What do you think?
Rate this book
Lance
'The illegible signature of teetering disaster'
Three great stories�"The Aurelian", "Signs and Symbols" and "Lance"—the last both a derisive attack on science-fiction and an attempt to imagine the real pain and horror that would accompany space travel.
Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.
Three great stories�"The Aurelian", "Signs and Symbols" and "Lance"—the last both a derisive attack on science-fiction and an attempt to imagine the real pain and horror that would accompany space travel.
Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1952
56 people are currently reading
1,040 people want to read
About the author
Vladimir Nabokov
834books14.4kfollowersRussian:
Владимир Набоков
.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin, was a Russian-American novelist. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist. He also made significant contributions to lepidoptery, and had a big interest in chess problems.
Nabokov's Lolita (1955) is frequently cited as his most important novel, and is at any rate his most widely known one, exhibiting the love of intricate wordplay and descriptive detail that characterized all his works.
Lolita was ranked fourth in the list of the Modern Library 100 Best Novels; Pale Fire (1962) was ranked 53rd on the same list, and his memoir, Speak, Memory (1951), was listed eighth on the publisher's list of the 20th century's greatest nonfiction. He was also a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction seven times.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin, was a Russian-American novelist. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist. He also made significant contributions to lepidoptery, and had a big interest in chess problems.
Nabokov's Lolita (1955) is frequently cited as his most important novel, and is at any rate his most widely known one, exhibiting the love of intricate wordplay and descriptive detail that characterized all his works.
Lolita was ranked fourth in the list of the Modern Library 100 Best Novels; Pale Fire (1962) was ranked 53rd on the same list, and his memoir, Speak, Memory (1951), was listed eighth on the publisher's list of the 20th century's greatest nonfiction. He was also a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction seven times.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 185 reviews
October 30, 2018
The Aurelian » 4 stars
Signs and Symbols » 5 stars
Lance » 3 stars
Signs and Symbols » 5 stars
Lance » 3 stars
May 30, 2018
Purple patches abound in Nabokov's prose like the blooming of lavender on a spring morning; beauty and pity are the defining characteristics of Nabokov's oeuvre and both abound in this collection of short stories. Roused from his stupor, the Professor in 'The Aurelian', a cantankerous curmudgeon dreams deliriously of worlds he has never visited, butterflies he has never glimpsed, sunrises he has never experienced. 'The Aurelian' deals with the alchemy of the imagination and it's ability to transmogrify the world around us from something dull and dolorous into something blazingly beautiful. His sense heightened by his imagination, The Professor's fantasies transform even the most quotidian details into something magical and mellifluous, like the butterfly taking wing from its chrysalis, The Professor's soul soars into undreamed of heights in his aurelian dreams;
'In Italian gardens in the summer dusk, the gravel crunched invitingly underfoot, and Pilgram gazed through the growing darkness of blossoms in front of which suddenly there appeared an oleander hawk, which passed from flower to flower, humming intently and stopping at the corolla, its wings vibrating so rapidly that nothing but a ghostly nimbus was visible about its streamlined body."
'Signs and Symbols' deals with another key Nabokovian theme; madness and the self-awareness of characters that they exist solely in the mind of another. A mother and father are worried about the delusion which their son is experiencing, the feeling of paranoia that the world he exists in is surrounded by references to his existence. Little do they know, however, that their son is completely right, the signs and symbols which he sees are the words by which Nabokov describes the world, of which he is the centre-pieces, creates. His parents-and others in the world-are labouring under the delusion that they are anything but galley-slaves of the author.
Finally one of Nabokov's greatest short stories, both in the poetry of its language and the depth of its philosophy is 'Lance'. A story which in its few short pages celebrates the importance of individuality, of seeking your own path in life, of seeking and finding beauty wherever you are able to find it as Lance finds it in his space adventures. However it is also a novel about love, about the tremulous shivers of hair on the hand of the father as his son is about to depart on a dangerous adventures, the forced cheerfulness of the mother as she disguises her distraught upon the departure of her son and the tense excitement mixed with sadness which Lance feels upon departing, upon knowing he may never see his parents again but that he may glimpse, tantalisingly and ephemerally, as his spine tingles, the purple-hued earth against vast, unfathomable stretches of darkness.
