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Vladimir Nabokov: Pnin

I didn't mean tht VV actually disliked Pnin, as you say, studying him was a large part of it. Studying him as though a butterfly impaled perhaps? Maybe not so harshly as that, but it was not a friendly study. Oh! And I forgot about the "If I was reading instead of writing" quote! Hah!

I don't remember anyone actually disliking Pnin. Of course Liza had contempt for him simply because he allowed her to use him. IMO. Nasty Woman.:(
 
But I don't think one can call that Liking someone. I posted above that in a way it seemed to me that VV and TP had a surf/aristo relationship going on as a left over from the past. That sort of thing will hang on in spite of geographical changes.
 
Actually.....

I'm beginning to think that Pnin may just be Nabokov's finest work. I haven't read Look at the Harlequins yet, his last complete novel, but the more I think about it the more I think that Pnin very nicely collects into one story just about anything and everything that one might think of as characeristically Nabokovian. And with a very sympathetic protagonist at that.
As we have been seeing, the layering and allusions backward and forward through the story are magnificently hidden in plain sight. Nabokov himself slides into and out of two different layers right before our very eyes. And his own life drifts into focus in scenes from time to and then drifts back out of the story.
His construction and descriptions of situation are wonderful, as with the purchase of the 'round' football (not a torpedo, not an egg) through to its subsequent defenestration, as well as the episode of the bowl and the nutcracker, even ignoring the whole harrowing Cremona episode. His use of language to describe a scene in intricate visual detail is on display and absolutely extraordinary. And the perfection of his ability to indicate such an elusive thing as personality with just a few words is impossible to describe, but can only be illustrated, as in the kitchen scene with Joan Clements which shows her to be such a wonderful person in just nine words. (That's ten words or less. :) )
The book contains his ability to clearly describe the physical world and make it more real than even a painting or picture. And there is his impish and irrepressible multilingual sense of humor ('Tom' at the party, as an author's joke at the expense of Pnin; the old Russian balads, which are anything but old or ballads) and even a wry commentary on the political situation. And there is the final chess move to tie it all together.

What more can one want?

Well, missing perhaps is his ability to extract 40 puns out of the 20 words in a 10-word sentence, as he does so conspicuously and endlessly in Ada, or Ardor. But that is a book enirely unlike any other. And it includes a truly heartbreaking love story as well. So maybe, after all, there are two greatest Nabokovian works.

But maybe missing also is his ability to present us with two completely outrageous characters and get us to finally develop an affection for them, as he does in Lolita. So, perhaps, there are three greatest works.

Or maybe four? Or five? Would anyone believe only six?

But I think that -- just perhaps -- Pnin has more of it all together in one place than any other of his books. At least that I have read, so far.

It was justly hailed upon its publication, even in the shadow of Lolita which preceded it.

One of the greatest authors of the twentieth century? Absolutely!

One of my favorite authors?
You bet!
Peder
 
Ps, Oops

I now see that there have been a bunch of posts since my previous one, as I was writing this last one, so please don't take it as response or argument with any of the intervening thoughts.
P.
 
Peder Hmmm....greatest work. I see and agree with what you say about Pnin, but while I believe its more complex and more layered than say for example The Enchanter, certainly Lolita is actually more complex than Pnin. And from what you and Steffee say Ada is far more complex than any of the above.

When Timofey almost broke the bowl, my heart about stopped until I knew it was unbroken! That is the beauty of Nabokov's prose. No huge exclamations, no screaming and tearing out of hair, just understated feelings and nerve endings exposed to the air.

Its entirely possible that the last one we have read will inevidibly be our favorite [of the moment at least].
 
pontalba said:
Its entirely possible that the last one we have read will inevidibly be our favorite [of the moment at least].
Click to expand...
Pontalba,
Yes, I've been wondering the same thing. And it is impossible to say 'best' about anything until one decides what standards are going to be used for judging better and best. But just at the moment I would say that Lolita was absolutely sparkling with literary fireworks and was deservedly run-away popular; that Ada is absolutely dazzling (an author 'at white heat' the blurb says) especially for his glittering verbal skills; but that Pnin is most typically Nabokov with just about all of his varied skills being used in a harmonius fashion to produce a wonderfully enjoyable story. But who knows? It's hard to describe. And Pale Fire just hasn't grabbed me, even though I love the front half, and even though many people say it is his greatest of all.

I think it may finally come down to what you once said, that all of his books are different. So they are difficult to compare, and each stands alone with its own merits. Either there is no best, or they are all best!

Either way, it's just fine with me, :)
Peder
 
Great discussion guys.

