Dead Souls is a novel by celebrated Russian author Nikolai Gogol. First published in 1842, it details the quest of a bureaucrat named Chichikov to purchase the names of deceased serfs in a scheming effort to acquire land and wealth. Gogol claimed that the novel was modeled after poetic epics like Dante's Divine Comedy and Homer's Odyssey.
The novel begins with Chichikov's arrival in a small town. He meets several town officials and appears to be highly capable of charming people with conversation. Everything that he says is carefully designed to put him in the good graces of the people he is speaking to. He sets out on a strange mission to acquire "dead souls"—lists of dead serfs—and goes from estate to estate speaking to different members of the landed gentry about the matter. In doing so he meets landowners Manilov, Sobakevich, Pliushkin, Korobochka, and Nozdriov, almost all of whom typify various bad qualities like greed and cruelty. Word about his mission spreads across town. Initially, he is celebrated as a kind of noble figure. Women express an interest in him, but quickly change their minds when he shows romantic interest in the governor's young daughter. Gossip in town leads to Chichikov being viewed as a villain, as people grow suspicious of his motivations and think he is trying to kidnap the governor's daughter. He eventually has to leave the town. In the second part of the book, he continues to travel through Russia and attempts to find more names for his list. He is eventually arrested and is narrowly spared a serious prison sentence. He swears he will reform his ways and work to make Russia a better country.
Published in 1842, the novel is viewed as a canonical work of Russian literature, alongside novels like War and Peace and The Brothers Karamazov. It has been translated into English several times. Novelist Mikhail Bulgakov adapted the book into a play in 1932. In 2006, the novel was also made into a radio play produced by the BBC. It also served as the basis for an opera in 1976 and a television miniseries in 1984.
