The daddy (Vladimir Nabokov in general)

Member Name: mpafp

Product:	Vladimir Nabokov in general
Date:	19/03/03 (46 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: beautiful, impressive

Disadvantages: 'difficult'

As I lie reclining on my chaise-longue on a summer's afternoon damp with the hot air of ripening I feel a soft tickling on my hand. I look down to see a small butterfly, which has crawled across my fingers and is now nibbling on the edge of my book. It is the spirit of big Vlad, and he has some to tell me the world is alright again.

Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977) was born into an aristocratic and cultured family in St Petersburg. Fleeing the Bolsheviks, he lived in London, Berlin and America. He published books both in Russian (The Luzhin Defense, The Gift) and English (Lolita, Pale Fire).

His novels are an unparalled web of linguistic puns and variations, signs and symbolism, and he is capable of containing moments of great humour and astonishing beauty within the same sentence. One of his most endearing characteristics is his tenderness for society's rejects: the paedophile, the ostracised queen, and his lack of squeemishness when it comes to really inhabiting characters who are actually rather unappetising. The books can be quite complicated, but the techniques he uses are breathtaking, and every time I finish the final page of a Nabokov is is with a huge sigh of satisfaction at a tightly-constructed book with a powerful and original ending, and the clear presence of both humour and humanity.

More books by Nabokov are needed both in this category and in my local library.

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