Dead Souls - Nikolai Gogol

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I enjoyed this book a bit more than I expected to. the first half is quite humorous and then it dies down around chapter 7-8 and gets progressively slower toward the very end where we get the full picture of Chichikov's backstory and his scheme. it was curious to place this at the end rather than the beginning of the book.

It's obvious the work was not meant to stand alone which does suck. We don't really get a satisfying resolution to the story. still a lot of interesting parts, though.Got love how the women ride her carriage in the earliest morning to her friend to gossip about the rumors. And how the rumor ignite the whole small town.

I really like Russian culture and humor and their realistic, if not morose outlook. The details Gogol wrote, lead us to see how it is like to live in these villages. If it was the situation serfs faced everyday, although Gogol might only shows readers the negative sides and being exaggerating , it's still reasonable that they join the revolution.
The dance/ball reminds me of Pride and Prejudice TV series adaption. When I read the part about dance party, the TV series basically play at background of my mind. And I like the unexpected second encounter.

I've heard of a Russian language teacher on Youtube complained about the corrupted bureaucracy in their country. But I didn't expect it to be this bad. And even a revolution can't change the situations, it seems.
So interestingly, Gogol did intend to address all of the issues he brought up in Dead Souls in book 2, but then was disgusted with himself and destroyed the manuscript. and there was also meant to be a part 3 but i dont know what it may have contained. It was interesting to see how "normal" serfdom was, though and serfdom ended in russia 20 years after dead souls was published. I think Gogol is very brave to write the shortcomings of his people. I would fear people in my nation throwing stones at me if I ever write anything like this book. I also think a nation would definitely need some writers like Gogol in their literature circle, otherwise it would be unhealthy and full of flatters.

I do appreciate the funny and clever way the author makes fun of society. The way he describes the parties, the rumors and the overall vibe of it was really funny to read about. I liked it at the beginning but then I started to get bored. The characters are strange and interesting, but the story felt slow and unfinished to me.

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