Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
Author of Lolita
About the Author
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nobokov was born April 22, 1899 in St. Petersburg, Russia to a wealthy family. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge. When he left Russia, he moved to Paris and eventually to the United States in 1940. He taught at Wellesley College and Cornell University. Nobokov is revered show more as one of the great American novelists of the 20th Century. Before he moved to the United States, he wrote under the pseudonym Vladimir Serin. Among those titles, were Mashenka, his first novel and Invitation to a Beheading. The first book he wrote in English was The Real Life of Sebastian Knight. He is best know for his work Lolita which was made into a movie in 1962. In addition to novels, he also wrote poetry and short stories. He was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction seven times, but never won it. Nabokov died July 2, 1977. show less
Disambiguation Notice:
Note that Nabokov/Sirin published two works called Соглядатай 'The spy': a novella first published in the émigré journal Sovremennye zapiski in 1930 and translated into English as The Eye, and a story collection including the novella published as a book in Paris in 1938. The latter has recently been republished by the Russian company Azbuka as Совершенство 'Perfection,' the name of one of the stories. If there are any LT copies of the 1938 collection, they should be combined with Совершенство [Sovershenstvo].
Series
Works by Vladimir Nabokov
Novels and Memoirs 1941-1951 : The Real Life of Sebastian Knight / Bend Sinister / Speak, Memory (1996) 352 copies, 2 reviews
Novels 1969–1974: Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle / Transparent Things / Look at the Harlequins! (1996) 308 copies, 1 review
Dear Bunny, Dear Volodya: The Nabokov-Wilson Letters, 1940-1971, Revised and Expanded Edition (1979) — Author — 275 copies
Think, Write, Speak: Uncollected Essays, Reviews, Interviews, and Letters to the Editor (2019) 113 copies, 1 review
Notes on Prosody; From the Commentary to the Author's Translation of Pushkin's Eugene Onegin (Bollingen Series, 72) (1969) 46 copies
Cuentos Completos. Vladimir Nabokov / Complete Stories. Vladimir Nabokov (Spanish Edition) (2013) 19 copies
Een liefde voor Proust : Op zoek naar de verloren tijd in 22 leeservaringen (2002) 19 copies, 1 review
De Amerikaanse romans Deel 1 1941-1962 18 copies
Verzamelde verhalen 1 15 copies
Verhalen. 2 14 copies
De kunst van het vertalen / Vladimir Nabokov. De kunst van het niet-vertalen / Robbert-Jan Henkes en Erik Bindervoet (2005) 7 copies
Nine stories 7 copies
First Love 5 copies
Круг: Рассказ 4 copies
Лев Толстой 4 copies
"That in Aleppo Once...": A Story 4 copies
Vladimir Nabokov. Sobranie sochinenij russkogo perioda v 5 tomah. Tom 1. 1918-1925. Rasskazy. Nikolka (2000) 4 copies
Пушкин, или правда и правдоподобие 4 copies
Стихи 4 copies
Хват 3 copies
Solus Rex [short story] 3 copies
The Visit to the Museum 3 copies
Gesammelte Werke. Band 12: Späte Romane: Durchsichtige Dinge. Sieh doch die Harlekine!: BD 12 (2002) 3 copies
Natasha (story in The New Yorker) 3 copies
Sobranie sochinenii amerikanskogo perioda v piati tomakh: Stoletie so dnia rozhdeniia, 1899-1999 (Russian Edition) (1997) 3 copies, 1 review
Contos Completos - Vol. 1 3 copies
Василий Шишков: Рассказ 2 copies
Эссе и стихи из журнала "Карусель" 2 copies
Revue Europe 791 : Vladimir Nabokov — Contributor — 2 copies
Родина: стихотворение 2 copies
Том 3: Дар / Отчаяние 2 copies
Mashenka / Lolita 2 copies
Sobranie sochinenii russkogo perioda v piati tomakh: Stoletie so dnia rozhdeniia : 1899-1999 (Russian Edition) (2000) 2 copies, 1 review
Памяти И. В. Гессена 2 copies
Пьесы 2 copies
Anniversary notes 2 copies
