Product Description
A collection of 74 articles by 42 international contributors, focusing on all aspects of Nabokov's legacy from his Russian and English periods, including his novels, poems, lectures, translations, chess problems, and lepidoptera studies. Articles survey critical reactions and analyze Nabokov's work ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great purchase
Great book with very reasonable price thanks to Amazon.com. This is genuine encyclopedia on Vladimir Nabokov's works.
... Read more

Product Description
This insidiously charming book teaches readers about the place of lepidoptery in the life sciences and the kinds of questions that natural scientists seek to answer....Like Nabokov himself, this volume exemplifies some of the virtues shared by art and science: wit, intelligence, and, above all, meticulousness.---The New Yorker

Charming...In a world that often separates science and culture like church and state, this book reminds us that, for Nabokov, butterflies helped shape ‘a habitual way of looking at the world' that was ultimately conducive to great literature and to great lepidoptery alike.---New York Times Book Review

...a grand book: erudite, generous, and wise. It is written with a grace and intelligence worthy of its eponymous subject.---Boston Globe

Readers with a taste for science and literature will love this book, which is both entertaining and polymathically informative--rather like the English/Russian, naturalist/novelist/scholar/artist Nabokov himself.---Publishers Weekly (starred review)Amazon.com Review
The title Nabokov's Blues is sure to bewilder many: wasthe great author depressed? Nothing of the sort--unknown to all butthe most dedicated Lolita-philes, thegreat Russian author was a dedicated lepidopterist; the book, byfellow scientist Kurt Johnson and writer Steve Coates, explores hislife's work with the Blue butterflies of South America.Nabokovbrought the same gentle sensibility to his scientific work that heused in his writing and teaching careers, and the authors have foundgreat new depths to the man that an army of biographers had failed toexcavate.Entomology buffs will find much to love in Nabokov'sBlues, with collecting trips into the field and anatomicaldetective work taking the forefront.Literati seeking new insightsinto the man's life will also be pleased to find his story told from anew perspective, focusing more on his exacting research than histumultuous personal life.

Nabokov's life reflects 20th-centurybiology as well as literature; he involved himself in many of thegreat debates of his time from his vantage points at Cornell andHarvard (where he held a post at the Museum of Comparative Zoology).His contributions to our thinking about speciation, some of which haveonly come to light recently, are clear-headed and invaluable.Theauthors know Nabokov's life well and are eager to share this side ofit with us; while he will always be better known for his literarywork, Nabokov's Blues throws light into the shadows cast by hisgreat stature. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

A classic account of how a lifelong fascination with butterflies was woven into the writing of a literary genius.
Anyone who loves the writings of Nabokov and who is also fascinated with lepidoptera will want to read and own this book. Since that defines a very narrow group of people I am probably writing this review for myself alone.
Never mind, I shall assume that lovers of fine writing and of scientific taxonomy exist somewhere 'out there' and press on.

Nabokov was obsessed with Lepidoptera from his early childhood. The first chapters of Speak Memory are full of butterfly and moth lore. It defined his youth in remarkable ways and it was as a lepidopterist that he embarked on his career in the West after the family fled from the revolution. It is impossible to fully understand Nabokov without taking in this remarkable passion. This book has a unique way of weaving together the scientific strand of Nabokov's imagination with the literary tropes. There are other writers for whom a fully expressed professional interest in a branch of natural history was a prelude to a purely literary career. I leave is as an exercise to the readers of this review (if there be any) to come up with a list of 10 examples. However Nabokov must be near the top of the list for achievement in these two apparently disjunct spheres of human activity.

The blues in the night
The best part was the account of the expeditions to the Andes to collect blues, it brought a much-needed real world element to the book, to counter the strangely third person stance, and musty approach.The combination of taxonomy and a dead author's research just lacks much punch, though the authors make a valiant effort.One of the authors frequently refers to himself by surname, which seems odd; it happens maybe a hundred times or more in discussing the recent research into Blues, and how it intersects with Nabokov's work.The book is part primer on biodiversity, taxonomy, field biology, and part homage to Nabokov's genius.It must be unique in it's attempt to combine these elements.I love butterflies, South America, and am a biologist, but I found it overwritten, just too many words for what it was trying to get across.The style was also a problem, it needed to have more verve, less reserve.

