Off with his head! (Invitation to a Beheading - Vladimir Nabokov)

Member Name: sunmeilan

Product:	Invitation to a Beheading - Vladimir Nabokov
Date:	16/08/06 (211 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Original and intriguing

Disadvantages: Incomprehensible in parts

Despite trying to ensure that I read more outside of my favourite genre, crime fiction, I find it hard to ignore a book that has murder or execution or beheading in the title and so, although this book is not strictly crime fiction, I ended up being drawn to it. I was vaguely aware that Nabokov was the author of Lolita, but having only seen the film, I didn’t have much of an idea of the type of writing I could expect. I don’t think anything could have prepared me for what I found. This is a highly original book, written in a very intriguing way.

The story
Cincinnatus is in prison facing a death sentence, although he is not quite sure why he is in prison or when he can expect to die. His keeper, Rodion, and the director of the prison, Rodrig Ivanovich look after him well, so well that they are upset when he does not react well to them. They constantly brush off his questions and encourage him to enjoy life in the prison.

Cincinnatus is the only prisoner in the whole of the prison, until M. Pierre moves into the cell down the hall. Rodion and Ivanovich encourage the two prisoners to spend time together, although Cincinnatus is confused by M. Pierre, who seems to be almost a circus performer, amongst other things. Why are any of them there and what are are the strange visions that Cincinnatus keeps experiencing?

The characters
Cincinnatus is kept very much as a mystery. Occasionally the author takes us back into his past, into the days as a worker when he met and married his wife Marthe, but very little is mentioned about the man himself. He seems to be deeply depressed; understandable when he has been imprisoned for a reason he doesn’t know and doesn’t know exactly when the end will come. I found him really absorbing as a character. It was clear that he had great depth and I found myself desperate to know what made him tick.

Rodion is not your usual idea of a gaoler. He treats Cincinnatus with great care, holding him like a baby at times, and becomes deeply hurt when Cincinnatus fails to be grateful and to return his feelings. He adds to the mystery, as does the director, Rodrig Ivanovich, because neither of them seem to act in a way that befits their roles.

M. Pierre is even more of a mystery. He does not act like a prisoner; he almost seems to have the role of a comedian and performer, there to entertain Cincinnatus, but why is not clear. Cincinnatus finds him annoying and I have to say I know why – he made me shake the book in a rage on occasion.

The confusion continues with the two women of the story: Marthe, Cincinnatus’ wife and Emmie, the young daughter of the director. Marthe is described as a woman who likes to spread herself around – within a year of marriage to Cincinnatus, she is cheating on him quite openly with pretty any man that will come near her. Her feelings towards Cincinnatus change – she visits him twice; the first time she barely gives him the time of day, the second, she is all over him. Her role in the story is a little unclear, as is Emmie’s role. Emmie frequently visits Cincinnatus and although very young, drapes herself all over him. There is nothing of a sexual nature mentioned at all, but the feeling was that she and Cincinnatus could have had a relationship in another setting. Then again, maybe it is because I knew Nabokov wrote Lolita that this sprang to mind.

The author
Born in 1899, Nabokov was born to a wealthy family, who escaped to England and then Germany to escape the Bolsheviks. Nabokov completed his studies at Cambridge University and then followed his family to Berlin. His most famous work was Lolita and he became a celebrated author in literary circles. Invitation to a Beheading was written in 1934 in Berlin and was apparently written in just two weeks.

Conclusion
This is a very interesting book. Right from the start, it is not clear exactly what is going on, but I found myself desperate to know the truth, right up to the end. I didn’t find out the truth, the reader is very much left guessing, but it really made me think and sometimes that is more important than having all the ends tied.

This book has been likened to Kafka’s The Trial and I can certainly understand why. I remember struggling with Kafka in German while I was doing German A Level and being totally confused. This is a very similar sort of book in that it is never clear what is going on – the story is very surreal in places. Apparently though, Nabokov had never read any of Kafka’s work before writing Invitation to a Beheading.

I think it is difficult to pin down exactly what this book is about. I read a suggestion that it was about the fall of communism. I am not so sure about that. There seems to be a hint that Cincinnatus is involved in some kind of political regime, but to my mind, it could equally be capitalism that he is escaping from. Perhaps it is not necessary to read too much into this – different people will have different opinions.

I liked the way the plot developed – at least as far as it is possible to say it developed – every chapter I read, I thought the story would be explained in the next chapter, but it never was. It really did catch my attention though.

The translation is very good, particularly considering the twists and turns in the story. There were a couple of places where it seemed a little old-fashioned, but then the book was written in the 1930s, so the translator may have been trying to reflect that. Certainly I never felt that the translation took away from my understanding of the book.

I am going to highly recommend this book. It is bizarre and it is not easy to understand, but I think that it is exactly what the author intended - at the same time, it does not come over as being pretentious. I think you need to read it with an open mind – if you only like books that have satisfactory endings, this will probably drive you mad. Without a doubt though, it is a well-written book that I found captivating.

The book is available from play.com for £7.49. Published by Penguin Books, it has 192 pages. ISBN: 0141185600

Summary: Bizarre, yet intriguing