{"product_id":"2026200010948-secondhand-dead-souls","title":"Dead Souls","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good to fair. Paperback. Page Condition: Good - possible tanning. Markings: possible previous owner inscription.   \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDead Souls stands as one of the towering masterworks of Russian literature, a darkly comic novel that chronicles the misadventures of the cunning Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov as he travels across provincial Russia purchasing the legal records of deceased serfs — so-called dead souls — in a audacious scheme to mortgage them for profit. Written by Nikolai Gogol and first published in 1842, the novel presents a biting and satirical portrait of greed, corruption, and the moral bankruptcy lurking beneath the surface of Russian society. With razor-sharp wit and grotesque caricature, Gogol populates his world with a memorable gallery of landowners, bureaucrats, and swindlers, each embodying a different form of human folly. The narrative argues, with both laughter and lament, that the real dead souls are not the serfs on paper, but the spiritually hollow men who profit from a corrupt system. This Penguin Classics edition makes this essential work of world literature accessible to modern readers in an authoritative English translation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48956133802203,"sku":"2026200010948-SECONDHAND","price":10.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/b8942019-2c37-4d65-b618-9793fb8cec83.png?v=1783498179","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200010948-secondhand-dead-souls","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}