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anunusedmoniker's review against another edition
2.0
I think this is the first of Nabokov's books that I've ever felt just "OK" about. So I would in no way recommend it being the first or third of his that someone reads. There's some beautiful language in here, and it's got some touches of weirdness, but it's not really what I wanted.
rebeccamadsn's review
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
vapaus's review against another edition
4.0
well that was a crazy plottwist at the end. also the drama and tension on the last 50 pages is incredible.
olchefdan's review against another edition
5.0
"Of all my novels this bright brute is the gayest." Nabokov opens his forward. I have always found his Russian novels to be brighter, gayer, and, yes, more brutish, than the more famous English ones. This is a favorite. It has no deeper meanings, nothing to say, practically nihilistic. But, man, is it fun. The relish Nabokov takes in crafting this story oozes out of every word. It's a very funny book, as well.
An eclair sits on a table, "alone, despised, unwanted."
An eclair sits on a table, "alone, despised, unwanted."
chelseanoack's review against another edition
3.0
- “Who grins in official circumstances?”
- **"'Fine. So we can play on Sundays. Then you will need a decent suit, shirts, soft collars, ties, all kinds of things. How did you get on wth my wife?'
Franz grinned, not knowing the answer."**
It was definitely bizarre. I think the best part was Martha/Franz's joint delusion at the end. Not my favorite, but I definitely enjoyed it! If anything, it was just a lot of subtle humor :)
- **"'Fine. So we can play on Sundays. Then you will need a decent suit, shirts, soft collars, ties, all kinds of things. How did you get on wth my wife?'
Franz grinned, not knowing the answer."**
It was definitely bizarre. I think the best part was Martha/Franz's joint delusion at the end. Not my favorite, but I definitely enjoyed it! If anything, it was just a lot of subtle humor :)
nice_man's review
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
anthofer's review against another edition
5.0
The best thing about a "minor" Nabokov is that it allows him to flex his storytelling and lyricism without worrying about upending the form of the novel at the same time, as he does in Lolita or Pale Fire. The box of a basic crime/romance social realist novel (he calls it a "bright brute," a "parody" of a Dreiser, and a "homage" to Flaubert) does not box him in; instead, it allows him to focus on his characters, focus his émigré rage and humor on a 20's Berlin society that is both utterly frivolous and ominously unequal.
I'm a sucker for Berlin, my favorite city in the world, and I'm a sucker for the threesome at the center of this novel and Nabokov's love of chess and tennis. I wouldn't change anything about this novel, and I'd recommend reading it before Lolita or Pale Fire. I'll be rounding the gate with Pnin and The Gift soon but I continue to be astonished with how pleasurable AND smart Nabokov is, and wish I'd read him earlier.
I'm a sucker for Berlin, my favorite city in the world, and I'm a sucker for the threesome at the center of this novel and Nabokov's love of chess and tennis. I wouldn't change anything about this novel, and I'd recommend reading it before Lolita or Pale Fire. I'll be rounding the gate with Pnin and The Gift soon but I continue to be astonished with how pleasurable AND smart Nabokov is, and wish I'd read him earlier.
hokkaido's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
buddhafish's review
3.0
87th book of 2021.
Continuing with my chronological romp through Nabokov's early Russian novels I backtrack slightly to his second novel, King, Queen, Knave, on account of availability. This one has pretty good reviews but is the Nabo I've liked the least recently. An uncle, aunt and nephew: Franz is a fairly pathetic character who goes to work with his uncle and ends up in an affair with his uncle's wife, Martha. Though dripping with viscous irony, sometimes too much to bear, the novel drags at a slow pace. The plot takes some time to get going with a long long part of the opening focussed on Franz's train ride towards Germany. It is saved from utter boredom with an interesting plot device in that Franz loses his glasses and Nabokov showboats his prose ability with wonderful almost-blind descriptions of the world in a haze, a mass of colour, a fog of vision. The rest is fairly inevitable, sneaking around, dipping into the characters' heads, moving towards the only foreseeable outcome and novel question: are they caught in the end? Though deliciously written, I found it mostly underwhelming and dull at times, overwrought, even. I did want to read all his Russian novels before the end of the year though I'm unsure if I'll quite manage it. I've got 4/5 to go, depending if I count The Enchanter, which was written in Russian but published much later, posthumously. Either way, next up, The Eye, as I've already read his third novel, The Luzhin Defence.
Continuing with my chronological romp through Nabokov's early Russian novels I backtrack slightly to his second novel, King, Queen, Knave, on account of availability. This one has pretty good reviews but is the Nabo I've liked the least recently. An uncle, aunt and nephew: Franz is a fairly pathetic character who goes to work with his uncle and ends up in an affair with his uncle's wife, Martha. Though dripping with viscous irony, sometimes too much to bear, the novel drags at a slow pace. The plot takes some time to get going with a long long part of the opening focussed on Franz's train ride towards Germany. It is saved from utter boredom with an interesting plot device in that Franz loses his glasses and Nabokov showboats his prose ability with wonderful almost-blind descriptions of the world in a haze, a mass of colour, a fog of vision. The rest is fairly inevitable, sneaking around, dipping into the characters' heads, moving towards the only foreseeable outcome and novel question: are they caught in the end? Though deliciously written, I found it mostly underwhelming and dull at times, overwrought, even. I did want to read all his Russian novels before the end of the year though I'm unsure if I'll quite manage it. I've got 4/5 to go, depending if I count The Enchanter, which was written in Russian but published much later, posthumously. Either way, next up, The Eye, as I've already read his third novel, The Luzhin Defence.