Beauty and Science
At first blush this book appears to be a footnote to a writer who had an eccentric hobby. Since Professor Boyd's definitive biography some may consider that there was little else to explore. The scientific achievements of Vladimir Nabakov were not lost but perhaps overwhelmed in the literary story.
Nabakov's Blues does more than just dust off the lepidoptry papers. The book is in the final assessment a celebration of how science and research are never a sterile academic exercise but a reflection of greater issues of the beauty and elegance of intellect at work.
During the course of shedding light on the under recognized research we are reminded that the mundane work of classifying and sorting often underpins more glamorous tasks, but are also given insight into the many quiet achievers in science, who often take considerable personal risks to complete research which is part of a greater whole and leaves them only as a name in a arid catalogue.
We are too prone to identify the heros and not those who without clamor or boasting actually do the work.
Nabakov himself never "promoted" his science although he made it clear that his butterflies were an integral part of his life. We grow to specialise and those who can travel in literary circles as well as science are rare. The authors Johnson and Coates do themselves demonstrate that they too can travel the literary salons and the research laboratories, and write an elegant supplement to Professor Boyd that transcends that status to become a commentary on the man who was in many ways a true renaissance figure.

A Wonderful Little Book
I picked up the paperback of this book because I'd heard about it when it was in hardback.For anyone who is fascinated by science, literature, history, sociology and much more, they will find the blend of story, information and insight in this book satisfying and enlightening.Its never gets dull because you're reading about a historical literary figure, and his biography, tons of information about science and exploration, the scientists who completed the formative work Nabokov began at Harvard before becoming famous after Lolita, and how this all fits together in todays biodiversity crisis and squabbles over whether Nabokov was really a bona fide scientist or just an boyish aficionado. I felt I had learned a great deal from this book but also enjoyed it.It is a great blend of historical fact, new stories, and insight the into world's environmental dilemmas.I also had no idea of the complex ways in which Nabokov interwove butterflies and their images and symbols into his novels.

A very interesting and entertaining book!
This book is a fun read for anyone with an interest in the personal histories that shape authors, in biology and/or in the environment and ecology. It provides great insight into the scientific passion that moved one of the more interesting figures in literature, and nicely weaves the tale of Nabokov's first passion, lepidoptery, providing many interesting biographical details (including his wonderful sense of humor!), and the modern day story of the scientists who continued his work and discovered that his scientific legacy was truly as important and inventive as his literature. It discusses the science in a way that is interesting and easily understood by the non-scientist, but does not diminish the nature of the scientific information conveyed. In addition, it shows how the science impacted the literature. How interesting that a butterfly-gathering trip would provide the backdrop for Lolita! I found this book to be very interesting, informative and entertaining, and I highly recommend it. ... Read more

Product Description
FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Awe and exhiliration--along with heartbreak and mordant wit--abound in Lolita, Nabokov's most famous and controversial novel, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Loli ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Gifted use of English as a second language
I've always admired how native speakers of other languages are able to write so eloquently in English. Perhaps it is the way their native language shapes how they view the world. In Lolita Nabokov provides the reader with poetry in every paragraph.

Readers of diminished intelligence or those simply less open minded may be disgusted by the premise of this book.Keep in mind that while this was shocking in the 1950's, a 12 year old girl choosing to have sex is rather normal in 2010.

On to the story itself:

While Humbert's relationship with Lolita is the backdrop of this novel, what I found the central theme to be was Humbert's wrestling with his own mind, desires and society's perception of him and his actions.Is Humbert such a bad guy?What does Humbert think?Keep that in mind as you read, because the book is not about Lolita at all, but all about Humbert.

I've knocked off a star because, while I speak SOME French, one really has to be a fluent French speaker to understand some of the finer points about the thoughts going through our main character's head.Perhaps that makes this book all the more scholarly, but I found myself having to run to an online translator to make sense of some of the more complicated verses.

Lolita
Wonderfully worded, and never a thought of remorse.The plot can be hard to get over at first, but keep reading, for it's far worthy of your attention.

Beautiful prose, disgusting subject
Nabokov writes beautifully. His prose is practically poetry itself and he weaves an excellent story of obsession and possession and gratification and overindulgence.The narrator, Humbert, is achingly pathetic, and even he seems to realize this. He is not to be trusted, by the other characters or the reader, and to him almost every female over the age of consent is fat and old and worthless. At this point most of us know what the content of the book is about but I was rather surprised at the way it was set down. Don't worry, the content is not graphic, although maybe any mention of sex with a twelve year is too graphic. And of course that's the point you need to consider before you read this book. The "love" story is between a young girl and a man approaching middle age. And, honestly, it isn't really a love story at all. Humbert has always had fantasies about having a pubescent girl all to himself and he gets that with Dolores Haze. He's a man who should never have had his desires fulfilled, who should have been contented with small glimpses, and when he gets what he wants, gorges himself. Disturbing, dark, creepy, creepy, creepy, and surprisingly, a good read.

Perfect.
Lolita, oh Lolita, where do I begin? A writer at Vanity Fair once referred to this book as, "The only convincing love story of our century." I had read those words before reading it, and now having done so, agree. So convincing in fact, that I often questioned the author's moral values, sometimes even getting angry at him. Not Humbert the main character, but Nabokov himself. They seemed to be the same person; I was convinced that no man had in his soul the creativity Nabokov pretended to possess, to think like such a sick man, write so convincingly of it in the first person, and himself not be ill?
.
As I read more it became apparent that the guy was simply brilliant and that my concerns were just the symptoms of reading a very convincing story. That just pissed me off more. Before, I thought his writings were the result of some sort of psychological madness, "he must have gone completely nuts..." I thought. Being someone who wants to write at least one great novel in my life and with "going nuts"something I've always felt destined for anyway, now there was hope at least that I would benefit greatly from it. But unfortunately for me, he wasn't mad, he was a fictional mastermind... My DNA will never deliver. Aarghh.
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I don't want to talk about the details of Lolita; the chances of me screwing it up for you are too great. It is a story of anticipation; a story where you never know what will happen next but can't wait to find out. I will not ruin that for you. What I will say is that it is one of the most realistic stories of all time. How the Russian Nabokov wrote a book inEnglish about a French speaking immigrant is beyond me; but to do it so convincingly isn't short of miraculous. I know I haven't said much about the story, and I have told you why, so I will leave you with this; it is brilliant, the character's are brilliant, and if you're hung up on the plot... It's worth getting over... Nothing is condoned or glorified; it is not smut, it is beautiful,,, and did I mention Brilliant?
.

Oh, how disturbing, but what a gifted writer!
I am so happy to have read this book, because I can now say that I did it and be done with it.Oh, how disturbing, but what a gifted writer - and English wasn't even his native tongue!

The subject matter, which I found distasteful, is presented so delicately the reader forgets for a moment the nymphet is a child and the HH is a criminal.Nabakov presents this tale so with so much self deprecating humor HH seems to be the victim.

Glad I'm done, on to something much happier. ... Read more

Product Description
A Hero Of Our Time is the masterpiece of Russian Romantic prose that influenced generations of readers and writers. Published in 1840, a year before Lermontov’s tragic death in a duel, the novel was a sensation with a generation that identified with the hero, Pechorin, who feels that life has robbed him of the possibility of noble passion. As Nabokov writes in his introduction, "Lermontov managed to create a fictional person whose romantic dash and cynicism, tiger-like suppleness and eagle eye, hot blood and cool head, tenderness and taciturnity, elegance and brutality, delicacy of perception and harsh passion to dominate, ruthlessness and awareness of it, are of a lasting appeal to readers of all countries and centuries."

Nabokov’s translation, introduction, and notes make this the best edition of the novel available in English. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (60)

Great Russian Lit!
I am no professional. I don't even read all that much but, this novel should keep anyone interested. I am a college student and this was one of the novels from my Russian Prose and Drama corse. I think the way Lemontov writes is very forward and clear. I laughed out load at Max in the first chapter (laughing from a book was a first for me). I really liked this one and will read through again. The only bad thing I can state is that all of the characters can be confusing. Great novel!

