Dead Souls
Jul 2004 · Penguin UK
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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.
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 collate...
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3 reviews
Monkfish2 Monkfish2
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March 27, 2026
Chichikov, a charming grifter, arrives in N—— and flatters his way into elite society. He then visits landowners, each embodying a flaw: Manilov (idle dreamer), Korobochka (paranoid miser), Nozdriov (pathological liar), Sobakevich (brutal pragmatist), and Pliushkin (hoarding ruin). His scheme exploits bureaucracy: he buys “dead souls” (deceased serfs still taxed), registers them as alive, and plans to mortgage this fake wealth. The owners, happy to shed taxes, agree. He prospers until Nozdriov drunkenly exposes him, and the town spirals into gossip and absurd theories. Part Two, mostly burned, shows further schemes, a brief moral awakening, and relapse. Gogol’s point: a system so hollow it can profit from ghosts.
About the author
Nikolai Gogol (1809-52) was born in the Ukraine and left for St Peterburg at the age of 19 where he published a collection of short stories and for a short time held the post of professor of history at the university. Gogol's experience of life in St Petersburg informed his savagely satirical play, The Government Inspector, and a series of brilliant short stories including Nevsky Prospekt and Notes of a Madman. From 1836 to 48, Gogol lived abroad, mainly in Rome, where he was working on his comic epic Dead Souls - a work he wrestled with for the rest of his life before renouncing literature and burning parts of the manuscript shortly before he died.
Nikolai Gogol (1809-52) was born in the Ukraine and left for St Peterburg at the age of 19 where he published a collection of short stories and for a short time held the post of professor of history at the university. Gogol's experience of life in St Petersburg informed his savagely satirical pla...
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