Volume 21, Number 6 · April 18, 1974
Under the Overcoat
By Alex de Jonge
Divided Soul: The Life of Gogol
by Henri Troyat, translated by Nancy Amphoux
Doubleday, 489 pp., $12.95
'We all came out of Gogol's 'Overcoat,'' the most famous apocryphal saying of Russian literature, is attributed to Dostoevsky. It suggests not only that Gogol was the great source of the Russian novel but that his works lent themselves to a wide enough range of interpretations for his overcoat to shelter, comfortably, future Turgenevs, Chekhovs, Dostoevskys, and Tolstoys. The capacity to influence so many different writers is also reflected in the range and eccentricity of Gogol criticism, which includes flat, solemn analyses by Soviet writers as well as hysterical eschatology by émigré mystics.
Review, 2546 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |