Dead Souls

This book I found whilst rummaging for some good Russian Fiction - and seeing as this is proclaimed the "first major Russian novel" I thought I'd give it a try. It was emotionally harrowing and dystopian as Hell - and that's why I loved it.

Previously, in Russian fiction there's:
- War and Peace
- Anna Karenina
- Everything by Dostoyevsky (because why not?)
- Chekov 
- Ibsen 
and many more that I've read and enjoyed - I can truly say that upon finishing this novel there was a loud bang on my wall as I threw the book across the room in sheer anger. I loved the book itself, but you will soon learn why I threw it at my wall this plain Sunday morning.

Characters:

My favourite character was Chichikov - I thought he was pretty versatile in emotion. Sometimes he showed a side to him that was emotionally deep and speculative, but that was soon cast out by the sigh of dystopia and the need to be emotionless. You could plainly see his want to keep up with the other dystopian freaks, but he perpetually thought he'd lose his mind any day now. That's what I really loved about his character - his sheer human nature in a world created in the style of a Gothic dystopia. 

Themes:

My favourite theme was the difference between being alive and being dead. You will know what it means by "Dead Souls" once you really set into reading this novel. It's quite short and it has this constant reference to the mind and the soul - the mind of the character and the soul of the dead. It's an amazing comparison and I think it needs to be more looked at by the reader (I've read other reviews and they fail to mention the juxtaposition between life and death, much rather they mention it but don't tell you why it's so important - I just did but without giving away anything in the novel). 

Storyline: 

This is why I threw the book at the wall. 

I was so emotionally caught up in this book that I wanted to know the ending this morning. I've been ill for the last couple of days and so my reading has been replaced by being sick perpetually. But, I thought that this morning was the morning that I wanted to finish "Dead Souls" and know what exactly happens at the end of the book. 

The last page - I was in the middle of a sentence and then...

(Here the manuscript cuts off) 

WHAT? 

WHAT? It can't just do that, can it? 

No ending? But why? 

And so it was thrown. 

Verdict:

I give this book 8/9

100% for characters: I loved our very human and very humane main character

100% for themes: The juxtaposition between life and death was amazing, something to look out for when reading

2/3 for storyline: That ending made me mad as hell.