A man who seeks to buy dead souls…it certainly draws your attention when you hear the premise of this book, especially considering it was written in 1842, and is considered one of the first great Russian novels.
Being a massive fan of Dostoyevsky, I picked up this novel partially because I heard it compared to his writing. I would categorize it more as a satirical version of Dostoyevsky’s novels. And it may just be a new favorite for me.
Release: 1842
Page Count: 402
Format: Audiobook/Ebook
Synopsis: The mysterious man Chichikov arrives in the countryside of Russia with a strange proposal to the local serf owners. Many of the owners are still paying taxes on serfs who have died, until the next censous is taken. Chichikov offers to buy the dead souls, though no one can figure out exactly why…
Review
There is nothing I enjoy more in books than characters which truly interest me. This doesn’t necessarily mean they are good people, as pretty much every character in this book is a horrible human being. The book examines the Russian society, making fun of the hierarchy of a feudal system including serfs and inheritance. Power is mostly judged by owning land and serfs. The characters are absurd, spoiled, wealthy individuals who act in their own interest with little understanding or care of anything outside their limited perspective.
Chichikov is an antihero, a man who takes advantage of men’s lust for money and convenience in exchange for his own benefit. He is a scoundrel. A quick spoiler is that he is buying souls because he can take out a loan on each of the “serfs,” pocket the money, and then escape. In a sense, it is a get-rich-quick scheme. He takes advantage of everyone’s weakness, changing as he understands how people want him to act. He is kind of a horrible person.
And yet Gogol challenges us as a reader. He says we would “do well to probe YOUR OWN souls, and to put to YOURSELVES the solemn question, ‘Is there not in ME an element of Chichikov?'” We would all love to get free money (whether we would or wouldn’t actually listen to our conscious concerning the source of free money). We all want to be comfortable in life, and work is hard. We also (whether we realize it or not) tend to change our behavior around different people depending how it will benefit us. We’re casual with friends, more formal with an old grandparent or college professor. We all adapt to changes and situations.
My one and only criticism of this book is one I have for all of Russian literature and it is 100% me just being petty. I really find it difficult to read all the ridiculously long names. Like Tientietnikov or Korobochka. I switched between audiobook and Ebook in reading this novel, and I can say I enjoyed the audiobook more because I didn’t stumble over the new names every time I read it, and instead had someone able to pronounce it for me.
The characters Chichikov meets all kind of fit into stereotypes, exaggerated caricatures of possible land-owners in Russia. Some examples are Korobochka as a noisy widow and Plyushkin as stingy and depressed. Each has this perfect balance between realism and ridiculousness. When reading the characters, I was struck by their similarities to Shakespeare’s humorous characters, like Plyushkin reminded me a bit of Malvolio from Twelfth Night.
Spoiler! The story rather ends with Chichikov being caught and arrested, only to be pardoned and escaping into the land. Who knows what he will be up to next?
I really enjoyed this book, as it examines deeper corruption and issues in 19th century Russia while also speaking to still relatable human faults. It gets five stars from me, and I will definitely be looking into reading more of Gogol’s works.
Have you heard of this author or the book? Does it look interesting to you? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments, follow my blog for more musings and, as always,
Best wishes in your life full of adventure,
Madame Writer