Goncharov's Novel ‘Oblomov’. A Guide to the Text

How much did the original design of Goncharov’s central novel change? What is his true conflict, what forms the foundation of its plot and why is ‘Oblomov’ made up of four parts? What gave the main character of the book a national and universal significance, and put Oblomovism on par with such notions as ‘Hamletism’, ‘Platonism’, ‘Quixotism’, ‘Don Juanism’, etc.? How are all the male and female characters in the novel systematized and how do the ‘notions of life’ including those of love, marriage and familial home they embody differ from each other? What does Olga Ilyinskaya yearn for in the ‘Crimean’ chapter of the novel? These are but only some of the questions to which this book offers detailed answers. Written by the famous historian and popularizer of Russian classical literature and a Goncharov literary prize-winner, the book is a fascinating guide to the artistic text of Goncharov’s famous masterpiece on every content level and facet - from social, everyday, topical and folklore to mythological and symbolic ones.

For teachers of schools, gymnasiums and lyceums, high school students, university entrants, students and teacher of philology and all admirers of Russian literary classics.