Dead Souls (Everyman's Library Classics)
by Nikolai V. Gogol
published
September 2nd 2004
(first published 1842)
by Everyman's Library
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binding
Hardcover, 443 pages
isbn
1857152808
(isbn13: 9781857152807)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 2610)
Gogol's "Dead Souls" is a true masterpiece. It is the only Russian novel that I have read that brings me as much deep satisfaction as Dostoevsky’s great novels. The novel is satirical, intellectual, political, and also entertaining.
The intriguing plot is sketched as follows:
A somewhat mysterious middle class man, named Chichikov, comes to a town and attempts to build prestige by impressing minor officials of the place. The man spends beyond his means in order to impress, and...more
The intriguing plot is sketched as follows:
A somewhat mysterious middle class man, named Chichikov, comes to a town and attempts to build prestige by impressing minor officials of the place. The man spends beyond his means in order to impress, and...more
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Read in October, 2007
I didn't enjoy this novel nearly as much as I enjoyed Gogol's short stories. A couple of things...
1. Several times throughout, the text breaks off and a line is inserted that reads something like, "and here there are many pages missing..." and then the story picks back up in the middle of nowhere again. I didn't know that going in and it was a little confusing.
2. The first 100 pages are very funny and highly engrossing. Starting on about 150 there begins the most monotonous ...more
1. Several times throughout, the text breaks off and a line is inserted that reads something like, "and here there are many pages missing..." and then the story picks back up in the middle of nowhere again. I didn't know that going in and it was a little confusing.
2. The first 100 pages are very funny and highly engrossing. Starting on about 150 there begins the most monotonous ...more
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2 comments
Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
Joy Division
I love the fact that one of Russia's first real novels is, more than anything else, truly funny. Dead Souls, despite its grim title, is actually a send up of Russian society of the 1840's, just before serfdom was abolished.
Particular attention here is laid on class relations, including between peasants and petty gentry. Gogol actually apologizes repeatedly for paying attention to such lowly figures, and if you think that sounds like he's openly critical of his audience, you're pretty much righ...more
Particular attention here is laid on class relations, including between peasants and petty gentry. Gogol actually apologizes repeatedly for paying attention to such lowly figures, and if you think that sounds like he's openly critical of his audience, you're pretty much righ...more
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Read in February, 2008
Some have compared this book to the Divine Comedy. The main characters journey through early 19th century Russia. Dead Souls refers to serfs (slaves) that have died. In Russia, landowners had slaves that were counted decennial for the cenus. The landowners were taxed for these slaves, also referred to as souls, every year, even if they were dead. Chichikov, our "hero", develops a scheme to purchase these dead souls as if they were living. Therefore, relieving the burden from the landow...more
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Read in July, 1999
recommends it for:
everyone
Almost a decade has passed since I read Dead Souls and I still find occasion to tell the story and recommend the author. The hero of the story, Chichikov, is a poor man living in Empirial Russia. During the historical period in which the story occurs, wealth is measured in terms of a man's property, including the number of souls (or serfs) he owns. Our cunning hero travels the country relieving this landed gentry of the paperwork for their deceased and growing a notorious unreal- estate of his o...more
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As much as I hate to two-star Gogol, I must be honest with myself and admit that any book I can put down after 100 pages - with relief - and never return to again, can't rate much higher. I'm pleased that I gave it a shot, but ultimately, a wry contemplation of the status of the Russian serf just didn't do it for me. Funny in places, but sadly, a bore.
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Read in August, 2008
The writing is limp and uninspired, and the constant references to the author and reader are annoying. Perhaps I'd be kinder if I didn't know that the only aspect in its favor, its concept, was Pushkin's, so I can't say I "owe" it to Gogol to slog through his take on another (much greater) man's idea.
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4 comments
Read in September, 2008
First off, don't read the back of the book or a plot summary if you can avoid it. I think you'll get more from reading this without knowing what exactly is going on until the end.
The main character is a bit of a scoundrel. He's not exactly heroic, but he's clever and pretty likeable. The plot basically involves him engaging in some shady business transactions.
The characters are all a bit exaggerated and somewhat comical. While the author is taking some of their characteristics and be...more
The main character is a bit of a scoundrel. He's not exactly heroic, but he's clever and pretty likeable. The plot basically involves him engaging in some shady business transactions.
The characters are all a bit exaggerated and somewhat comical. While the author is taking some of their characteristics and be...more
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dead souls was a frantic, foreign rush of a read. at least at the beginning. i would say that parts two and three do not travel down the same high road laid out initially. parts two and three and preachy and moralistic. part one, however, part one is fun!
the book begins by following the heady travels of our hero, chichikov, as he quests after purchasing "dead souls"... i won't spoil the reason as to why they are the object of his quest. suffice to say that his soul isn't made of ...more
the book begins by following the heady travels of our hero, chichikov, as he quests after purchasing "dead souls"... i won't spoil the reason as to why they are the object of his quest. suffice to say that his soul isn't made of ...more
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Among the most outspoken of lovers of Russian literature, this is the work they seem to neglect the most. Why I don't know...
Dead Souls is largely considered the first, truly great Russian novel, and Gogol as the first truly Russian writer, perhaps rivaled by Pushkin, depending on your point of view. It ranks among the best classic novels I have read, and my quibbles with it are due entirely to taste. The book is highly lyrical, similiarly to Don Quixote (of which Gogol was a gread admire...more
Dead Souls is largely considered the first, truly great Russian novel, and Gogol as the first truly Russian writer, perhaps rivaled by Pushkin, depending on your point of view. It ranks among the best classic novels I have read, and my quibbles with it are due entirely to taste. The book is highly lyrical, similiarly to Don Quixote (of which Gogol was a gread admire...more
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Read in January, 2007
This book (part I - see below) was a very nice surprise for me - I was expecting it to be fairly tough to read but it was not. The book was very readable (if you don't mind the russian names) and very funny. Gogol presents wonderful characters throughout who are quirky and very russian. Don't let the title scare you - there is nothing at all grim or dark about this book.
