Gogol, Nikolai

First published in the year 1842, Russian writer-activist Nikolai Gogol's book 'Dead Souls' was one of the most appreciated satirical works of the 19th century Russian literature. The purpose of the novel was to demonstrate the flaws and faults of the Russian mentality and character.

Dead Souls

Nikolaĭ Vasilʹevich Gogolʹ

In this comic classic of Russian literature, Chichikov, an amusing and often confused schemer, buys deceased serfs' names from landlords' poll tax lists hoping to mortgage them for profit.

Hannah Yang

Hmm... I'm a bit torn on how I feel about / how to rate Dead Souls. I think this is a 'it's not the book, it's me' situation: I feel like I would have been able to better appreciate the story and the characters/caricatures if I knew more about this time period in Russian society to 'get' which qualities Gogol satirizes. Because my understanding of 19th century Russia is limited, there were times when I wasn't sure what was happening or why something was important -- though I suppose this contributed to the overall sense of absurdity. 

The writing was lovely, curiosity about Chichikov's story with the dead souls (and his later schemes) drives the plot forward, and some descriptions and situations were snort-out-loud funny, delivering the 'delight in human oddity and error' that the synopsis promises. It is also admittedly fun to watch a main character who is not even an antihero but an unredeemable con man (the ending is somewhat open as to whether he decides to right his path, but I have my doubts).

So, this is a good book and offers a plethora of interesting characters to study! I just think I would have enjoyed it more or been more impacted by it if I better understood what was going on. I'm sure I will return to this at some other time! 

Some passages I liked:
(view spoiler)[
"Finally he went inside, sat down on a chair, and gave himself over to reflection, rejoicing in his soul at having given his guest some small pleasure. [...] He was thinking about the well-being of a life of friendship, about how nice it would be to live with a friend on the bank of some river, then a bridge began to be built across this river, then an enormous house with such a high belvedere that one could even see Moscow from it and drink tea there of an evening in the open air while discussing agreeable subjects." (pg. 41)

"However banal the news may be, as long as it is news, he will not fail to pass it on to some other mortal, even if it is precisely with the purpose of saying: 'See what a lie they're spreading!' and the other mortal will gladly incline his ear, though afterwards he himself will say: 'Yes, that is a perfectly banal lie, not worthy of any attention!' and thereupon will set out at once to look for a third mortal, so that, having told him, they can both exclaim with noble indignation: 'What a banal lie!' And it will not fail to make the rounds of the whole town, and all mortals, however many there are, will have their fill of talking and will then admit that it is unworthy of attention and not worth talking about." (pg. 196-7)

"Of course, looking at it with the eye of a reasonable man, he saw that it was all absurd, that a stupid word meant nothing, particularly now, when the main business had already been properly done. But man is strange: he was greatly upset by the ill disposition of those very people whom he did not respect and with regard to whom he had spoken so sharply, denouncing their vanity and finery. This was the more vexatious to him since, on sorting out the matter more clearly, he saw that he himself was partly the cause of it. [...] We all have a little weakness for sparing ourselves somewhat, and prefer to try and find some neighbor on whom to vent our vexation" (pg. 199-200)

"So, the prosecutor! He lived and lived, and then he died! And so they'll print in the newspapers that there passed away, to the sorrow of his subordinates and of all mankind, a respectable citizen, a rare father, an exemplary husband, and they'll write all sorts of stuff; they'll add, maybe, that he was accompanied by the weeping of widows and orphans; but if one looks into the matter properly, all you had, in fact, was bushy eyebrows." (pg. 252)

"I cannot even tell you what a pleasure it is. And not because the money's growing - money is money - but because all this is - your handiwork; because you see yourself being the cause and creator of it all, how from you, as from some sort of magician, abundance and good pour out on everything. No, where can you find me an equal delight?" said Kostanzhoglo, his face looking up, the wrinkles disappearing. He was as radiant as a king on the day of his solemn coronation. "No, you won't find such a delight in the whole world! Here, precisely here, man imitates God: God granted Himself the work of creation, as the highest delight, and He demands that man, too, be a creator of prosperity and the harmonious course of things. And this they call dull!" (pg. 370)

"Good lord! what an infinite distance there is between knowledge of the world and the ability to use that knowledge!" (pg. 386)
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Nikolai Gogol

Chichikov, an amusing and often confused schemer, buys deceased serfs' names from landholders' poll tax lists hoping to mortgage them for profit

Jesse Morley

Tchitchikov comes to town and beguiles the locals with his expertly-refined respectful and flattering inclination of the head. Gogal portrays the various caricaturish land owners with comic brilliance.



