Join us for the first Online Reading Group of the year, where we will discuss Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol. Dead Souls is considered to be Russia's first major novel and is one of the most unusual works of nineteenth-century fiction. A devastating satire of social pretensions and provincial life, and a remorseless portrayal of the corruption of Russian society, since its publication Dead Souls has been hailed as one of the funniest and most brilliant novels of 19th-century Russian literature. The meeting will be facilitated by our bookshop co-curator Sasha Padziarei and engagement curator Alisa Oleva.
The Online Reading Group will help to improve inclusivity and accessibility, giving the opportunity for those who cannot attend in person to join us for discussion. We encourage you to join us in person if you can, and leave the online places to those who would benefit from them.
Chichikov, a mysterious stranger, arrives in the provincial town of 'N' and begins paying calls to the local landowners, making each a strange yet persuasive offer. He proposes to buy their dead serfs, “dead souls”, lightening their former owners’ tax burdens and acquiring ‘property’ to re-invent himself as a member of the upper class.
Gogol’s comic yet macabre masterpiece is populated by exaggerated and grotesque characters — peasants, provincial landowners and petty officials — who initially fall for Chichikov’s charm, yet whose suspicions are soon aroused by his behaviour…
We have several translations of Dead Souls available in our bookshop: by Donald Rayfield (Alma Books); Richard Pevear and Larissa Volkhonsky (Everyman’s Library); and Robert A. Macguire (Penguin Classics).
2021 saw the opening of Pushkin House’s very own physical bookshop in addition to our online store. While it is still being honed and developed, we are keen to highlight literature that inspires, encourages, moves and validates our readers. We also want to amplify the voices, writers and readers that historically didn’t get and, perhaps, still don’t get the visibility, power and appreciation they deserve. Most of all, we want to create a physical (and an online) place for connection where people can come and share their views.