"Dead Souls": reviews of the work. "Dead Souls", Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol

One of the great books that NV Gogol wrote is "Dead Souls." Comments of many contemporaries Nikolai Vasilyevich, those who knew him closely, say that the writer did not leave a sense of his own significance. He perceived himself as a man who was called to some great cause.

The first volume of the poem and its copy

It was this book that became his great contribution to the history of literature. Work on it Gogol began in the eighteen hundred and thirties, immediately after the success of his novels. This is the time of intensive communication between the writer and Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin, who also suggested the plot of "Dead Souls".

Nikolai Vasilyevich received a censorship permit for the publication of the first volume in the forty-second year of the 19th century, not without difficulty. Some amendments were made to the text in addition to the will of the author. The title of the poem was changed. But nevertheless the book nevertheless came to the reader.

She was published in the printing house of Moscow University. The writer himself called the book Dead Souls, or Chichikov's Adventures. This gave some features of an adventure novel to the work. Gogol managed to even come up with an appearance for his publication.

The scribe copy is still kept in the scientific library, which is authenticated by Nikolai Vasilyevich himself, which confirms the authenticity of this text. And any reprint of the work is compared with this copy, stored in the walls of Moscow University.

The work "Dead Souls". Reviews of contemporaries and genre

Since the book was published under the title "The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls," it in many ways seemed to resemble an adventure, easy novel that did not set the reader to anything high. So the censors thought and those who decided to change the headline.

And modern literary researchers who study the work Dead Souls (their reviews are much more objective than the opinion of editors living in the era of Gogol), first of all note that the work has a rather unusual designation - it is a poem. A reader of the nineteenth century got used to the fact that this genre should be written in verse, like "Demon" or "Caucasian captive". But Nikolai Vasilyevich offers it in prose. Just as Alexander Sergeevich previously presented his equally unique work "Eugene Onegin", which is a novel, but in verse. These are two special works that have their own genre that is not similar to anything.

But there were also ancient poems, and denoting his book by this genre, Gogol was guided precisely by ancient samples. In his mind there was a large-scale, global plan of a great work, which was to consist of three volumes.

Scalable design and everyday problems of characters

To date, many are familiar with this magnificent work, which NV Gogol wrote. "Dead Souls" is a fairly epoch-making, lyre-epic creation, in which the author sought to glorify the whole of Russia and the greatness of its national spirit. But most of all readers were struck by the discrepancy between two things: on the one hand - the scale scope of the work, and on the other - some insignificant everyday events from modern Russian life.

One with another as though absolutely does not match. Even the very beginning of the poem sets up an indefinite and disturbing mood, when the plot discusses some minor details about the entry of the book's character into the city.

The meaning of the title of the work

What is the basis for the title of the book that Gogol (Dead Souls) created? After all, the soul can not be dead, it is immortal. This title carries a paradox. But here there is another very important for Nikolai Vasilyevich motive - this is the sale of the soul. At the same time, there is an association with the deal with the devil.

The temptation, evil and demonic beginning in life - that's what is present in the most ordinary events. This is what the writer wanted to emphasize in his work "Dead Souls", the content of which at first glance does not tune the reader to serious reflections. In order to understand the author's intention, it is necessary to thoroughly familiarize himself with his writing style.

The capitalist system or the intervention of the devil

The satirical nature of Gogol's narrative in The Dead Souls was quickly perceived by both contemporaries and descendants. But for himself, Nikolai Vasilyevich was primarily a mystical writer. For him it is more important what happens on the underside of being.

Chichikov, he certainly represents the devil. The one who buys souls. And, for example, the landlords in the "Dead Souls", who are generously scattered throughout this book, become inconspicuous infernal characters. Or "jug snout" is an expression that the officials have teased for a whole century. The description clearly enough fits the appearance of a feature with a penny.

This is very important. Gogol not only criticizes capitalist consciousness in Russia, he stresses that such a system is a direct intervention of hell in people's lives. And the images in the "Dead Souls" - a direct proof of that.

Sale of dead souls

All events occurring in the work seem to be subject to the law. That is, until a new census of the serf population has occurred, no one knows that these people are dead. Therefore, they are acquired on a completely legal basis alive.

Despite the inhumanity of such procedures, they were committed very often. And people passed from one source to another, like things. This is what Gogol wanted to emphasize. "Dead Souls" is a work that not without reason criticizes not only the inequality of personalities, but also the imperfection of the system that is present at that time in Russia.

Lack of logic, or Phantasmagoric world

Several incongruities entail the lack of logic in the events. From the very first pages the reader is immersed in some phantasmagoric world, where it is completely unclear whether the laws of logic, reality, or this is not Russia, but its shadow. Some kind of otherworldly, otherworldly space, where everything is recognizable and at the same time reversed. This is how the great design that embodied in his creation N.V. Gogol. "Dead Souls" were to consist of three volumes, and each of them would display a certain instance: hell, purgatory and paradise. And the first volume is the infernal, otherworldly, the underside of Russia.

Characters of an unusual work

And immediately the question arises: "What kind of people live in such a world?" It's difficult to answer it. Many characters in the work generally have no names, others have, but they are talking, referring the reader to comedies.

Gogol presents a whole gallery of types of people. Each of them personifies some property of a human character. For example, Manilov - dreaminess, Nozdrev - razuhbistaya, meaningless breadth, Plyushkin - stinginess. But the landlords in the "Dead Souls" mainly reflect the lowest qualities that are present in the life of society.

Presence of the biography of the heroes of the work

Very much in Gogol depends on whether the hero has a biography or not. From this, first of all, and depends on its characteristics. "Dead Souls" have a huge number of characters, but not everyone has its own background.

About Manilov, the author says that he is married for about eight years. About Sobakevich a little more, but about Chichikov and Plyushkin told in great detail. Not only about what they are now, but also about their past, and even about their childhood. They fell below other heroes of the work, but according to the philosophy of Nikolai Vasilyevich, this means that they can still be saved, they have depth. This is what provided them with a biography in the work.

If you take those readers who first got acquainted with the work "Dead Souls", their opinions and opinions agree that Chichikov's character is the most mysterious. Whether it's a small adventurer, or the personification of a hellish temptation. It is very difficult to say unequivocally.

Lyrical digressions in the creation of Gogol

Important enough present in the book of Nikolai Vasilyevich lyrical digressions, direct appeal of the narrator to the reader. And one of the brightest is at the end of the first volume of "Dead Souls."

Here sounds the famous Gogol question: "Russia, where are you rushing!" But there is no answer to this remark. And this silence is a very loud chord at the end of the work. The further path of Russia is incomprehensible. And how can it be foreseen, if this is a country where the infernal and the righteous, the real and the fantastic are so intricately intertwined.

This work caused the most contradictory responses, because in Russia at that time, the need for reforms, the abolition of serfdom and corporal punishment was already acutely felt . And Nikolai Vasilyevich loudly declared the need for moral education of every member of society.