Dead SoulsDead Souls
Score Classic
What it's about
Pavel Chichikov, a polite, plump middle-aged gentleman, arrives in a provincial Russian town with a strange scheme. He travels from estate to estate buying up 'dead souls', serfs who have died but who still count on the tax records, from a series of grasping, foolish and grotesque landowners. Nobody quite understands what he wants them for.
Why it's worth reading
It's on the Bokklubben list of the 100 greatest books. It's one of the great comic novels, a satire of Russian life that's still very funny.
You'll love it if you liked
Don Quixote
A Confederacy of Dunces
Anna KareninaGood to know
Gogol burned most of the second part, so it ends in fragments. Serfdom, the selling of people, is its background.
By the numbers
- Readers40 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics55 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller26 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
Why it made the list
Reads as
Thought-provoking
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Quick answers
Is Dead Souls worth reading?
Yes. It's on the Bokklubben list of the 100 greatest books. It ranks #1,497 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 68.3 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Dead Souls about?
Pavel Chichikov, a polite, plump middle-aged gentleman, arrives in a provincial Russian town with a strange scheme. He travels from estate to estate buying up 'dead souls', serfs who have died but who still count on the tax records, from a series of grasping, foolish and grotesque landowners. Nobody quite understands what he wants them for.
How long does it take to read Dead Souls?
About 13 hours (520 pages), or about 4 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Dead Souls?
If you liked it, try Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole or Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.