Dead Souls
Since its publication in 1842, Dead Souls has been celebrated as a supremely realistic portrait of provincial Russian life and as a splendidly exaggerated tale; as a paean to the Russian spirit and as a remorseless satire of imperial Russian venality, vulgarity, and pomp. As Gogol's wily antihero, Chichikov, combs the back country wheeling and dealing for "dead souls"--deceased serfs who still represent money to anyone sharp enough to trade in them--we are introduced...
Stats for nerds
14recommend
29mentions
27people
2012–2026years
52% recommend48% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- When raising children, introduce Dostoyevsky to Sophomores not Seniors. The Landlady and some short stories, like White Nights. Leave Notes from Underground lying around at-hand. Watch Love and Death on family movie night. Chekov is nice at about this time, too, but again, short stories are best. Developing the skills to read Russian literature take a little time, and when you pick up Crime and Punishment, Anna Karenina, War and Peace, The Brothers Karamazov, or Dead Souls, it's nice to feel at home in the genre so the glories of the work can shine without caveat.
- Yup, 余光中 is one of such authors who urge people to write authentic instead of "westernized" Chinese. I wouldn't call it "blame", though. Just like in English, there's certain standard on good writing. In Chinese, 白话文 is really the way to go. That's why among the authors in the May 4th movement, 钱钟书´s modern Chinese is just so much more pleasant to read than Lu Xun's. If you don't believe me, try reading his translation of Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls. Oh my...
Joan Pinkham wrote a book titled The Translator's Guide to Chinglish[1]. It's a fun book to read and really teaches native Chinese speakers how to write good English. Interestingly, a lot of the lessons in that book can be applied to Chinese writing too, such as avoiding nounification, and removing duplication. For instance, just say "dislike" instead of "to have a dislike for". And instead of saying "give guidance to", just say "guide".
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Translators-Guide-Chinglish-Joan-Pink...
- * Dead Souls by Gogol
I read it to try to understand why Russia sees it self as a super power. It is an amazing book, it does not bring enlightenment but made me see the war propaganda in another light. There was a recent thread with Russsian literature: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33032708 where the short stories by Gogol were recommended, I agree.
- A smattering from my audible listening list which I particularly remember liking (this might actually be a 'less read books' list sorry ;-) ): Michael Palin - Erebus ; Alan Moore - Jerusalem ; Graeme Green - Travel with my Aunt ; Karen Maitland - A Company of Liars ; Louis de Bernieres - Captain Correlli's Mandolin ; Umberto Eco - The Name of the Rose ; Nikolai Gogol - Dead Souls ; Robert Harris - Imperium trilogy ...
I'd second for Master & Margarita and almost anything by Dostoyevsky
- > I would blame more the cold messed up soviet-era society for this
Please read The Prince, The Karamazov Brothers, Eugene Onegin, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, or Dead Souls before writing this kind of grotesque sweeping statements.
- If you want to read Dead Souls, there's a free high quality edition at Standard Ebooks: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/nikolai-gogol/dead-souls/d...
It's a surprisingly funny and brisk read.
