Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov

1 review

frogknitting's review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.5

My favorite Nabokov book so far. Absolutely wild, weird, and obsessed with it. I think it showcases Nabokov's range as well as his best translation-collaboration (with his son!). Half a point off because I kept getting confused with the names. Yes, they were supposed to be similar, but it also jarred me a lot and just screwed with the reading experience a bit. That's a me problem, though. 
I'm convinced that

the spider is supposed to be us, the predatory viewer who turns out to not even be real, or to be created by Nabokov, the moth, who escapes and is used, but eventually gets to leave. Does this mean Rodion is a publisher? I'm really not sure, but I love that interpretation. Also, the amount of colors that came in after he's been imprisoned for so long, and the green symbolizing the real world? Freedom? Obsessed. The relationship between Rodion and Cincinnatus and how it shifted to Pierre and Cincinnatus, the more dangerous one. !!!!

This is 100% a reread book and seems like one that would be even better the next time you read it. The amount of symbols and details are pretty incredible. I filled up about 1/3 of a page for every chapter in my notes, which is pretty rare for me. 

Also, wait — what happened to Emmie? I want to say that the innocence just left Cincinnatus as he became more aware of his own reality, but I genuinely forgot about her until this minute.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization