Dead Souls

The mummy and daddy of all Russian social novels, Gogol's masterpiece is equals parts rambling picaresque, Dickensian social tapestry, absurdist farce and caustic satire. Chichikov, a man with neither refinement nor any noticeable scruples, travels around provincial Russia dealing in the deeds to serfs that have died, from which corrupt landowners can still derive profit. Along the way he meets a cast of country gentry, peasants, drunks, hypocrites, sadists and crooks. A gorgeous poetic epic full of low humour and disgust, Dead Souls is unlike any book written before or since.