'In Italian gardens in the summer dusk, the gravel crunched invitingly underfoot, and Pilgram gazed through the growing darkness of blossoms in front of which suddenly there appeared an oleander hawk, which passed from flower to flower, humming intently and stopping at the corolla, its wings vibrating so rapidly that nothing but a ghostly nimbus was visible about its streamlined body."
'Signs and Symbols' deals with another key Nabokovian theme; madness and the self-awareness of characters that they exist solely in the mind of another. A mother and father are worried about the delusion which their son is experiencing, the feeling of paranoia that the world he exists in is surrounded by references to his existence. Little do they know, however, that their son is completely right, the signs and symbols which he sees are the words by which Nabokov describes the world, of which he is the centre-pieces, creates. His parents-and others in the world-are labouring under the delusion that they are anything but galley-slaves of the author.
Finally one of Nabokov's greatest short stories, both in the poetry of its language and the depth of its philosophy is 'Lance'. A story which in its few short pages celebrates the importance of individuality, of seeking your own path in life, of seeking and finding beauty wherever you are able to find it as Lance finds it in his space adventures. However it is also a novel about love, about the tremulous shivers of hair on the hand of the father as his son is about to depart on a dangerous adventures, the forced cheerfulness of the mother as she disguises her distraught upon the departure of her son and the tense excitement mixed with sadness which Lance feels upon departing, upon knowing he may never see his parents again but that he may glimpse, tantalisingly and ephemerally, as his spine tingles, the purple-hued earth against vast, unfathomable stretches of darkness.
May 17, 2021
I read it, paid attention, and already forgot everything I've read. I thought the sentences sounded nice, but nothing gripped me narratively.
October 10, 2021
I liked the first story quite a lot, and the second was okay, but the third was just incomprehensible Nabokovian word salad.
October 2, 2018
I will begin this review by saying that of the work of Nabokov's which I have read in the past, I have not enjoyed it anywhere near as much as most people seem to. I had never encountered his short stories before picking up Lance. All of these 'dazzling stories of obsession, mania and an extra-terrestrial nightmare feature all of the wit, dexterity and inventiveness that are the hallmarks of Nabokov's genius', and were published between 1931 and 1951. 'The Aurelian' was originally written in Russian, and appears in translation here by Peter Pertzov in collaboration with the author. The other two stories - 'Signs and Symbols' and 'Lance' - were first written in English.
The three tales collected here are all rather sad. 'The Aurelian' follows protagonist Paul Pilgram, who has taken over the running of his parents' shop in Berlin. Of Pilgram, Nabokov writes: '... as a boy he already feverishly swapped specimens with collectors, and after his parents died butterflies reigned supreme in the dim little shop.' He is an entomologist, who knows so much about species all around the world, but has never travelled farther than Berlin's suburbs. His wish is to see butterflies living in their natural habitat. I will say no more lest I give any of the story away, but suffice to say, I very much enjoyed reading it. It is the first time in which I have ever felt fully engaged with Nabokov's work.
The second haunting story, 'Signs and Symbols', takes as its focus a suicidal young man living in a sanatorium, and the effects which he has upon his family: 'The last time their son had tried to take his life, his method had been, in the doctor's words, a masterpiece of inventiveness; he would have succeeded, had not an envious fellow patient thought he was learning to fly - and stopped him. What he really wanted to do was to tear a hole in his world and escape.' I found such descriptions touching and evocative, and indeed, this style of writing and character reveal threads through all three tales in Lance. The stories are very human, and I now have an interest to read more of Nabokov's work in the near future.
The third titular story was the only one in this collection which I did not much enjoy. However, that may be because it is so firmly rooted in science fiction, something which I am not at all a fan of. I found it interesting enough to read, but it was certainly peculiar. Had this surprising collection featured only the first two stories, I certainly would have given it a five star rating.
The three tales collected here are all rather sad. 'The Aurelian' follows protagonist Paul Pilgram, who has taken over the running of his parents' shop in Berlin. Of Pilgram, Nabokov writes: '... as a boy he already feverishly swapped specimens with collectors, and after his parents died butterflies reigned supreme in the dim little shop.' He is an entomologist, who knows so much about species all around the world, but has never travelled farther than Berlin's suburbs. His wish is to see butterflies living in their natural habitat. I will say no more lest I give any of the story away, but suffice to say, I very much enjoyed reading it. It is the first time in which I have ever felt fully engaged with Nabokov's work.
The second haunting story, 'Signs and Symbols', takes as its focus a suicidal young man living in a sanatorium, and the effects which he has upon his family: 'The last time their son had tried to take his life, his method had been, in the doctor's words, a masterpiece of inventiveness; he would have succeeded, had not an envious fellow patient thought he was learning to fly - and stopped him. What he really wanted to do was to tear a hole in his world and escape.' I found such descriptions touching and evocative, and indeed, this style of writing and character reveal threads through all three tales in Lance. The stories are very human, and I now have an interest to read more of Nabokov's work in the near future.
The third titular story was the only one in this collection which I did not much enjoy. However, that may be because it is so firmly rooted in science fiction, something which I am not at all a fan of. I found it interesting enough to read, but it was certainly peculiar. Had this surprising collection featured only the first two stories, I certainly would have given it a five star rating.
June 17, 2018
Nabokov’s prose will leave you in exquisite despair when you realize he was (supposedly) of the same species but look at what you write.
March 8, 2023
4,5 !
Vooral kortverhalen Sings & Symbols (melancholie ten top) alsook Lance (wat was dat zelfs?) waren prachtig
Vooral kortverhalen Sings & Symbols (melancholie ten top) alsook Lance (wat was dat zelfs?) waren prachtig
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 27, 2021
Good to read Nabokov again after a gap of many years. I read about half his novels in my late teens and early 20s but only a handful of his short stories. This little volume contains three short stories, the first of which,'The Aurelian', is utterly brilliant and jumps immediately into my list of 'the best short stories I have ever read'.
The second story, 'Signs and Symbols', is an enigma. It reminds me of an Isaac Bashevis Singer story in its style and setting. It is a story that puts the responsibility onto the reader at the end. The third story, 'Lance', is a curious example of science-fiction. It might even be regarded as a slap on the face of science-fiction, but it is quite a gentle slap. The exploration of space is treated as a mountaineering expedition. It is lyrical and high toned.
Not everything that Nabokov wrote is enjoyable. But what a prose stylist! The best ever!
The second story, 'Signs and Symbols', is an enigma. It reminds me of an Isaac Bashevis Singer story in its style and setting. It is a story that puts the responsibility onto the reader at the end. The third story, 'Lance', is a curious example of science-fiction. It might even be regarded as a slap on the face of science-fiction, but it is quite a gentle slap. The exploration of space is treated as a mountaineering expedition. It is lyrical and high toned.
Not everything that Nabokov wrote is enjoyable. But what a prose stylist! The best ever!
February 24, 2025
The Aurelian 💔
“In the twilight of the strangely still shop, eyed wings stared at him from all sides, and Pilgram perceived something almost appalling in the richness of the huge happiness that was leaning towards him like a mountain.�
“In the twilight of the strangely still shop, eyed wings stared at him from all sides, and Pilgram perceived something almost appalling in the richness of the huge happiness that was leaning towards him like a mountain.�
July 1, 2019
These 'three dazzling stories' display Nabakov's particular brand of craftsmanship. Each word is delicately chosen and assembled into a flowing and transient story. There is no more written or said then there needs to be, yet each story gives more than a short story tends to.
March 3, 2018
The eponymous story is a precisely brewed bit of Nabokovian dream-stuff. Well worth the £1.
June 19, 2018
A short trip of my first Nabokov. 3.6 stars to be exact. I prefer The Aurelian more than the other two, but Lance was actually quite okay too. Nabokov's words are superb, beautifully written nevertheless.
February 27, 2018
The Aurelian- 3/5
Signs and Symbols- 4.5/5
Lance- 3/5
although i can agree that nabokov's writing is beautiful!
Signs and Symbols- 4.5/5
Lance- 3/5
although i can agree that nabokov's writing is beautiful!
