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Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov ( ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian and American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Imperial Russia in 1899, Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian (1926–1938) while living in Berlin, where he met his wife, Véra Nabokov. He achieved international acclaim and prominence after moving to the United States, where he began writing in English. Trilingual in Russian, English, and French, Nabokov became a U.S. citizen in 1945 and lived mostly on the East Coast before returning to Europe in 1961, where he settled in Montreux, Switzerland. From 1948 to 1959, Nabokov was a professor of Russian literature at Cornell University. His 1955 novel ''Lolita'' ranked fourth on Modern Library's list of the 100 best 20th-century novels in 1998 and is considered one of the greatest works of 20th-century literature. Nabokov's ''Pale Fire'', published in 1962, ranked 53rd on the same list. His memo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lolita
''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The protagonist and narrator is a French literature professor who moves to New England and writes under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert. He details his obsession and victimization of a 12-year-old girl, Dolores Haze, whom he describes as a " nymphet". Humbert kidnaps and sexually abuses Dolores after becoming her stepfather. Privately, he calls her "Lolita", the Spanish diminutive for Dolores. The novel was written in English, but fear of censorship in the U.S. (where Nabokov lived) and Britain led to it being first published in Paris, France, in 1955 by Olympia Press. The book has received critical acclaim regardless of the controversy it caused with the public. It has been included in many lists of best books, such as ''Time'' List of the 100 Best Novels, ''Le Monde'' 100 Books of the Century, Bokklubben World Library, Modern Library's 100 Best Novels, and The Big Read. The novel has bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pale Fire
''Pale Fire'' is a 1962 novel by Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is presented as a 999-line poem titled "Pale Fire", written by the fictional poet John Shade, with a foreword, lengthy commentary and index written by Shade's neighbor and academic colleague, Charles Kinbote. Together these elements form a narrative in which both fictional authors are central characters. Nabokov wrote ''Pale Fire'' in 1960–61, after the success of '' Lolita'' had made him financially independent, allowing him to retire from teaching and return to Europe. Nabokov began writing the novel in Nice and completed it in Montreux, Switzerland. ''Pale Fire'''s unusual structure has attracted much attention, and it is often cited as an important example of metafiction, as well as an analog precursor to hypertext fiction, and a poioumenon. It has spawned a wide variety of interpretations and a large body of written criticism, which literary scholar estimated in 1995 as more than 80 studies. The Nabokov auth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pnin (novel)
''Pnin'' (, ) is Vladimir Nabokov's 13th novel and his fourth written in English; it was published in 1957. The success of ''Pnin'' in the United States launched Nabokov's career into literary prominence. Its eponymous protagonist, Timofey Pavlovich Pnin, is a Russian-born assistant professor in his 50s living in the United States, whose character is believed to be based partially on the life of both Nabokov's colleague Marc Szeftel as well as on Nabokov himself. Exiled by the Russian Revolution and what he calls the " Hitler war", Pnin teaches Russian at the fictional Waindell College, loosely inspired by Cornell University and Wellesley College—places where Nabokov himself taught. Plot summary Chapter 1 Timofey Pavlovich Pnin, the title character, is a professor of Russian at Waindell College; "ideally bald" with a "strong man torso," "spindly legs," and "feminine feet". Pnin is on a train from Waindell to Cremona, where he is to give a guest lecture. He is persistently bot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dmitri Nabokov
Dmitri Vladimirovich Nabokov (; May 10, 1934February 22, 2012) was an American opera singer and translator. Born in Berlin, he was the only child of Russian parents: author Vladimir Nabokov and his wife Véra; they emigrated to the United States from France in 1940. He later was naturalized. In his later years, Nabokov translated many of his father's works into other languages, and served as the executor of his father's literary estate. Early life and education Dmitri Nabokov was born on May 10, 1934, in Berlin. He was the only child of Vladimir Nabokov and Véra Slonim Nabokov. Due to Nazi Germany's growing political and social repression, and the likelihood that the regime might target the family (his mother was Jewish), the family fled to Paris in 1937. With the Germans advancing into France, they emigrated to New York City by ship in 1940. Subsequently, Nabokov was raised in the Boston area during the years that his father both taught at Wellesley College and served as cur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invitation To A Beheading
''Invitation to a Beheading'' () is a novel by Russian American author Vladimir Nabokov. It was originally published in Russian from 1935 to 1936 as a serial in '' Sovremennye zapiski'', a Russian émigré magazine. In 1938, the work was published in Paris, with an English translation following in 1959. The novel was translated into English by Nabokov's son, Dmitri Nabokov, under the author's supervision. The novel is often described as Kafkaesque, but Nabokov claimed that at the time he wrote the book, he was unfamiliar with German and "completely ignorant" of Franz Kafka's work. Nabokov interrupted his work on '' The Gift'' in order to write ''Invitation to a Beheading'', describing the creation of the first draft as "one fortnight of wonderful excitement and sustained inspiration." Some scholars have argued that the central plot of ''Invitation to a Beheading'' has its roots in Chernyshevski, a character from ''The Gift''. Another view is that the novel functions as a ''roman ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Despair (novel)
