Dead Souls
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But, I reasoned, what could possibly happen to me while I read about Chichikov Good, bumbling Chichikov, who purchased dead serfs in order to turn a profit. A man whose harmless scheming and bribing promised quick prosperity. We were in the middle of a pandemic. What relevance could this bourgeois con artist possibly have to my life
Set in Imperial Russia, the plot of Dead Souls follows scandalized government official Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov as he manipulates the inefficiencies of the Imperial Russian government by purchasing the rights of dead serfs from middle-class landowners to amass a personal fortune.
The golden thread that ties the disparate, episodic encounters that comprise Gogol's picaresque novel together is the purchase of dead serfs, also called dead souls. The Russian government taxed landowners according to the number of souls on a property. The infrequent nature of official censuses meant that landowners were often taxed for deceased serfs. The following sections are a summary of the book Dead Souls.
After a week in town, Chichikov visits two landowners, Manilov and Sobakevich. Manilov is an overly agreeable man who is easily flattered. Chichikov enters Manilov's estate, effusing praise for the town, Manilov, and Manilov's children. Manilov interprets Chichikov's ingratiating conversation as genuine interest and willfully sets down to discuss Chichikov's scheme. Chichikov asks to purchase Manilov's dead souls and Manilov agrees.
Having secured his first set of souls, Chichikov departs for Sobakevich's estate. Chichikov's drunk coachman derails the journey to Sobakevich's estate. A thunderstorm rolls in during the voyage, causing the carriage to flip, throwing Chichikov into the mud. Chichikov and his two serfs seek shelter with Korobochka, a landowner. Korobochka allows Chichikov and his serfs to spend the night.
Chichikov realizes that Korobochka may have dead souls on her hands. Over breakfast, Chichikov browbeats Korobochka into selling her dead souls. Korobochka suspects a scheme, but is primarily concerned about the pricing of her dead souls. Chichikov continues his journey to Sobakevich's.
On his journey, Chichikov encounters Nozdryov, an acquaintance from the governor's party in ''N''. Chichikov decides to accompany Nozdryov home. Nozdryov is a notorious cheat, liar, and drunk. After a lengthy tour of Nozdryov's estate, Chichikov and Nozdryov have dinner. The men retire to Nozdryov's study where Chichikov raises the topic of dead souls, but Nozdryov refuses to sell his dead souls.
The following morning Nozdryov offers to wager the dead souls on a game of checkers. Chichikov accepts, but refuses to finish the game when he sees Nozdryov cheat. Chichikov's accusations enrage Nozdryov. The police arrive at the estate to arrest Nozdryov on assault charges from a previous incident. Chichikov escapes to his carriage, resuming his journey to Sobakevich's estate.
Back on the road, Chichikov encounters a carriage full of women. Chichikov is struck by the beauty of a girl sitting in the back of the carriage. Chichikov arrives at Sobakevich's estate, which is more organized than the other estates Chichikov has visited. After dinner, Chichikov broaches the topic of the dead souls. Sobakevich, a utilitarian man, does not question Chichikov's motives, but requests a high price for his dead souls. The two men haggle for a while before agreeing on a price.
Chichikov then sets off for another estate, Plyushkin's. Once at the estate, Chichikov enters his rigamarole about dead souls. Plyushkin is suspicious of Chichikov but agrees to sell the souls nonetheless. Chichikov reflects on the success of his exploits as he travels back to the tavern of the first town.
The next day, Chichikov heads to the magistrate's office to execute the deeds of his dead souls. On the way to the office, Chichikov encounters Manilov who accompanies Chichikov to the office. Chichikov bribes Ivan Antonovich, the clerk, to expedite his scheme. Antonovich sends Chichikov to the office of the magistrate where he encounters Sobakevich. Chichikov worries Sobakevich and Manilov will inadvertently uncover the dead nature of the serfs, but the landlords keep to themselves. The magistrate invites Chichikov to a party at the police chief's house to celebrate.
Chichikov visits General Betrishchev, turning on his charm to curry favor with Betrishchev who invites him to stay for dinner. Ulinka's beauty strikes Chichikov, but he focuses his energy on securing Betrishchev's dead souls. Chichikov's mediation leads to the union of Tentetnikov and Ulinka. General Betrishchev enlists Chichikov to share the news with Colonel Koshkarev.
When the carriage arrives at Kostanzoglo's estate, Chichikov is impressed by the productivity of the estate. Kostanzoglo offers to teach Chichikov his trade secrets. Chichikov agrees but first visits Colonel Koshkarev. Chichikov attempts to purchase the Colonel's dead souls but fails; Chichikov returns to Kostanzoglo to learn how to make an estate profitable.
Platonov and Kostanzoglo accompany Chichikov as he searches for an estate to purchase. Chichikov purchases the estate of Khlobuev with capital borrowed from Platonov and Kostanzoglo. When Chichikov leaves his newly purchased estate, he encounters Platonov's brother Vassily on the road. Chichikov offers to settle a land dispute Vassily has with his neighbor, Lenitsyn. Chichikov travels to Lenitsyn, settles Vassily's dispute, and buys the Lenitsyn's dead souls.