September 17, 2018
Vladimir Nabokov is, at times, tough to follow. Nobody has ever written with his dexterity, but at times he's tough to follow. In either instance, these three short stories are great.
December 7, 2019
An interesting yet cryptic book, my name is Lance so I felt I had to read it. Interesting tales of the unknown and tragedy.
March 11, 2025
Penguin Modern 49/50 (I read the boxset in order)
My original review got deleted so I'll be brief. I personally just don't value Nabokov's writing. I think Lolita and Pale Fire were more interesting narrative exercises, but ultimately were unenjoyable for the same reason as Lance. All of his stories are emotionally disconnected, vague, sadistic to the characters and readers, end without strong conclusion, and don't provide a social commentary or point for further thought. It's hard to discuss Nabokov's works without discussing how they are provocative, but they are just as uninformative or uninspirational.
In Lance, we have 3 stories. One where someone dies for no reason, one where someone goes insane for no reason, and one where someone becomes unhuman for no reason. Nabokov is a horror writer in my opinion. But unlike horror writers, he has no strong suspense, message, or personal connection, so is as unexciting as possible. This doesn't have the personal and sincere tragedy of existential philosophy like Sartre or Beckett, or the nihilism of Kafka, all of which I find challenging and unpleasant but slightly more enjoyable because they're being honest and clear and trying to communicate the lack of meaning without God or faith in community. Nabokov, however, punishes his characters for no reason in as vague a way as possible.
My honest opinion is I think asides from Nabokov's inventive plot setups, only insofar as they are unpleasant and go out of their way to be so, I don't think he offers anything. I think we praise Nabokov for the wrong reasons, I wonder whether we're actually just reading Russian translation and thinking he's intentionally writing vaguely, because the style is very similar to my mind as Russian-based authors I have not enjoyed due to the difficulty of grasping their syntax when translated. We might think he's a classic writer because he uses vocabulary like Borges, or because he writes creative mind games like Calvino, yet unlike either I feel that he's not actually conveying anything, showing any serious intention or ideas or emotional experiences, that make that warranted.
I find Nabokov's writing unpleasant and hard to follow or remember. I don't think we need to praise it because somebody said he was classic, or he chooses to write about subversive topics for the heck of it without a good reason. To my mind, Nabokov is only ever making bad decisions and we can praise him only for the liberty to make mistakes in a way that seems sophisticated and intentional.
My original review got deleted so I'll be brief. I personally just don't value Nabokov's writing. I think Lolita and Pale Fire were more interesting narrative exercises, but ultimately were unenjoyable for the same reason as Lance. All of his stories are emotionally disconnected, vague, sadistic to the characters and readers, end without strong conclusion, and don't provide a social commentary or point for further thought. It's hard to discuss Nabokov's works without discussing how they are provocative, but they are just as uninformative or uninspirational.
In Lance, we have 3 stories. One where someone dies for no reason, one where someone goes insane for no reason, and one where someone becomes unhuman for no reason. Nabokov is a horror writer in my opinion. But unlike horror writers, he has no strong suspense, message, or personal connection, so is as unexciting as possible. This doesn't have the personal and sincere tragedy of existential philosophy like Sartre or Beckett, or the nihilism of Kafka, all of which I find challenging and unpleasant but slightly more enjoyable because they're being honest and clear and trying to communicate the lack of meaning without God or faith in community. Nabokov, however, punishes his characters for no reason in as vague a way as possible.
My honest opinion is I think asides from Nabokov's inventive plot setups, only insofar as they are unpleasant and go out of their way to be so, I don't think he offers anything. I think we praise Nabokov for the wrong reasons, I wonder whether we're actually just reading Russian translation and thinking he's intentionally writing vaguely, because the style is very similar to my mind as Russian-based authors I have not enjoyed due to the difficulty of grasping their syntax when translated. We might think he's a classic writer because he uses vocabulary like Borges, or because he writes creative mind games like Calvino, yet unlike either I feel that he's not actually conveying anything, showing any serious intention or ideas or emotional experiences, that make that warranted.
