6/6/2023 0 Comments Gogol mertvye dushi![]() ![]() Russian stamp honoring the author from /images/artnana/art. Painting: A Peasant Leaving His Landlord on Yuriev Day, by Sergei V. There’s humor but ultimately hopelessness of ever changing the conditions of serfdom. The author comments a lot on language – Russian and French the provinces vs. Each negotiation to buy serfs is different. In the process we learn about life in Russia at the time: masters and peasants He travels by coach with two servants and goes to a lot of taverns gambling. The point was to reduce his tax burden, since serfs were taxed unless he had papers showing they had died. In this story the main character is buying “dead souls” – papers from other property owners whose serfs died (ownership of serfs went with the property). There are more than 2,000 reviews on GR so I’ll be brief. ![]() He’s kind of happy-go-lucky - a drinker, gambler, liar. It’s considered a picaresque novel Don Quixote-ish – a journey with a lot of satire and absurd situations with a rascal as a main character, a man who always has a get-rich-quick scheme going. The book goes way back to 1842, before Russian serfs were emancipated in 1861. ![]()
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