{"product_id":"dead-souls-paperback-2","title":"Dead Souls - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eNikolai Gogol\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eRichard Pevear\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator), \u003cb\u003eLarissa Volokhonsky\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince its publication in 1842, \u003cb\u003eDead Souls\u003c\/b\u003e 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 humor, and delight in human oddity and error.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince 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 humor, and delight in human oddity and error.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eNikolai Vasilevich Gogol\u003c\/i\u003e was born in 1809; his family were small gentry of Ukrainian cossack extraction, and his father was the author of a number of plays based on Ukrainian popular tales. He attended school in Nézhin and gained a reputation for his theatrical abilities. He went to St Petersburg in 1829 and with the help of a friend gained a post in one of the government ministries. Gogol was introduced to Zhukovsky, the romantic poet, and to Pushkin, and with the publication of \u003ci\u003eEvenings on a Farm near Dikanka \u003c\/i\u003e(1831) he had an entrée to all the leading literary salons. He even managed for a short period to be Professor of History at the University of St. Petersburg (1834-5). \u003ci\u003eDiary of a Madman\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Story of the Quarrel between Ivan Ivanovich and Ivan Nikiforovich\u003c\/i\u003e appeared in 1934, \u003ci\u003eThe Nose\u003c\/i\u003e in 1836, and \u003ci\u003eThe Overcoat \u003c\/i\u003ein 1842. Gogol also wrote the play \u003ci\u003eThe Inspector\u003c\/i\u003e (1836), \u003ci\u003eDead Souls\u003c\/i\u003e (1842), and several moralizing essays defending the Tsarist regime, to the horror of his liberal and radical friends. He lived a great deal abroad, mostly in Rome, and in his last years became increasingly prey to religious mania and despair. He made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1848, but was bitterly disappointed in the lack of feeling that the journey kindled. He returned to Russia and fell under the influence of a spiritual director who told him to destroy his writings as they were sinful. He burned the second part of \u003ci\u003eDead Souls\u003c\/i\u003e, and died in 1852 after subjecting himself to a severe regime of fasting.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 432\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.88 x 8.02 x 5.18 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 25, 1997\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42694099959871,"sku":"9780679776444","price":21.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/c348b4b8bd009e7ea421ec3de698bfd8.webp?v=1765001036","url":"https:\/\/dhlswag.com\/products\/dead-souls-paperback-2","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}