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Gogol was a strange creature, but then genius is always strange. (Vladimir Nabokov)"
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Chichikov, a mysterious stranger, arrives in the provincial town of 'N', visiting a succession of landowners and making each a strange offer. He proposes to buy the names of dead serfs still registered on the census, saving their owners from paying tax on them, and to use these 'souls' as collateral to re-invent himself as a gentleman. In this ebullient masterpiece, Gogol created a grotesque gallery of human types, from the bear-like Sobakevich to the insubstantial fool Manilov, and, above all, the devilish con man Chichikov. Dead Souls, Russia's first major novel, is one of the most unusual works of nineteenth-century fiction and a devastating satire on social hypocrisy.
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First Sentence
Through the gate of a hostelry in a provincial capital that will remain nameless rolled a small, rather handsome britska on springs, of the kind in which bachelors travel: retired lieutenant-colonels, staff-captains,1 landowners possessing a hundred or so peasant souls - in a word, all those who are known as gentlemen of the middling sort. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Through the gate of a hostelry in a provincial capital that will remain nameless rolled a small, rather handsome britska on springs, of the kind in which bachelors travel: retired lieutenant-colonels, staff-captains,1 landowners possessing a hundred or so peasant souls - in a word, all those who are known as gentlemen of the middling sort. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a deservedly famous book by a great but troubled author. 'Dead Souls' was in fact just the first novel in a planned trilogy, as Gogol went mad and died, having destroyed most of part two, before completing his grand plan.
What's left is a bizarre, unique and often amusing story about a man travelling through provincial Tsarist Russia, buying dead souls (ie serfs who had died but were still listed as alive), as part of a large scale con. The characters he encounters on his way are very memorable and brilliantly drawn, and the style teeters on the edge of absurdity without ever quite toppling over. Also included are tantalising fragments of the beginning of book two, but this novel stands on its own, and has the most wonderful, magical ending.
'Dead Souls' is well worth a read as it is an accessible classic of Russian literature without the heavy, doom laden psychology of Dostoyevsky or the vast panorama and cast of characters employed by Tolstoy. You will never read anything else like this one.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Gogol toppled into madness and died before he could finish this novel, and only the first book of the three is fully completed. The second he purportedly completed, before destroying in a moment of religious fanaticism. Consequently there is only about a third of what he apparently composed here, and a tiny fraction of his proposed third part.
I've long been a fan of Russian literature, and have recently been plodding through Lermontov and Turgenev, who are made to seem pale beside Gogol, although they are undoubtedly brilliant authors. 'Dead Souls' is more comic than many a Russian novel, and sits more in line with Dostoevsky in his more existential themes (there are big parallels with Kafka thematically too). I won't cover the plot of the novel here (others have already done that), but simply recommend this as one of the essential works of Russian literature. Tragically, one can only imagine how phenomenal the completed version would have been.
I've long been a fan of Russian literature, and have recently been plodding through Lermontov and Turgenev, who are made to seem pale beside Gogol, although they are undoubtedly brilliant authors. 'Dead Souls' is more comic than many a Russian novel, and sits more in line with Dostoevsky in his more existential themes (there are big parallels with Kafka thematically too). I won't cover the plot of the novel here (others have already done that), but simply recommend this as one of the essential works of Russian literature. Tragically, one can only imagine how phenomenal the completed version would have been.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"Dead souls" (1842) is a book written by an important Russian author, Nikolai Gogol, that criticizes the Russian society of his time by means of a well-told satire.
The main character of "Dead souls" is Chichikov, a man that wants to be rich, and turns into a con man in order to achieve that objective. His stratagem is simple, yet strange: he will buy "dead souls" from landowners, and then mortage them in order to earn a lot of money. That was possible because in pre 1861 Russia, landowners owned serfs ("souls") that helped to farm the land, and that could be bought, sold or mortgaged whenever the owners felt the need to do so. The "dead souls" were serfs that had already died, but that were still listed as living in property registers.
