Ilya Ilyich Oblomov is a member of Russia's dying aristocracy a man so lazy that he has given up his job in the Civil Service, neglected his books, insulted his friends and found himself in debt. Too apathetic to do anything about his problems, he lives in a grubby, crumbling apartment, waited on by Zakhar, his equally idle servant.

Explores what Proust had to say about friendship, reading, looking carefully, paying attention taking your time, being alive. This book also contains the author's own commentary on Proust.

Records Sebastian Knight's, but his erratic and troubled persona remains as elusive as ever. Do they exist or are they an illusion?

First published in 1935, this is the story of a distinguished scholar in Germany between the wars. It builds up the elements in the scholar himself, and in his personal relationships, which will lead to his destruction. The author won the 1981 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Set against the backdrop of the 1848 Revolution, this is the story of young lawyer Frederic Moreau's infatuation with the demurely exotic Madame Arnoux. This ironic depiction of uneventful lives in a troubled period of European history is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.