Pnin is my favourite, by a long way, it's the funniest I've read of his. Ada was the cleverest, and I think, the most impressive. Lolita and The Enchanter were the most ... successful? Nah, that's not it...
 
steffee said:
Great discussion guys.

Pnin is my favourite, by a long way, it's the funniest I've read of his. Ada was the cleverest, and I think, the most impressive. Lolita and The Enchanter were the most ... successful? Nah, that's not it...
Click to expand...
Gut-wrenching? Inflaming of the senses? Certainly controversial, eh?

And actually the Most Unlike Nabokov himself funnily enough. Hmmm. Maybe he thought/created more freely "out of the [his] box".
 
Well if we're sharing our personal favourites.... Out of the meagre three that I've read (Lolita, The Enchanter, Pnin), Pnin wins hands down. Each have that literary magic that seems to be the key to VNs writings - and I once again bow down to his majestic ability to spin a good yarn using the eloquent and descriptive language. But I think it's the characterisation of Timofey that draws me the most to this particular novel. Maybe it's because in life I have always found myself drawn to the more colourful and quirky of humans;) And Timofey Pnin is definitely quirky to say the least. I enjoyed the innocence of the character too which was, probably due to subject matter, totally absent (IMHO) with HH and 'Arthur'.
 
Breaca said:
Maybe it's because in life I have always found myself drawn to the more colourful and quirky of humans;) And Timofey Pnin is definitely quirky to say the least. I enjoyed the innocence of the character too....
Click to expand...
Hah! Quirky Humans Indeed! :D Gee, I don't know any of them. :rolleyes:

I like Timofey the best out of VN's characters, but maybe because it was the first by Nabokov I read, I just don't know, my favorite for the moment at any rate will remain Lolita. But I am flexible in these things.....:D
 
pontalba said:
We really, really really need an icon or smilie that has crossed eyes, and folded arms.....................:D :p
Click to expand...

I've got one that waves its arms about whilst sticking out tongue - trouble is I don't know how to copy/paste to show you:mad: So you'll just have to use your (quirky:p) vivid imagination.:D
 
pontalba said:
That thump you just heard is me.........ROTFALOLTIC!! gasping for breath etc...........:D :cool:
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Pontalba,
I think we might use Still's picture for that reaction and, in the spirit of Ada, simply call it "Toes." Ada has already coined "Tower" and "Bridge" as private exclamations. We could make it a vocabulary of three words: tower, bridge and toes. :)
Peder

PS You'll get it when you read Ada :D
 
steffee said:
Great discussion guys.

Pnin is my favourite, by a long way, it's the funniest I've read of his. Ada was the cleverest, and I think, the most impressive. Lolita and The Enchanter were the most ... successful? Nah, that's not it...
Click to expand...
Yes, indeed, Steffee!
What to call Lolita?

Fabulous?! :confused:

Peder
 
pontalba said:
When Timofey almost broke the bowl, my heart about stopped until I knew it was unbroken! That is the beauty of Nabokov's prose. No huge exclamations, no screaming and tearing out of hair, just understated feelings and nerve endings exposed to the air.
Click to expand...
Pontalba,
I am never ever going to forget that bowl scene!!!!
Exactly as you say: nerve endings just calmly and understatedly exposed to the air. :eek:
Peder
 
Peder said:
Pontalba,
I think we might use Still's picture for that reaction and, in the spirit of Ada, simply call it "Toes." Ada has already coined "Tower" and "Bridge" as private exclamations. We could make it a vocabulary of three words: tower, bridge and toes. :)
Peder

PS You'll get it when you read Ada :D
Click to expand...

There you go again! Leading me down the Nabokovian Garden Path. ;) I was, in the back of my mind thinking about Sebastian Knight for the next Nabokov, but since you mentioned bridges and towers, and of course there is your new signature to tempt me /marytered sigh/ j/k j/k j/k. So! As soon as I finish The Remains of the Day I'll start Ada. :cool:

Plus both you and Steffee have already read it.............:cool:

SIL! We'd better get on our horses and Read!
 
Completely off Pnin-topic, I do apologise...

But Pontalba, what are you thinking of ROTD so far?

Yes, Peder, fabulous fits it too.
 
I have only read the First Day, but I am enjoying it so much! I did see the movie and found it depressing. I think partially because the inner monologue of Stevens is not projected. So without understanding his history, and inner workings it was difficult to understand just where the character was coming from in terms of reasoning. Big difference, as in the film he came off as cold and repressed etc., but I've already seen how passionate he is about his "calling". And it is a calling to him, no doubt about it. I love the stories about his father. :)
 
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