SEER, 94, 2, APRIL 2016 328 His volume on Groddek and his correspondents certainly lends weight to such a conviction. In an era of electronic letters, this rich correspondence from an earlier age should be attractive to all who are interested in international scholarly relations and the history, transfer and development of ideas, as well as, perhaps not least, those who follow with concern the fate of the humanities in German and not only German universities today. London Arnold McMillin Somoff, Victoria. The Imperative of Reliability: Russian Prose on the Eve of the Novel,1820s–1850s.StudiesinRussianLiteratureandTheory.Northwestern University Press, Evanston, IL, 2015. x + 238 pp. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $79.95. For many decades, indeed perhaps right back into the nineteenth century, the almost explosive appearance of the Russian novel in the 1850s has long fascinated literary scholars. What exactly did happen between the 1820s when Pushkin and others struggled to find the right forms even to write in prose at all, and just thirty years later when we find Turgenev producing his major novels, to be rapidly followed by Dostoevskii and Tolstoi? Eikhenbaum long since noted the ‘turn towards prose’ (p. 3) of the late 1820s, and many have followed in his illustrious footsteps in the decades since. Although, therefore, not mapping entirely new territory, Victoria Somoff’s monograph makes a welcome and original contribution to our understanding of this seminal period. In her Introduction, Somoff swiftly surveys existing models and explanations for the rise of the novel in Western Europe and in Russia (and it is interesting to note that Ian Watt’s The Rise of the Novel of 1957 still enjoys solid currency). While generally following the long-established and well-trodden path of tracing the move from ‘small’ to ‘large’ forms, with Eikhenbaum again a prominent and influential figure, Somoff moves to define what will be her own unique approach, noting that she will give ‘undivided attention to the emergence and development of the discursive perspective that engenders and sustains novelistic narration’ (p. 7, italics in the original). The main six chapters present some familiar names and genres, noting the significance of both the cycle of stories (Belkin and Dikanka amongst many others), as well as the society tale, before debating the struggle between romantic and naturalist discourses. While these earlier chapters tend towards a survey approach, with little textual analysis, the final two chapters REVIEWS 329 proper focus in more particular detail on key works, Turgenev’s Mumu and Goncharov’s Oblobov, and especially the role of ‘Oblomov’s Dream’ in the genesis and development of the latter. The work as a whole makes for a compelling story, and is written in a nice combination of lucidity and sophistication, backed up, for the most part, by excellent research. As noted, all the ‘usual suspects’ are present and correct, but many lesser names are also thoroughly investigated, including Odoevskii, Pogorel´skii, Somov, Vel´tman and Zagoskin. While this overview approach generally works well, so that we are given a real sense of the literary debates and polemics of the period, it is in her latter two chapters that Somoff’s work is at its best. It is quite rare to have such an extended reading of Mumu, and although not all her arguments are entirely convincing, the subtlety and depth of analysis are rewarding, and this is also true of her reading of ‘Oblomov’s Dream’. Somoff is quite eclectic in her choice of reference ‘authorities’, and it is very good to see how important not only Eikhenbaum but also Shklovskii remain as theorists and scholars of the period. Bakhtin, of course, also figures prominently. There are, though, some strange omissions in her research. It is remarkable to read a study of this period of Russian literature and find not a single reference to Iurii Lotman. Neil Cornwell does feature, although his work on the Gothic-Fantastic is an odd lacuna, as is Charles Isenberg’s Telling Silences; this last work would have enriched Somoff’s own interesting discussion of frame tales. Of even more concern is the rather meagre attention paid to women writers of the period. Elena Gan merits one brief mention, although her...