Price: $18.00 - $13.20
(as of Apr 07, 2025 01:47:26 UTC – Details)
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.
Publisher : Vintage; 2nd Edition (March 25, 1997)
Language : English
Paperback : 432 pages
ISBN-10 : 0679776443
ISBN-13 : 978-0679776444
Lexile measure : 1080L
Item Weight : 12.8 ounces
Dimensions : 5.18 x 0.89 x 7.95 inches
Customers say
Customers find the book laugh-out-loud funny, particularly praising its satirical portrayal of Russian small-town officialdom. The translation receives positive feedback for being brilliantly written, and customers consider it an amazing novel for its time period. The pacing and character development receive mixed reviews, with some customers finding it incomplete and one noting that Chichikov was not a relatable character.
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