Bizarre Edition, Ridiculous Translation ...
I must have clicked on the wrong button somewhere or else been shamelessly misled. This volume is an "on demand" publication in LARGE PRINT, with hundreds of typos. The translators are identified by name as J.H. Wisdom and Marr Murray, but the author's name does NOT appear either on the cover or anywhere inside the volume. Who's hiding what from whom?

I'm almost certain I read a translation of Lermontov's "A Hero of Our Times" decades ago, but I don't remember the translator of my first exposure to one of the most acclaimed classics of Russian literature. Honestly I don't remember much of the tale either, so I decided to read it again. This translation, however, CAN'T be representative of Lermontov's literary artistry. The English is abysmally bad:

"We set off. They told me all that had happened, supplementing their story with a variety of observations on the subject of the strange predestination which had saved Vulich from imminent death half an hour before he actually met his end. Vulich had been walking alone along a dark street, and the drunken Cossack who had cut up the pig had sprung out upon him, and perhaps would have passed him by without noticing him, had not Vulich stopped suddenly and said: "Whom are you looking for, my man?" "You!" answered the Cossack, striking him with his sabre; and he cleft him from the shoulder almost to the heart."

Is that perfectly clear?

Amazon should do a better job of listing translations
Before posting this review, I typed "Beethoven Diabelli Variations" into the Amazon search engine and the first three pages of listings contained 22 CDs by different pianists.Moreover, the reviews of the recording by Maurizio Pollini are listed separately from the reviews of the recording by Stephen Kovacevich, which are listed separately from the reviews of the recording by Rudolf Serkin, and so on for all 22 of the different performances.

Translating a work of literature is not, to my mind, significantly different than performing a classic of the piano repertoire.Yet Amazon often does shamefully little to distinguish different translations of works of literature.

Take A HERO OF OUR TIME, for example.When I went to post my review of "the first major prose novel in Russian literature," as translated by Vladimir Nabokov and his son, I typed "Lermontov A Hero of Our Time" into Amazon's search engine and the first book listed was an edition published by ReadaClassic.com (whatever that is).Amazon's "page" for that offering gives no information whatsoever on who the translator is.(Imagine a listing of a CD of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations, with no information as to the pianist, from a recording company named "HearaClassic.com". How many CDs do you think Amazon would be able to sell?)

On the page for the ReadaClassic.com offering, there are 57 reviews.Wow!But careful inspection reveals that only a few of those 57 reviews pertain to the ReadaClassic edition.Some pertain to an edition published by Everyman's Library; others to one published by Modern Library Classics; and still others to one published by Penguin Classics.If you know how to navigate through the back corridors of Amazon's web site, you can find out that each of those three editions has different translators (respectively, Vladimir and Dmitri Nabokov, Marian Schwartz, and Paul Foote) and, eventually, you can isolate and purchase the translation you prefer.But you have to work at it and have sufficient knowledge of Byzantine Amazon.Otherwise, you will end up with A HERO OF OUR TIME published by ReadaClassic and translated by (who knows?).If Amazon cared about books and readers as much as it should, it could and would distinguish separate translations of works of literature with as much specificity and refinement as it does separate performances of musical works such as Beethoven's Diabelli Variations.

Now for a review of A HERO OF OUR TIME.(Note:What follows repeats the review I separately posted of the Doubleday Anchor paperback edition of the novel.)

In many ways, A HERO OF OUR TIME stands in the shadows of Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin", which was the first major novel in Russian literature.Actually, I suspect that A HERO OF OUR TIME owes its stature as a minor landmark of Russian literature to factors other than its intrinsic literary merit - especially to the popular conception that Lermontov was the heir to Pushkin, the fact that Lermontov very publicly denounced the social and political circumstances that led to the duel in which Pushkin was mortally wounded, and to the fact that Lermontov himself, just four years later, also died in a duel.And, no doubt, the popularity of the novel owes much to the character and personality of the "hero" himself, Grigory Aleksandrovich Pechorin.

Eugene Onegin is a fairly pathetic protagonist.He is sybaritic and even, perhaps, a little effete.Pechorin is forceful, dynamic, masculine through and through.He is bored with life ("I have a restless fancy, an insatiable heart"), but he lives it to the fullest rather than moping around or trying to lose himself in books.He is far from noble - he shamelessly toys with others, both male and female - but he has charisma.He is, as Victor Terras aptly puts it, "a rebel without a cause."And just as James Dean assumed iconic status in American culture, so too did Pechorin (and Lermontov) in Russian.

