'Oblomov'

i don't usually write about literature but I just finished the best literary portrait since Roskolnikov, about a character who could not be more different.
'Oblomov' (by Ivan Goncharov, pub. 1859) has utterly no passion, fire, or energy yet you sympathise with the poor inept slob of a nobleman all the way.
The book is also, of COURSE, a fierce indictment of serfdom partly because its done so indirectly.

That was one of those rare gem books that I feel really sad I've finished reading.



photo from a Russian theatre production based on the book


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RE-INSTATED POST
The following post (originally postes on 11/12/07) was deleted and is now re-posted below.

I had ALMOST a panic attack for the first time in years last night. And since yesterday I'm getting more prone to odd visual disturbances.
Both of these are entirely due to being on a ***** bender of course---its something I don't usually do to XS, except that I have a lot of artwork to do (paying stuff) and i was SO PLEASED to procure this, so FLUFFILY smooth yet way strong.
Basically I've been up solid and running since Slimes.
The visuals began when i did a 12 + hour stint almost entirely photographing work in my hallway. Thats a long time for a claustrophobic. There are no windows and the stacks of canvases and cabinets along one side put me in mind of an undertakers shop somehow. I was setting the self-timer a lot, shooting myself with paintings, and that meant walking quickly up and down a lot.
I began, quite suddenly, to pass people on the way.
It got so that I was literally jumping to the side to avoid them. The faces were blurry+distorted, but details such as suits and shoes and hands became more distinct as the night went on.
I went out into the garden walkway below where my cats were, and it was just as bad there, with ....Jesus Christ a woman just bent over my shoulder-with 2 'people' standing in a corner.
Its due to sleep deprivation, and probably dehydration. No matter whether you chain-drink tea etc, the system leaks it faster by this stage. Factors from my history will also be playing a large part in this, eg I've endured full blown DTs a couple of times, as well as possible other flashback components lurking about. Exploring combinations of things is another ready culprit but, frankly, nothing I regret. Oh, and another thing--the old fat man in the flat directly, closely, opposite here, was found dead recently, over a week later.
All its windows are now wide open, as he had also apparently semi-dissolved in full-on central heating.
Ironically/uselessly I had a kinda bad feeling about it.
Whatever, its all pretty fascinating and I'm really enjoying this (apart from that one panic thing) in an 'oh I'm back down THAT funny alley-way again, I wonder if I shall unearth more 'strangeries' here'. (yeah NOW look!)
The boy-cats are OK...not spooked or anything: I've treated them to a lot of EXCELLENT flying-cat type games, as well as buying them a LOT of coley fillets in the market at 6m.
I wasn't going to write this up, but actually it may be of some interest/use. People SHOULD record, and divulge, these things where possible.
It probably all sounds odder than it really is anyhow.



{Unfortunately, the (favourable) comments to this post were lost in the delete/re-post process}