About this audiobook
Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov arrives in a provincial town with a plan for making his fortune. He wants to buy the legal ownership of serfs who have died but still appear as living in the official records until the next census. By turning this discrepancy into an apparent asset, he hopes to obtain a loan. What sounds like an absurd transaction becomes the starting point for a journey through a society accustomed to bargaining over people.
Nikolai Gogol follows Chichikov from one landowner to another, revealing different forms of vanity, greed and inertia. Manilov's vague dreams, Nozdryov's unruly behaviour and Plyushkin's obsessive hoarding make each encounter distinctive. Comic conversations expose habits that the characters themselves rarely question.
Described by its author as a poem, this work combines a satirical story with lyrical reflections on Russia. It will appeal to readers who enjoy grotesque portraits, sharp social observation and humour that gradually reveals an unsettling human emptiness.