"At last he sniffed out something about his private life: he found out that he had a rather mature daughter whose face also looked as if the devil had threshed peas on it."

"... the by-roads ran zig-zagging to and fro like crabs when they are shaken out of a sack... "

"... as soon as a petitioner came forward and thrust his hand into his pocket in order to extract therefrom the familiar letters of recommendation signed by Prince Hovansky, as the expression is among us in Russia—“No, no,” he would say with a smile, stopping the petitioner’s hand, “do you imagine that I ... no, no! this is our duty, the work we are bound to do without any recompense!"

"The postmaster cried out, slapped himself on the forehead and called himself a calf publicly before them all. He could not understand how the circumstance had not occurred to him at the beginning of the story, and confessed that the saying, “The Russian is wise after the event,” was perfectly true."

"It was an apparition, like the sudden appearance of a drowned man at the surface of the water, that calls forth a shout of joy in the crowd upon the bank; but in vain the rejoicing brothers and sisters let down a cord from the bank ."

"... have saved the situation is wasted on all sorts of ways of inducing forgetfulness. The mind from which, perhaps, great resources might have sprung sleeps; and the estate is knocked down at auction and the owner is cast adrift to forget his troubles with his soul ready in his extremity for base deeds at which he would once have been horrified."

"The odour of Petrushka, the footman, made an effort to establish itself in the vestibule adjoining, but Petrushka was soon banished to the kitchen, which was indeed a more suitable place for him."

"... and wait for another glimpse of the back or the arms exhausted with struggling—that appearance was the last. All is still and the unrippled surface of the implacable element is still more terrible and desolate than before. So the face of Plyushkin, after the feeling that glided for an instant over it, looked harder and meaner than ever."

"And at last he began prancing up and down and rubbing his hands, and humming and murmuring, and putting his fist to his mouth blew a march on it as on a trumpet, and even uttered aloud a few encouraging words and nicknames addressed to himself, such as “bulldog” and “little cockerel."

"Whereupon the two gentlemen, going up to the table which was laid with savouries, duly drank a glass of vodka each; they took a preliminary snack as is done all over the vast expanse of Russia, throughout the towns and villages, that is, tasted various salt dishes and other stimulating dainties; then all proceeded to the dining-room; the hostess sailed in at their head like a goose swimming."

"... no money, nor even estates with or without improvements can procure a digestion like that of a middle-class gentleman."

"Upon my word, my dear fellow, what Jewish propensities you have! You ought simply to give them to me.”

"... the dappled grey was doubtless longing for a sermon, for the reins were always slack and the whip was merely passed over their backs as a matter of form when the garrulous driver was holding forth."

"Why do you tell me that my estate is in a bad way, my lad?” says the landowner to his steward, “I know that, my dear fellow, without your telling me; have you nothing better than that to say? Let me forget it; let me not know it, then I shall be happy.” And so the money which might to some extent"

"Tchitchikov looked: the sleeve of his quite new dress-coat was completely spoilt. “Plague take you, you confounded little imp!” he muttered to himself in his wrath."

"The lawyer impressed Tchitchikov by the coldness of his expression and the greasiness of his dressing-gown, which was in striking contrast to the very good mahogany furniture, the gold clock under a glass shade, the chandelier that peeped through a muslin cover, put on to preserve it, and in fact to all the objects round them which bore the unmistakable imprint of enlightened European culture."

Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol

In a new translation of the comic classic of Russian literature, Chichikov, an enigmatic stranger and schemer, buys deceased serfs' names from their landlords' poll tax lists hoping to mortgage them for profit and to reinvent himself as a gentleman. Reprint.

Alfredo santos

Gogol and his beautiful witty writing (only read him in french if you dont know russian) made it to my favorite top 5 authors so far.

