Striking insights into the complicated literary art of Vladimir Nabokov. Wood (English/Princeton; America in the Movies, 1975, etc.) frames his investigation with meditations on Nabokov's relationship to pain and loss. A Russian refugee to the West, the novelist chose to write primarily in English. The richness of his prose in English, Wood suggests, compensates for the deprivation he imposed on himself by silencing his native tongue. Nabokov appropriated a range of styles, without establishing an exclusive relationship to any one of them. Nevertheless, Wood shows, his signature, the distinctive mark of his presence, can indeed be read in his works. Nabokov's first novel in English, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, presents itself as its narrator's memoir of his late brother, a novelist; discussing it, Wood focuses the relationship between his critical themes of authorship and loss. Moving toward his examination of Nabokov's greatest worksSpeak, Memory; Lolita; Pale Fire; AdaWood brings out the unity in this writer's varied voices, posing ``the question of how the sly idiot, the haughty mandarin, and the great, doubting magician get along together. Particularly when they meet up with, or actually become . . . the theorist of pain.'' Reading Speak, Memory, Wood shows how ``masks are Nabokov's business, even as an autobiographer.'' Wood's chapter on Lolita disappoints slightly, failing to cohere as an argument. He returns to the rails, however, in a meditation on Nabokov's translation of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin. Mobilizing all of the resources he has developed, Wood turns to consider Pnin, Pale Fire, and Ada in a concluding trio of essays. His consideration of languages as translation helps him here, as he strives to develop his themesthe multiplicity of Nabokov's identities, and his experience of paininto a picture of the novelist as magician of morals. These appreciations of Nabokov will resonate deeply for those initiated into his mysteries.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-691-00632-6
Page Count: 252
Publisher: Princeton Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1995
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
