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 humour, and delight in human oddity and error.

Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky

About the Author
Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky are known for their highly-acclaimed translations of Dostoevsky, Gogol ad Tolstoy. Their translation of The Brothers Karamazov won America's prestigious PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Prize.


Book Information
ISBN 9781857152807
Author Nikolai Gogol
Format Hardback
Page Count 480
Imprint Everyman's Library
Publisher Everyman
Weight(grams) 591g
Dimensions(mm) 212mm * 135mm * 30mm