The novel is actually a loose assemblage of five stories.The first two are told by an anonymous first person narrator, presumably Lermontov himself.In them we learn about several of the legendary exploits of Pechorin and at the end of the second one the narrator comes into possession of Pechorin's journals.The last three stories are taken from those journals and thus are narrated by Pechorin in the first person.The time period is the 1830's; the setting is the Caucasus.There is an exoticism to these stories somewhat akin to "The Arabian Nights".

The writing displays remarkable energy.But it is untidy and often awkward.The novel is strewn with loose ends, false leads, and inconsistencies.Again and again, emotion is displayed by a character "stamping his feet on the ground" or similar demonstrative conduct.In the first story, the narrative often proceeds via embarrassingly stilted conversations.Throughout, Pechorin and others are forewarned of important matters by being at the conveniently right place at the fortuitously right time and overhearing the plotting of their enemies.Some of Lermontov's similes or other literary formulations made me wince.According to Vladimir Nabokov, even in Russian the writing is "inelegant"; it is the product of "an energetic, incredibly gifted, bitterly honest, but definitely inexperienced young man."One cannot help but wonder what literary landmarks Lermontov might have produced had he not died at the age of 26.

I mention Vladimir Nabokov because he was the translator (in collaboration with his son, Dmitri) of the Everyman's Library edition of A HERO OF OUR TIME.If you are interested in the novel, despite its flaws, I recommend the Everyman's Library edition, in particular for Nabokov's inimitably authoritative footnotes.

A Hero of Our Time
If you think the Russian Novel is a impossible read with huge numbers of characters all called Prince something, "A Hero of Our Time" will be a refreshing change. It's a short book that comes with well-thought out characters. Even though there are three different narrators, the whole book is well organized nonetheless.

A Hero of Time
I just wanted to say that this is a great book, really a classic story. I had to read it for a literature class a few years ago. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Love and Perversion: Lolita
Lolita is not the book to throw into a beach bag or read on a relaxing Sunday afternoon. Readers must prepare themselves for the socially unacceptable content and the dense and beautiful prose that Vladimir Nabokov offers in this classic novel. There is no straightforward sense of satisfaction upon completion of Lolita- readers will find themselves in awe at its blunt perversion, gorgeous language, and intriguing criticisms of society.

Humbert Humbert is the intellectual, charming, and perverted narrator of Lolita. The reader cannot help but simultaneously despise and be captivated by him. In his adolescence, he begins a relationship with the young "nymphet" Anna-Leigh, but fails to consummate it and maintains a lingering obsession over her for many years. He lives as a bitter, middle-aged European who enjoys watching girls at the park or spending his evenings with young prostitutes, until he meets Lolita.

In a boarding house in New England, he falls into a fervent love with the twelve-year-old Lolita Haze:

"With awe and delight (the king crying for joy, the trumpets blaring, the nurse drunk) I saw again her lovely in drawn abdomen where my southbound mouth had briefly paused; and those puerile hips on which I had kissed the crenulated imprint left by the band of her shorts- that last mad immortal day behind the "Roches Roses." The twenty-five years I had lived since then tapered to a palpitating point, and vanished" (39).

His passion for her becomes obsessive and disturbing, as he fantasizes about her constantly and records his thoughts in a forbidden diary. Humbert develops meticulous and cunning plans to be near to Lolita, and he ultimately marries her mother, Charlotte Haze.

Humbert keeps his ignorant wife in secrecy as he continues to be consumed by thoughts of her daughter. Just as Charlotte discovers her new husband's pedophilic motives, she is killed in the street. Humbert finds himself in an overwhelming ecstasy as Lolita is placed entirely in his care. For the next few years, Humbert and Lolita travel across America in a twisted romance that entails a number of scathing commentaries on American society. Humbert acts as both a father and a lover to Lolita, as she begins to gain power over him through sexual manipulation.