''Despair'' (, or ') is the seventh novel by Vladimir Nabokov, originally published in Russian, serially in the politicized literary journal '' Sovremennye zapiski'' during 1934. It was then published as a book in 1936, and translated to English by the author in 1937. Most copies of the 1937 English edition were destroyed by German bombs during World War II; only a few copies remain. Nabokov published a second English translation in 1965; this is now the only English translation in print. Plot summary The narrator and protagonist of the story, Hermann Karlovich, a Russian of German descent and owner of a chocolate factory, meets a homeless man in the city of Prague, who he believes is his doppelgänger. Even though Felix, the supposed doppelgänger, is seemingly unaware of their resemblance, Hermann insists that their likeness is most striking. Hermann is married to Lydia, a sometimes silly and forgetful wife (according to Hermann) who has a cousin named Ardalion. It is heavily ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gift (Nabokov Novel)
''The Gift'' () is Vladimir Nabokov's final Russian novel, and is considered to be his farewell to the world he was leaving behind. Nabokov wrote it between 1935 and 1937 while living in Berlin, and it was published in serial form in 1938 under his pen name, Vladimir Sirin. ''The Gift's'' fourth chapter, a pseudo-biography of the Russian writer Nikolay Chernyshevsky, was censored from publication in the Russian émigré journal ''Sovremennye zapiski'' that published the book's four other chapters. The story's apparent protagonist is Fyodor Godunov-Cherdyntsev, a Russian writer living in Berlin after his family fled the Bolshevik Revolution. Fyodor's literary ambitions and his development as a writer shape the book. In the fifth and final chapter, Fyodor states his ambition to write a book that in description is very similar to ''The Gift''. In an interview to BBC Two, BBC2, Nabokov cited Fyodor as an example that not all the lives of his characters are grotesque or tragic; he sai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speak, Memory
''Speak, Memory'' is a memoir by writer Vladimir Nabokov. The book includes individual essays published between 1936 and 1951 to create the first edition in 1951. Nabokov's revised and extended edition appeared in 1966. Scope The book is dedicated to his wife, Véra, and covers his life from 1903 until his emigration to America in 1940. The first twelve chapters describe Nabokov's remembrance of his youth in an aristocratic family living in pre-revolutionary Saint Petersburg and at their country estate Vyra, near Siverskaya. The three remaining chapters recall his years at Cambridge and as part of the Russian émigré community in Berlin and Paris. Through memory Nabokov is able to possess the past. Nabokov published " Mademoiselle O", which became Chapter Five of the book, in French in 1936, and in English in '' The Atlantic Monthly'' in 1943, without indicating that it was non-fiction. Subsequent pieces of the autobiography were published as individual or collected stor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Véra Nabokov
Véra Yevseyevna Nabokova (née Slonim, ; 5 January 1902 – 7 April 1991) was the wife, editor, and translator of Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov, and a source of inspiration for many of his works. Early life and immigration Born Vera Yevseyevna Slonim in Saint Petersburg into a Jewish family, the second of three daughters born to Slava Borisovna (''née'' Feigin) and Yevsey Lazarevich Slonim. Yevsey was a lawyer, and successful in the tile and timber businesses, among others. With the turmoil of World War I and the Russian Revolution, the family moved to Moscow, and after fleeing through Kyiv, Odessa, Istanbul, and Sofia, arrived in Berlin, where they joined the large Russian émigré population. Marriage to Nabokov In Berlin, Yevsey Slonim co-founded a publishing firm, Orbis, and Véra worked in the office. Amis, Martin. '' Visiting Mrs Nabokov: And Other Excursions''. pages 115-118. Penguin Books (1993) printed 1994. Vladimir Nabokov, who was considering translating Dos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Enchanter
''The Enchanter'' () is a novella written by Vladimir Nabokov in Paris in 1939. It was his last work of fiction written in Russian. Nabokov never published it during his lifetime. After his death, his son Dmitri translated the novella into English in 1986 and it was published the following year. Its original Russian version became available in 1991. The story deals with the hebephilia of the protagonist and thus is linked to and presages the ''Lolita'' theme. History of the manuscript Nabokov showed it to just a few people, and then lost the manuscript in the process of coming to the United States and believed that he had destroyed it. However, he recovered it later in Ithaca in 1959, at a time he had already published ''Lolita''. He reread ''The Enchanter'', and termed it "precise and lucid", but left it alone suggesting that eventually "the Nabokovs" could translate it. Dmitri Nabokov judged it to be an ''important and mature'' work of his father and translated and published ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Signs And Symbols
"Signs and Symbols" is a short story by Vladimir Nabokov, written in English and first published, May 15, 1948 in ''The New Yorker'' and then in '' Nabokov's Dozen'' (1958: Doubleday & Company, Garden City, New York). In ''The New Yorker'', the story was published under the title "Symbols and Signs", a decision by the editor Katharine White. Nabokov returned the title to his original "Signs and Symbols" when republishing the story. Plot summary An elderly couple tries to visit their mentally ill son in a sanatorium on his birthday. They are informed that he attempted to take his life and they cannot see him now. After their return home, the husband announces his decision to take him out of the sanatorium. The story concludes with mysterious telephone calls. The first two apparently misdialed calls are from a girl asking for "Charlie"; the story ends when the phone rings for the third time. In the course of the story the reader learns many details of the unnamed couple's life: t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Defense
''The Defense'' (also known as ''The Luzhin Defense''; ) is the third novel written by Vladimir Nabokov after he had immigrated to Berlin. It was first published in Russian 1930 and later in English in 1964. Publication The novel appeared first under Nabokov's pen name V. Sirin in the Russian emigre quarterly '' Sovremennye zapiski'' and was thereafter published by the emigre publishing house Slovo as "Защита Лужина" (''The Luzhin Defense'') in Berlin. More than three decades later the novel was translated into English by Michael Scammell in collaboration with Nabokov and appeared in 1964. In the foreword to the English edition Nabokov states that he wrote ''The Defense'' in 1929 while he vacationed in Le Boulou ("hunting butterflies") and then finished it in Berlin. He links the events in the central chapters to moves as encountered in chess problems. Plot summary The plot concerns the title character, Aleksandr Ivanovich Luzhin. As a boy, he is considered unattra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