Cams Campbell

RU3022 essay.

Examine the significance of the title 'Dead Souls'

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bfvpcwjbzkf...

Arden Kowalski

This is the best book I never rated four stars!

Diana Platgalve

Great read on ever present human grief and corrupt nation system!
People have always taken extreme measures to increase respect towards themselves and increase their status. Not always money is the end goal of schemes, rather acknowledgement of ones value within society. As a satire on Tsar Russian society and people, Gogol is unraveling the absurdity of class system and corrupt hierarchy. A fish rots from the head down, right?
This book is particularly interesting in the context of how this system lead to Russian revolution and influence on Dostoyevsky. At the same time, Gogol is manipulating with morality of the main character, calling the dead-soul-business as business even the lowest thief would not touch. 
The title of the book relative to the text, is one of the best ever- including both: absurdity of the system the book criticizes as well as criticism towards character of the main persona. A dead soul that manipulates with dead souls.
Each of us make faults even without having bad intentions at the beginning, however we still affect happiness of others due to our grief (a worm that eats us from the inside). Such is human nature, as Gogol concludes. 
Of course it is better to read in Russian.

Анастасия Розова

*Read for class.

I barely finished the first volume and it was a fucking torture. Everything else by Gogol is at least mildly interesting, but this is awful. I couldn't read it. I couldn't even finish an amazing audio show, full cast, with music and special effects.

And it's not that I was prejudiced about this book. Maybe a bit, but so I was about many other classics and I at least liked them. This was a nightmare. And I realize that I HAVE to finish both volumes one day, but not now, thank you.

Jeni Enjaian

I have come to the conclusion that the great works of Russian literature simply are not for me. I haven't really enjoyed a single one, obviously including this one. I found this book to be incredibly boring and more than a bit confusing. As a word of warning/advice, I will say that the concept of "souls" and "dead souls" should be known before starting to read this book. I did not know this. Upon reading another review that explained the concept, the book made a bit more sense but not much more. The gap in time and primary subject that takes place between parts one and two confuses the reader (me) even more. Additionally, even though this is not the fault of the author, the missing manuscript pages does nothing to alleviate the confusion. This book is simply difficult to read. I can't honestly recommend this book although those interested in the Russian literary classics and classics in general may still want to read the book.

Gogol's 1842 novel Dead Souls, a comic masterpiece about a mysterious con man and his grotesque victims, is one of the major works of Russian literature. It was translated into English in 1942 by Bernard Guilbert Guerney; the translation was hailed by Vladimir Nabokov as "an extraordinarily fine piece of work" and is still considered the best translation of Dead Souls ever published. Long out of print, the Guerney translation of Dead Souls is now reissued. The text has been made more faithful to Gogol's original by removing passages that Guerney inserted from earlier drafts of Dead Souls. The text is accompanied by Susanne Fusso's introduction and by appendices that present excerpts from Guerney's translations of other drafts of Gogol's work and letters Gogol wrote around the time of the writing and publication of Deal Souls. "I am delighted that Guerney's translation of Dead Souls [is] available again. It is head and shoulders above all the others, for Guerney understands that to 'translate' Gogol is necessarily to undertake a poetic recreation, and he does so brilliantly."—Robert A. Maguire, Columbia University "The Guerney translation of Dead Souls is the only translation I know of that makes any serious attempt to approximate the qualities of Gogol's style—exuberant, erratic, 'Baroque,' bizarre."—Hugh McLean, University of California, Berkeley "A splendidly revised and edited edition of Bernard Guerney's classic English translation of Gogol's Dead Souls. The distinguished Gogol scholar Susanne Fusso may have brought us as close as the English reader may ever expect to come to Gogol's masterpiece. No student, scholar, or general reader will want to miss this updated, refined version of one of the most delightful and sublime works of Russian literature."—Robert Jackson, Yale University

Nathan Griffin

Definitely a break from the usual monstrosity that is the Russian novel. Dead Souls is funny, sarcastic, and a little cynical. Overall I enjoyed it, but it did drag towards the end and it took me way longer to finish than I thought it would.

Younes Ben Amara

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.

eefje

Alyssa C Smith

Roo Lampione

Gabe Cortez

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.

Dead Souls

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