Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious social humor, with dark undercurrents
Review: While I was reading this, I couldn't help but compare it to Laurence Sterne's "Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy." I later found out that Gogol was a fan of that book, so perhaps the parallels are intentional.The protagonist, Chichikov, is a shaggy dog of sorts an average guy from a below-average background, who manages to use his schmoozing skills to get ahead in life, but is ultimately a bit of an insecure charlatan. (Lots of parallels to Jay Gatsby as well.) But, as in Sterne's book, we don't find out much about Chichikov until the very end of the novel -- otherwise, we only see small glimpses of Chichikov in action, and hear the mostly untrue things said about him by those he encounters. (Are these falsehoods of his own making, or of his observers' making? Or of ours, the readers' own making? Not an easy question.) The novel takes us through various parts of Russian society, with many bits of the author's mockery obviously being things Gogol had wanted to get off his chest for quite a while. There are some excellent observations about "the Russian character," human nature, personality types, what different languages are good for, and many, many other bits of Gogolian brilliance. By the way, the financial scheme Chichikov is running is very clever, even by today's standards of financial wizardry. The narrator does a lot of Sterne-like "stepping out of character"; in one of the more hilarious passages, he complains that his pen has suddenly become too heavy to write anything more about a certain character, and that he will take a rest. There are many comments to the effect of "So what kind of a novel were you expecting this to be, dear reader?" perhaps playing upon the shock with which the book was initially received. Also lots of teasing the reader, with back-and-forth to the effect of "should I reveal any more to you, or shouldn't I?" Ultimately, the big question in the book becomes exactly who the "dead souls" are -- and the astute reader will realize that paradoxically, the dead serfs that are being bought and sold are the least dead of all the souls in the book. This book is hilariously funny, and is rewarding even if read for humor alone. However, the literary and narrative experiments it undertakes, as well as its subtle social criticisms, make it even more worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: Gogol's best!
Review: Gogol, that pure Russian soul, at his finest, funniest, most charming and feverish best... It is a shame he never finished it... threw the manuscript into the fire (fortunately there were copies)... but such is the tortured artist, the poetic soul: Gogol!
Rating: 
Summary: A Stale Translation of a Great Classic
Review: While this translation is better than some I've read, it's still quite pedastrian and fails to capture any of the magic of the original. A good translation, however, may be an impossible task. When the New York Times calls this translation "fresh," does it mean they've actually read the original? I doubt it.
Rating: 
Summary: Book one was brilliant...number two was lacking
Review: Book 1...I savored every single word of this work. The author manages to mix clever dialogue with long, well thought out passages of psychological insight. The descriptions of certain characters in this work, the cheating gambler, or the miserly landowner are clearly first rate. Obviously human nature has not evolved since since the 19th century, as I found myself drawing comparisons between people I know and Gogols players. Book 2...I was very disappointed time with book two. Chichikov has an entirely different feel throughout. The pages ramble along, and many thoughts are not clearly expressed or even finished. If after you read book 1, you feel you have had a good experience, close the book, and return it to the library/pass it along to a friend.
Rating:
Summary: Sadly Misunderstood
Review: Gogol was Russia's poetic observer of the true soul and character of the Russian peoples. A deep pessimist and a black humourist, but above all a realist tormented by love for his country, an all to acute understanding of his people, and hatred of the state. I vote 5 for this book because to read it is know and understand our Mother Russia and the people who still live the life that Gogol the poet described. Misunderstood perhaps due to its age it is treated as a "classic" and an "academic" work of literature. I urge you to read Gogol and understand our Russian soul. His last work was to be the nemesis of Dead Souls, but never written, because our Gogol was a realist who was tortured by the fact.
