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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
In my mind's eye, Pnin took the shape of Major Garland Briggs from Twin Peaks. I love him.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Nabokov wrote Pnin and Lolita at the same time. Timofey Pnin and Humbert Humbert are yin and yang - Pnin is the cozy, soothing cup of tea to Humbert's deadly-sweet intoxicant.
Pnin is glorious in a quiet way, and by the end of the book I was cheering for our hero. Reading with bated breath,. Pnin shows up safe and sound in Pale Fire, with a tenured professorship at Wordsmith College and wearing a Hawaiian shirt.
I know I'll read this again some day.
Pnin is glorious in a quiet way, and by the end of the book I was cheering for our hero. Reading with bated breath,
Spoiler
I wished for Pnin's dinner party to be a success, and beamed with joy as he entertained his guests. I mourned for him when he lost his job, and then was overjoyed when he rode off into the sunset with his new dogI know I'll read this again some day.
After reading Lolita, I was curious to read other books by Nabokov and had high expectations from this, but despite the interesting start of the story, my interest died out quite early!
The plot seemed very disconnected and a bunch of unrelated events connected together to show the apathy of our protagonist, the doddery and clumsy academic, Pnin. In between there was some humour but the long sentences in the description of some story or event which extended to a sub-chapter at times, made it boring. At least 4 times, I decided to stop reading simply due to the fact that it became boring and trudging towards a dull ending.
There are too many references and too many trivial characters/names. Maybe some readers found that interesting or funny but if the others do not relate to those things then, the excessive use of it makes it dull, and that is what happened here, I feel. However, some pros are that, the main character descriptions have a lot of psychological depth in it and is maintained throughout. The style of writing, when describing a place or the mental thoughts of Pnin and his situation, is quite interesting.
Two nice quotes from the book-
“Why not leave their private sorrows to people? Is sorrow not, one asks, the only thing in the world people really possess?” - T. Pnin
“Some people—and I am one of them—hate happy ends. We feel cheated. Harm is the norm. Doom should not jam. The avalanche stopping in its tracks a few feet above the cowering village behaves not only unnaturally but unethically.” - Narrator
The plot seemed very disconnected and a bunch of unrelated events connected together to show the apathy of our protagonist, the doddery and clumsy academic, Pnin. In between there was some humour but the long sentences in the description of some story or event which extended to a sub-chapter at times, made it boring. At least 4 times, I decided to stop reading simply due to the fact that it became boring and trudging towards a dull ending.
There are too many references and too many trivial characters/names. Maybe some readers found that interesting or funny but if the others do not relate to those things then, the excessive use of it makes it dull, and that is what happened here, I feel. However, some pros are that, the main character descriptions have a lot of psychological depth in it and is maintained throughout. The style of writing, when describing a place or the mental thoughts of Pnin and his situation, is quite interesting.
Two nice quotes from the book-
“Why not leave their private sorrows to people? Is sorrow not, one asks, the only thing in the world people really possess?” - T. Pnin
“Some people—and I am one of them—hate happy ends. We feel cheated. Harm is the norm. Doom should not jam. The avalanche stopping in its tracks a few feet above the cowering village behaves not only unnaturally but unethically.” - Narrator
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Pnin is basically a character vignette about a kooky professor character named Timofey Pnin, who works at a small college in… I’m going to guess New England, mostly because of Lolita, so don’t quote me on that! And it’s oddly told from the perspective of an outside character you only learn the identity of at the end of the novella – actually, it almost felt like Nabokov was self-inserting at times. 😝
It was not worth my time.
A lot is said about native and expatriated Russian culture which undoubtedly went over my head and would, perhaps, appeal a lot more to Russophiles and actual Russian people… and, sure, the book featured Nabokov’s reliably evocative and playful prose, but that’s all it had going for me. There’s not much plot to speak of, I didn’t really care about Pnin as a character, I didn’t really care about anyone else, the novella’s cultural commentary nor its jabs at the stuffier facets of higher academia.
I mean, honestly, there’s a lot of that in Pale Fire, and even in Lolita. And whilst it was interesting to identify these parallels, it also felt very redundant to experience these beats again. Lolita remains a top-tier, all-time favourite, absolutely; I remember thoroughly enjoying Ada or Ardor as well – though I’ll have to re-read it someday. But, unfortunately, I haven’t had much luck, so far with Nabokov’s other works. Pnin, for me, was pointless and boring, hence the mediocre rating.
It was not worth my time.
A lot is said about native and expatriated Russian culture which undoubtedly went over my head and would, perhaps, appeal a lot more to Russophiles and actual Russian people… and, sure, the book featured Nabokov’s reliably evocative and playful prose, but that’s all it had going for me. There’s not much plot to speak of, I didn’t really care about Pnin as a character, I didn’t really care about anyone else, the novella’s cultural commentary nor its jabs at the stuffier facets of higher academia.
I mean, honestly, there’s a lot of that in Pale Fire, and even in Lolita. And whilst it was interesting to identify these parallels, it also felt very redundant to experience these beats again. Lolita remains a top-tier, all-time favourite, absolutely; I remember thoroughly enjoying Ada or Ardor as well – though I’ll have to re-read it someday. But, unfortunately, I haven’t had much luck, so far with Nabokov’s other works. Pnin, for me, was pointless and boring, hence the mediocre rating.
Boek voornamelijk in de trein naar Unity gelezen. Heel erg goed geschreven, maar niet echt een verhaal? Heb me wel vermaakt met Nabokov's schrijfstijl. Nu over naar een tijdje pulp lezen.
It's remarkable how Nabokov's novel captivated me with its exquisite, almost poetic sentences and the endearing nature of Pnin. I came across a thoughtful reader's perspective that highlighted the book's greatest strength lies in its focus on character, and I couldn't agree more. This is Pnin's story through and through – every event, both uplifting and distressing, every clash with the self-absorbed and oblivious professors at the university, all contribute to his character's evolution, a skillfully executed feat.
The sentences are sprawling, teeming with words, and a plethora of names and secondary characters populate the narrative. However, I must emphasize that it's crucial not to get bogged down in overanalyzing every detail; doing so might cause you to miss the overarching essence. Lose sight of the bigger picture, and you risk not experiencing the same profound impact that this book had on me.
The sentences are sprawling, teeming with words, and a plethora of names and secondary characters populate the narrative. However, I must emphasize that it's crucial not to get bogged down in overanalyzing every detail; doing so might cause you to miss the overarching essence. Lose sight of the bigger picture, and you risk not experiencing the same profound impact that this book had on me.
This was my first foray into Russian literature. Pnin, you rock my world.
Pnin -ein so liebenswürdig gezeichneter Charakter, dass ich mir wünschte, ihn länger zu begleiten. Allein schon deswegen, damit er doch noch etwas Glück erfährt.