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Cover of Dead Souls

Classic Literature · 2017 · G

Dead Souls

by Nikolai Gogol

A con man travels rural Russia buying dead serfs on paper — a satirical masterpiece of corruption.

Dead Souls By Nikolai Gogol Dead Souls is a novel by Nikolai Gogol, first published in 1842, and widely regarded as an exemplar of 19th-century Russian literature. Dead Souls, first published in 1842, is the great prose classic of Russia. That amazing institution, "the Russian novel," not only began its career with this unfinished masterpiece by Nikolai Vasil'evich Gogol, but practically all the Russian masterpieces that have come since have grown out of it, like the limbs of a single tree. Dostoieffsky goes so far as to bestow this tribute upon an earlier work by the same author, a short stor

ForAll agesGenreClassic LiteratureLength432 pagesRead time~12 hours

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What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.

Violence

None

No violence

Language

None

No profanity

Sexual Content

None

No sexual content

Substance Use

Barely any

Some drinking in social scenes

Emotional Intensity

None

Themes of corruption, greed, and the absurdity of bureaucracy

What this book is about

Gogol's 1842 unfinished satirical epic follows Chichikov, who schemes to buy deceased serfs ("dead souls") to use as collateral. Entirely clean with sharp wit. Appropriate for all ages who can appreciate 19th-century Russian satire.

Notes for sensitive readers

Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.

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