Recommendations for Nabokov readings?

[Dr. Zirk]

Other than seeing the film version of "Lolita", I haven't had much exposure to Nabokov's writings. I'm wondering if anyone has recommendations on where to start, especially for someone with Ligottian tastes. Seems like Nabokov has a large oeuvre, so I'm not sure which end of the pool to dive in - are the short stories worthwhile?

[Severini]

When I haven´t money to buy Ligotti´s books, I search for the authours who influenced him.I´ve read 3 books by Nabokov so far.Lolita, Pale Fire and Pnin.

The easiest to read is Pnin.The protagonist is a sort of an outcast as Ligotti´s protagonists (not so doomed but he is utterly alone) and the way he is treated by the others makes Pnin a very sad book, although funny in some moments.

I liked Lolita, and again the protagonist is anohter outcast but you can´t help but hate the tragic and sick Humbert Humbert...Nabokov´s eliptical and erudite prose can be difficult sometimes and Lolita is a novel with a lot of references to other books.There is an annotated version in english but I hadn´t the acess to that one (I read the brazilian translation)... is a beautifully written book.

Pale fire is unique.Is one of the most original books I´ve read.The first part is a 999 verses poem by a Poet called John Francis Shade, composed in the last 20 days of his life.The second part is the poem comentary, by his deranged neighbour called Charles Kinbote, who stole the manuscript from John´s wife and analyses the poet´s life through the poem...and then he finds in the poem relations to a fictional country called Zembla (Charles´ supposed homeland), later declaring to be the king of the country (King Charles) but, maybe he is not so mad, maybe is John Shade who is guiding him from beyond the grave, moving him into...well, is a very complex book and I will surely have to read it again but I liked it a lot.

If you like Kafka, you can read an excellent lecture made by Nabokov about the great story " The Metamorphosis"

HERE

Hope I have helped you

[bendk]

I will second Severini's recommendation for Lolita. I thought it was a wonderfully written novel. I am amazed at authors like Nabokov and Joseph Conrad who write with such skill in what is not their native language.

Severini,

Thanks for the link on Nabokov's lecture on THE METAMORPHOSIS. It has been a long time since I have read it. I guess that is one of the perks of being a famous author; you get to teach "Humanities" and pick your own subject. Elie Wiesel taught a course on Kafka too.

[Dr. Zirk]

Thanks to Severini and bendk for the recommends - looks like I need to track down Lolita and give it a read. And Pale Fire sounds very intriguing...

[Dr. Zirk]

While I'm waiting for Pale Fire to arrive from the library, I started in on some of the Nabokov short stories. I just read "Wingstroke" last night, and I highly recommend this story to Ligotti fans. It's a swirling little nightmare filled with madness, suicide, and a wounded angel. The use of language is spectacular - Nabokov is a real literary craftsman, and despite the crazy content, the story reads effortlessly and beautifully.

Better yet, someone in Russia has posted a complete English translation on the web:

--Documents

Well worth checking out...

[Severini]

About the subject of Nabokov short stories, in the same website you indicated there is an excellent short story by Nabokov called "The Vane Sisters" which he wrote in 1951...
It´s about a french literature teacher and his relationship with two sisters called Cynthia and Sybil...Sybil was a pupil of this teacher and she suicided, leaving the message on her test and...
I won´t give much of the plot, but the end of this story resembles A LOT (at least this is the impression I´ve got) "Alice´s Last Adventure"...and there is a CHILLING message in this tale...pay CLOSE attention to the narrator´s words.

Please take a look at this one at:

--Documents

[Dr. Zirk]

Good call, Severini. "The Vane Sisters" is fascinating. It would have taken me a while to get to that one, since it's towards the end of my book of Nabokov short stories, but I'm glad I skipped ahead. The narrator's observations of icicles melting in the sun at the beginning of the story are worth the price of admission alone.

Nabokov's literally craftsmanship is incredible - his use of language is truly intimidating for an amateur writer like myself (but inspiring at the same time!)

[Severini]

Hey Dr. Zirk!
Glad you enjoyed the vane sisters but ...
there is more:
take the first letter of every word in the last paragraph... and see the message...

[Dr. Zirk]

I love it! Thanks for pointing that out - I would have missed that without the hint. There's even a sort of pun hidden in there. And I want to believe I detect a back-handed reference to the "eccentric librarian" Porlock, mentioned earlier in the story. In order to decipher the message, the reader has to (almost) duplicate Porlock's crazy hobby.

I love it!

One of my favorite short stories by Nabokov is 'The Terror.' The experiences detailed by the protagonist are similar to happenings I experience in my own daily life. There's another short story - aw crap, I forget the title, but it's about siamese twins and it's the last story in my collection of N.'s short stories.

As for novels, my favorite would have to be 'Invitation to a Beheading.' It's very similar to Kafka's 'The Castle,' but N. was not aware of K.'s story when he wrote it.

'Ada, or Ardour,' is a close second. It's a family tree of an incestuous family, beautifully written, not Ligottian, but oh, so gorgeous! Then again I enjoy reading about pervs, so it won't appeal to everyone.

P.