Oblomov, Part One, Chapter 4
You're such a slug! I tell you, Ilya Ilyich, you're a lost cause!
We left chapter three with a knock at the door and a description of who was knocking. It’s Tarantyev, a larger-than-life character in Oblomov’s life. He seems to be out to get what he can from the vulnerable and needy. Oblomov fits that bill, and Tarantyev takes advantage. But, he does come up with some good ideas for Oblomov’s dilemmas.
It’s a fascinating chapter that reveals how Oblomov is a loyal friend to Stolz, a German with whom Oblomov grew up. Tarantyev is not fond of foreigners and considers Stolz to be a con man of the highest order. Takes one to know one is what I say to that. And we’re yet to meet Stolz. Goncharov is building this character up a lot before he steps onto the stage, so it seems clear that he’s going to play a bit role in the novel when he appears.
Tarantyev’s solutions are great for neurotypical people—write letters, sort out your estate, spend the summer there then move into a cheaper apartment in Petersburg in the autumn—but for those with executive dysfunction, they’re just too overwhelming and Oblomov ends the chapter by going to sleep. He’s now faced with the dilemma of having to write letters, just the kind of activity that lends itself to serial procrastination.
And what’s the deal with Alexeyev? We now know his actual name, which he tells us himself: Ivan Alexeyevich Alexeyev. He’s only really there as a foil to Tarantyev. He has a dig at Alexeyev’s bastard relative, a man who had the audacity to ask for the money back that he’d lent to Tarantyev.
You’ll never get up off your backside, will you?
The whole scene reads very much like a play. So far, we’ve not moved from Oblomov’s sitting room and have learned more about Tarantyev’s background than Oblomov’s. Chapter 5 changes the scene and in it we’ll learn about Oblomov’s past.
Video discussion
Questions
What do you make of Tarantyev? Do you think his motives are good?
Is Oblomov truly a ‘lost cause’?
Let me know your thoughts below!
See you tomorrow!
A long chapter, but this book is so readable! Goncharov is a master of dialogue. I agree with you that it reads like a play, and as a playwrite I would prefer Goncharov over Chekov any day. I look forward to your post about translations because that is a topic that interests me a lot. There are translators who let the original authors speak for themselves and those who impose their own stamp as an artist to make a name for themselves; those who convey the time and culture of the author and those who modernize and colloquialize to reflect the translator’s culture. It’s a fascinating subject.
I love the birds accompanying your videos. The birds are unusually vocal in my part of the world this spring, as well.