Throughout the novel, readers are forced to keep reminding themselves of Humbert's perversion. He is the true unreliable narrator, hypnotizing readers with his rationalization and charm. He lies to everyone around him, perceives events and personalities through a distorted, self-absorbed lens, and masquerades molestation as love.Be careful not to forget Lolita's pre-pubescence, dependence on Humbert as a caretaker, and crying in her room every night.

This book is a witty and brilliant story that will keep readers mesmerized. Nabokov's language is seductive and sensual, with a fluidity and grace that forces the reader to struggle with the juxtaposition of a beautiful art form and disconcerting subject matter. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Wonderful as Wonderland!
This is an excellent book for everyone who loves Russian language or culture. This is actually written in archaic spelling so you can aprecciate Nabokov's translation at a 100%.

The Nabokov Russian Translation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in
This is a great reading for anyone who loves Russian classics. It combines the unique Nabokov's style with the wonderful plot of Lewis Carroll's masterpiece. Don't expect to see the exact translation of Carroll's book,rather consider it as a "variation on the theme" of "Alicein Wonderland". Take a book, a cup of tea, spend the time withfavourite and funny Carroll's heros in the magic country ofCarroll-Nabokov. ... Read more

Product Description
Edited and Annotated by Brian Boyd and Robert Michael Pyle New Translations from the Russian by Dmitri Nabokov This extraordinary verbal and visual feast of never-before-seen Nabokoviana presents the great writer's lifelong passions for literature and butterflies through a rich array of novels, stories, poems, autobiography, interviews, diaries, and more, plus a wealth of beautiful and fanciful drawings by Nabokov and photographs of him in the field. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

It Always Came Down To Butterflies
"From the age of seven, everything I felt in connection with a rectangle of framed sunlight was dominated by a single passion," wrote Valdimir Nabokov."If my first glance of the morning was for the sun, my first thought was for the butterflies it would engender."This was certainly an unusual way in which to view the world and one that not many readers, even those who adore Nabokov, have shared.

In fact, the ferocity of Nabokov's obsession with butterflies has only just begun to become clear with the publication of this gorgeous new book, a volume of heretofore unpublished and uncorrected writings on the subject of butterflies, edited by Nabokov's biographer Brian Boyd, together with Michael Pyle, an expert on butterflies.All translations were done by Nabokov's son, Dmitri, who has lavished his time and talent on his father's work for several decades.

Even those of us who cannot get enough of Nabokov and cannot praise him highly enough may find more than 700 densely-printed pages on the subject of butterflies a little much.As much as we love Nabokov, do we really want to read page after page of his highly technical descriptions of the various species of butterfly?Are these writings really important, from a scientific viewpoint?Is there any connection between Nabokov's passion for butterflies and his extraordinary fiction?

Although most people would probably answer "no" to the first two questions, the answer to the third is a surprisingly enthusiastic, "yes."

In his wonderful introduction, Boyd begins to elucidate the connections between Nabokov the writer and Nabokov the lepidopterist.We come to understand the novelist more completely and precisely by coming to understand that science that gave this unique author "a sense of reality that should not be confused with modern (or postmodern) epistemological nihilism."

It was while dissecting and deciphering his butterflies that Nabokov came to the conclusion that the more we inquire, the more we can discover, yet the more we discover, the more we find we do not know.The world, Nabokov says, is infinitely detailed, complex and deceptive.

Nabokov's important writings on butterflies are reproduced in this volume, but thankfully, in reduced form.And other kinds of writing by Nabokov have been blended over the scientific prose, beginning with the luminous meditation on butterflies from Chapter Six of Speak, Memory.

The poems, memoirs, letters, diary entries, criticism and fiction that make up this beautiful volume cover a period from 1941 to 1947, when Nabokov was at his most obsessive...as far as butterflies are concerned.This obsessiveness, however, is gorgeous to behold, as in a letter from Nabokov to Edmund Wilson about a lecture trip he made to Sweet Briar College."The weather...was perfectly dreadful and except for a few Everes comyntas there was nothing on the wing."It always came down to butterflies.

Nabokov's interest in butterflies went far beyond sorting out and naming them.He was much more than a mere tabulator or categorizer.There is something exquisitely metaphysical, even mystical, about his approach to butterflies, something that also tells us of his quest to plumb the depths of nature's complexity.In his obsession, Nabokov sought to understand the sense of design that underlies the the physical world, and he also took enormous delight in the mysteries God chose to hide from human beings, leaving to them to seek them out or not.

