16 h 4 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a dead man still has a price—and a polite stranger knows how to profit?
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov arrives in a provincial Russian town with good manners, neat clothes and a strange ambition. He wants to buy serfs who have died but remain alive on official lists. In Nikolai Gogol’s Dead Souls, a smooth official turns a gap in the tax records into a scheme for joining the ranks of the rich.
As Chichikov travels from estate to estate, every bargain brings another human weakness into view. Manilov offers sweet words, Korobochka fears a bad deal, and Nozdryov turns business into a game. Beneath the comedy lies a grim question: what happens to human worth when money, rank and paperwork decide a person’s value?
What you’ll discover
- A very strange bargain Follow a scheme that makes dead serfs valuable to a man hungry for wealth.
- Charm with a purpose Watch Chichikov win people over through polished manners and a talent for flattering them.
- Landowners full of life Meet vague Manilov, cautious Korobochka and boastful Nozdryov, each caught in a different weakness.
- Greed laid bare Visit Plyushkin’s crumbling estate, where a wealthy miser hoards junk while his village decays.
- Laughter with a sting Find sharp comedy in a world where fine words and social rank help fraud flourish.
Is it for you?
This summary suits anyone who likes satire, sharp character sketches and old Russia, and anyone curious about Gogol before taking on the full book. It may suit you less if you want a fast plot, since the story moves slowly and wanders.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A stranger arrives and charms a town
- The scheme: buying souls that no longer exist
- Manilov offers sweet words and an empty house
- Korobochka hoards, haggles and fears being cheated
- Nozdryov lies, gambles and nearly ruins everything
- Sobakevich drives a bear's bargain
- Plyushkin shows what greed does to a man
- What the book says about greed, lies and rank
- A poem in prose, and a book left unfinished
Who’s who
- Pavel Ivanovich ChichikovA smooth, tidy official who travels the provinces buying dead serfs on paper, hoping to rise into the ranks of the rich.
- SelifanChichikov's coachman, who talks to his horses and sometimes takes the wrong road.
- PetrushkaChichikov's valet, who reads without caring what he reads and carries a peculiar smell with him wherever he goes.
- ManilovA sweet, vague landowner who loves fine speeches and friendship but leaves his estate to run itself.
- KorobochkaA cautious widow who manages her small farm like a shop and fears she may be selling too cheaply.
- NozdryovA loud gambler and liar who loves dogs, cards and fairs, and cannot resist turning any deal into a game.
- SobakevichA bearlike landowner who despises everyone and bargains hard, praising his dead serfs as if they were goods in a shop.
- PlyushkinA wealthy landowner who has become a ragged miser, hoarding junk while his house and village fall to ruin.
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- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 16 h 4 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Les Âmes mortes
by Nicolas Vassilievitch Gogol· 1842
A stranger buys dead serfs still listed as living.
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Language: Français
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
A stranger arrives and charms a town
The novel opens with a plain carriage rolling into a provincial town. The vehicle is a britchka, a small spring carriage, and it carries a gentleman who is neither handsome nor ugly, neither fat nor thin, neither young nor old. Gogol takes care to make him as ordinary as possible. His name is Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov, and he travels with a coachman named Selifan and a valet named Petrushka.
Chichikov takes a room at the inn and asks the servants many questions. He wants to know who the town officials are, who the wealthy landowners are, and what sort of men they are. Then he sets out to pay calls. He visits the governor, the vice governor, the prosecutor, the chairman of the local chamber, the chief of police and the postmaster.
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The author
Nikolai Gogol
1809–1852 · Ukrainian-born Russian novelist
Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol (1809–1852) was a Russian writer born in what is now Ukraine. He lived in Saint Petersburg and Rome and died in Moscow. He wrote plays, stories, and novels. His works include The Inspector-General (1836), Taras Bulba (1835), The Overcoat (1842), and Dead Souls (1842).
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What is Dead Souls about?
It tells of Chichikov, a traveler who buys the names of dead serfs still counted on the tax lists, planning to use them for credit and status. Along the way he meets a series of eccentric landowners.
What does the title Dead Souls mean?
In the plot it means serfs who have died but remain on the official lists. The phrase also hints at people whose inner lives have withered, such as the greedy, vain or empty owners who sell them.
Is Dead Souls hard to read?
It is lively and funny, but long, with digressions and many Russian names and customs. A reader who accepts the slow pace and enjoys the character sketches usually finds it easier than its reputation suggests.
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