The Second Half Of Dead Souls

Dead Souls should have been the great Russian novel, just as Ambersons should have been the great American film. It was written by Nikolai Gogol and followed a con artist who bought the souls of deceased peasants in order to become wealthy. The intended trilogy, according to Gogol, would be a masterwork in which "all Russia will emerge." Unfortunately, only the first portion was ever released. Part three - the second half of Dead Souls was never written, while part two was written but immediately burned in a religious rage.

Gogol encountered a spiritual counsellor named Father Matthew at the end of his life. Father Matthew persuaded him to burn Dead Souls for the sake of his own soul after being shocked by the immorality in Gogol's works. Gogol supposedly recognized what he'd done immediately after ruining his life's work, went into a profound melancholy, refused to eat, and died quickly. Only early versions of several chapters have survived, leaving little of Gogol's great, unifying vision for his masterwork.