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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
"Dead Souls" is the story of a man trying to buy officially alive but actually dead serfs in order to pass himself off as a rich landowner, and the consequences to which his quest leads. It is a commentary on the culture and politics of the Russian Empire, as well as on humanity in general. In general, it's a pretty pessimistic view of human nature. How many of us are officially alive but actually dead? Does ignorance know no bounds? Do comic misunderstandings lead to tragedy on a daily basis? What is the destiny of this vast and complicated Russian land? It's a powerful book, and more importantly, expertly written with grotesque humor.
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a fantastic book, I was lucky I found the opera on Prime Video and that helped with all the names too.
Chichikov is such a foul character that you cant help but like a bit.
Chichikov! Chichikov! Chichikov!
Chichikov is such a foul character that you cant help but like a bit.
Chichikov! Chichikov! Chichikov!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wow
How can I start writing about the feelings this book made me experience?
Thanks to the introduction I could understand many things about the author, about his life, the way he thought and looked at himself, how little he saw himself as worthy of doing anything. When in reality he was a great inspiration of many iconic authors, like Dostoevsky, I could see a great quantity of references of his work, like crime and punishment and even the brothers Karamazov.
His mentor whom he had so much respect for, and whom have him the inspiration to write this story was Pushkin, (this one hurtsđź’” especially bc they broke their friendship so suddenly) I could see many references dedicated to him, who died before Gogol even started writing the second part of dead souls.
On Part II, chapter I there’s a quote who stuck with me: “(…) his extraordinary mentor had died too soon, that now there was no one in the whole world who had the power to rouse his forces”.
This was a great way of portraying his struggles when he was writing and trying to finish part II, it was really sad that he never saw any of his work or himself as someone who was good enough to do anything, truly heartbreaking.
How can I start writing about the feelings this book made me experience?
Thanks to the introduction I could understand many things about the author, about his life, the way he thought and looked at himself, how little he saw himself as worthy of doing anything. When in reality he was a great inspiration of many iconic authors, like Dostoevsky, I could see a great quantity of references of his work, like crime and punishment and even the brothers Karamazov.
His mentor whom he had so much respect for, and whom have him the inspiration to write this story was Pushkin, (this one hurtsđź’” especially bc they broke their friendship so suddenly) I could see many references dedicated to him, who died before Gogol even started writing the second part of dead souls.
On Part II, chapter I there’s a quote who stuck with me: “(…) his extraordinary mentor had died too soon, that now there was no one in the whole world who had the power to rouse his forces”.
This was a great way of portraying his struggles when he was writing and trying to finish part II, it was really sad that he never saw any of his work or himself as someone who was good enough to do anything, truly heartbreaking.
challenging
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Atualizando o Goodreads, e remexendo um pouco na memória, lembrei que Almas Mortas foi o primeiro clássico que li de verdade (em 2020!), o primeiro romance que li até o final (bem, meio que não tem final mesmo), e o primeiro dos russos. Daqui para trás só tinha lido contos e coleção de contos (como, bem…, meio que faço até hoje, sou muito mais leitor de narrativas curtas que de longas), e uns outros romances esparsos que não tinha ido até o fim [Shogum, Musashi — meus primeiros interesses literários totalmente por causa dos mangás]. Lembro que me diverti muito com o Tchitchikov (será que é assim que escreve?) e com toda a narrativa maluca: por que caralhos o cara tá comprando Almas Mortas?! Quebrou todo um medo que eu tinha de clássicos & de russos, etc. Ainda lembro muito bem de algumas cenas, vide quando começam a especular quem ele é de verdade, e vai escalonando até chegar na conclusão de que ele é o Napoleão. Vou lembrar de recomendá-lo mais vezes; e marcar aqui para reler, agora que tenho um pouco mais de bagagem — na verdade, forçando muito, se tratando de russos, tenho no máximo uma mochilinha, mas vomos que vomos.