivalents, so civil servants at the upper end of the table would often refer to themselves by their military equivalents, such as ‘general,’ despite not serving in the military because it sounded more impressive.
I know that you mentioned that you will be looking at Gogol’s The Nose at some time in the future, and I am looing forward to seeing your take on it (I can’t imagine Kafka ever writing his masterful Metamorphosis without the influence of The Nose). Of Gogol’s Petersburg stories, probably the easiest for a contemporary reader is Diary of a Madman. If you haven’t read it, I would urge you to do so (it’s somewhat shorter than The Overcoat and much, much funnier, but with the pathos that runs throughout the Petersburg tales, a phenomenon the Russians refer to as ‘laughter through tears’).
Thanks again for your efforts!
David Sheridan ahahaha. That “let out wind” is hilarious! Thanks for sharing and adding some more info. I think I have Diary scheduled in 2021. We’re doing “The Nose” in November. I’m looking forward to them :)
This one sounds really good. I've never heard it , but the Russian theme of using a blizzard as a symbol representing inescapable fate is suuuper vivid and powerful. *and potentially tragic* I love when you guys are able to point out the literary techniques used to "hide" even more meaning into these texts.
One of the best stories out there. I really, really like it obviously. I hope you get to it some day :D
I'm so happy ya'll made this. My Studies in Fiction Prof. posted a link that was to one of those unnatural mechanical voiced videos. It was just awful, and this...this is great.
If that ever happens where I need one, I'll know to retire from youtube. Cheers.
I read the nose and then read this after hearing you mention it in your nose review. Thanks so much for recommendation and great work
Easy job to recommend Gogol. Glad you enjoyed
I'm taking Russian Literature in college right now and this was extremely helpful! Thanks guys!
Glad it was helpful!
Boy oh boy . I loved this story ...the light touch humour that never strays into cruelty , breaking the fourth wall with asides , the pathos and the mysterious revenge at the end .
Gogol is so enjoyable. Are you be going through his works?
@@TheCodeXCantina not deliberately this year as I'm committed to #invisiblecitiesproject where we're reading translated fiction from three countries a month . So far I've read 3 books from each country, each month .... But I picked Gogol as Ukraine remains in the Euros for now ....and a group of us are in a sort of literary sweepstake via @ReadingwithElvis...well, you did ask ....!
Thanks gents... enjoyed the breakdown of that great Gogol story
Fantastic analysis of a fantastic story! The puns in Arkaky are killer.
I agree with the references on how Russian culture became more materialistic but also continued to exclude an enormous amount of the population, and this story doesn’t even get into the peasants or serfs.
Do you think that the various hauntings at the end are Arkaky’s way of “going up the appropriate channels”? The story is a real sine wave: low start, peak on the new cloak, brought low again, and then the haunting!
Great work on this.
Best, Jack
I hadn't thought about who he haunts and whether that is going up the right channels. I'd have to re-read and look at that again and that's very interesting.
Messi and Godin really took a complex novel into another level
Thanks for the Introduction!! I will read it again now :)
I hope you enjoy
You guys are awesome, I'd like to see your channel have 1 million subscribers
Thanks!
Watch 1959 Russian movie directed by Batalov. It’s amazing and almost reminds me of phantasmagoria that we would later see in Tim Burton and Wes Anderson
Thanks so much for the review. I watched the movie Namasake which brought me here. The name Gogol makes a lot more sense and relevance to me now.
Thanks
Awesome dive into this story guys. I enjoyed Learning about this story
Thank you!
Couldn't give it the 10...also near the end you guys had me thinking about Snowpiercer hard core.
Next Monday... I think we have the first Una "10" for a short story! :D
Lovely discussion
Thanks
I'm not sure but maybe he also uses a ghost since ghosts are often portrayed being covered By a sheet or a cloak.
Saw the movie 'Namesake.. which brought me here..how do we come out of Gogol's overcoat ..
I haven't seen the movie. I'll have to keep an eye out for it
Me too! Good that the movie pulled me in listening to the audiobook on librivox, and then I came here to understand it more.
watched namesake for one of my favorite classes so far in college, ethics and contemporary issues of immigration, and read it because of the line “we all came from gogol’s overcoat” I’m glad for even a short time, he had fire in his eyes, and got his revenge
Gogol is actually Ukrainian, he just wrote mostly in russian language
Thank you guys for digging into one of my favorite stories of all time. My personal take on this story is simply how tragedy lies behind even something as innocent as getting a new coat.
Great point! Thanks for sharing and our pleasure. It is one of our favorites too!
Great Breakdown. Makes me think of Professor Poopypants.
Miiiiister Poopypants 😂
Can you do bezhin mea from a Hunter's Sketches by Ivan Turgenev. The entire collection is fantastic but this story is brilliantly narrated
Yes but we’re on a backlog working through Patreon requests first. Right now you can check out our friend Jack’s video on it: th-cam.com/video/JBxgmN3Miq4/w-d-xo.html
@@TheCodeXCantina hey checked it out. Thanks for the recommendation. Eagerly and hopefully waiting for yours in the near future
❤️❤️
One of the greats - you guys should check out Nikolai Leskov if you want a 19th C Russian author to really dig into
Also looking at your other videos you’ve looked at Turgenev - will check out!
Thanks for the recommendation!
We've loved what we've seen so far for the most part.
@@TheCodeXCantina welcome. Singlemind or Deathless Golovan might be of interest
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Leskov was amazing.
If there was nothing else I learned today, at least I learned what the Russian word is for poop.
😂
RIP poop poopson fr
😂
I disagree with your opinion at the end. I don't think you have to know a lot about Russian class system. I think this is the beauty of the story... EVERYONE (except Donald trump and his ilk) can identify with AA just as a person not just because he is of a Lower class in Russia. Every country has poor people and characters like AA
Agreed. FYI it’s always Una who uses the social media accounts.
-Una