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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Tchitchikov comes to town and beguiles the locals with his expertly-refined respectful and flattering inclination of the head. Gogal portrays the various caricaturish land owners with comic brilliance.
"At last he sniffed out something about his private life: he found out that he had a rather mature daughter whose face also looked as if the devil had threshed peas on it."
"... the by-roads ran zig-zagging to and fro like crabs when they are shaken out of a sack... "
"... as soon as a petitioner came forward and thrust his hand into his pocket in order to extract therefrom the familiar letters of recommendation signed by Prince Hovansky, as the expression is among us in Russia—“No, no,” he would say with a smile, stopping the petitioner’s hand, “do you imagine that I ... no, no! this is our duty, the work we are bound to do without any recompense!"
"The postmaster cried out, slapped himself on the forehead and called himself a calf publicly before them all. He could not understand how the circumstance had not occurred to him at the beginning of the story, and confessed that the saying, “The Russian is wise after the event,” was perfectly true."
"It was an apparition, like the sudden appearance of a drowned man at the surface of the water, that calls forth a shout of joy in the crowd upon the bank; but in vain the rejoicing brothers and sisters let down a cord from the bank ."
"... have saved the situation is wasted on all sorts of ways of inducing forgetfulness. The mind from which, perhaps, great resources might have sprung sleeps; and the estate is knocked down at auction and the owner is cast adrift to forget his troubles with his soul ready in his extremity for base deeds at which he would once have been horrified."
"The odour of Petrushka, the footman, made an effort to establish itself in the vestibule adjoining, but Petrushka was soon banished to the kitchen, which was indeed a more suitable place for him."
"... and wait for another glimpse of the back or the arms exhausted with struggling—that appearance was the last. All is still and the unrippled surface of the implacable element is still more terrible and desolate than before. So the face of Plyushkin, after the feeling that glided for an instant over it, looked harder and meaner than ever."
"And at last he began prancing up and down and rubbing his hands, and humming and murmuring, and putting his fist to his mouth blew a march on it as on a trumpet, and even uttered aloud a few encouraging words and nicknames addressed to himself, such as “bulldog” and “little cockerel."
"Whereupon the two gentlemen, going up to the table which was laid with savouries, duly drank a glass of vodka each; they took a preliminary snack as is done all over the vast expanse of Russia, throughout the towns and villages, that is, tasted various salt dishes and other stimulating dainties; then all proceeded to the dining-room; the hostess sailed in at their head like a goose swimming."
"... no money, nor even estates with or without improvements can procure a digestion like that of a middle-class gentleman."
"Upon my word, my dear fellow, what Jewish propensities you have! You ought simply to give them to me.”
"... the dappled grey was doubtless longing for a sermon, for the reins were always slack and the whip was merely passed over their backs as a matter of form when the garrulous driver was holding forth."
"Why do you tell me that my estate is in a bad way, my lad?” says the landowner to his steward, “I know that, my dear fellow, without your telling me; have you nothing better than that to say? Let me forget it; let me not know it, then I shall be happy.” And so the money which might to some extent"
"Tchitchikov looked: the sleeve of his quite new dress-coat was completely spoilt. “Plague take you, you confounded little imp!” he muttered to himself in his wrath."
"The lawyer impressed Tchitchikov by the coldness of his expression and the greasiness of his dressing-gown, which was in striking contrast to the very good mahogany furniture, the gold clock under a glass shade, the chandelier that peeped through a muslin cover, put on to preserve it, and in fact to all the objects round them which bore the unmistakable imprint of enlightened European culture."
"At last he sniffed out something about his private life: he found out that he had a rather mature daughter whose face also looked as if the devil had threshed peas on it."
"... the by-roads ran zig-zagging to and fro like crabs when they are shaken out of a sack... "
"... as soon as a petitioner came forward and thrust his hand into his pocket in order to extract therefrom the familiar letters of recommendation signed by Prince Hovansky, as the expression is among us in Russia—“No, no,” he would say with a smile, stopping the petitioner’s hand, “do you imagine that I ... no, no! this is our duty, the work we are bound to do without any recompense!"
"The postmaster cried out, slapped himself on the forehead and called himself a calf publicly before them all. He could not understand how the circumstance had not occurred to him at the beginning of the story, and confessed that the saying, “The Russian is wise after the event,” was perfectly true."
"It was an apparition, like the sudden appearance of a drowned man at the surface of the water, that calls forth a shout of joy in the crowd upon the bank; but in vain the rejoicing brothers and sisters let down a cord from the bank ."
"... have saved the situation is wasted on all sorts of ways of inducing forgetfulness. The mind from which, perhaps, great resources might have sprung sleeps; and the estate is knocked down at auction and the owner is cast adrift to forget his troubles with his soul ready in his extremity for base deeds at which he would once have been horrified."
"The odour of Petrushka, the footman, made an effort to establish itself in the vestibule adjoining, but Petrushka was soon banished to the kitchen, which was indeed a more suitable place for him."
"... and wait for another glimpse of the back or the arms exhausted with struggling—that appearance was the last. All is still and the unrippled surface of the implacable element is still more terrible and desolate than before. So the face of Plyushkin, after the feeling that glided for an instant over it, looked harder and meaner than ever."
"And at last he began prancing up and down and rubbing his hands, and humming and murmuring, and putting his fist to his mouth blew a march on it as on a trumpet, and even uttered aloud a few encouraging words and nicknames addressed to himself, such as “bulldog” and “little cockerel."
"Whereupon the two gentlemen, going up to the table which was laid with savouries, duly drank a glass of vodka each; they took a preliminary snack as is done all over the vast expanse of Russia, throughout the towns and villages, that is, tasted various salt dishes and other stimulating dainties; then all proceeded to the dining-room; the hostess sailed in at their head like a goose swimming."