Will Chichikov be able to buy "dead souls" at a low price and then mortgage them, turning into a rich landowner? Or will his proposal seem so outlandish to others that he won't be able to convince them that he is not joking? You will find answers to those questions in this book, along with beautiful (albeit extremely long) descriptions of the Russian scenery.
All in all, I can say that I liked this book, even though some parts of the manuscript are missing, and you go from the middle of the story to the last chapter in a rush, without knowing exactly what happened. If you know that will happen (I didn't), and still want to read "Dead souls", go ahead. At 3.5 stars, it is worth your time :)
Belen Alcat
The main character of "Dead souls" is Chichikov, a man that wants to be rich, and turns into a con man in order to achieve that objective. His stratagem is simple, yet strange: he will buy "dead souls" from landowners, and then mortage them in order to earn a lot of money. That was possible because in pre 1861 Russia, landowners owned serfs ("souls") that helped to farm the land, and that could be bought, sold or mortgaged whenever the owners felt the need to do so. The "dead souls" were serfs that had already died, but that were still listed as living in property registers.
Will Chichikov be able to buy "dead souls" at a low price and then mortgage them, turning into a rich landowner? Or will his proposal seem so outlandish to others that he won't be able to convince them that he is not joking? You will find answers to those questions in this book, along with beautiful (albeit extremely long) descriptions of the Russian scenery.
All in all, I can say that I liked this book, even though some parts of the manuscript are missing, and you go from the middle of the story to the last chapter in a rush, without knowing exactly what happened. If you know that will happen (I didn't), and still want to read "Dead souls", go ahead. At 3.5 stars, it is worth your time :)
Belen Alcat
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A bizarre and fascinating journey across Russia
This is a tale like no other, told in a funny and witty manner. It tells of a Russian man by the name of Chichikov (referred to by Gogol as "our hero"), who travels from place to... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Will Dorey
...but a vivid, lively depiction of 19th Century Russian life.
Nikolai Gogol published "Dead Souls" in 1842. The novel is a rather sardonic portrait of the middle, and upper middle classes, primarily in the Russian countryside. Read more
Published 13 months ago by John P. Jones III
Unique
This is not a "fresh" review - I read it over a year ago.
Gogol - this book - is unique. There is no way to describe it, it is impossible to qualify, it is different to... Read more
Gogol - this book - is unique. There is no way to describe it, it is impossible to qualify, it is different to... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Knut
Wonderful
If you enjoy the haphazard chaos, tenuos plot-lines, general over-dramatisation and bizarre characters that make Russian literature so wonderful you will love this book. Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2009 by J. Harper
The First Great Rusian Novel?
Please note: this book is in 2 parts and the rating is for Part I only.
DS recounts the escapades of the rogue Chichikov. Read more
DS recounts the escapades of the rogue Chichikov. Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2009 by demola
Pre emancipation novel
Over the past year I have read many books from Russian authors, but Dead Souls is the first I have read from before the emancipation of the serfs in 1860s. Read more
Published on 19 Mar 2009 by I. M. Pryce
Awfull!
I know this is a classic. And I appreciate that it is a good look into/critique of Russian society in Gogol's day... Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2007 by Grand Dizer
Has a few flaws but manages to scrape four stars
Dead Souls is a good read with a plot that kept me reading. I was always hoping that the main character would succeed and avoid danger, but Gogol’s constant direct writing to... Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2006 by Kamerik
Frustratingly incomplete
Gogol’s ‘DS’ is a classic of Russian literature, often cited as being the archetype for the great novels of the nineteenth century. Read more
Published on 9 Feb 2006 by Depressaholic
A distinctively Russian classic
One of the finest works of Russian literature, Gogol's DEAD SOUL epitomizes Russian soul at its purest, funniest, finest, richest, dreaririest, most charming and most hopeless... Read more
Published on 19 July 2005 by James Rogers
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