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Showing results for tags 'nikolay gogol'.
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This is my seventh Russian classic, only Eugene Onegin to go and I've done Russia (if I ignore the likes of Solzhenitsyn). It is an odd sort of novel. It was written in the 1840s when Russian landowners still owned serfs. I think that situation changed not long after. It's about this man called Chichikov. He is buying the title deeds of dead serfs from landowners. Landowners had to pay tax on their serfs, even dead ones, until the next census confirmed they were dead. Therefore, the landowners are fairly willing to sell the souls, only they are not sure what Chichikov wants with them. Is it legal? How much is a dead serf worth. Chichikov has some scam in mind, but I am not clear how it is supposed to work. I suppose it is to appear richer than he is, so people will lend you money or invest in your schemes. The first volume is a satire on provincial rural life in Russia. The second volume is more a state of the nation story. I do not think the book comes to a proper end. I think it just breaks off. Just two chapters to go.
