Set at the beginning of the 19th century, when idleness was still looked upon by Russia’s serf-owning gentry as a viable and worthy goal, there was Oblomov. Indolent, inattentive, incurious and given over to daydreaming, Oblomov is hardly the ideal hero, yet he is not impossible to admire. The image of this gentle daydreamer, roused to action for one brief period of ardent but begotten love, is a fixture of Russian culture. Goncharov’s masterpiece is an ingenious social satire and also a sharp criticism of 19th century Russian society.