I would caution readers a bit however. The book has a very interesting history and apparently Gogol burned the ms sev...more
I would caution readers a bit however. The book has a very interesting history and apparently Gogol burned the ms sev...more
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
Russian Lit fans
This is a great journey through smalltown Russia in the 19th century. Note that the name of each person he meets says something about them. I read this exact translation and I would recommend it as solid. I will have to admit the scheme of the main character doesn't make much sense to us today.
Spoiler Alert:
I'm skipping a bunch of lines....
The scheme involves how serfdom and census taking in Russia. Taxes were paid per serf, so the gov't did a census on a ...more
Spoiler Alert:
I'm skipping a bunch of lines....
The scheme involves how serfdom and census taking in Russia. Taxes were paid per serf, so the gov't did a census on a ...more
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Read in June, 2006
recommends it for:
People Who Are Interested In How Russian Authors Satirize Morality
"Dead Souls" is a satirical novel (or as the author claimed, an epic poem in prose) based on the character Chichikov who travels the land buying "Dead Souls" with the aim of improving the projected image of his social status. He offers landowners essentially a tax break, as he is willing to relieve them of their dead serfs who haven't been registered dead with the lazy census bureau, though which the landowners are subsequently still being taxed for.
I came to this nove...more
I came to this nove...more
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Read in October, 2007
I'd like to add the following to S. R. Ranganathan's five laws of library science: Every book its time and place.
Dead Souls is wonderful when I'm reading it. It's witty and funny and engaging (I really felt that this translation, especially, captured the satirical tone perfectly, and did a great job of explicating Gogol's cultural and historical references when necessary -- not that I've read another translation with which to compare). When I'm not reading it, though, I'm not anxious ...more
Dead Souls is wonderful when I'm reading it. It's witty and funny and engaging (I really felt that this translation, especially, captured the satirical tone perfectly, and did a great job of explicating Gogol's cultural and historical references when necessary -- not that I've read another translation with which to compare). When I'm not reading it, though, I'm not anxious ...more
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to Kaitlyn by:
Michael Chateauneuf
Russia's first novel? Could be. It takes a little patience to get into the heart of Dead Souls, but once you do, the payoff is surprising. Gogol paints a beautiful picture of town and country, and each character is lively, if not likable. After a while, I became accustomed to the easy rapport the author has with the reader, shifting in and out of his role as storyteller. Though Gogol is thought of as the father of Russian literary realism, much about the book struck me as Pirandellian irony and ...more
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I read the first volume around Christmastime, about six months ago, and the second a month or two ago. The obvious thing to say is that the novel excels in the brief character sketch and the comic vignette, but that there isn't much of a plot (perhaps the point). But I couldn't help but wonder if the various travels and adventures of Chichikov (for the most part, each chapter relates his visit to an estate in provincial Russia to buy up dead souls) didn't have an allegorical meaning that I was...more
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Read in November, 2008
This novel contains the volumes one and two of Gogol's Deal Souls.
I read the first and only finished volume of Dead Souls in a Book Club. While I enjoyed reading it, some of my colleagues did not. They complained about undertones of sexism, antisemitism, superficiality, etc. etc. To appreciate a classic like Gogol's Dead Souls the reader must be able to put the writing in context - if you find yourself unable to do this as a reader, then perhaps this isn't the book for you. If on the other h...more
I read the first and only finished volume of Dead Souls in a Book Club. While I enjoyed reading it, some of my colleagues did not. They complained about undertones of sexism, antisemitism, superficiality, etc. etc. To appreciate a classic like Gogol's Dead Souls the reader must be able to put the writing in context - if you find yourself unable to do this as a reader, then perhaps this isn't the book for you. If on the other h...more
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Read in January, 1909
recommended to The Narrator by:
my dear friend Pushkin
Dear Reader, who was it that said "manuscripts don't burn"!!! I can assure you, I was there, and - despite my overtures, my desperate pleas - my beloved, tormented friend cast a good portion of this one into the flame! And it was I, of course, who salvaged it, who burnt his fingertips extinguishing the smoldering ash, and who essentially is solely responsible for preserving pages 287-294! In any case, all modesty aside, this is an excellent novel, particularly the first half, which ...more
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Read in October, 2008
I really enjoyed Book One of this novel. It was funny and had some interesting characters. I had heard Tolstoy and Dostoevsky had been heavily influenced by this work and I can see why. Every character comes to life. There is quite a bit of humor and satire in it. However, there are a few parts of it that drag a bit, especially the last few chapters.
Book Two is not complete. To me it seems disjointed and very difficult to read. It took me weeks to get through it and it's only 150 page...more
Book Two is not complete. To me it seems disjointed and very difficult to read. It took me weeks to get through it and it's only 150 page...more
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Gogol has created characters that are flawed and familiar; their very imperfections compel the reader to examine his/her own glitches. Normally, I am not altogether impressed by "statements on humanity"--they tend to be trite and condescending. However, Gogol has written a commentary on the nebulous realm of "human nature" that is convincing and compassionate; it does not reek of self-righteousness in the least. Moreover, the combination of humor with the tragic has a way of ...more
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