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    Dead Souls
    Dead Souls
    Dead Souls
    Audiobook14 hours

    Dead Souls

    Written by Nikolai Gogol

    Narrated by Nicholas Boulton

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Gogol’s 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 ‘souls’ 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 Gogol’s characters. Gogol’s obsession with attempting to display ‘the untold riches of the Russian soul’ eventually led him to madness, religious mania and death. Dismissed by him as merely ‘a pale introduction to the great epic poem which is taking shape in my mind’, Dead Souls is the culmination of Gogol’s genius.

    Translator: Constance Garnett

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNaxos Audiobooks
    Release dateMay 17, 2017
    ISBN9781781980538
    Author

    Nikolai Gogol

    Nikolai Gogol was a Russian novelist and playwright born in what is now considered part of the modern Ukraine. By the time he was 15, Gogol worked as an amateur writer for both Russian and Ukrainian scripts, and then turned his attention and talent to prose. His short-story collections were immediately successful and his first novel, The Government Inspector, was well-received. Gogol went on to publish numerous acclaimed works, including Dead Souls, The Portrait, Marriage, and a revision of Taras Bulba. He died in 1852 while working on the second part of Dead Souls.

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    Reviews for Dead Souls

    4.5/5

    80 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Gogol’s masterpiece is as alive as when he published in in the mid 19th century.
      The audio is masterfully read and captures the nuances of the text.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Another superb rendition by Nicholas Boulton. Gogol's description of Russian life is wonderfully vivid, with quirky characters and bizarre conceits a la Dickens. It's a pity the last part is incomplete but still a great book.
    • 4/5
      The first part was the most interesting the rest not so much
    • 4/5
      Read this book long time ago and at that time it didn’t arouse significant impression although I found it interesting
      This time however I found it very engaging. It’s a shame that second part is somewhat disconnected
    • 3/5
      A novel concerning the corruption in 19th century Russia. The hero is running a scam, buying up the local dead serfs so he can use them as collateral to raise a loan.
    • 4/5
      This Audiobook is not the compleate book, the ending is missing.