I find Nabokov's writing unpleasant and hard to follow or remember. I don't think we need to praise it because somebody said he was classic, or he chooses to write about subversive topics for the heck of it without a good reason. To my mind, Nabokov is only ever making bad decisions and we can praise him only for the liberty to make mistakes in a way that seems sophisticated and intentional.
March 7, 2019
I honestly liked all the stories in this little sample of Nabokov's work. I am left a little confused as on some level I just don't get it, especially the last story, Lance.
I am left wanting to read more by home, perhaps even finish Lolita, which I began over 30 years ago.
I am left wanting to read more by home, perhaps even finish Lolita, which I began over 30 years ago.
February 17, 2023
zacne se okej, prvemu short storyu bi dala 4 zvezdice
drugi mi je bil zelo vsec, 5 zvezdic
tretji disappointing glede na to da je zbirka po njem poimenovana, tak 2,5 zvezdic
drugi mi je bil zelo vsec, 5 zvezdic
tretji disappointing glede na to da je zbirka po njem poimenovana, tak 2,5 zvezdic
April 1, 2025
Had a great day, enjoyed reading this out in the sun with the dawgs. Awesome. The title story is a little underwhelming (maybe due to what precedes it) but the other two are superb.
July 12, 2023
I confess i picked this up for the goodreads goal, which I'm trying to catch up on! But! It was really good, which i knew it would be, because nabokov is a genius. Not bad for £2.
July 13, 2019
I enjoyed this a lot, after the formlessness of Nocilla Lab. Three economical, grim short stories. This was my first expose to Nabokov, and I particularly enjoyed his very detailed prose. He has a rather unnecessary dig at science fiction in the final short story, but maybe it was worse in the 50s.
February 27, 2024
Εξαιρετικά προσεγμένη έκδοση (θα ψάξω και τα άλλα), μικρσκοπικό μέγεθος, λίγες σελίδες και �3 μεταχειρισμένο.
Τρεις σύντομες ιστορίες, σκοτεινές, πεσιμιστικές και διφορούμενες, δείγμα δυνατής πένας αλλά όχι αυτοδύναμες.
The Aurelian - 3*
Signs and Symbols - 3.5*
Lance - 4*
Σύνολο = 3.5 αλλά δεν είμαι φαν των σύντομων ιστοριών ακόμα κι αν φέρουν την υπογραφή του Nabokov.
Τρεις σύντομες ιστορίες, σκοτεινές, πεσιμιστικές και διφορούμενες, δείγμα δυνατής πένας αλλά όχι αυτοδύναμες.
The Aurelian - 3*
Signs and Symbols - 3.5*
Lance - 4*
Σύνολο = 3.5 αλλά δεν είμαι φαν των σύντομων ιστοριών ακόμα κι αν φέρουν την υπογραφή του Nabokov.
August 19, 2018
This was my first time reading Vladimir Nabokov's writing, his prose is crafted meticulously and his use of words beautifully. I didn't enjoy these stories as much as I expected to so I feel a little let down. My favourite story is the first in the book called The Aurelian which I find is the most memorable and my least favourite is the last story which the book is titled after 'Lance' I found it very well written but it didn't hold my attention like the others did, I found the plot dull and uninteresting, like it was lacking something.
August 9, 2018
Sigh.
In each of the three stories, Nabokov builds to something awesome... then starts being full of wank and ruins it. 5 stars become 2. A real shame.
In each of the three stories, Nabokov builds to something awesome... then starts being full of wank and ruins it. 5 stars become 2. A real shame.
November 1, 2020
The Aurelian was my favourite.
October 10, 2021
That last story was impossible to understand but I’ll allow it because Nabokov is my king
April 16, 2024
Lance is a collection of three of Vladimir Nabokov’s short stories, "The Aurelian", "Signs and Symbols" and "Lance". As with all his work, these stories are written like prose poetry, they’re beautifully composed with incredible language, and despite them been written over twenty years, each work could have been wrote in the same day, his style and originality has no timestamp.
