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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
challenging
funny
lighthearted
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
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was such a unique and delicious novel! Nabokov builds a charming yet bumbling character and a mysterious periphery narrator, peeking through sprinkled “I” statements. From the captivating, clever diction and the narrative weaving, this read was a joy to encounter. The academic setting made this read all the more fun to engage and align with Pnin (though not so comedically tragic). The silly yet sad events Pnin navigates kept me on my toes. It’s a tactful and precarious balance between devastating delight, droll, and distressing. There’s so much to love and laugh through in this book; it is well worth a re-read when feeling down. :)
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was fun, just plain delightful reading. Pnin is a Russian émigré living in the U.S. and teaching in a school called Waindell. Poor blundering, stumbling, clumsy and unlucky Pnin. All the bad luck and miseries he faces and still remains dignified and maintaining a certain level of innocence amidst failure and mockery, as well as retaining his sense of individuality and eccentrity.
Nabokov, of course, writes with great brilliance. For example: "It surprised him to realize how fond he had been of his teeth. His tongue, a fat sleek seal, used to flop and slide happily among the familiar rocks, checking the contours of a battered but still secure kingdom, plunging from cave to cove, climbing this jag, nuzzling that notch, finding a shred of sweetened seaweed in the same old cleft; but now not a landmark remained, and all there existed was a great dark wound, a terra incognita of gums which dreadband disgust forbade one to investigate."
I'll certainly miss Pnin and will think of him every now and then.
Nabokov, of course, writes with great brilliance. For example: "It surprised him to realize how fond he had been of his teeth. His tongue, a fat sleek seal, used to flop and slide happily among the familiar rocks, checking the contours of a battered but still secure kingdom, plunging from cave to cove, climbing this jag, nuzzling that notch, finding a shred of sweetened seaweed in the same old cleft; but now not a landmark remained, and all there existed was a great dark wound, a terra incognita of gums which dreadband disgust forbade one to investigate."
I'll certainly miss Pnin and will think of him every now and then.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A somewhat shorter novel from Nabokov - but delightful nonetheless! Interestingly, Pnin appears to be more straightforwardly comedic than many of his other novels, which tend more so to rely on clever wordplay, allusion, and intensely veiled sexual references.
Pnin appears to be a manner of skewed autobiography, in the vein of Pale Fire (though be wary of overstating the biographical elements!). I say 'skewed', as Nabokov relentlessly mocks poor Timofey Pnin for his poor english skills and eccentric mannerisms. I understand that the author himself only suffered from the latter.
I will admit to laughing out loud at the scene where Pnin ruthlessly investigates the washing machine - there is something about it that is so accessible and familiar.
Of course, searching for beauty in Nabokov is much like searching for water droplets in the sea. Thus I will be strict with myself, and quote only once:
'I do not know if it has ever been noted before that one of the main characteristics of life is discreteness. Unless a film of flesh envelops us, we die. Man exists only insofar as he is separated from his surroundings. The cranium is a space-traveller's helmet. Stay inside or you perish. Death is divestment, death is communion. It may be wonderful to mix with the landscape, but to do so is the end of the tender ego.'
Pnin appears to be a manner of skewed autobiography, in the vein of Pale Fire (though be wary of overstating the biographical elements!). I say 'skewed', as Nabokov relentlessly mocks poor Timofey Pnin for his poor english skills and eccentric mannerisms. I understand that the author himself only suffered from the latter.
I will admit to laughing out loud at the scene where Pnin ruthlessly investigates the washing machine - there is something about it that is so accessible and familiar.
Of course, searching for beauty in Nabokov is much like searching for water droplets in the sea. Thus I will be strict with myself, and quote only once:
'I do not know if it has ever been noted before that one of the main characteristics of life is discreteness. Unless a film of flesh envelops us, we die. Man exists only insofar as he is separated from his surroundings. The cranium is a space-traveller's helmet. Stay inside or you perish. Death is divestment, death is communion. It may be wonderful to mix with the landscape, but to do so is the end of the tender ego.'
dark
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes