Sandy Tessier answers “I want to read this book but I have some...”

A Goodreads user asked this question about Dead Souls:

I want to read this book but I have some reservations about its integrity. You know, it was a part of a bigger project of Gogol's. Could anybody tell if it ends up logically? Because I don't want to read a book undone, like Kafka's The Castle. I'm waiting for your respond, thanks in advance.

Sandy Tessier Dead Souls is by Gogol. When I read Namesake the main character is named Gogol after the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. So, I decided that I should rea…moreDead Souls is by Gogol. When I read Namesake the main character is named Gogol after the Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. So, I decided that I should read Dead Souls. Well, the plot is a circuitous route through a non-story to a non-climax onto finish with a non-ending. The plot centers around Chichikov, an enigmatic stranger and conniving schemer, who buys deceased serfs' names from their landlords' poll tax lists hoping to mortgage them for-profit and to reinvent himself as a likable gentleman.
I am not alone in being confused and befuddled by this classic work. According to Goodreads; Nicolai Gogol was a master of the spoof. The American students of today are not the only readers who have been confused by him.
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