Vier gedichten 2 copies
Stories 2 copies
A Russian Beauty [short story] 2 copies
Семь стихотворений. 1953 2 copies
Die Klingel 2 copies
Университетская поэма 2 copies
[Textures of time : a dream experiment, by Vladimir Nabokov. TLS, October 31, 2014, pp.13-16.] 1 copy
ナボコフの塊――エッセイ集1921-1975 1 copy
ナボコフ・コレクション ルージン・ディフェンス 密偵 1 copy
Слава: Стихотворение 1 copy
Заметки переводчика 1 copy
Петербург 1 copy
Рассказы 1 copy
Стихи голкипера Набокова 1 copy
Два Стихотворения 1 copy
Стихотворения. Рассказы 1 copy
Три шахматных сонета 1 copy
Удар крыла: Рассказ 1 copy
Читатели рождены свободными 1 copy
Стихи разных лет 1 copy
ナボコフ・コレクション 賜物 父の蝶 1 copy
Лирика 1 copy
Полное собрание рассказов 1 copy
Christmas [short story] 1 copy
Povídky sv. 1 (1921-1929) 1 copy
В Египте: Стихотворение 1 copy
Весна: Стихотворение 1 copy
Крым: Стихотворения 1 copy
Перо: Стихотворение 1 copy
Случайность: Рассказ 1 copy
Priglashenie na kazn'. Drugie berega. Zaschita Luzhina. Kamera obskura. Dar (Knizhnaya polka) (2006) 1 copy
Maïakovski. Poemas 1 copy
Povídky sv. 3 (1938 - 1952) 1 copy
Парижская поэма: Стихи 1 copy
Королёк 1 copy
Подлец 1 copy
Marcel Proust (1871-1922) 1 copy
Nabokov Vladimir 1 copy
The Potato Elf [short story] 1 copy
De verhalen 1 copy
Verzamelde verhalen 1 copy
Pnin's Day 1 copy
Théâtre 1 copy
Skośnie w lewo 1 copy
Volshebnik. Solus Rex. Drugie Berega. Rasskazy. Stikhotvoreniya. Dramaticheskie Proizvedeniya / The Enchanter. Solus… (2008) 1 copy
Ulven kommer 1 copy
Einzelheiten eines Sonnenuntergangs: Sämtliche Erzählungen 1921 bis 1932 (German Edition) (2021) 1 copy
The Complete Short Stories 1 copy
On Metamorphosis 1 copy
Agenda literaria 2018 1 copy
Victor Meets Pnin 1 copy
Exile 1 copy
Leben erfinden 1 copy
Stikhotvoreniia i poemy 1 copy
De swaluw 1 copy
De aanzeggers 1 copy
De autoweg 1 copy
Het woord 1 copy
Dubbelpraat 1 copy
Erwin: een sprookje 1 copy
Poezie uit "De Gave" 1 copy
De haven 1 copy
Gardens and Parks 1 copy
The Leonardo [short story] 1 copy
Lips to Lips [short story] 1 copy
Torpid Smoke [short story] 1 copy
The Refrigerator Awakes 1 copy
A Poem 1 copy
On Discovering a Butterfly 1 copy
A Forgotten Poet: A Story 1 copy
Portrait of my Uncle 1 copy
Colette 1 copy
Portrait of my mother 1 copy
Tamara 1 copy
Lantern Slides 1 copy
Cinco poemas 1 copy
Письма П.А. Перцову 1 copy
Обида 1 copy
Обида. Лебеда: Рассказы 1 copy
О правителях: Стихотворения 1 copy
Пасхальный дождь: Рассказ 1 copy
Первое стихотворение 1 copy
Писатели и эпоха 1 copy
Посещение музея: Рассказы 1 copy
Пошляки и пошлость 1 copy
Письмо к С. В. Потресову 1 copy
Из архива В.В. Набокова 1 copy
Письмо к А.В. Амфитеатрову 1 copy
Письма к В.Ф. Маркову 1 copy
Письма к Глебу Струве 1 copy
Письма В.Набокова к Гессенам 1 copy
Письма Набокова 1 copy
Родина. К России: стихи 1 copy
Романы. Рассказы. Эссе 1 copy
Символы Роу 1 copy
На мели 1 copy
PNIN. Vol 72 SALVAT 1 copy
Стихотворения (1929-1951) 1 copy
Второе добавление к "Дару" 1 copy
Дракон: Рассказ 1 copy
Воспоминания 1 copy
Случайность. Драка: Рассказы 1 copy
Месть: Рассказ 1 copy
К России: Стихотворения 1 copy
Адмиралтейская игла 1 copy
Из литературного наследия 1 copy
Исакий: Стихотворения 1 copy
Катастрофа: Рассказ 1 copy
Качурину: Стихи 1 copy
Ланселот: Рассказ 1 copy
La doppia vita 1 copy
Associated Works
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) — Introduction, some editions — 17,835 copies, 331 reviews
A Hero of Our Time (1840) — Afterword, some editions; Translator, some editions — 3,896 copies, 63 reviews
The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction (1983) — Contributor — 1,165 copies, 3 reviews
Fierce Pajamas: An Anthology of Humor Writing from The New Yorker (2001) — Contributor — 727 copies, 6 reviews
The World of the Short Story: A 20th Century Collection (1986) — Contributor — 477 copies, 4 reviews