As Boyd notes, Nabokov "preferred the small type to the main text, the obscure to the obvious, the thrill of finding for himself what was not common knowledge."His scientific writings overflow with minutiae, with obscure details, lovingly searched out, sorted, underlined, displayed.This preference for the complexity of life also underscores his writings, most notably his massive commentary on Pushkin's Onegin, the gorgeous and imaginative Pale Fire and Ada, a late masterpiece in which Nabokov's penchant for complexity reached spellbinding heights.

While only a small percentage of readers may want to study the scientific articles in this book, their very presence operates in the most subtle of ways to remind us that Nabokov, who referred to himself as VN, was also a student "of that other VN, Visible Nature."In his magnificent fiction, Nabokov offered the world a complete view of the complexity and richness of the human spirit.He might not have been so meticulous and so thorough were it not for his passion for the intricate world of butterflies, so beautifully on view in this book.

Nabakov's butterflies
12 Exotic Brazilian Butterflies In a high Quality Frame 12.5" x 8.5" (Current bid: $65.00)* 12 Exotic Brazilian Butterflies In a high Quality Frame 12.5" x 8.5" (Current bid: $65.00)

Isincerely hope that these other items you recommend to potential buyers ofthis book, are NOT butterflies that were caught in Brazil and shipped tothe USA, nor ideally even butterflies breed in the US especially for thepurpose of later gracing someone's wall. Not very environmentally sound atall if the former, and karmically, still just as bad if the latter. I donot think that the editors of Nabakov's Butterflies would support this atall, even if they are all avid butterfly enthusiasts. Leave the butterfliesinpeace!

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Dessert, and More
Yes, this book is the perfect companion to Nabokov's Blues and the stories of Lepidoptera spun in Nabokov's own Speak, Memory and Strong Opinions.You won't get the narrative read of Nabokov's scientific career as so aptlywritten by Johnson and Coates last year, but this is different fare-- thehard stuff-- letters, excerpts, drawings, complete works, interviews,speeches and expert commentary.Also, the book goes into all the aspectsof Nabokov's work on butterflies, including the projects he did notcomplete.With this book and the other books of the centennial there willno further doubt about Nabokov's important contribution to science and thefact that, even minus literature, he could have made quite a name forhimself in that field alone.

Yes! Yes! Yes!
Pick up this book, open it to any page and begin reading. You won't be able to put it down. From "Laughter," a poem as lovely and delicate as the azure it honors, to the detailed drawings, artisticrenderings, and delightful writings, it soon becomes obvious that Nabokovsaw a universe in a butterfly's wing. How fortunate we are that he leftthis magnificent record of his thought and activity. Begin reading anywhereand soon you will be drawn into his world, a world always colored by thebutterflies and moths that were his passion. Now I have to reread hisfiction with a new eye. Nabokov's passionate life and work is aninspiration to the least of us.

