Regarded as the first great masterpiece of Russian literature, Dead Souls mixes realism and symbolism for a vivid and highly original portrait of Russian life.

Chichikov, a mysterious stranger, arrives in a provincial town with a bizarre but seductive proposition for local landowners. He proposes to buy the names of their serfs who have died but who are still registered on the census, thereby saving their owners from paying taxes on them. But what collateral will Chichikov receive for these “souls”? What dubious scheme lies behind his actions?

Full of larger-than-life Dickensian characters–rogues and scoundrels, landowners and serfs, conniving petty officials, and the wily antihero Chichikov–Dead Souls is a devastating comic satire on social hypocrisy.

Chichikov, a mysterious stranger, arrives in a provincial town and visits a succession of landowners to make each a strange offer. He proposes to buy the names of dead serfs still registered on the census, saving their owners from paying tax on them, and to use these “souls” as collateral to reinvent himself as a gentleman. In this ebullient masterpiece, Nikolai Gogol created a grotesque gallery of human types, from the bear-like Sobakevich to the insubstantial fool Manilov, and, above all, the devilish con man Chichikov. Dead Souls, Russia’s first major novel, is one of the most unusual works of nineteenth-century fiction and a devastating satire on social hypocrisy.
This version of Dead Souls is the translation by C. J. Hogarth.

This lovely (and nevertheless rather spooky) tale by Nikolai Gogol is rooted in Ukrainian lore. It starts quite ordinary – a young man is in love with a beautiful young girl, but other people and unforeseen circumstances stand in the way of their happiness. Quite unexpectedly, our young hero receives an offer of help from a very unlikely source.

Centering on the picaresque realism of Nikolai Gogol’s (1809-1852) mid-nineteenth-century visions of the extraordinary in everyday life, this collection mines the ambiance and mind of pre-Revolutionary Russia. These seven stories take us from the Miracle Mile of St. Petersburg’s Nevsky Prospekt, and a summer night in a Ukrainian village, to the fantastical psychological geographies of fathers, sons, and madmen. Augmenting Gogol’s visions are two disturbing tales by the foremost storyteller of Russia’s “Silver Age” Leonid Andreyev (1871-1919), and a coda from one of Anton Chekhov’s (1860-1904) stable of memorable characters.

Contents include:

Nevsky Prospekt – Nikolai GogolThe Diary of a Madman – Nikolai Gogol Silence – Leonid AndreyevMay Night or The Drowned Girl – Nikolai Gogol Laughter – Leonid AndreyevThe Portrait – Nikolai Gogol On the Harmfulness of Smoking Tobacco – Anton Chekhov

Another strange and frightening tale by Nikolai Gogol with roots in Ukrainian lore. When a poor peasant falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy farmer, a dark power interferes, promising him the fulfillment of his wishes but neglecting to mention the terrible price.

The Nose is a short story by Nikolai Gogol and was published in 1836. It tells the story of a man (known as Major Kovalyov) who lost his nose in an extraordinarily strange incident. He soon realizes that his nose dressed as a man of high rank and pretending to be a human being: It goes to church and can talk to Kovalyov. He tries to get the nose back on his face in many different ways but the nose refuses to return.
Nicholai Gogol uses satire to make fun of society in which high position and rank are appreciated much more than personality. The story takes place in 19th century St. Petersburg which had a strict ranked society.
This version of the book is translated by Khashayar Deyhami to Persian (Farsi) and narrated by Reza Omrani. The Persian version of The Nose’s audiobook is published by Maktub worldwide.