"... no money, nor even estates with or without improvements can procure a digestion like that of a middle-class gentleman."
"Upon my word, my dear fellow, what Jewish propensities you have! You ought simply to give them to me.”
"... the dappled grey was doubtless longing for a sermon, for the reins were always slack and the whip was merely passed over their backs as a matter of form when the garrulous driver was holding forth."
"Why do you tell me that my estate is in a bad way, my lad?” says the landowner to his steward, “I know that, my dear fellow, without your telling me; have you nothing better than that to say? Let me forget it; let me not know it, then I shall be happy.” And so the money which might to some extent"
"Tchitchikov looked: the sleeve of his quite new dress-coat was completely spoilt. “Plague take you, you confounded little imp!” he muttered to himself in his wrath."
"The lawyer impressed Tchitchikov by the coldness of his expression and the greasiness of his dressing-gown, which was in striking contrast to the very good mahogany furniture, the gold clock under a glass shade, the chandelier that peeped through a muslin cover, put on to preserve it, and in fact to all the objects round them which bore the unmistakable imprint of enlightened European culture."
dark
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Gogol accomplishes with his magnus opum to portray 19th century russian society in it's many facettes. The character of Tschitschikow holds a mirror to all those wanting to earn acceptance and friendship only to profit from it, while not even needing the profit. In the words of the translator Gogol critiqued capitalism before it shaped our world so dominantly.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
gogol would have thought larry david was a silly funny guy… which is to say i think larry david would have provided inspiration for a gogol antihero
larry david + dickinson = gogol
adventurous
funny
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Charming! Thought the pacing was slightly strange (it dragged a bit in the middle) but other than that it was a v enjoyable read
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It is of course difficult and perhaps unfair to judge a book which was never actually completed by the standards of books which were. That being said, the last 10% of the book actually sketches out the resolution of a surprising amount of plot-lines within the story.
Many of the comedic elements of this book are lost among readers who are not familiar with 19th century Russia. Still, enough of the comedy comes from commentary on universal human characteristics that not all is lost.
The first half of the book is basically just a tour of a bunch of different personalities and how Chichikov manipulates all of them.
It is nice when we finally get Chichikov's backstory after more than half the book is done.
I found the character of Tiechniekov fascinating but unfortunately Gogol never came back to him so we are only left with the introduction to his character and nothing more.However the burnt-out and disaffected former high-achiever would have been a very interesting character to see how Chichikov affected, and was a well-written character overall .
During the second half of the book Gogol goes on a few purely philosophical rants which are nicely written.
A perhaps inordinate amount of time is spent on describing Chichikov's hygiene and dress which is funny, and certainly intentional, but sometimes still feels almost excessive.
Especially towards the end of the book Gogol makes some very poignant remarks about the state of Russian society and about the rot of corruption overall. Fairly illuminating to outside readers and even explains some of Russia's state today.
The ending feels quite similar in some respects to Brothers Karamazov, which makes sense since Dostoyevsky calls out Gogol by name in that novel
Many of the comedic elements of this book are lost among readers who are not familiar with 19th century Russia. Still, enough of the comedy comes from commentary on universal human characteristics that not all is lost.
The first half of the book is basically just a tour of a bunch of different personalities and how Chichikov manipulates all of them.
It is nice when we finally get Chichikov's backstory after more than half the book is done.
I found the character of Tiechniekov fascinating but unfortunately Gogol never came back to him so we are only left with the introduction to his character and nothing more.
During the second half of the book Gogol goes on a few purely philosophical rants which are nicely written.
A perhaps inordinate amount of time is spent on describing Chichikov's hygiene and dress which is funny, and certainly intentional, but sometimes still feels almost excessive.
Especially towards the end of the book Gogol makes some very poignant remarks about the state of Russian society and about the rot of corruption overall. Fairly illuminating to outside readers and even explains some of Russia's state today.
An intriguing, unfinished book (there are two volumes, with the second unfinished, and unreleasedin Gogol's lifetime). A satirical novel which explores Russian society, and particularly the ruling and landownding classes, in the early 19th century. In general, they are depicted as being some combination of weak, venal, idiotic, criminal, mean, gluttonous, etc., etc. It's pretty scathing, but in an cheery, good-natured way.
The main character, Chichikov, has a huge amount of energy and ambition for making his fortune through shady schemes. The main one he pursues through the book is the purchasing of dead peasants (the "Dead Souls" of the title) from estate owners - presumably so he could mortgage them, although that's not entirely clear (and I hoped, as I was reading, for a more creative use to reveal itself).
The book is sprawling, and kinda overlong by modern standards, but definitely has a modern feel to it. It is playful, and genuinely funny in parts.
The second volume is unfinished, and it is very strange reading a story that has unfinished sentences and, larger and larger chunks missing as you get toward the end. Your interest necessarily wanes, until you and the book just drift away from each other. It's like a amicable, mutual break-up.
The main character, Chichikov, has a huge amount of energy and ambition for making his fortune through shady schemes. The main one he pursues through the book is the purchasing of dead peasants (the "Dead Souls" of the title) from estate owners - presumably so he could mortgage them, although that's not entirely clear (and I hoped, as I was reading, for a more creative use to reveal itself).
The book is sprawling, and kinda overlong by modern standards, but definitely has a modern feel to it. It is playful, and genuinely funny in parts.
The second volume is unfinished, and it is very strange reading a story that has unfinished sentences and, larger and larger chunks missing as you get toward the end. Your interest necessarily wanes, until you and the book just drift away from each other. It's like a amicable, mutual break-up.