In the Russian Empire, the word "soul" referred to male serfs. It was the number of souls that determined the value of a property and the land tax owed by the owner. As censuses were only taken every five years, dead serfs sometimes "lived" for years in the state registers; and owners paid a tax on these dead souls. This absurdity of the system gave crooks, including the book's hero Chichikov, the idea of a land credit scam. In this great novel, Gogol presents us with a magnificent gallery of portraits. A comic, picaresque, virulent and often irresistible epic, Dead Souls is also a meditation on Russia, Mankind and Death.
1116756359
Dead Souls
In the Russian Empire, the word "soul" referred to male serfs. It was the number of souls that determined the value of a property and the land tax owed by the owner. As censuses were only taken every five years, dead serfs sometimes "lived" for years in the state registers; and owners paid a tax on these dead souls. This absurdity of the system gave crooks, including the book's hero Chichikov, the idea of a land credit scam. In this great novel, Gogol presents us with a magnificent gallery of portraits. A comic, picaresque, virulent and often irresistible epic, Dead Souls is also a meditation on Russia, Mankind and Death.
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Dead Souls
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940186071754 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Barnes & Noble Press |
| Publication date: | 07/07/2024 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 521 KB |
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