UnforgettableLemon
Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Vladimir Nabokov is, in my estimation, second only to James Joyce as the most complex and provocative writer in the English language of the twentieth century. Though Russian, most of his career after the 1940s was devoted to writing in the English language. I've only read four of his novels:
Invitation to a Beheading
Lolita
Pale Fire
Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle (in progress)
Aside from ItaB, these novels were all written in English by someone whose primary language was Russian. And they make better use of the language than most native English writers. Like Joyce, Nabokov was stunning and thorough linguist, speaking and incorporating elements of various languages. Also, for anyone looking for a complex and intriguing read that's more accessible than, say, Finnegan's Wake, Pale Fire is a good place to look. There are three sections: foreward, poem in four cantos (one line short of completion by late John Shade), and the commentary by Professor Kinbote. Presented as a critical edition of Shade's poem, there are constant references to different sections of the novel. Depending on how you read it (straight through as a novel, following some of the references, or following all of the references), you are treated to very, very different versions of the story, getting different pieces of information in different orders. The notion of a circular narrative is reinforced through various symbols, such as words in the poem and the triptych mirrors in Zembla. It's an early postmodern masterpiece.
There are just so many ways to read this book. Despite it's brilliance, I have to be a traditionalist here and say that Lolita is perhaps the better book on the whole. I've read it thorugh three times now, and I keep noticing new things about the structure, language, and pitch black humor. I'm looking forward to getting further into Ada, but it's gonna be a while since I've got so much other stuff going on right now.
Anybody else appreciate the calculated madness of Nabokov's work?
Invitation to a Beheading
Lolita
Pale Fire
Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle (in progress)
Aside from ItaB, these novels were all written in English by someone whose primary language was Russian. And they make better use of the language than most native English writers. Like Joyce, Nabokov was stunning and thorough linguist, speaking and incorporating elements of various languages. Also, for anyone looking for a complex and intriguing read that's more accessible than, say, Finnegan's Wake, Pale Fire is a good place to look. There are three sections: foreward, poem in four cantos (one line short of completion by late John Shade), and the commentary by Professor Kinbote. Presented as a critical edition of Shade's poem, there are constant references to different sections of the novel. Depending on how you read it (straight through as a novel, following some of the references, or following all of the references), you are treated to very, very different versions of the story, getting different pieces of information in different orders. The notion of a circular narrative is reinforced through various symbols, such as words in the poem and the triptych mirrors in Zembla. It's an early postmodern masterpiece.
There are just so many ways to read this book. Despite it's brilliance, I have to be a traditionalist here and say that Lolita is perhaps the better book on the whole. I've read it thorugh three times now, and I keep noticing new things about the structure, language, and pitch black humor. I'm looking forward to getting further into Ada, but it's gonna be a while since I've got so much other stuff going on right now.
Anybody else appreciate the calculated madness of Nabokov's work?
& can talk about it 19 to the doz. Laughter In The Dark is a sort of foreshadowing of Lolita, so I read that. Otherwise, I have read only an essay or two. Next on my list is Bend Sinister and Speak, Memory if I can get my mits on them.
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