The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

Chichikov returns to N and his plan seems to work perfectly. His careful nurturing of the relationships he struck up in those first days in the town have paid off, the president of the council, who regards him as a close friend, procures all the necessary legal stamps with none of the customary delays. As far as the town is concerned, he is now the owner of several hundred serfs, Sobakovitch’s detailed inventory of skills and qualities making it seem as though this man really knows how to make a deal. Chichikov has grossly inflated the amounts he has paid for them – the magistrate is impressed that almost a hundred thousand roubles have changed hands – so he is clearly a rich man. Chichikov, during a celebratory meal at the house of the chief of police, invents an estate for himself, so now he is a somebody.

It is all going well. The townspeople love him so much they are reluctant to let him leave, and all the unattached women want to get to know him and his fortune better. Chichikov is not as good at dealing with women as with men and this contributes to the way that things apparently start to unravel at the ball. Suddenly, they are ready to change their opinions of him and when Nozdrev makes an appearance, they are more prepared to believe his accusations that they would usually and do not dismiss out of hand his loud and repeated accusations that Chichikov has been buying up dead soul. Soon, Chichikov is feeling very uncomfortable and he leaves early.

The author acquaints the reader with “a lady who is pleasant in all respects,” whose name at first prefers not to give in order to avoid rumors. This lady is discussing with another, “just a pleasant lady,” which was all afraid that Chichikov paid her less than it was supposed to. In the end, the ladies agree that the mysterious guest came to take away the governor’s daughter, and the story with the purchase of dead souls was invented for diverting his eyes. Of course, after a while, the whole city only said that it was about dead souls and the governor’s daughter. As the city was waiting for the appointment of a new governor-general, the officials were frightened: what would happen when rumors of the purchase of the dead serfs reached that point?
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A footnote from my translation:

Chapter 8 - Bespechnyi means carefree; Pobedonosnyi means victorious. Maklatura is soiled or printed paper used for wrapping or packing.
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It looks like Chichikov's "scheme" is starting to unravel. What do you think the townspeople are going to think about this given he's so "loved" by them?

Do you think this is going to be a situational problem for Chichikov or an overall problem? If this is a situational problem, do you think he's going to be able to recover?

What part of his problem(s) do you think the women play?

I enjoy both Gogol's descriptions of public 'rumors' about Chichikov's purposes and the perceptions of the advantages of the soul exchanges as it seems, at first, to make the public officials and citizens happy.
I'm ready to see how Part I ends as I hope there is some sort of semi- resolution before the posthumously published Part II begins.

⊱✿Gem✿⊰ wrote: "Chichikov is not as good at dealing with women as with men and this contributes to the way that things apparently start to unravel at the ball. Suddenly, they are ready to change their opinions of him and when Nozdrev makes an appearance, they are more prepared to believe his accusations ..."

Here's how Chichikov stews over Nozdriov after things head south at the ball:

Chichikov likewise soon found someone close to bear all the weight of whatever his anger could rouse him to. This someone was Nozdriov and, naturally, he was cursed by every name under the sun, as normally only a rogue of a village elder or a coach driver can be cursed by an experienced traveling captain or sometimes even by a general who adds to the classical expressions many more previously unknown ones which he has personally devised. All Nozdriov’s family tree was taken apart and many a member of his family in the ascending line suffered badly. Chichikov was sitting in his hard armchair, distressed by his thoughts and insomnia, enthusiastically treating Nozdriov and all his tribe to a long list of ill wishes...

I am very curious as to how all this dead soul business will finally be resolved, and what Chichikov's intentions for the souls are.

I found this section, like the ones before it, highly entertaining, but I don't really have any comments on it. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. I wonder if there is an "ending" at chapter 11, or if I have to read volume 2 (which is included in my copy).