World Poetry: An Anthology of Verse from Antiquity to Our Time (1998) — Contributor — 469 copies, 1 review
American Poetry: The Twentieth Century, Volume Two: E. E. Cummings to May Swenson (2000) — Contributor — 421 copies, 1 review
You've Got to Read This: Contemporary American Writers Introduce Stories that Held Them in Awe (1994) — Contributor — 389 copies, 3 reviews
Drinking, Smoking and Screwing: Great Writers on Good Times (1994) — Contributor — 339 copies, 4 reviews
American Fantastic Tales: Terror and the Uncanny from the 1940s to Now (2009) — Contributor — 275 copies, 5 reviews
The Song of Igor's Campaign, An Epic of the Twelfth Century (1800) — Translator, some editions; Translator, some editions — 235 copies, 3 reviews
The Vintage Book of Amnesia: An Anthology of Writing on the Subject of Memory Loss (2000) — Contributor — 219 copies, 2 reviews
The Delighted States: A Book of Novels, Romances, & Their Unknown Translators, Containing Ten Languages, Set on Four… (2007) 175 copies, 3 reviews
The Graphic Canon, Vol. 3: From Heart of Darkness to Hemingway to Infinite Jest (2013) — Contributor — 153 copies, 1 review
Bedtime Stories (Everyman's Library Pocket Classics Series) (2011) — Contributor — 135 copies, 5 reviews
Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse, Vol. 2; Commentary and Index (1991) — Translator, some editions — 107 copies, 3 reviews
Penguins 60s Classics (Loose as the Wind; Now Remember; Florence Nightingale; Rumpole and the Younger Generation;… (1996) — Contributor; Contributor — 12 copies
The Bitter air of exile : Russian writers in the West, 1922-1972 (1977) — Contributor — 8 copies, 1 review
Nabokov's Fifth Arc: Nabokov and Others on His Life's Work (The Dan Danciger Publication Series) (1982) — Contributor — 7 copies
De mooiste verhalen van James Baldwin, John Berger, Jorge Luis Borges, Jane Bowles, Joseph Brodsky, Charles Bukowski,… (1990) — Contributor — 6 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich
- Other names
- Darkbloom, Vivian
Sirin, V. - Birthdate
- 1899-04-22
- Date of death
- 1977-07-02
- Burial location
- Clarens Cemetery, Montreux, Switzerland
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Russia (birth)
USA (naturalized) - Birthplace
- St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
- Place of death
- Montreux, Switzerland
- Places of residence
- St. Petersburg, Russian Empire
Berlin, Germany
Paris, France
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Montreux, Switzerland
Ithaca, New York, USA (show all 10)
New York, New York, USA
Ashland, Oregon, USA
Livadiya, Crimea, Ukrainian People's Republic
England, UK - Education
- Home education
Tenishev school, St. Petersburg, Russia
University of Cambridge (Trinity College) (B.A. Zoology, Slavic and Romance languages) (1922) - Occupations
- novelist
teacher
entomologist
lepidopterist
university professor - Relationships
- Nabokov, Vladimir Dmitrievich (father)
Nabokov, Dmitri (son)
Wonlar-Larsky, Nadine (aunt)
Felsen, Yuri (colleague) - Organizations
- Harvard University
Wellesley College
Cornell University
Museum of Comparative Zoology
Olympia Press - Awards and honors
- American National Medal for Literature (1973)
American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award (Literature, 1951) - Disambiguation notice
- Note that Nabokov/Sirin published two works called Соглядатай 'The spy': a novella first published in the émigré journal Sovremennye zapiski in 1930 and translated into English as The Eye, and a story collection including the novella published as a book in Paris in 1938. The latter has recently been republished by the Russian company Azbuka as Совершенство 'Perfection,' the name of one of the stories. If there are any LT copies of the 1938 collection, they should be combined with Совершенство [Sovershenstvo].
