Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol

Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol is a classic 19th-century Russian novel, first published in 1842. The story follows a protagonist who exploits a loophole in property registers by purchasing deceased serfs, or 'dead souls,' who are still counted as living. Gogol intended the work as an epic poem in prose, satirizing Russian society and exploring themes of morality and spiritual decay. The novel is considered one of the most prominent works of Russian literature, though it remains unfinished due to Gogol's destruction of the second part.