Oblomov (Penguin Classics)

Goncharov asks the universal questions "what is life and why are we here?" in this quite sublime and ethereal exposition of a man (Oblomov) who is too lazy and apathetic save for eating and sleeping. "Give me man" he demands but he cannot find any reason strong enough to get him to live where living means taking an active part in the world around him.

Not even love can save him. There's always tomorrow to attend to his affairs. Luckily for Oblomov there's the best friend to sort out his business matters, a landlady to take care of the household and even his own personal Panza to jest with. He can afford to be this indulgent because he owns 300 serfs back in Oblomovka who work to the bone so the master can shake his head at the world of bureaucrats, workers, drifters and hustlers i.e. the rest of us.

Kind of the sort of life some of us dream of, you know, the myriad trust funds in tax havens stuffed with millions that someone else worked for while we live like Paris Hilton. There's surely an Oblomov in all of us.

Liked Oblomov (4/4 people found this helpful)

I read OBLOMOV from a recommendation and what actually made me to buy it was because my friend considered it to be one of his favorite book of all time. I agree with him about that. It is an amazing book. Not only that, I developed an interest in the author's other works. Nevertheless, this is a wonderfully written book It is an absolute masterpiece, a classic accepted in Russia and the rest of the world.UNION MOUK,THE ARTAMONOV BUSINESS,AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON are other good Russian stories I enjoyed.

Laziness and indecision as an art form (19/19 people found this helpful)

This is one of my favourite novels, and one of the very finest of the golden age of Russian literature in the nineteenth century, up there with Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky.

Goncharov only wrote a handful of books (3 novels and a travelogue), and of these Oblomov is by far the best (although his final novel, The Precipice is under-rated and of interest too). Oblomov is the simple story of a nobleman in Tsarist Russia who has plenty of opportunities for success in love and life, but who finds it very difficult to take them - or indeed to do anything decisive at all other than laze around.

Oblomov seems to embody potential unfulfilled and a stubborn to change and take on new ideas, and he has been seen by many as a metaphor for pre-revolution Russia. 'Oblomovism' has apparently become a common term in Russia, meaning, of course, procrastination or inaction.

Amazingly for a book about seemingly so little, Oblomov glides by, perhaps because it is so well written. This is a singular and fascinating novel, with some stunningly detailed and well drawn characters. It may be of a very different style to most modern books, but I wuld strongly recommend it.

Sad and hilarious tale of a slothful nobleman (16/17 people found this helpful)

This is a wonderful story of an extremely lazy and kind-hearted nobleman who sees his life and only love waste away before his eyes, but cannot bring himself to act to prevent it. It is a delightful evocation of the comical and melancholy life on a Russian estate and a sad and gripping portrait of a good man undone by his own lethargy.

Oblomov (Penguin Classics)

I.A. Goncharov

Reader Reviews:

Life For Nothing (0/0 people found this helpful)

Liked Oblomov (4/4 people found this helpful)

Laziness and indecision as an art form (19/19 people found this helpful)

Sad and hilarious tale of a slothful nobleman (16/17 people found this helpful)

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