Dead Souls
About this audiobook
Regarded as the first great masterpiece of Russian literature, Dead Souls mixes realism and symbolism for a vivid and highly original portrait of Russian life.
Chichikov, a mysterious stranger, arrives in a provincial town with a bizarre but seductive proposition for local landowners. He proposes to buy the names of their serfs who have died but who are still registered on the census, thereby saving their owners from paying taxes on them. But what collateral will Chichikov receive for these "souls"? What dubious scheme lies behind his actions?
Full of larger-than-life Dickensian characters—rogues and scoundrels, landowners and serfs, conniving petty officials, and the wily antihero Chichikov—Dead Souls is a devastating comic satire on social hypocrisy.
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About the author
Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852) was a Russian novelist, humorist, and dramatist. Considered the father of modern Russian realism, his best-known works are the novels Dead Souls and Taras Bul'ba, the play The Inspector-General, and the short stories "Diary of a Madman," "The Nose," and "The Overcoat." With their scrupulous and scathing realism, ethical criticism, and philosophical depth, they remain some of the most important works of world literature. However, because much of Gogol's writing satirized the corrupt bureaucracy of the Russian Empire, he was temporarily exiled from Russia.
Tom Weiner, a dialogue director and voice artist best known for his roles in video games and television shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Transformers, is the winner of eight Earphones Awards and is an Audie Award finalist. He is a former member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
