Oblomov
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers interested in Russian classical literature who wish to understand the lineage of the "superfluous man"
- Literary lovers who enjoy slow-paced psychological description and character analysis
- Readers needing to study nineteenth-century Russian society and the spiritual state of the nobility
- Readers accustomed to public-domain e-books who value searchable texts
Not a good fit for
- Readers who prefer strong plot and fast narrative may find the first half slow
- Readers with high demands for the layout and notes of English public-domain e-books need to choose another edition
- Readers who want only short stories or excerpts and are unwilling to commit to a long novel
Reading tips
- Read Part One first to understand Oblomov's daily life and the basis of his character, then move on to the love story in Part Two
- Note down specific manifestations of the "Oblomov character" as you read, and summarize its causes after finishing the book
- Compare with works such as Pushkin's Eugene Onegin to compare the similarities and differences of "superfluous men"
- Use the e-book's search function to look up key character names and sort out relationships and plot points
About the publisher
Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.
Contents
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17
- 18
- 19
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- 34
FAQ
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About the author
Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov (1812–1891) was a nineteenth-century Russian novelist. Publicly available Chinese-language sources offer limited information about his life, and his literary reputation rests chiefly on his novels. His masterpiece Oblomov created the character type known as "Oblomovism," marked by indolence, daydreaming, and an inability to act, which became a far-reaching archetype in Russian literature. The Precipice and A Common Story are likewise notable for their delicate portrayal of character and social manners. His style is unhurried and relaxed, and he excels at revealing his characters' inner states through everyday scenes and psychological description, contributing to later Russian fiction's traditions of character portrayal and social critique. Five of his works are held in the collection, indicating that his novels have received a measure of translation and attention among Chinese readers.
