Dead Souls: the Classic Russian Novel by Nikolai Gogol

Nikolai Gogol

Nov. 2017 · Classic Books Boek 14 · Xist Publishing

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Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

Dead Souls is a prime example of 19th century Russian Literature. In the novel, the shady character Chichikov seeks to exploit a tax loophole in a get-rich-quick scheme. When the rumors begin to fly, Chichikov is disgraced among the town officials and he is forced to flee in disgrace.
Structured similarly to Homer's The Odyssey and Dante's Purgatorio, Dead Souls is an insightful look at the Russian political system and the corruption which abounded at the time.

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Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol was born in 1809 in the Ukraine. His father was an amateur playwright who had a small estate with a number of serfs. From the ages of 12 to 19, young Gogol attended a boarding school where he became known for his sharp wit and ability to amuse his classmates. After school he worked as a government clerk. He soon began writing memories of his childhood. His quaint depictions of the Ukrainian countryside marked his style and helped to make him famous. Gogol quickly gained fame and formed a friendship with the influential poet, Aleksandr Pushkin. Gogol is largely remembered for his realistic characterizations, his rich imagination, and his humorous style. His works include Mirgorod, a collection of short stories including Taras Bulba. Gogol's wit is evident in his short story, The Nose, where a man's nose wanders off around town in a carriage. Gogol's masterpiece is the novel Dead Souls. In this work, a swindler plots to buy from landowners their dead serfs. Towards the end of Gogol's life, his creative powers faded and he fled to Moscow. Here, he came under the power of a fanatical priest. Ten days before his death he burned some manuscripts of the second part of Dead Souls. He died of starvation in 1852, on the cusp of madness.