Gluttony and waste are at the heart of Gogol's characterization of the Russian aristocracy. The aristocracy can barely function despite its vast resources, raising the question if the dead souls of the novel are the morally bankrupt landlords instead of the dead serfs.
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol is a premiere example of 19th-century Russian literature. The novel follows poshlost protagonist, Chichikov, as he travels the Russian countryside for dead souls that he aims to use to defraud the Russian government. Chichikov befriends the aristocracy through flattery, but cannot convince Nozdryov to sell his dead souls outright. Instead, Nozdryov wagers the souls on a game of checkers. The corruption and greed at the heart of Dead Souls is best captured by the scene where Chichikov bribes the clerk at the magistrate's office. Greed also characterizes the novel's characters, such as Korobochka, whose anxieties about money trump her suspicions about Chichikov's motives. Chichikov's forgery of a will in the novel's second part suggests that the corruption of the poshlost archetype will continue to spread throughout Russia.
The plot of Dead Souls follows protagonist Chichikov as he carries out a scheme to purchase the rights of deceased serfs, or dead souls, from the Imperial Russian aristocracy. Chichikov hopes to levy the equity of his dead souls to secure a bank loan that will make him rich.
this certainly seems more useful then the dog that turned out to be rather useless (if not outright making your run significantly more difficult)Say what Having my own pet suicide bomb detonating packs of enemies every 15 seconds was a literal blast. Elites melted and bosses were dead within a couple of globals.
Dead Souls offers both souls and bodies that are dead. As usual, there's a lot threatening to deaden John Rebus' soul, but he soldiers on; one of the more impressive aspects of this novel is how precariously he's balanced, always so near going over the edge.\"I think something's gone bad inside you\", an acquaintance diagnoses early on, and for much of the book Rebus himself isn't so sure that she's wrong. A colleague isn't as lucky (or strong ) as Rebus, literally going over an edge (a cliff, in fact): the book begins with Jim Margulies' death, an apparent suicide. And coincidence would have it that one of the criminals that really got to both Rebus and Margulies, the paedophile Darren Rough, is back in town. Rebus encounters him at the zoo (where Rebus is meant to be on the lookout for an animal-poisoner), and soon enough Rough becomes a bigger part of his life than he might have wanted.Letting the neighbours know who the new man is in one of Edinburgh's rougher council estates is enough to pretty much ruin Rough's life -- but that turns out not be quite as satisfying as Rebus had hoped. One reason Rough is back in town is because there is a big paedophile trial going on, and he might testify. Even Rebus is called into court, though he was only peripherally involved in the case. But child molestation seems to be in the air, almost everywhere he turns. One thing that can get his mind off that is a serial killer. Cary Oakes, just released from prison in the United States and deported back to the UK, is just the thing. A psychopath, all the indications are that he will kill again -- and the Edinburgh police are none too pleased when he decides the first place he'll settle down in is their patch. But he's a free man, and beyond a bit of surveillance there's not much they can do. Rebus is one of the men assigned to watch him -- a job that's all the more fun because the exclusive rights to Oakes' story have gone to none other than the old Rebus-foe, journalist Jim Stevens. He wants to hole up with Oakes and get the story out of him, but Oakes has plans of his own -- and the means to carry them out. He entertainingly plays Stevens (and quite a few other people) for the fool, and though the character is quite a bit over the top it does make for considerable menace and suspense. Finally, Rebus also gets drawn into a missing persons case: the nineteen year-old son of Janice and Brian, an old flame and a friend from the old neighbourhood, has simply disappeared. He tries to help out, getting drawn back into the old neighbourhood he escaped from. Rebus' personal life also isn't going all too brilliantly. He pops in on wheelchair-bound daughter Sammy occasionally, but she's fairly independent. Rebus sort of lives with Patience, but that doesn't seem to be going too well, as he seems to spend more days sleeping elsewhere.And Janice threatens to allow him a nostalgic wallow that probably wouldn't be good for him either. Ah, yes: Ama, Hannah, Katherine ... Sammy, Patience, Janice ... The never-ending dance of relationships and criss-crossings which took up so much space in his head. The party that never stopped, the invitations guilt edged. Life and death in Edinburgh. And space still left over for a few ghosts, their numbers increasing. Fortunately, Rankin doesn't get over-explicit like this too often, generally conveying Rebus' tormented inner self more subtly (and effectively). Interfering Oakes, who knows way too much about everything, adds a good deal of excitement, especially when he latches on to Rebus and toys with him. There are more deaths, and the various cases -- Margulies' suicide, Rough, Oakes, and the missing teenager -- are all resolved. Rankin overdoes it with some of what happens leading up to the resolutions -- Oakes, in particular, is just too bad to be true -- but everything is tied up particularly well, making for a satisfying (if not exactly happy) end. Despite too much that is too simple or too sensational, and Rankin not showing enough patience with some of the detail (the book is packed with actions, events, and encounters), this is a very good mystery-thriller, a fine entertainment. 59ce067264