Members
Discussions
**Lolita Group Read in 2013 Category Challenge (February 2022)
Group Read, January 2019: Ada in 1001 Books to read before you die (February 2019)
March 2014: Vladimir Nabokov in Monthly Author Reads (April 2014)
my relationship with Lolita in Club Read 2014 (January 2014)
ADA or ardor A Family Chronicle in Nabokov! (November 2013)
Pale Fire and the Cold War in Nabokov! (October 2013)
A question for the group: is Nabokov Russian? in Fans of Russian authors (September 2012)
Nabokov on Kindle in Fans of Russian authors (February 2011)
Reviews
Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita one of those novels which you have to read again and again and again and still you won't get everything. This was my first read, and I hope to read it again.
The plot is suggestive of the sexual, but it is not about sex at all. It's about the debilitating and crippling compulsion, the moral and ethical lapses, the limit to which one can go. It is about choices, and it's very psychiatric.
Nabokov's writing relies on tacit knowledge; you have to know a lot about literature and history beforehand to understand better, which I absolutely did not. The dense wording and obscure imagery makes it a bit difficult to read, which is why I had to read it with an audiobook (read by Jeremy Irons). There are almost 150 pages of extra notes in the end which elaborates on most of the allusions and metaphors, and I didn't read them; you have to save something for the future, no?
Even though the language is difficult, it is very thorough. It is not a "brick"- it does have life, humor and substance. I think the convolution reflects the nature of the protagonist himself. One cannot, in simple terms, can ever put down the right feelings in any other style.
Nabokov says that this book doesn't really have a moral, and I think I disagree. But perhaps that is because literary critics are not satisfied easily (it is an identity which I seem to have acquired of late and take silent pride to, but don't want to say it out loud).
I might not understand the point of this book but these words come to my mind: mania, impulse, man, captivity, cancer.
Originally Posted on https://nibirsan.org/blog/p/lolita… (more)
The plot is suggestive of the sexual, but it is not about sex at all. It's about the debilitating and crippling compulsion, the moral and ethical lapses, the limit to which one can go. It is about choices, and it's very psychiatric.
Nabokov's writing relies on tacit knowledge; you have to know a lot about literature and history beforehand to understand better, which I absolutely did not. The dense wording and obscure imagery makes it a bit difficult to read, which is why I had to read it with an audiobook (read by Jeremy Irons). There are almost 150 pages of extra notes in the end which elaborates on most of the allusions and metaphors, and I didn't read them; you have to save something for the future, no?
Even though the language is difficult, it is very thorough. It is not a "brick"- it does have life, humor and substance. I think the convolution reflects the nature of the protagonist himself. One cannot, in simple terms, can ever put down the right feelings in any other style.
Nabokov says that this book doesn't really have a moral, and I think I disagree. But perhaps that is because literary critics are not satisfied easily (it is an identity which I seem to have acquired of late and take silent pride to, but don't want to say it out loud).
I might not understand the point of this book but these words come to my mind: mania, impulse, man, captivity, cancer.
Originally Posted on https://nibirsan.org/blog/p/lolita… (more)
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Statistics
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- 413
- Also by
- 68
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“The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness. Although the two are identical twins, man, as a rule, views the prenatal abyss with more calm than the one he is heading for (at some forty-five hundred heartbeats an hour).”… (more)