Dead Souls

Nikolai Gogol

Jul 2017 · Naxos AudioBooks · Narrated by Nicholas Boulton

About this audiobook

GogolÕs great Russian classic is the Pickwick Papers of Russian Literature. It takes a sharp but humorous look at life in all its strata, but especially the devious complexities in Russia with its landowners and serfs. We are introduced to Tchitchikov, a businessman who, in order to trick the tax authorities, buys up dead ÔsoulsÕ or serfs whose names still appear on the government census. Despite being a dealer in phantom crimes and paper ghosts, he is the most beguiling of GogolÕs characters. GogolÕs obsession with attempting to display Ôthe untold riches of the Russian soulÕ eventually led him to madness, religious mania and death. Dismissed by him as merely Ôa pale introduction to the great epic poem which is taking shape in my mindÕ, Dead Souls is the culmination of GogolÕs genius.