Cornucopia Indeed!
"Cornucopia" (about this book from Booklist)is indeed the word for this important and extremely enjoyable book.As one close to the book's germination and content I want to let Amazon readers know a bitabout what's inside.Overall, by publishing all the previously publishedand unpublished works by V. Nabokov concerning butterflies, both literaryand scientific (I say "works" because it includes both writingsand drawings) the book includes not only all the background material to theother science-related books from Nabokov's centenary year (Vera'sButterflies; Nabokov's Blues) but a mountain of unique material and commentas well.The introductions, by biographer Boyd and lepidopterist Pyle,form a good balance-- Boyd's excelling from his in-depth knowledge ofNabokov's life and literature and Pyle's reflecting copious digging intoremembrances and memorabilia of lepidopterists whose relationship with, or"take" on, Nabokov had simply never been recorded.The literary,letter, and interview selections give the reader about as much material (atleast regarding the influence of science and butterflies on Nabokov'sliterature) as would owning Nabokov's Selected Letters, short stories, muchof his autobiography Speak, Memory and his memoir Strong Opinions.Thewonderful color and BxW illustrations include not only ample supply fromNabokov's scientific publications and archives, but from the drawingspreviously featured in 1999 by Sarah Funke's Vera's Butterflies (which isnot as easy to obtain).Moreover, there is an additional value in thebooks' material have been presented chronologically.This aids the readerin not only seeing Nabokov's connection to and literary utilization ofLepidoptera grow and mature, but makes the book easy to navigate for thebrowser.Readers whose love of Nabokov is anchored in his vivid imageryand sense of detail will find the new notes, letters, and snipits hereinfull of these same qualities.Indeed, one may find a short note from oneof Nabokov's famous "index cards" and dearly wish it had beendeveloped and completed somewhere by the master himself.As the editorsnote, Nabokov had often wished to see a compendium on his scientific work,thought, and metaphor finally published.The present one is not onlycomplete but timely because it occurs at a time when Nabokov's significantachievements in science have finally gained the recognition they so longdeserved. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Unsatisfying (because brief), yet elegant, comic, bleak.
For anyone, like me, more familiar with Nabokov's more famous English work (in my case Bend Sinister, Lolita, Pale Fire), the first Russian stories in this collection might come as something of a shock.Inevitably, beingtranslated, they lose what was presumably their magic in Russian; and asthe joy of Nabokov is language (what he does with it; how he expressesmeaning through his manipulation of it, rather than ideas or narrative; howhe is its most beautiful exponent of the century), one is left with afeeling of frustration adn dissatisfaction.There is little of the callousburlesque which invade his most delicate artifacts.'The Aurelian' couldalmost have been written by Simenon.Others have the nostalgic melancholyof Turgenev.This is all very nice, but it's not Nabokov.

And yet, itis.'Cloud, Castle, Lake', for example, combines the familiar Nabokoviandisjunction between elegance of style and content of the most horrificviciousness.There is a definite increase in pleasure when one gets to theEnglish stories - the tone, created through language, in unmistakably Nab -narrators, resembling Nabokov in suavity, taste and intelligence, areactually feckless idiots, with their creator smiling behind them.

Thereis, though, very little to smile about in these stories.Spanning (incomposition)the period of Stalinism, Nazism, World War II and McCarthy eraUSA, they detail the complete derailment of the Enlightenment project inour century.Each time rationality, the power of the intellect or theartist is asserted, it is always denied by exile, totalitarianism, madness,deformity, conformity, self-destructive urges, unknowable terrors, but mostimportantly, by knowledge of the deception inherent in writing.Each storybegins with an assertion, and the confident possibility of givingexpression to the world, and ends with these values rigorously distorted,fragmented, smashed and broken by that world.

And yet it is only throughthe mind that we can escape this evil, through nostalgia, recreation,possibility, artistry, transcendence.'Lance' is an extraordinary,baffling, ambivalent parable highlighting this.Is its vision of thesublime delusive?Does this matter if we can fumble towards imagining it?

Almost every character in these stories languishes in some kind ofprison, trying to escape, seek epiphany in some way connected with themind, whether it's a simple, sensual appreciation of beauty (a flutteringbutterfly; a reflection of a cloud on a lake), or a quiet kindness tosomeone else, helping us escape our crushing solipsism.'Signs andSymbols' is the key story, its deceptive simplicity masking untoldanguish.

I would be lying if I said I didn't miss the astonishment ofwatching Nabokov in full flight, but there is so much wealth in thesestories, which require untold rereading - not just to extract meaning, butto savour again, and again, their remarkable beauty, their deadpan comedy,their impotent apprehension of terror and brutality (although there is apersistant failure in the portrayal of women) - to remind us why Nabokov isthe century's greateat. ... Read more

Product Description
Four plays and two essays on drama, written during Nabokov's émigré years before his writings in English earned him worldwide fame. Translated and with Introductions by Dmitri Nabokov.
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Customer Reviews (1)

Nabokov
Though Nabokov's novels, like the luscious "Lolita" and the poetic "Pale Fire" are well-known and read, it's little known that he was also a playwright.This book collects some of his better dramas, all written when he was still a young man, and all written in his native Russian rather than the English that he mastered.One,blank verse masterpiece, is translated so poetically you won't know the difference.A great book to place next to his novels. ... Read more