Dead Souls

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.

BUY THE BOOK

464 pages

Average rating: 7.64

14 RATINGS

|

These clubs recently read this book...

Community Reviews

LiziB
Feb 23, 2023
6/10 stars
A very readable translation for the first Gogol I've ever read; and some interesting sentiments and characters. But I felt like I need a class to get everything there is out of this book.

See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.