Scan barcode
karlswhy's review against another edition
dark
funny
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
4.0
lizziemcherring's review against another edition
3.0
read for school. I was pretty much miserable up to the very end of this book until Hermann finally got what was coming to him. It is brilliant, but god was it painful to read because the narrator is so hateable. Lots to learn from about writing here.
caffeinatevita's review against another edition
got caught up in reading other books
joannaautumn's review against another edition
3.0
Unreliable narrative of a man who owns a chocolate factory and later plots to kill his doppelgänger?
Sign me up.
The synopsis got me interested in the book, having read Lolita a few years ago I knew what to expect from the writer’s prose. I really like the way Nabokov writes, there is something in the way he uses his words that seems beautiful to me while reading.
"Hermann and Humbert are alike only in the sense that two dragons painted by the same artist at different periods of his life resemble each other. Both are neurotic scoundrels, yet there is a green lane in Paradise where Humbert is permitted to wander at dusk once a year, but Hell shall never parole Hermann."
Nabokov seems to have a thing for morally bad characters or pure mad characters, or at least that’s the impression I got from the two novels I read. The strongest point in this book is definitely the narrative and Nabokov’s writing.
Hermann is one interesting character, you don’t know whether or not to believe him and his story since he sees the world through his rose-colored glasses. This whole novel is his own self-justification for the crime he had committed. He believed he met a man who is his Double and made a plan to kill him and collect the insurance money since the man looks like him he can convince people, using some forgery that that is in fact himself. He is a master in self-deception, twisting the narrative always in his favor. Painting himself as an intelligent, refined man while the reality is that he is a vain liar that thinks he is superior to everyone around him. He is totally blind to his wife’s infidelity even when he walked in on them, thinking of her as loyal and foolish, stupid even. You can look at this novel as the development of madness. Hermann's wish to kill someone who looks identical to him is one pointer towards his damaged psyche, his hatred towards his own sense of self, so he projected that onto poor Felix. Hermann gives us an idea of an artist as a demigod of his own universe, completely disassociated from reality.
There are some satire and critique towards literary forms (epistolary novels, an irony that it turns into one at the end), some literary genres (thriller novels) some dialogue forms, psychoanalysis, Marxism and even some writers (Primarily Dostoevsky). Nabokov didn’t like Dostoevsky so this novel is also a sort of parody of Crime and punishment, having a person commit a perfect crime plus a double, even mentioning the author though not by name.
Nabokov seems to be toying with the reader, giving us hints through the novel, even the last date of the last chapter is April 1st – in a sense mocking the reader for taking the whole double and perfect crime story seriously – only way to treat this seriously is through the artistic game that the author is presenting us. Surely upon rereading the novel, I could see even more subtle details, but sometimes it isn’t necessary to pack everything into more complex forms.
A good read, although nothing like his later work Lolita, the themes are interesting and the narrative is skillfully constructed - that being said I don’t think this one blew me away, it pains me to give this less than a 4 star but life moves on.
Sign me up.
The synopsis got me interested in the book, having read Lolita a few years ago I knew what to expect from the writer’s prose. I really like the way Nabokov writes, there is something in the way he uses his words that seems beautiful to me while reading.
"Hermann and Humbert are alike only in the sense that two dragons painted by the same artist at different periods of his life resemble each other. Both are neurotic scoundrels, yet there is a green lane in Paradise where Humbert is permitted to wander at dusk once a year, but Hell shall never parole Hermann."
Nabokov seems to have a thing for morally bad characters or pure mad characters, or at least that’s the impression I got from the two novels I read. The strongest point in this book is definitely the narrative and Nabokov’s writing.
Hermann is one interesting character, you don’t know whether or not to believe him and his story since he sees the world through his rose-colored glasses. This whole novel is his own self-justification for the crime he had committed. He believed he met a man who is his Double and made a plan to kill him and collect the insurance money since the man looks like him he can convince people, using some forgery that that is in fact himself. He is a master in self-deception, twisting the narrative always in his favor. Painting himself as an intelligent, refined man while the reality is that he is a vain liar that thinks he is superior to everyone around him. He is totally blind to his wife’s infidelity even when he walked in on them, thinking of her as loyal and foolish, stupid even. You can look at this novel as the development of madness. Hermann's wish to kill someone who looks identical to him is one pointer towards his damaged psyche, his hatred towards his own sense of self, so he projected that onto poor Felix. Hermann gives us an idea of an artist as a demigod of his own universe, completely disassociated from reality.
There are some satire and critique towards literary forms (epistolary novels, an irony that it turns into one at the end), some literary genres (thriller novels) some dialogue forms, psychoanalysis, Marxism and even some writers (Primarily Dostoevsky). Nabokov didn’t like Dostoevsky so this novel is also a sort of parody of Crime and punishment, having a person commit a perfect crime plus a double, even mentioning the author though not by name.
Nabokov seems to be toying with the reader, giving us hints through the novel, even the last date of the last chapter is April 1st – in a sense mocking the reader for taking the whole double and perfect crime story seriously – only way to treat this seriously is through the artistic game that the author is presenting us. Surely upon rereading the novel, I could see even more subtle details, but sometimes it isn’t necessary to pack everything into more complex forms.
A good read, although nothing like his later work Lolita, the themes are interesting and the narrative is skillfully constructed - that being said I don’t think this one blew me away, it pains me to give this less than a 4 star but life moves on.
josh_paul's review against another edition
3.0
A fine little book about an altogether despicable idiot.
cowardlyoldworld's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.75
theconstantreader's review against another edition
5.0
Despair is excellent and nothing like what I was expecting - honestly I have no idea what I was expecting - but this wasn't it and surprisingly so.
The whole set up is impeccable. The narration is funny and witty while all the time Hermann is so perfectly unaware of himself. It was brilliant - the writing was so clever.
Every step in the second half of the book surprised me which brought me endless entertainment. While I didn't find this book an easy read, it didn't matter and was kind of all the better for it.
Funnily enough, when I went to search the book, I was still so in it that I typed: Despair Hermann instead of Despair Vladimir. Extremely well done, definitely a fun one to check out if you're after something literarily unique.
The whole set up is impeccable. The narration is funny and witty while all the time Hermann is so perfectly unaware of himself. It was brilliant - the writing was so clever.
Every step in the second half of the book surprised me which brought me endless entertainment. While I didn't find this book an easy read, it didn't matter and was kind of all the better for it.
Funnily enough, when I went to search the book, I was still so in it that I typed: Despair Hermann instead of Despair Vladimir. Extremely well done, definitely a fun one to check out if you're after something literarily unique.
matildelusa's review against another edition
Sono arrivata quasi alla fine, ma non ho capito nulla. Sarà per un’altra volta, Nabokov :)
kdavisreich's review against another edition
3.0
I finally finished it! My library copy is *so* overdue! I had a pretty disjointed experience with this book for about the first two-thirds of it, and then I became more engaged at the end. I think there was a lot going on that I just totally missed (not having read any Dostoevsky probably doesn't help), but it's hard not to appreciate some black humor and a totally despicable, untrustworthy narrator.