Rating:
Summary: Gogol's Maniacal Magnificence
Review: Gogol's "Dead Souls" is an amazing, if incomplete, novel. I would say it is about a fellow named Chichikov, but that would not be true. The novel is about Russia. In "Dead Souls" we see that Gogol loved Russia so much, it drove him mad trying to find a way to save it. The novel is entrancing, moving seamlessly between minute particularity to epic scope, as it takes all of Russia under its gaze. At times, the tone is satirical, angry, comic, even desperate - but always with a wistful fondness that should be apparent to the observant reader. Chichikov, the hero of Gogol's epic poem, shows the influence of Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy," a novel with which Gogol was familiar. Like Shandy, we know little about Chichikov until well into the novel. This narrative indirection allows us more insight into the other characters and the conditions of Russia after the Napoleonic wars. Chichikov is a minor gentleman, who, having served in various government positions, decides to pursue the life of a land-owner. His scheme is to traverse Russia, gathering the legal rights to serfs who have died on estates since the last census. By turning an accumulated list of these 'dead souls' over to the government, he plans to make a small fortune, which he will use to buy an estate. While Chichikov may appear to be a morally questionable swindler, like Herman Melville's "Confidence-Man," he does have noble motivations, despite his methods. Chichikov seeks what each person seeks, according to Gogol - to have a family, to do honor to one's country. Although his plan can seem to be a ludicrous, last-ditch sort of effort at establishing himself, Chichikov is, throughout, extremely level-headed about it. Chichikov knows how to speak and carry himself so that he will be accepted by everyone he meets. From the noble, efficient land-owner Kostanjoglo to the wild, hilarious liar Nozdryov - Chichikov mingles with and exposes us to "the whirligig of men." Gogol points out throughout the novel that the written text is inadequate to convey the actual experience - the air, the sights, the smells, the people of Russia. He tries, then, to give us "a living book" - a testament to a way of life that was soon to change. Like Melville's "Confidence-Man," which was published shortly before the American Civil War, Gogol's "Dead Souls" came out only a few years before Marx's "Communist Manifesto" which would change and determine the fate of Russia in the first decades of the 20th century. Read the lyrical "Dead Souls" - if you like his short stories, like "The Nose" or "The Overcoat," - you will find a wonderfully complex and sophisticated, and deeply involved intellect at his best.
Rating:
Summary: Chickikov's Journey
Review: In 19th century Russia landowners estimated their wealth not only by the acres they owned, but also by the number of their surfs. Chichikov, a confidence-trickster, realises that serfs that die between official censuses are not legally dead until the next census, and so still count as property. He travels the length and breadth of Russia, buying "dead souls" from landowners, and becomes - on paper at least - one of the wealthiest men in the country. Gogol uses this simple story as the basis for a set of farcical character-studies: he saw the book as a portrait-gallery of contemporary Russia, and filled it with short, self-contained comic episodes. He also wrote, with ironical pointedness, that Chickikov's journey stands for the journey of every human being through life: we move on, never sure of what is coming next, relieved each time that whatever it was we did, we got away with it.
Rating:
Summary: Are We Not All Chichikovs
Review: Dead Souls, the most ambitious of all Gogol's works, dates back as far as 1835 and preoccupied its author until the publication of its first volume in 1842. Documentation that Gogol was working on Dead Souls comes in a letter to Pushkin, whom Gogol greatly admired, dated 7 October 1836. In this letter, Gogol informs Pushkin that, "I have begun to write Dead Souls. The plot has stretched out into a very long novel, and it will, I think, be extremely amusing. But now I've stopped it on the third chapter. I'm hunting for a good slanderer with whom one can become intimate. I want to show all Russia--at least from one side--in this novel." This is the first indication that Gogol was involved with something longer than his usual short stories, or as is the case with Taras Bulba, a novella. Only the first part of Dead Souls was actually completed by Gogol. The second part (some chapters of which are published with the first) is a recreation of what Gogol might have done with the continuation of his work; he actually burned the second part only nine days before his death. Dead Souls was originally published as The Adventures of Chichikov since religious censors at the time objected to the phrase "dead souls" as being theologically contradictory. As Dead Souls opens, Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov is traveling through the Russian countryside on business. He is, however, my no means, an idle wanderer. The situation from which Dead Souls develops is based upon a scheme which was theoretically possible in the Russia of Gogol's time. The government had a policy of loaning money to landowners, however, lands owned were measured, not in acres, or hectares, but by the number of "souls," i.e., serfs, residing on them. The