Title: Dead Souls

Author: Nikolai Gogol

Genre: Classic Literature

Publisher: Vintage Classics  

Format: Paperback

Pages: 402

Rating: 4/5 stars

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Since its publication in 1842, Dead Souls has been celebrated as a supremely realistic portrait of provincial Russian life and as a splendidly exaggerated tale; as a paean to the Russian spirit and as a remorseless satire of imperial Russian venality, vulgarity, and pomp. As Gogol’s wily antihero, Chichikov, combs the back country wheeling and dealing for “dead souls”–deceased serfs who still represent money to anyone sharp enough to trade in them–we are introduced to a Dickensian cast of peasants, landowners, and conniving petty officials, few of whom can resist the seductive illogic of Chichikov’s proposition. This lively, idiomatic English version by the award-winning translators Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky makes accessible the full extent of the novel’s lyricism, sulphurous humor, and delight in human oddity and error.

Review:

This book is a beautifully written adventure take of a Russian man who roams the countryside visiting estates! I enjoyed how this book gave us many insights into Russian life during the first part of the 19th century. Russia still had serfs at that time, which meant that they were bound to the land. They could be bought and sold, and their welfare was directly related to their master.

The main character, Chichikov, is a mysterious character, and you aren’t really sure what his intentions are until a bit in the book. He wants to buy dead souls- that is, dead peasants/serfs. Why? Well that remains a mystery until the second half, when a bunch of people theorize why on earth he would want dead souls.

The book is missing parts of the manuscript, and the ending was lost because the author threw it in a fire. But I enjoyed the look into Russian life, from the perspective of a Russian living at that time, and I would definitely recommend if you like classics!

Happy Reading Bookworms!