The first novella featured is The Aurelian, where an old man lives in Berlin with his wife. Together they own a shop where he hoped to sell his collections of butterflies and moths, but due to there being little interest in these, they mainly sell stationery. Although this helps them stay afloat, he feels disappointed with his life. He desires to travel and catch specimens of his own, and to achieve this dream, he cheats a customer out of money, and abandons his wife. However, his karma soon catches up to him. It’s great to see Nabokov’s interest in butterflies included, similar to Humbert’s obsession with ownership.
The second story featured is “Signs and Symbols� which is my favourite from this collection. Here, an elderly couple take the journey to visit their son, who is being held in a sanitarium to monitor his declining mental health. Here a doctor explains that he recently attempted to take his own life again, and that he isn’t stable enough for a visit. When the couple arrive home, they decide it would be best to remove him from the hospital back into their care. In the night, they get a series of unsettling phone calls, from which I assume is the hospital calling to inform them that their son has died from suicide. Although this story was the shortest, it definitely left the longest lasting impression on me, and I was left thinking about it for a couple days after reading.
The last story included, “Lance,� was the last short story Nabokov wrote. I really struggled to follow a plot line for this one, and although the language used is hypnotic like the rest of Nabokov’s work, I didn’t have a clue what was going on. This story is concerned with space travel, mortality and time travel - if anyone could explain it to me, I’d really appreciate it!
Overall, it’s always amazing to read anything by such a talented author. However, the last short story let me down - or maybe I let it down?
The first novella featured is The Aurelian, where an old man lives in Berlin with his wife. Together they own a shop where he hoped to sell his collections of butterflies and moths, but due to there being little interest in these, they mainly sell stationery. Although this helps them stay afloat, he feels disappointed with his life. He desires to travel and catch specimens of his own, and to achieve this dream, he cheats a customer out of money, and abandons his wife. However, his karma soon catches up to him. It’s great to see Nabokov’s interest in butterflies included, similar to Humbert’s obsession with ownership.
The second story featured is “Signs and Symbols� which is my favourite from this collection. Here, an elderly couple take the journey to visit their son, who is being held in a sanitarium to monitor his declining mental health. Here a doctor explains that he recently attempted to take his own life again, and that he isn’t stable enough for a visit. When the couple arrive home, they decide it would be best to remove him from the hospital back into their care. In the night, they get a series of unsettling phone calls, from which I assume is the hospital calling to inform them that their son has died from suicide. Although this story was the shortest, it definitely left the longest lasting impression on me, and I was left thinking about it for a couple days after reading.
The last story included, “Lance,� was the last short story Nabokov wrote. I really struggled to follow a plot line for this one, and although the language used is hypnotic like the rest of Nabokov’s work, I didn’t have a clue what was going on. This story is concerned with space travel, mortality and time travel - if anyone could explain it to me, I’d really appreciate it!
Overall, it’s always amazing to read anything by such a talented author. However, the last short story let me down - or maybe I let it down?
February 10, 2024
I liked 'Signs and Symbols' best of all; not only could I really appreciate Nabokov's writing style but the overall story and the way it was portrayed to the reader, its implications and subtleties made for a really good short story. Second best imo was 'the Aurelian', which I found touching in a way since it's really easy to place yourself in a situation similar to Mr Pilgram's, and the ending was sort of tragicomical, which although not immensely creative was I think the only way the story should have ended. Lastly, 'Lance', I liked certain parts and I definitely understand and appreciate the meaning of it, but it just didn't appeal to me as much. It was fine to read once but wasn't blown away by it.
February 20, 2024
Definitely an easier introduction to Nabokov than I expect Lolita must be! As is typical for me and almost certainly says more about me than Nabokov, I enjoyed the first two stories much more than the sci-fi/fantasy-esque titular tale. The first two stories were actually very similar, telling a story of familial or domestic struggle/tension which builds to a denouement and then resolves rapidly and pointedly, which I really liked. I was really able to get into the sense of early 20th century central European setting too which is always a lovely image in my mind.
February 23, 2024
3.5 stars! Nabokov is a true craftman who meticulously constructs these short stories. The prose, as expected from Nabokov, is both beautiful as well thought of. Since every word is purposefully chosen, and written in Nabokov's signature style, you truly have to read this novel word by word which makes it quite difficult at times to keep your full attention
Displaying 1 - 30 of 185 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.