government would accept the serfs as collateral for a loan to the owner. An individual possessed the number of "souls" recorded in the most recent census, with a new census being taken every ten years. In Dead Souls, Chichikov schemes to buy from the serf holders a number of "dead souls" who had, indeed, died, but were still counted as living until the next census. Once Chichikov had enough of these souls, he intended to apply for a loan and buy an actual country estate. Chichikov's business dealings with the landowners, like every facet of the novel, serves as a measuring stick for his own observations of Russian life. No two business dealings are alike, however. One of Gogol's greatest artistic achievements is that a recurring topic or theme never becomes predictable or boring. Each business transaction is different and impossible to predict: with the character Manilov, it is easy; with Sobakievich, it is tough going; with Nozdryov, the quintessential Russian peasant, impossible. Dead Souls is told by a narrator who is at times omniscient and at other times, not. The overall tone of the book is one of both humor and irony, although Gogol does become increasingly melancholic and lyrical near the end. While the narrator outwardly shows the characters and their actions great respect, he still manages to illustrate their folly, their coarseness and, at times, their ugliness. Gogol also revealed much about the characters in their names. This may or may not be apparent to the reader, depending on which translation he is reading, but the book can be enjoyed without knowing the irony behind Gogol's play on names. A continuing leitmotif in Dead Souls is that of marriage. We see in the various landowners their attitudes towards marriage and family life, none of which is particularly complimentary, although it is, at times, hilariously funny. Even Chichikov, himself, is a contented middle-aged bachelor. "What makes women so repulsive?" he, at one point, asks the world at large. Yet, even this contented bachelor, as we soon see, is not immune to the charms of a pretty face. Gogol introduces five landowners in the novel's first seven chapters, then moves away from the countryside back to town where Chichikov now plans to register the "deeds" he has purchased. His descriptions in this part of the novel are reminiscent of the situations and characters in The Overcoat and The Inspector General. An unexpected, but logical twist, occurs at the end of volume one in Chichikov's wild troika ride, with bells tinkling, signifying the glorification of Russia's own fast ride in history. Dead Souls is the epitome of what Gogol did best. It introduces a multitude of characters, varied settings, multitudinous detail and a scope grand enough to allow this amazing and very funny writer to elaborate on the very heart of Russian life to his own soul's content.
Rating:
Summary: A treasure of ironies
Review: Before moving onto Gogol's most famed piece, I had the chance to savour a taste of his folklore side through Taras Bulba. The Ukaranian native possesses what I understand to be the Russian soul, not something restrained by political boundaries, but a sense of humour, a sense of understanding, and a sense of wisdom unique only to the Russian people. Dead Souls is the perfect example of such a combination. The story evolves around up-start Chichikov's clandestine pursuit of wealth through the purchase of dead souls which leads onto other intrigues more heinous on the surface. As he arrives at one town after another, he dazzles the society with his superb taste and exquisite character, yet behind his "wonderfully humble nod of the head", lies a corrupted soul that is bringing out everyone's darkest ambitions. With hundreds of "wise phrases", this book is a true allegory--Gogol drags the readers on with the dark humour, only to lead them to the feet of a supreme realization. The author also took special care to name his characters such as their names stand for something specific in the Russian language. Surely few expects to discover much as the chase for truth dashes through episode after episode of innocent funnies, yet when you do get there, you realize you have already garnered much on the way, the humour comes back as the simplest truth. The hiatus was of some problem, but a good edition offers the chance to patch up the missing pieces at the end. As some other review mentioned, the ultimate irony is the fact that Chichikov is the true dead soul, devoid of morality, blinded by greed, and chastised by the very travesty of justice--a crippled system that is manipulated by dead souls such as Chichikov. Indeed, this is a piece of literature that makes one ponder long after the last page is turned. There are just so many hidden switches that trigger the senses and tantalizes one's security about our world. Gogol's vision still holds true for today, a highly materialized world, maybe this classic will offer some seemingly antedeluvian advice on our very modern problem of ambition. After all, there is a dead-soul dealer in all of us, and Chichikov is far from the villian (as Gogol calls him "our hero").
Rating:
Summary: Incredible.
Review: It's just a cool book.The irony Gogol uses in it is just superb:Chichikov buys dead servants whose masters(as well as Chichikov himself)are dead souls.anyway,it's better to read such a funny and at the same time serious book than some dull and boring social realism.
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