Oblomov - Tapa blanda

"Oblomov" evolved from an 1849 short story entitled "Oblomov's Dream: An Episode from an Unfinished Novel" ("Son Oblomova"). The main character, Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, was compared to Shakespeare's Hamlet. Oblomov answers "No!" to the question "To be or not to be?" Fyodor Dostoyevsky, among others, considered Goncharov a noteworthy author of high stature. Turgenev, who fell out with Goncharov after the latter accused him of plagiarism, nevertheless declared: "As long as there is even just one Russian alive, Oblomov will be remembered!"

Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov (1812-1891) was a Russian novelist best known as the author of "Oblomov" (1859). He was born in Simbirsk (now Ulyanovsk); his father was a wealthy grain merchant. After graduating from Moscow University in 1834 Goncharov served for thirty years as a minor government official.