Dead Souls
Description of book
Gogol’s great Russian classic is the Pickwick Papers of Russian Literature. It takes a sharp but humorous look at life in all its strata, but especially the devious complexities in Russia with its landowners and serfs. We are introduced to Tchitchikov, a businessman who, in order to trick the tax authorities, buys up dead ‘souls’ or serfs whose names still appear on the government census. Despite being a dealer in phantom crimes and paper ghosts, he is the most beguiling of Gogol’s characters. Gogol’s obsession with attempting to display ‘the untold riches of the Russian soul’ eventually led him to madness, religious mania and death. Dismissed by him as merely ‘a pale introduction to the great epic poem which is taking shape in my mind’, Dead Souls is the culmination of Gogol’s genius.
Ratings & reviews
3.7
★★★☆☆10 ratings
Funny
4.5
★★★★☆10 ratings
- For a masterpiece it is rather unfinished, with interruptions in the text. It clearly displays the corruption in the Russian empire of the 19th century. Corruption that characterizes the crumbling Russian Empire even today.
Fredrik
Book★4
Narration★5
Julia
Book★4
Funny
Narration★5
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